Toby lowered his gaze. “It’s fine. Let’s go on.” Sonia placed her phone aside as she nodded. Nearly an hour had passed when Toby finished explaining the details to Sonia. Sonia gave him a rare smile as she shut her notebook. “Thank you, President Fuller. I think I’ve understood most of it. I’ll just need to do some reading on my own once I get home tonight.”
“That’s great. We’ll be having a tour of the factory at 9.00AM tomorrow. Don’t be late,” Toby uttered as he got to his feet.
Right then, Tom opened the doors to the meeting room and pushed a trolley in. There were tons of delicious-looking dishes placed on it, and the mouth-watering scent quickly filled the room. Sonia hugged her notebook against her chest. “I’ll make a move now since it’s time for your lunch, President Fuller. Goodbye.”
“Hold on.” Toby held onto her arm. “Let’s have a meal together.”
“What?” Sonia frowned.
“You came to Fuller Group for a meeting. As the boss of the company, it’s only right for me to buy you a meal. Furthermore, this is just lunch between business partners—you wouldn’t reject my treat, would you?” His eyes glistened as he spoke.
The corner of Sonia’s lips twitched as she stared at him. If I reject his offer now, he’ll think that I don’t value my company’s partnership with him. Is that what he’s trying to imply here? She rubbed her forehead as she sat back down in her seat. “I got it. Thank you for your kind service, President Fuller.”
Toby relaxed the muscles between his brows. “It’s nothing grand. I only ordered a few random dishes; I hope it suits your preference.” He returned to his seat as well.
Tom served the dishes while fighting the urge to roll his eyes. What does he mean when he says that he just ordered a few random dishes? He picked all of Miss Reed’s favorite foods! Well, I feel rather bad for President Fuller because he needs to use their partnership to get Miss Reed to share a meal with him.
“Here you go.” Toby handed Sonia some cutleries.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“No worries. Try it out,” Toby uttered as he pointed at the dishes on the table and gestured for her to start eating. Sonia politely scooped some of the food from one of the dishes in front of her.
“How is it?” he asked.
She swallowed her food before looking into his eyes. “It’s really good,” she said after seeing the anticipation in his eyes. Toby secretly let out a sigh of relief before he scooped some for himself. “You should eat more, then.”
These dishes weren’t available in the hotel’s menu, but recipes that originated from Sonia’s mother’s hometown. The chef at the hotel had never prepared such dishes, and Toby had to order the chef to learn the recipes on the spot. He was worried that Sonia wouldn’t be too pleased with the outcome of the dishes. However, she seemed to enjoy the food.
Tom shook his head thoughtfully as he noticed how Toby’s tense shoulders gradually relaxed. President Fuller might be an incredible and influential person in the eyes of others, but he’s just a careful and sensitive man in front of Miss Reed. I bet the rest of the world would be shocked to see this side of him.
Throughout the meal, Toby barely took any food for himself. He spent most of his time watching Sonia as she ate. A sense of satisfaction filled his insides as he watched her munching on her food. There were multiple times when he had the urge to scoop more food for her, but he stopped himself from doing so as he thought that she would reject his offers.
After finishing her meal, Sonia took a look at her watch. It was nearly 1.00PM, so she excused herself. Toby didn’t stop her as he knew that she had to go to court. “Let me send you downstairs,” he offered.
Sonia didn’t reject him as she wiped her mouth. She knew that he would insist on sending her down even if she said no. Once they got to the parking lot, Sonia pulled her car keys out. She was about to unlock her car when she heard a quavering voice from behind her. “Toby!”
Toby frowned as he turned around. Sonia turned just in time to see Julia and Rina. She raised her eyebrows puzzledly.
Julia stopped weeping the moment she saw Sonia. “What are you doing here?” she asked while glaring at Sonia. Sonia crossed her arms and was about to speak when Toby stepped sideways to stand in front of her. He gave Julia a cold stare. “This is my company, and Sonia is my guest. Her presence here is none of your business, Mrs. Gray. I think I should be the one asking you this question—what are you doing here?”
Julia hadn’t expected Toby to speak up for Sonia. “I-I’m here to speak to you,” she stuttered.
“Me?” Toby narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
“It’s about Tina.” Julia reached her hand out to hold onto his arm. Before she managed to touch him, Toby stepped aside to avoid her hand, dragging Sonia along with him as he did so. After missing her target, Julia stumbled forward and nearly fell onto the ground. Fortunately, Rina held onto her in time—Julia would have embarrassed herself otherwise.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Rina patted Julia on the back while speaking to her in a caring voice.
Toby shifted his gaze to look at Rina. So, this is Taylor, huh?
“I’m fine.” Julia’s voice was trembling as she shook her head—she was still stunned by the whole situation. Once she calmed down a little, she turned to give Toby a critical glare. She looked as if she was blaming him for how he was treating her.
Sonia had to stifle her laugh. Some people are just so oblivious! They don’t know where they stand at all. Julia isn’t even Toby’s future mother-in-law anymore. Yet, she’s still treating him as if she’s his mother-in-law. Does she expect Toby to be as polite to her as he was in the past?
As these thoughts ran through Sonia’s mind, she heard Toby addressing Julia in an icy tone. “What did you come here to tell me, Mrs. Gray?”
Julia shuddered when she caught on to the hatred and annoyance in his voice. Something clicked in her brain at that moment, and she realized that things were no longer the same anymore. I can’t use my role as his future mother-in-law to force him into anything now! Julia clenched her fists as she glared at Toby with her bloodshot eyes. “I want you to save Tina, Toby!”
A smirk appeared on Sonia’s face. Julia visited me and asked me not to press charges against Tina. Now, she’s here to ask for Toby’s help. Perfect! I’d like to see if he’ll agree to this! Sonia tilted her head to glance at Toby.
Toby could feel the woman’s stare from behind him, and it only took him seconds to figure out the reason she was staring at him. This time, I can promise Sonia that I won’t disappoint her!
“You want me to save Tina, huh?” Toby looked down to fix his shirt collar. No one could see the expression on his face then.
“Yes,” Julia uttered with a nod. “You need to save her, Toby.” Julia had been going around and begging others for the past few days. She had hoped for someone to agree to save Tina, but none of her targets had agreed to her request. She was filled with hatred and anger for these people. All of those people were once as loyal to her as a dog was to its owner, but they all hid away from her once they knew that she was in need. I can’t believe I used to say good things about those people in front of Titus and Toby! They’re all ungrateful brats!
However, there was no use in Julia being angry. It was the day of Tina’s court hearing, and it was Julia’s final chance to save her daughter. Once the court hearing was over, no one would be able to save Tina. Julia therefore had no choice but to go against Titus’s orders to stay away from Toby. She came over as she felt like he was her last sliver of hope.
“How am I supposed to save her?” Toby lowered his arms as he eyed Julia emotionlessly. Sonia knitted her brows from her spot behind him. What’s this? Is he thinking of saving her?
Rina, who had been quiet the entire time, lifted her head and stared at Toby after she heard what he said. Didn’t Daddy say that Mr. Fuller doesn’t love Tina at all? I heard that Mr. Fuller would never save Tina because he hates her for pretending to be Miss Reed. Daddy wouldn’t have stopped Mommy from coming over to visit Mr. Fuller otherwise. But now, it looks like Daddy was wrong. Mr. Fuller sounds like he’s planning to save Tina!
Rina bit her bottom lip as resentment welled up in her chest. Is Mr. Fuller blind? What’s so great about Tina? Why does he want to save her?
