Chapter 456
Chapter 456 A Man of Honor
Judging by the indifference and cold hostility with which Sonia had usually treated Toby, it was odd to
think that she would offer to make him dinner now. More to the point, it wasn’t the first time he had
injured himself while saving her, but she never bothered to thank him with such fervor before, much less
offer to make dinner for him. The very idea of it would leave one in a state of disbelief.
Toby noticed the surprised look on Tom’s face and knew what he thought. An amused smirk tipped up on
the corner of Toby’s lips and he sounded supremely pleased as he gloated, “Of course it’s in her nature
to do so and she won’t stop at dinner. She’ll personally take care of me for the rest of my recovery
process.”
“Are you serious?” Tom’s jaw dropped as his eyes bulged to the size of saucers.
Toby threw him a withering look. “Why would I make this up?”
That question was enough to render Tom speechless. Of course he wouldn’t make this up. He wouldn’t
get anything from lying to me, which means Miss Reed actually will take care of him! At that thought, he
hesitantly asked, “President Fuller, did you suggest this proposition, or did she—”
“She offered it on her own ord,” Toby brusquely interrupted.
Tom rubbed his chin while pondering on this. “I guess she’s doing this out of gratitude for you after you
saved her from certain death. So, what’s the n now, President Fuller?”
“What are you talking about?” Toby asked with narrowed eyes.
Tom stared like the answer was obvious. “I’m talking about your chance at reconciling with Miss Reed, of
course! Isn’t this the perfect opportunity that you’ve been waiting for? You’ve never risked your life to
save hers before, but this time, you did so. It’s a heart-rending and moving tale of your bravado! The fact
that Miss Reed has willingly offered to nurse you back to health just goes to show that she doesn’t hate
you anymore; she owes you a really huge favor and you could press on that advantage and ask her to
marry you again. There’s no way she wouldn’t agree!”
It went without saying that a chance like this was extraordinarily rare and if Toby were to act on it now, he
would most definitely seed.
However, he had never once considered this and even as he listened to Tom’s suggestion, he remained
impassive. Instead, he countered impassively, “I won’t do it.”
A baffled Tom demanded, “Why not?” He couldn’t understand why Toby wasn’t taking the chance to
reconcile with Sonia, even though Toby had risked his life to save hers, which, if anything, was a
testimony of his love for her.
Toby slowly reached for a document from the stack of papers and flipped through it. “If I were to do that,
it would be tantamount to emotional ckmail. I would never resort to such underhanded methods; if I
wanted her back, I would pursue her boldly and honorably until shees back to me on her own
ord. Anything else less than that would only make me a scum.”
Then, he paused and shot Tom a deadly look. “Moreover, using her gratitude to my advantage would
only reignite her hatred for me. Even if she were to agree to marry me again, we’ll end up with nothing
but grudges between us, which is far from what I want. Do you understand?”
Upon hearing the displeasure in Toby’s voice, Tom bowed his head in apology. “I’m sorry for not having
considered all these, President Fuller.”
“Indeed. Don’t bring this up again,” Toby warned tly as he opened the cap of his fountain pen.
“Yes, sir,” Tom agreed with a solemn nod.
Then, Toby signed his name on the document with habitual grace and asked, “By the way, any word on
Carl?”
“That guy?” Disgruntlement shed in Tom’s eyes as he answered, “He retired from the fashion industry
and returned to Westsanshire.”
“Westsanshire?” Toby had opened another folder from the stack, but upon hearing his assistant’s
answer, he paused and looked up at Tom. “When did that happen?”
“Just yesterday morning. I expect we’ll hear about the return of the real Young Master Hayes in the
business industry soon enough.”
As he twisted his pen, Toby asked, “Does that mean Carl has gone back with the intention of taking his
ce as the rightful heir to the Hayes Family fortune?”
“Most probably,” Tom affirmed. “Whatever Den has done this time in pursuit of the Hayes Family’s
fortune must have angered Carl to no end. At this rate, Carl wouldn’t stop until he’s brought down Den
and the other illegitimate children of the Hayes Family.”
“Carl will definitely track down Den first. Keep an eye on him because if we do, then the chances of us
locating Den will be greater,” a somber Toby instructed.
“Why would you say that, President Fuller?” Tom pressed as he gazed at Toby in bewilderment.
As he looked up, Toby asked, “Remember the top hacker who has been helping Sonia all this while?”
“Of course I do. You’re talking about Fox Eyes, aren’t you? The one who kidnapped Tina and led the
Triforce Enterprise to lose five hundred million?”
“That’s the one, and Fox Eyes is none other than Carl himself,” Toby exined.
Tom gasped audibly. “How is that possible? We suspected he was Fox Eyes and we even looked into it,
but the investigation showed differently.”
“Hiding one’s identity and personal information is but child’s y for a hacker,” Toby drawled sardonically
as he read the document in hand.
A stunned Tom was silent for a moment. Then, he drew in a breath and found his voice again. “So, we
have yed into his hands after all. Don’t worry, President Fuller, I’ll have someone keep an eye on
Carl.” Carl is a hacker, and he’ll likely track down Den before we do. As long as we have eyes on him,
we’ll have as good a chance at finding Den as he does.
“Alright, you’re dismissed. You cane back for these documents tonight,” Toby ordered.
Tom straightened his posture and bowed respectfully as he excused himself, “Very well, sir. I’ll be taking
my leave now.” With that, he turned to walk out of the room.
Meanwhile, at Bayside Residence, Sonia was wearing an apron as she stood at the kitchen stove with a
porcindle in hand to stir the chicken chowder simmering in the pot.
A hearty bowl of chicken chowder was a product of attention and she needed to stir it while it cooked or it
would stick and crust over the bottom of the pot.
At this moment, the doorbell rang and pulled her out of her chef’s trance. She threw a quick nce at the
chicken chowder and decided that it was almost done. After turning off the stove, she walked out of the
kitchen and toward the threshold where she asked into the inte, “Who is it?”
Charles’ voice sounded from the device. “It’s me, Sonia.”
Upon hearing this, Sonia opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Charles weighed down by
carrier bags of supplements. A smile twitched on her lips as she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Evidently to see you and also to bring you a couple of things,” he announced. Then, he handed the
carrier bags over to her and said, “Here you go. These are all the supplements that are supposed to help
with muscle recovery. Give them a try.”
Now that she was amused by his gesture, Sonia was torn between epting the bags and refusing
them, but she knew that choosing thetter would only prompt Charles to shove them into her hands.
Oh, whatever, I’ll just take them. “Thanks,” she responded cheerily as she grabbed the bags of
supplements.
Suddenly, Charles sniffed the air in the room. “Something smells good. Are you cooking, baby?”
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“I am,” she replied as she took out a pair of flip-flops from the shoe cab for him. “Come on in.”
He bent over to change out of his loafers and into the flip-flops before he followed Sonia into the
apartment. After that, he rubbed his hands together greedily and mused, “Looks like I came at the right
time! So, tell me what’s for dinner today, baby.”
“There’s no menu, at least not while dinner isn’t ready,” Sonia answered as she ced the supplements
on the coffee table.
He raised a brow. “What, no dinner? Then, what’s with the delightful smelling from the kitchen? It
smells like chicken chowder and… Is that butter? Are you making mincemeat pie?”
Visibly taken aback by his deduction, Sonia gasped. “You must have the nose of a bloodhound! You can
tell what I’m cooking just by sniffing the air?”
Charles chuckled, looking proud of himself. “Well, of course! My keen sense of smell is a force to be
reckoned with, so don’t even think about lying to me.” He wagged his index finger. “Now that I think about
it, I haven’t had chicken chowder for a while. Could you get me a bowl of it, baby?”
“Nope,” she said firmly. “I didn’t make enough to spare you a bowl of it.”
“Aw, why?” he whined, feigning dejection.
“Because the chowder’s for Toby,” she answered bluntly.
“What?” The look of mock exasperation on his face instantly disappeared as he regarded Sonia with a
serious gaze. “Baby, are you actually going to take care of him?”
“Did you think I was joking about it?”
He nodded grimly. “I really did.”