Chapter 253


    Suddenly, the door to the office flew open, and Tom came barging in without even knocking.


    “President Fuller!”


    Toby frowned and demanded irritably, “What is it?”


    Tom did not answer him immediately but looked around the office like he was searching for


    something. At the sight of this, Toby pursed his lips into a grim line and asked coldly, “Just what are


    you looking at?”


    “President Fuller, where is Miss Reed?” Tom asked hastily.


    Toby recalled what he had done earlier with Sonia’s cup of leftover tea and subconsciously grazed


    his thumb over his lips, then said inly, “She left.”


    Taken aback by this, Tom raised his voice by an octave as he repeated, “Left?”


    Massaging his temples tiredly, Toby sauntered over to his desk. “Why are you looking for her?”


    “Have you forgotten, President Fuller? I just got back from Marina City,” Tom replied urgently as he


    followed the other man from behind.


    Upon hearing this, Toby stopped in his tracks and turned to shoot his assistant a dark look. “What


    are you implying? Are you trying to say that whatever you found out about Maple has something to


    do with Sonia?”


    He felt his heartbeat speed up at the possibility of this.


    Tom nodded solemnly. “That’s right. I went to Marina City and tracked down Maple’s old postal


    address, and it turned out to be the Reeds’


    residence! That means—"


    “Sonia and Maple are the same person!” Toby finished Tom’s sentence. His eyes widened at the


    revtion, and he quivered slightly as his fists clenched at his sides.


    Tom continued quickly, “Yes. Miss Reed is definitely Maple; there’s no doubt about it. Maple said


    that she had a stepmother and a sister, not to mention a pet dog named Lucky. Now that her


    address has turned out to be the Reeds’ residence, Miss Reed is the only one who could possibly


    be Maple.”


    The words came rushing out in a flurry, and at the end of his boration, Tom found himself slightly


    out of breath. He inhaled deeply and calmed himself, then went on to say, “More importantly, Maple


    and Miss Reed have simr handwriting. While the former’scks the refinement of thetter’s, one


    could still tell that the penmanship is the same. And yet, neither of us have ever recognized this,


    even when Miss Reed shares the same backstory as Maple. A single thought is all it would have


    taken for us to connect the dots, but we never did! How could we not have figured out that Miss


    Reed is Maple all along?”


    He paused and lowered his head in shame. “I’m starting to wonder if I’m an idiot.”


    Toby mmed his fist against the desk, and the veins on the back of his hand were throbbing as he


    seethed, “No, you aren’t an idiot. Someone’s been ying dirty tricks to stop us from ever


    connecting the dots.”


    Along with Tom, the rest of the Fuller Family knew about Toby’s history with Maple, so it was


    strange that no one had ever noticed how simr Sonia was to Maple.


    This could only mean that everyone had been under the influence of that strange mysterious force


    as well.


    Clueless as to what Toby was thinking, Tom widened his eyes in shock as he asked hesitantly,


    “President Fuller, are you saying that somebody doesn’t want us to know about Miss Reed’s identity


    as Maple? Could it be Tina? But that doesn’t make any sense...”


    He trailed off pensively, then shook his head as he reconsidered. “It’s only natural for Tina to keep


    that a secret from us, but there’s no way she could stop us from putting the pieces together. So how


    could we have overlooked all the clues that pointed to the fact that Miss Reed and Maple are the


    same person? It’s all so confusing, isn’t it?”


    Just then, Toby looked at Tom intently and asked, “Do you believe that there might be some


    mysterious force in this world that could control one’s thoughts and emotions?”


    Tom froze at first, but he chuckled dismissively as he quipped, “Well, of course, though I’m quite


    sure the force is called hypnotism.”


    As soon as he was done speaking, a sudden realization dawned upon him, and he slightly opened


    his mouth as he pressed, “Is this the reason why you asked to see a therapist thest time,


    President Fuller? I thought you were trying to find an emotional outlet or something but were you


    suspecting that you have been hypnotized?”


    And from what President Fuller said earlier, he was implying that I have been hypnotized as well!


    Toby’s eyes were dark with thought, and when he remained silent, Tom took it as a confirmation.


    While Dr. Anderson had reassured Toby that he was not hypnotized, he was still certain that the


    opposite was true, only that the doctor had not been able to diagnose him as such. Perhaps the


    person who had carried out the hypnotism was far more skilled at it than Dr. Anderson and the other


    therapists.


    Dazed, Tom patted his cheek and muttered, “How did this even happen?”


    Toby looked down, the wheels in his mind turning. “From now onward, go and contact the world’s


    most renowned hypnotists—the more, the better!”


    “Yes, sir!” Tom promised immediately, his expression stiffening.


    It was only sensible that only the most renowned hypnotists could break them out of this state of


    mind-control that they were in. Just as Tom was about to leave to carry out his new orders, he


    thought of something and asked, “By the way, President Fuller, would you like to reconcile with Miss


    Reed?”


    Reconcile... Toby made no reply as he dipped his head and pondered on the idea of it.


    He had always wanted to meet up with Maple before he found out that she was Sonia.


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    But now that he knew the person behind Maple’s pen name, the idea of reconciling with Sonia


    terrified him, for there was far too much that had happened between them.


    As though sensing how conflicted Toby was, Tom sighed and pointed out bluntly, “Look, President


    Fuller, I know you said you loved Tina, but that was because you thought she was Maple. However,


    all this while, everyone can tell that you never loved her at all.”


    When Toby heard this, his lips twitched. “When did you realize I was never in love with Tina?”


    “From the very beginning,” Tom answered easily. “I believe it was six years ago when you first met


    Tina. You might have said you loved her, but I could tell from your eyes that you did not. You were


    only kind to her because you thought she was Maple, and it was only when Maple was brought up


    that love would gleam in your eyes.


    In other words, you have always treated Tina and Maple as two separate entities.”


    Toby fell silent at this.


    Having heard what Tom said, he concluded that he indeed had never loved Tina. Tom had gathered


    as much six years ago, while he only became aware of this after the car ident.


    Could all this really have happened because of that mysterious force?


    “There’s something else I’d like to tell you, President Fuller—the person you love is actually Miss


    Reed,” Tom added as a matter-of-fact while adjusting his sses.


    A look of surprise shed in Toby’s eyes. “I’m sorry. Did you just say that I’m in love with Sonia?”


    “Yes, and you’ve been in love with her for quite some time now, though you never realized it. I—


    along with Old Mrs. Fuller, Mr. Coleman—could tell all along, but we didn’t tell you. I wanted you to


    realize it on your own because there’s a chance that you might not believe me if I were to tell you


    outright.” Tom lifted his hands with the palm facing upward, sounding as if he didn’t have much of a


    choice in the matter.


    Meanwhile, Toby’s throat felt dry, and he could not utter a single sound, but at the same time, he felt


    as though there was a tempest within


    him.


    How could I possibly be in love with Sonia?


    And yet, try as he might rebuke such a notion, he ultimately could not.


    Toby loved Maple, and now that she turned out to be Sonia, it would naturally mean he was in love


    with thetter. The equation was logical, but that was clearly not what Tom had meant; he was


    trying to tell Toby that at some point, he had begun to fall for Sonia, even before the whole truth was


    revealed.


    “So why are you telling me this now?” Toby demanded hoarsely.


    Tom rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, it’s only because we’re sure Miss Reed is Maple


    now, but from the moment I realized you were in love with Miss Reed, I knew you no


    longer had any affection for Maple.” He paused in thought. “You were only attached to the idea of


    her, and that made you think you were in love with her, but now that both these women are one and


    the same, I figured I’d have nothing to hide anymore.”


    There was a steely glint in Toby’s eyes, and he grew reticent as Tom’s words sunk in.


    I get it now. I thought I was in love with Maple all this time, but that hasn’t been true for a while now,


    and I’m actually in love with Sonia instead!


    Even if Maple was Sonia, the love he had for thetter was entirely different, because it was one


    that happened before he even knew the truth.


    Perhaps that was the reason why he felt he had lost something precious when he first divorced


    Sonia. In fact, this exined why he was always so jealous and angry whenever he saw her


    getting close to other men.


    At that moment, everything fell into ce. He could finally understand why he was always so


    affected by Sonia and why he had sipped her leftover tea and became lost in thought at the sight of


    her lipstick stain. It was because he loved her, and there was no mysterious force at y; he was


    truly in love with her.


    Tom saw the expression on Toby’s face and knew instantly that the man was processing all this. He


    beamed and prompted encouragingly, “Go and reconcile with Miss Reed, President Fuller. I’m sure


    she would forgive you once you tell her that the both of you were pen pals.”


    Would she honestly forgive me? Toby’s lips pressed into a thin line.


    He wasn’t sure if Sonia would forgive him, but he really did want to know why Tina had turned up in


    her ce after they had agreed to meet up all those years ago.


    More importantly, he wanted to find out how Tina even knew they were pen pals in the first ce!