Chapter 154


    Tina skimmed through Sonia’s proposal, but the more she read, the worse she looked. She might


    be inept in business, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appraise a proposal. After she took a look,


    she knew Sonia’s proposal was a top-tier one. In fact, it was loads better than the one she handed


    in. She couldn’t believe Sonia coulde up with such a great proposal after taking over Paradigm


    Co. for a mere two months.


    No. She couldn’t havee up with this. She must have hired someone to do this. I bet she did.


    Tina brushed her jealousy aside and insisted that Sonia couldn’t havee up with that brilliant


    proposal on her own. But either way, she couldn’t deny the fact that Toby could very possibly go


    with Sonia’s proposal. The fact that Sonia might get a spot while her family didn’t was uneptable


    for Tina.


    “I can’t let this happen.” Tina bit her lip. And all of a sudden, a n struck her. She put both Sonia’s


    and her proposal on the table, then she unclipped them and swapped the proposals. Since the


    name tag was only there on the file, Sonia’s and Titus’ proposals were sessfully swapped. After


    she did all that, Tina smiled smugly.


    Suddenly, she heard sounds of footstepsing closer. Tina knew it must be Tom, so she


    panicked. She quickly closed the files and put them back in their original positions. After that, she


    went back to the sofa and pretended to scroll through her phone.


    As expected, Tom came in a momentter. “Sorry for the wait, Miss Gray.”


    “Not at all,” Tina answered politely.


    Tom didn’t notice anything wrong with the room, and he put the cup of coffee in front of Tina.


    She was just about to take a sip, but then her phone rang. “Sorry. I’ll need to take this.” She smiled


    apologetically while taking her phone out. “Hello? Cynthia? You’re out?” Surprise colored Tina’s


    face.


    Tom arched his eyebrow at her. Cynthia’s out?


    “Okay, I’ll be right there.” After she put her phone down, Tina looked at Tom. “Please tell Toby I


    won’t be seeing him, Mr. Brown.” She wanted to see Cynthia. Even though she only thought of


    Cynthia as a disposableckey instead of her friend, she had to keep Cynthia by her side, since


    Cynthia had been loyal to her. And I can use her to defend me if something were to happen. Can’t


    cut our “friendship” off Just yet.


    “I’ll pass the message to him, Miss Gray. You go ahead and do your thing.” Tom nodded, smiling.


    After Tina was gone, Tom went to the top floor with the stack of documents in hand. He then


    knocked on Toby’s office’s door.


    “Enter.” Toby’s cool, maic voice sounded from within.


    Tom went into the office. “President Fuller, these are the proposals everyone handed in.”


    Toby stopped writing and looked at the stack of documents. “Everyone?”


    “Yes.” Tom nodded.


    Toby’s eyes glinted. “Where’s Sonia’s?” He regretted it the moment he asked Tom, since Tom might


    think he was caring about Sonia too much. After all, he only asked for her proposal. He didn’t know


    why he cared about her proposal so much though.


    But when he noticed that Tom wasn t surprised about his question, he calmed down. Maybe Tom


    doesn’t think I’m caring about Sonia.


    However, unbeknownst to Toby, Tom wasn’t surprised because he knew Toby still liked Sonia. In


    that case, he wasn’t surprised when Toby asked for Sonia’s proposal. “Here.” He handed Toby


    Sonia’s proposal.


    Toby opened the proposal, curious and excited. However, he frowned the moment he saw the


    proposal, and his excitement was gone with the wind. Bad. This is just bad. This proposal is too


    general. There’s nothing exciting here. It’s notpetitive at all. How can she even hand in


    something like this? Toby pursed his lips, and his disappointment showed on his face.


    Tom noticed it too. “Is something wrong with her proposal, President Fuller?” He pushed his sses


    up.


    “Have a look for yourself.” Toby tossed the file to Tom.


    Tom caught it and skimmed through it, but after he was done, the corner of his lips twitched. “This...


    Maybe it’s Miss Reed’s first time getting involved in alternative energy technology, and she probably


    doesn’t know much about it, so she ended up with this proposal...”


    Tom’s defense made sense to Toby, and his frown unraveled. “Leave her proposal here. Filter the


    rest and bin the bad ones. I’ll look through the remaining proposals and pick the best one.”


    “Understood.” Tom nodded and left with the remaining files, but he nced at Sonia’s proposal


    before he left.


    President Fuller told me to bin the bad ones. In that case, Miss Reed’s proposal should be binned


    as well, but he singled her proposal out. Ah, so he wants to give her a chance. And here I thought


    this would be a fairpetition. Tom rolled his eyes. So President Fuller does have double


    standards too.


    After Tom was gone, Toby flipped through Sonia’s file again. He picked up his fountain pen and


    started writing down suggestions on the parts he thought that could be improved.


    But Sonia didn’t know anything about that. While Toby was writing his suggestions down, she had


    already arrived at the Reed Residence.


    Her parents bought it more than two decades ago right before they were married. She grew up in


    this ce, and it contained a lot of memories. But after her mother passed away twenty years ago,


    everything changed. Her father remarried and had a daughter with his second wife. The Reed


    Residence was no longer her ce of refuge. Since then, it was just amon inn for her. Nay, an


    inn had more warmth than this shell of a home.


    Six years ago, her dad passed away as well. After that, her stepmother and stepsister ran away


    with his money, leaving only this vi behind. Since then, Sonia sealed this ce down and never


    came back. Until this day, it was still the same vi, but everything had changed over the years. She


    sighed and was about to unlock the gates, but then she remembered something. A frown creased


    her forehead, and she took out the key Rose gave her.


    “Odd.” She stared down at the keys. One of them was given to her by Rose, while the other one


    was her own. Rose told her it was the key to the Reed Residence when she gave it to her. But my


    key also unlocks the residence as well. Hmm, both of them are different though.


    When she took the key Rose gave her, she didn’t realize she had the Reed Residence’s key as


    well, so she didn’t notice that Rose’s key was different from the one she already had.


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    The only reason she brought her own key here was because the ess card was attached to the


    keychain. I guess Grandma’s key is more than meets the eye. Either the vi’s lock has been


    changed, or this key unlocks some other door.


    Sonia nced at the front door for a moment. When she tried to unlock it, she realized it was still


    the same lock. So Grandma’s key unlocks another door, but I have no idea which door it is. “Guess I


    should take a look,” Sonia mumbled as she unlocked the front door, then she went inside.


    There was nothing in the vi. Her stepmother and stepsister sold everything valuable in this ce,


    leaving nothing but a sheet of thick dust behind. Every step Sonia took left a footprint on the ground.