“Hello, the person you called is unavailable. Please try again later.” It was the fifth time I called Christopher but failed to reach him. If my memory served me right, Christopher hadn’t mentioned or even hinted at going on a mission before he left.
Why can’t I get through? What on earth is going on? Could it be that Christopher is indeed on a mission? Otherwise, why didn’t he let me tell Mark his whereabouts? After all, Mark is my father. Anyway, perhaps there is something sensitive that I shouldn’t know about.
Later, I drafted a text message on my phone. In it, I asked Christopher to be careful and remember that I would be waiting for him at home.
Feeling that the draft wasn’t good enough, I rewrote it to sound overbearing. Christopher, since you’re my right-hand man, I have a lot of things to assign to you. Remember to come back early. Also, remember that I am your chairman.
After sending the message, I put the phone aside and went to the kitchen. Since Tobey showed up late at the cafe, I only managed to have some appetizers before Flora came and accused me of being a homewrecker.
When the doorbell rang, I opened the door and was shocked to see Isabelle. It was the first time she visited me ever since I moved out from the Goldstein residence.
I welcomed her into the house and asked, “Mom, do you prefer coffee or tea?”
“It’s okay. I won’t take up too much of your time. Are you having a late-night snack?” She was surprised to see food on the table.
“It’s my dinner.” I shrugged. Noticing that Isabelle frowned, I added, “I didn’t ignore Tobey. On the contrary, he showed up late and his girlfriend ruined our dinner. Do you know how embarrassed I was? His girlfriend kneeled before me right away and begged me tearfully not to separate them.”
“Did you say Tobey’s girlfriend crashed the party?”
Isabelle was surprised by the dramatic turn of events. After remaining silent for a while, she finally said, “Well, who doesn’t have past romantic relationships? Since Tobey is an outstanding man, it’s nothing unusual for other women to fall for him. It’s fine as long as he doesn’t betray you after marriage.”
Isabelle refused to give up on matchmaking us. Feeling a headache, I replied, “It appears that I’m the homewrecker now. Besides, I think Tobey isn’t fond of me. I mean, he has fixed his gaze on Flora ever since she showed up. Under such circumstances, our marriage might turn out to be miserable.”
“I’ll talk to Tobey to resolve the problem.” Nonetheless, Isabelle was seemingly unbothered by what happened.
“You can’t resolve it right away, can you?” I murmured. Since Tobey doesn’t like me anyway, why does Mom want me to marry him?
“The Osborns won’t let an unworthy woman marry into their family. Given that you’re a Goldstein, I believe they won’t mistreat you.”
The way Isabelle worded her sentences made me feel like I would very soon marry Tobey. I was hungry before Isabella came over but lost my appetite after having the conversation. Well, I guess I’ll go on a diet today! I put the plate back on the table and heaved a sigh silently. Then, I tried to change the subject of the conversation. “Dad was happy when I delivered lunch for him this afternoon.”
“By the way, what’s your dad’s opinion about putting me in charge of the Kenfort project? Has he agreed to it? And your dad won’t call for a board meeting to remove me from my vice president position, will he?” Isabelle finally stopped talking about Tobey and asked me nervously.
