“But how am I supposed to save you?” Bored, Tina drew circles on the railings using her finger, but her voice was full of worry.
Cynthia sniffled. “Tina, please beg for President Fuller’s mercy. With how much he loves you, he will certainly agree with you.”
“Alright, I’ll give it a go.” Tina nodded.
Cynthia was extremely grateful to her. “Thank you, Tina.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re friends after all.” Tina chuckled, but her gaze wasn’t filled with joy; it was filled with derision instead. After the call ended, she removed the phone from her ear to check on the critical comments toward Sonia on Facebook. She was aware from early on that Cynthia was the one behind the incident, for she was the one who deliberately told Cynthia of her promise with Toby to never target Sonia.
She knew that Cynthia couldn’t stand watching her suffer, and that she bore a similar hatred toward Sonia, so she already knew Cynthia would work up a plan to deal with Sonia. That way, Tina wouldn’t break her promise with Toby, as her hands were practically clean.
However, she didn’t expect Cynthia to cause such a huge ruckus as soon as she put her plan into action. She rubbed her hand between her eyebrows in irritation at the thought. No matter the case, I will have to protect Cynthia. Otherwise, I will have no one else who can deal with Sonia in my stead.
While mulling over the situation, Tina switched off her phone and reentered the office just in time to hear Tom’s report. “President Fuller, we already uncovered the person who posted that status. It’s Cynthia Stone.”
“Who?” Toby had no memory of who that person was.
Meanwhile, Tom cast a glance at Tina. “She’s Miss Gray’s friend.”
Toby finally remembered who she was. With a frown, he glanced at Tina. “Did you tell her what happened six years ago?”
Tina shook her head rapidly. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t! My mother told her about it. Cynthia came to visit me when I just regained consciousness, and she happened to overhear me asking my mother why you married Miss Reed.”
So that’s what happened. After averting his gaze, Toby took out his phone to give Sonia a call.
On the other side, Charles opened the door to Sonia’s office in Paradigm Co. with the results of his investigation. “Darling, I know who’s the one slandering you online. It’s Tina’s friend, Cynthia Stone.”
Upon hearing that, Sonia frowned as she set the pen in her hand down. “How did you find out about it?”
Charles handed the report to her with a cocky smile. “It’s a piece of cake. Cynthia is an idiot who didn’t think to hide her IP address when she posted the status using her alternate account. Therefore, we were able to trace it back to her as soon as we began investigating it. Initially, I thought it was Tina who did it. What a pity.” If Tina was the one who did that, we would have an excuse to deal with her.
“Yeah, it’s a pity. I lost the bet.” A self-deprecating smile appeared on Sonia’s lips. Her bet with Toby was that Tina was the one behind the incident, but she didn’t expect Cynthia to be the culprit. Although she knew intuitively that Cynthia’s actions might have something to do with Tina, she had no evidence, so there was nothing that she could do about it.
“What bet?” Charles studied Sonia curiously.
Sonia shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
Seeing that she refused to talk about it, Charles shrugged and changed the topic, choosing not to pry. “Darling, how do you plan to solve this? Cynthia is easy to deal with. It’s the rumors online that’s the problem, especially when the trolls are still spreading falsehoods about you.” Such rumors included how my darling stepped out on her marriage, or how she plotted to murder Tina. Pfft! These are blatant lies!
“Let me think about this.” Sonia sounded slightly exhausted. Deep in thought, she lowered her gaze. Then suddenly, her phone rang, during which she raised her head. When she noted that the call was from Toby, she picked up the call while figuring that it had to do with the incident. “Hello?”
Upon hearing Sonia’s aloof tone, Toby pulled her lips into a thin line. “I already found out who posted that status.”
“It’s Cynthia Stone,” Sonia blurted out before he could reveal the answer to her.
A look of surprise fleeted across Toby’s gaze. “You already knew it?”
“Yup.” Sonia nodded. “Congratulations, President Fuller. Since Tina isn’t the perpetrator, you can continue staying with her. Aren’t you glad?”
Toby furrowed his brows. Glad? No, I don’t feel glad. On the contrary, I somehow feel pressured. However, he didn’t intend to reveal his emotions, so he grunted indifferently.
Meanwhile, Sonia smiled. “Alright, President Fuller. Now that we have found out the culprit, I hope you will not interfere with the processes that would follow. Cynthia is Miss Gray’s friend; you’d better not stop me from dealing with Cynthia just because Tina begged for your mercy.”
“I won’t do that,” Toby replied with his gaze lowered, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Am I so untrustworthy?
“Great. You’d better keep your word.” With that, Sonia hung up.
Toby had an unreadable look in his eyes while looking at the screen that had already returned to the menu page.
“Toby, what did Miss Reed tell you?” Tina inquired with her gaze fixed on Toby.
Toby lifted his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“About how she plans to deal with Cynthia. Didn’t you just tell her Cynthia is behind this? What will Miss Reed do?” Tina bit her lip, a look of concern written all over her face.
Toby pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me about it.” However, he figured that Cynthia wouldn’t have it easy considering Sonia’s harsh tone when she spoke over the phone.
“I bet Miss Reed won’t let Cynthia off the hook that easily.” Tears rolled in Tina’s eyes as she was overwhelmed with anxiety. “Miss Reed made me pay dearly last time when I tripped her. The same happened to Miss Stryder, and the Stryder Family is now reduced to being a second-rate family. Judging from what happened in the past, Cynthia…” Tina grabbed Toby’s hand. “Toby, will you please help Cynthia?”
Toby retracted his arm. “Sorry, Tina. I already promised Sonia that I won’t meddle in this.”
“But Cynthia is my friend! She did what she did to protect me, so I can’t watch her go down like this, Toby.”
“Come on.” Toby pulled her into an embrace. “Cynthia did everything of her own volition. Since she made a mistake, she will have to pay for it. Do you understand?” He gazed at Tina.
While she was staring into the bottomless pit that was Toby’s eyes, Tina’s heart sank as her face paled. People reap what they sow. What will he do to me if he ever finds out everything that I have done?
The thought made Tina shudder, and uneasiness was evident in her eyes. No, he can’t discover what I have done. That’ll never happen! Sonia has to die! That’s the only way to keep my secret safe!
On the other hand, Charles questioned as soon as he saw Sonia put her phone aside, “What did Toby say?”
“Nothing much. He told me who pulled that sh*t behind my back. Then, I warned him to not interfere with my revenge.” Sonia massaged her sore shoulders.
“Did he agree to your terms?”
“Yeah.”
Charles pouted in disdain. “Cynthia is Tina’s friend, so Tina will definitely beg Toby to get Cynthia out of that tight spot. With how indulgent he is toward Tina, he might go back on his word if Tina played the victim.”
“If that’s the case…” Sonia clenched her fists with a chilly look before declaring, “I will make sure to drag him down with me.”
Charles was frightened. “Darling, are you serious?” When he noticed the grim determination in her eyes, he gulped. “So how are you going to drag him down with you, darling?”
“You don’t need to worry about what has yet to happen.” Sonia stood up with the help of her crutches. “It’s about time, so I’ll be taking my leave. Contact the press for me. I would like to hold a press conference.”
“A press conference?” Her words piqued Charles’ interest. “Is it to solve the crisis at hand?”
Sonia nodded. “That’s right. It’s about time to clarify the truth. I can’t possibly be the scapegoat and allow the public to criticize me forever, right?”
