Chapter 543
Upon entering his wardrobe, Toby headed straight for the disy case where he kept his watches,
ties, and other designer essories. Then, he ced the jewelry box into one of the empty
compartments.
Having done so, he withdrew his hand and made to leave but stopped when he thought of
something. The next second, he opened one of the drawers and took out a ck velvet box.
The box was small and fit in his palm. He opened it with one hand to reveal the two rings nestled
within. One of the rings was slightlyrger than the other; they were matching wedding bands—
specifically made for him and Sonia all those years ago.
He stared at the rings, his gaze darkening as he picked up one of them and began to turn it,
inspecting the Fuller Family crest engraved beneath the band. The barest hint of a smile curled on
his lips.
Sonia had always believed that she paid for their wedding bands, but in actuality, Toby had been the
one who bought them while she was kept in the dark, hence the Fuller Family crest on the inside of
the bands.
Six years ago, following his agreement to their marriage, Sonia dropped by the Fuller Residence to
go over wedding details and the matter of wedding bands. However, Toby had been hypnotized
back then, and all he could think about was Tina. He had felt unadulterated spite for Sonia,
believing that she was holding him hostage through marriage. Consequently, he couldn’t care less
about what she wanted for wedding decorations, and he had no interest in the wedding band
designs; he had told her to make arrangements on her own and left home after that.
He hadn’t wanted to even be in the same room as her. However, he hadn’t expected to run into her
at the mall that same day.
She had been standing at the counter of a jewelry store, single-handedly picking out their wedding
bands, which turned out to be the same ones he was currently holding.
Back then, she had probably been so overwhelmed by the joy of her uing wedding that she
never bothered looking into the price of the rings before asking the retail assistant to bag them up.
The rings had been valued at two million, but given how the Reed Family were on the brink of
bankruptcy, there was no way Sonia could have forked out the money. Buying the rings would have
inevitably crippled her and the rest of the family.
Realizing this, Toby intervened and showed up in the lounge behind the jewelry store. He paid more
than a million in secret, then ordered that the Fuller Family crest be engraved on the inside of the
wedding bands.
At that point in time, he had been bewildered by his own behavior. He had considered the possibility
that he might be insane because there seemed to be no other exnation as to why he would pay
for a woman he hated so much.
It was only after he had snapped out of the hypnotism and fallen in love with Sonia again that he
understood one thing: she had haunted the back of his mind even while he was hypnotized, but he
never realized it.
In the end, Sonia only had to fork out a third of the initial price to buy the rings, and she never found
out that he had paid for them too.
Recalling all this, Toby picked up the wedding band that was meant for him and slowly slipped it
onto his left ring finger. As soon as he did, his gaze fell upon the ring that would have belonged to
Sonia had they actually stayed married and whispered, “Just wait a little while longer. Before you
know it, you’ll be reunited with your rightful owner.”
After that, he closed the lid of the box and ced it back onto the disy case, then wheeled
himself out of the
wardrobe.
The next day, Sonia arrived at Paradigm Co. and came upon Daphne, who was standing at her
usual spot at Sonia’s office doorway as she greeted, “Good morning, President Reed.”
“Is everyone ready for the meeting?” Sonia asked as she opened the door.
Daphne nodded. “Most of them.”
“And what about Charles?” Sonia asked, opening the floodgates.
Hesitantly, Daphne replied, “President Lane is here as well, but...”
“But what?”
Daphne adjusted her sses, behind which her eyes lit up with worry. “But something seems off
about him. He looks kind of upset.”
Upon hearing this, Sonia stopped in her
tracks.
Daphne noticed the shift in her demeanor and parted her lips to ask, “President Reed, do you know
the reason why President Lane is upset?”
N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.
Sonia lowered her gaze pensively. “I guess you could say that.” She didn’t think Charles would still
hold it against her after she broke the conversationst night, but she supposed it was only fair that
he did. After all, sentiments would be worth nothing if they dissipated so quickly, let alone those to
do with love.
“What happened to him, President Reed?” Daphne pressed out of concern, clenching her fists as
she eyed Sonia pleadingly and waited for an answer.
Sonia knew about Daphne’s feelings for Charles, and she did not keep the girl in suspense as she
exined, “Charles and I got into a disagreement.”
“Oh, I see,” Daphne replied numbly, with an unreadable look in her eyes. That makes sense. Given
President Lane’s sharp sense of humor and rapier wit, it’s rare to see him upset, and there are less
than a handful of people who could bring his spirits down, other than President Reed, of course.
She’s the only one who could affect him in any way at all.
She should have known that Sonia had something to do with Charles’ sour mood this morning.
Presently, Sonia pped a hand on Daphne’s shoulder and saidfortingly, “Come on, there’s no
use dwelling on this. Let’s go for the meeting, and as for Charles, I’ll talk to him. If I can’t get through
to him, then I’ll have to let you take a shot at cheering him up.”
Taken aback, Daphne stammered, “M-Me?”
“Yes,” Sonia confirmed with a gentle nod.
“No, I can’t do it.” Daphne began to shake her head vehemently, pping her hands to dismiss
Sonia’s suggestion.
Sonia burst intoughter. “Give yourself more credit. I’m sure you’ll make for the perfect shoulder to
cry on if you believe in yourself. Maybe the romance you’ve always dreamed of will happen if you
just take a leap of faith.”
When she heard thest part of Sonia’s encouragement, Daphne nched and stared at her with
wide eyes. “President Reed, do you—” Do you know about my feelings for Charles?
As if reading her mind, Sonia grinned and said good-naturedly, “Give it your best shot!”
So she does know. Daphne gaped at Sonia, and it took a while for her to recover from her shock as
she asked slowly, “Aren’t you angry, President Reed?”
“Why would I be?” Sonia countered, somewhat confused.
Wringing the hem of her shirt nervously, Daphne swallowed and borated, “Well, because I... have
feelings for President Lane.”
A light chuckle escaped Sonia. “Why would I be angry about that? If you like Charles, or anyone
else, that’s your business. I don’t get a say in who you choose to have feelings for, and in this
context, Charles and I are just friends, so
I) .
m not angry.
Daphne rxed after hearing this, and the anxiousness that had ovee her started to wane.
She was grateful that Sonia was open-minded, because she had had experiences with women who
hated seeing their male best friend—whom they had no intention of dating—getting attention from
other women.
As of now, Sonia said seriously, “Bottom line is, you won’t get what you want without trying. Just
know that if you and Charles ever start dating, you have my full support. You’re prettypatible
with him, in case you don’t know that.”
She truly wished Daphne and Charles could end up together. Sonia couldn’t reciprocate Charles’
feelings for her, and if the sentiments had been allowed to continue, then they would both end up
getting hurt in the long run.
All the reasons added up was why she was ted to know that someone was romantically
interested in Charles. If the right person came along and managed to catch Charles ’ attention, then
he would no longer have anything more than tonic feelings for me.
If that came to pass, Sonia would be free from such unwanted pursuits, and Charles would find his
own happiness as well. From how she looked at it, this was a win-win situation.
She was aware of how selfish she was being, and admittedly, she was taking advantage of Daphne.
However, seeing as Daphne already had feelings for Charles, all Sonia would be doing was helping
the girl achieve her dreams.
That being said, she would make sure topensate Daphne for this.
Compatible with him. These words reverberated in Daphne’s mind, and she blushed crimson as she
said weakly, “You’ve got to be kidding, President Reed.”
“I’m certainly not! I’m telling the truth. Look, you can always sleep on this and make a decision in
your own time, but right now, we have a meeting to get to,” Sonia prompted with a smile as she took
up the documents on her desk and sauntered out the door.
Daphne snapped out of her daze and hurried to catch up.
Having arrived at the conference room, Sonia saw that the attendance was nearly full, but she could
not escape Asher’s snide attack as she walked over to her seat. “My, my, our dear Vice President
Reed has finally made her grand entrance. Being so fashionablyte even after the rest of us
showed up on time. You certainly know how to keep us old men on our toes, don’t you? What, do
you think you’re too good for us?”
Sonia put down her documents and took her seat at the table, after which she shot Asher a
withering look as she retorted, “Well, what can I say? I am thergest shareholder of Paradigm Co.,
and I think that gives me the privilege to be fashionablyte, don’t you think? It’s not my fault that
none of you have enough shares to lord over my head in the first ce.”