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 Bucky. 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. 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?”


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    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!