Chapter 254


    With that in mind, Toby fished out his phone and called Sonia''s number only to hear a cold


    automated voice answer in her stead, monotonously informing him that her phone had been


    switched off.


    Tom heard it as well and cleared his throat. "Well, that shouldn''t stop you, President Fuller. Why


    don''t you look for her and exin things to her in person?"


    Toby''s eyes glimmered at this, and for a brief second, he almost took Tom''s advice.


    But the next moment, he shook his head and said, "No. I want to go over to the Gray Residence


    and personally expose Tina for putting on an act all these years." "Yes, sir. I''ll bring the car around


    immediately," Tom said with renewed fervor as he adjusted his sses and left to get the car ready.


    Meanwhile, Toby clicked into his phone gallery and found the two pictures of Sonia that the boutique


    assistant had taken previously. His eyes were dark with a gentle longing as he muttered to himself,


    "Six years we were married. Why didn''t you ever tell me that you were my pen pal?"


    If she had only given him some kind of clue that would make him realize she was Maple, then he


    never would have treated her the way he had!


    He was pulled from his thoughts when his phone vibrated with a new message.


    He nced at his screen and saw that Tom had sent him a text, which read, ''President Fuller, I''ve


    brought the car around for you. I''ll be waiting at the main entrance of thepany.''


    Toby locked his phone without replying and shoved it into his pocket, then marched out of the office.


    On the way to the Gray Residence, the sky seemed to break with a sudden torrential downpour,


    which was swiftly followed by fog that blurred the road ahead.


    Tom was carefully maneuvering the car as he mumbled, “President Fuller, have you noticed how


    odd the weather has been for the past few days? The forecast said that it would be sunny, but the


    rain has proved relentless nowadays, not to mention the thunderstormst night. Apparently, floods


    and earthquakes have been happening in certain regions as well.”


    “I don’t see what’s odd about that. Those things happen every year,” Toby remarked inly as he


    stared at Sonia’s photo, his thumb caressing her face over the phone screen.


    Tom chuckled dryly. “I was only making an observation, but you’re right to say that there isn’t


    anything odd about it at all.”


    Hearing this, Toby ignored him, and he was about to drown in his own thoughts when he saw a


    figure standing on the road ahead.


    The figure was dressed entirely in white, and he was holding up a ck umbre as he stood in the


    middle of the road, making no effort to dodge Toby’s car whatsoever.


    Tom saw this, too, and though he honked severa times to signal the person to move away, it was to


    no avail.


    “What’s wrong with him?” Tom frowned and grumbled sullenly, “Does he have a death wish or


    something? Why the hell is he standing in the middle of the road instead of dodging oing


    cars?”


    “Stop the car!” Toby barked in a low voice. Judging from the way he refuses to budge, chances are


    he’s waiting for us.


    The car screeched to an abrupt halt. Tom and Toby leaned forward due to the inertia, thereafter


    falling backward into their seats once more.


    Tom turned to nce at Toby and asked hastily, “Are you alright, President Fuller?”


    “I’m perfectly fine!” Toby glowered at the unmoving figure ahead and snapped irritably. Then,


    pinching the space between his brows, he ordered imperiously, “Unlock the door.”


    Incredulous, Tom demanded with wide eyes, “Are you getting out of the car?”


    Presently, they were on one of the quieter streets of Eastbourne. There were hardly any cars that


    passed by the area, and as of now, the entire stretch of road waspletely empty save for their


    car and the mysterious figure ahead.


    Where the hell did that persone from? More to the point, why is he blocking our way? There’s


    no telling if he’s good or bad, so it’s too dangerous for President Fuller to get out of the car now!


    With that in mind, Tom turned to cast Toby a concerned look before advising solemnly, “President


    Fuller, I don’t think you should be getting out of the car. We don’t even know the guy. What if he


    turns out to be some wicked psychopath or something?”


    “Grab the pistol and wait for me in the car. You can fire shots the moment something goes awry,”


    Toby instructed ominously with narrowed eyes. He was going to get down from this car no matter


    what.


    I’m going to see for myself what this man is up to!


    Tom knew that there was no dissuading Toby when he had already made up his mind. Sighing, he


    opened up the storagepartment in the car and carefully drew out a pistol, then assembled its


    parts while nodding as he said, “Roger that, sir. I’ll keep an eye on him.”


    Toby hummed curtly in response and opened the car door, then took out an umbre from the side


    before walking toward the middle of the road. He stopped in front of the man, who slowly lifted the


    edge of the ck umbre to reveal an extraordinarily handsome face.


    However, the impact of beholding such a beautifully-chiseled face was lost on Toby, who remained


    expressionless. As far as he was concerned, the man before him did not boast incredible good


    looks, and he demanded icily, “Who are you, and what the hell do you want?” “You should go back


    the way you came,” the mysterious man said with an equally cold and distant voice.


    Toby narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”


    The man sighed like he was already growing tired of their exchange. “Do you really have to go and


    expose Tina for pretending to be Maple? Can’t you just keep going on like this? It’s not too bad,


    right?”


    Upon hearing this, Toby widened his eyes and clenched his fists, turning more hostile by the


    second. “How do you know what I m about to do?”


    The man sighed again. “Just turn the car around and pretend you never found out about Tina lies."


    “Why the hell should I?” Toby was boiling with rage, and the fire in his eyes leaped wildly as he went


    on to say, “She lied to me for six whole years, and now you want me to just y along with her


    deception? You’re so protective of her. Could you be the one behind that mysterious force that has


    been manipting me all this while?”


    “I’m not trying to protect her; I’m just keeping a promise to someone really important to me. That


    person is irrevocably in love with Tina, which leaves me no choice but to manipte your thoughts,”


    the man exined with a somewhat tired shake of his head.


    “So it is you!” Toby had only been guessing, but now that the truth had revealed itself, he was


    seized with insurmountable rage. He carelessly threw the umbre aside and reached out to grab


    the man by his shirt cor.


    Meanwhile, the moment Tom saw how things had escted, he understood immediately that the


    man in white was no friendly entity.


    He quickly poked his head out of the open car door and aimed the gun at the man’s head, ready to


    fire a deadly shot as soon as the man made to hurt Toby.


    Outside, Toby no longer looked like his usual put-together self after the rain soaked him to the bone.


    However, he couldn’t care less about his appearance and merely stared at the man with red-rimmed


    eyes as he hissed insidiously, “You’ve been controlling my every thought because of this special


    person of yours.” He spat out a bitter, humorless chuckle. “How dare you? How dare you


    manipte me to achieve your own purposes? You took away my rights to pour my heart out to my


    one true love and let me be Tina’s puppet! I didn’t get to have a say


    over my own thoughts and feelings!”


    The man paid no mind to the hand that was grabbing his shirt cor, and he appeared unfazed by


    Toby’s harsh gesture and pointed usation. He looked as cold as he had been earlier—almost


    robotic.


    “I did it because Tina loves you, and the person most important to me is in love with her. He wants


    her to be happy,” the man exined monotonously.


    Toby scoffed. “And just because of that, you decided to help him out?”


    The man nodded once in affirmation. “That’s right.”


    The next second, Toby’s fist hurled forward in a brutal attack as he shouted angrily, “So all because


    someone important to you is in love with Tina, you decided to manipte me—a person that has


    absolutely nothing to do with you—into loving Tina? What kind of bullsh*t reason is that?”


    The man frowned slightly and stepped to the side, easily dodging the oing punch. Judging


    from the way he avoided Toby’s punches without losing his breath, it wasn’t hard to tell that he


    dabbled extensively in martial arts.


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    “I admit that what we did was wrong, but everyone has their dark sides, and I don’t mind caving into


    mine by manipting and sacrificing everyone if it could make him happy.” The man’s pale gray


    orbs were fixed on Toby as he added steadily, “Besides, what’s so bad about loving Tina? Love is


    but a chemical reaction, after all. Who you love doesn’t matter at all.” “It doesn’t matter?” Toby was


    disgusted by this, and his lips curled into a spiteful smirk as he countered, “So, do you think it’s a


    chemical reaction that you care so deeply about that special person of yours? If that’s the case, he


    shouldn’t matter to you at all, am I right?”


    The question stumped the man, whose eyes widened in surprise.


    Toby, on the other hand, had no interest in what the man might be thinking as he ordered in a


    thunderous voice, “I want you to stop controlling me right now!”