Ch. 1001..1010

This Time, I Will Get My Divorce, Mr Chapter 1000

Where Is Daphne?

“No way!” A look of disapproval crossed Sonia’s face as she hastily kept refusing.

Daphne was visibly shaken as she stood anxiously behind the lounge door and firmly grasped the door handle with both hands. It was obvious that she was resisting. So, she had to quickly stop Charles from entering the room by blocking the door while thinking that Sonia should give it her all and prevent Charles from entering.

Sonia’s rejection had only fueled Charles’ suspicions as he eventually asked, “Sonny, are you keeping a lover inside, which is why you won’t let me look?”

“What?” Sonia’s lips quivered into a questioning twitch as she answered, “A lover? Am I the kind of person that does that?”

“Explain why you’re blocking my entry if that’s the case.” He rolled his eyes.

“It makes no difference why. I said no.” Sonia’s arm was still outstretched to block his way.

“Could you be anxious because Toby is in the room? That’s not right. If he’s your man, there’s no need to keep him from me. To top it all off, he is a jealous man. If I’m here now, he’ll be out in an instant. So, Sonny, who are you hiding behind closed doors? Are you doing something that might upset Toby?”

“Do you believe it is possible?” She rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh.

“It’s impossible,” he replied as he shook his head.

“That’s it,” Sonia stated flatly.

“Why won’t you let me in if you aren’t trying to keep a lover hidden inside and haven’t done anything that would cause Toby any harm? Who is it that you have hidden inside? Why are you acting so suspiciously?” Charles asked while pointing to the lounge that was located behind her.

“I won’t reveal who’s inside, but I can tell you she’s a girl. She felt uncomfortable, so I invited her to take a break in my lounge. She was ready to come out after her nap, but she’s too embarrassed to leave my office while I have a visitor. She is pretty shy,” she said as she lowered her arms.

“Oh, really?” He arched his brow.

Sonia looked at him coldly and responded, “Yes, without a doubt. How could I possibly betray Toby?”

“No, of course not! I believe you, then. It would be disrespectful and inappropriate for me to have a look given that the person in question is a girl,” Charles chuckled as he spoke.

“You shouldn’t be seeing in the first place.” Sonia sneered before continuing, “It’s almost lunchtime now. Let me buy your lunch, okay?” she said this as she looked at the watch on her wrist.

Such words were said to hold Charles at bay to allow Daphne to leave the lounge room. Otherwise, he would be endlessly curious about who was in the lounge, causing her to fear being discovered at any moment. Sonia was also anxious about the potential outcome of the encounter between the two. For this reason alone, Sonia knew that both she and Charles should leave the office.

After hearing Sonia’s words, he felt compelled to lower his head and rub his tummy. “Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m starting to get hungry. Where do you suggest we eat? Should we eat at the cafeteria or go to a nearby restaurant?”

Sonia flashed a grin as she reached the shelf where her purse was kept inside. “I lack the courage to ask you to the cafeteria because you are such a distinguished guest. Of course, we should eat at the restaurant. What kind of food are you craving right now?”

“On this cold day, let’s have a spicy dish. It’ll be delicious,” Charles answered as he licked the edge of his mouth.

Sonia nodded and said, “Of course, but I suppose you favor it because you fear the cold.”

Her eyes wandered down his bare chest and ankles as she spoke and she let out a mischievous laugh.

“What? Do I, Charles Lane, seem like the kind of man afraid of the cold?” His eyes widened in surprise and he swiftly shot back, “To be completely honest, all I care about is satisfying my craving for a spicy dish. As you have inferred, I do not suffer from a fear of the cold.”

After seeing the stubborn look on his face, she found it impossible to contain her laughter. “Well then. You don’t fear the cold because you’re the best? I was wrong.”

“Hmph! You’re right!” Charles proudly raised his chin.

“Okay.” Seeing him responding in such a manner, Sonia rolled her eyes. “Please wait for me outside. I’ll be there as soon as I change.”

“Alright.” He nodded and strolled away, hands in his pockets as he hummed.

Sonia shook her head in surprise as she gazed at his back. After making sure he was gone, she ran straight to the lounge.

She knocked on the lounge door with a hand, saying, “Daphne, please open the door. It’s me.”

Daphne turned the door handle and then pushed it open. When she realized it was Sonia and not Charles, she let out a sigh of relief and greeted, “Miss Reed.”

Daphne could not resist craning her neck to look around while welcoming Sonia as if she was searching for something.

“You don’t need to look,” Sonia reassured her, knowing who she was seeking. “Don’t worry; Charles has left.”

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As soon as Daphne heard Sonia’s words, she quickly averted her gaze and smiled while pursing her lips. “I am very grateful to you, Miss Reed, for keeping President Lane from entering the lounge and coming over to find me. If not, the consequences will be severe. It’s my fault; I shouldn’t have peeked through the door in the first place, or else he wouldn’t have noticed that I was staring at him. I apologize for giving him the impression that you harbored a man inside and acted inappropriately against President Fuller. My sincere apologies to you, Miss Reed.”

“It’s alright. It’s not your fault, and you shouldn’t blame yourself either. Moreover, you are on my turf, so I’ll help you. I have just sent Charles out and I will take him to lunch. You are welcome to stay here until we leave Paradigm Co., at which point you are free to leave.”

Daphne was aware that Sonia’s aim was to keep her from being discovered by Charles by leaving the lounge earlier with him. “Okay, I understand. Miss Reed, thank you so much.”

A grateful Daphne nodded.

“There’s no need to thank me.” While removing her hand from Daphne’s shoulder, Sonia said, “All right, take a little break and relax. I should be going; if I am late, Charles will be suspicious, and that will cause problems down the road.”0

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“Goodbye, Miss Reed.” Daphne waved her hand.

Sonia returned the gesture before turning around to pack her belongings from the desk.0

However, when Charles was done with his smoking, he had an idea that made him narrow his eyes as he glanced at the assistants and secretaries working at the office next to the chairman’s room. He threw the stubs of his cigarettes and opened the assistant secretary’s door. It was still early; Sonia’s assistants and the secretary were still working hard. As soon as they heard the door open, several heads swiveled to observe who was there.

When they saw Charles, they immediately greeted him. “Greetings, President Lane.”

He nodded, but his eyes darted about the room as if trying to locate someone.

Despite this, he could not locate the person he was seeking, so he pursed his lips and asked, “Where is Daphne?”

The other secretaries in the workplace knew that Daphne had been in a relationship with Charles before she started working for Paradigm Co. as Chairman Reed’s secretary. However, they were unaware that Charles and Daphne had ended their relationship and thought those two were in a superior-subordinate relationship.

When they heard his question, the assistant secretaries said without hesitation, “President Lane, Daphne is with Miss Reed. Didn’t you see her when you were looking for Miss Reed?”

This Time, I Will Get My Divorce, Mr Chapter 1011

Sonia’s Concerns

After all, Charles was a friend and a brother figure to her. Secondly, Charles came this time to help her, so it was inappropriate for Toby to treat him like this. Of course, she was also in the wrong. She knew that Toby was a petty and jealous lover, but it never occurred to her to tell him about her eating out with Charles to prepare him for it.

Toby had probably said those things to Charles because he became jealous upon learning by chance that she and Charles had gone out together for dinner. Sigh, I have to learn the lesson and be more careful in the future.

Lastly, I have to tell him wherever I go lest he becomes jealous and does something off-putting. At the thought of this, she shook her head helplessly and sent the latter half of her message.

On the other hand, Toby had returned to the Fuller Group at this moment. As soon as he sat down behind his desk, his cell phone vibrated. Tired, he loosened his tie until it was loosely hung around his neck before taking his cell phone out of his pocket.

When he saw that it was a text message from Sonia, the look of weariness in his eyes was instantly replaced with a more spirited look. Obviously, she had become a source of mental strength for him. Whenever he saw her or anything about her, he would feel incredibly contented and energetic.

A faint smile curved his thin lips before he quickly opened the text message from her to read its contents. However, when he saw her message telling him not to say those things to Charles again, his smile faded visibly. In the end, his lips compressed into a straight line, and he was clearly in a bad mood.

Clutching his cell phone, he stared at the contents displayed on its screen with a dark expression and a sullen look in his eyes. How could she tell me not to say those things to Charles again? Does she care so much about him?

At this moment, he recalled how Sonia hadn’t told him about Connor intercepting the spare parts. Instead of asking him for help, she turned to Charles and told the latter about it. Although he knew that she didn’t go to him for some reason, he was upset at this moment.

At least he was upset with Charles being there for comparison. She keeps on saying that she wants to grow up on her own without relying on me, but it turns out that she’s willing to depend on Charles! How is asking Charles for help growing up on her own?

His lips curled into a sneer. If she hadn’t gone to anyone, he would’ve been willing to accept it when she said she wanted to grow up and solve problems on her own without asking him for help. However, he found it unacceptable that she had turned to Charles for help after saying so. It made him feel that he couldn’t compare with an outsider in her mind despite being her actual boyfriend.

He closed his eyes while pinching his nose. After a while, he opened his eyes expressionlessly. With a terrifyingly chilly aura about him, he replied to Sonia’s text message. ‘Let’s talk tonight.’

When Sonia read the text message, the smile on her face froze all of a sudden. Somehow, when she saw such a reply from Toby, she had a bad feeling, and her heart skipped a beat. Furthermore, she could tell the note of frostiness and anger in the sentence.

Am I imagining things? she thought uneasily while biting her lower lip. Her fingers went weak and trembled slightly as she typed her reply. ‘Okay, but what are we gonna talk about? Why say “let’s talk” all of a sudden? Did something happen to you?’

Usually, words like “let’s talk” wouldn’t be said aloud easily. Such words would only be said when there was a problem or a misunderstanding between a couple. In short, she had never heard of anyone saying “let’s talk” under normal circumstances. Therefore, she couldn’t help but wonder at this very moment if there was some misunderstanding between her and Toby that caused him to say that.

Rubbing the phone’s screen with her thumb, she stared at the screen while waiting for Toby’s reply. However, after a few minutes, the message displayed on her cell phone was still the one she had sent; there was no reply from him.

Because of that, she couldn’t help but wonder if he didn’t see her message or if he didn’t reply to her message because he had something unexpected to deal with and didn’t see her message. Or could it be that he deliberately refused to reply to my message after seeing it?

She didn’t know what Toby’s situation was at the moment. However, judging from the words “let’s talk,” she was somewhat inclined to believe that Toby had deliberately refused to reply to her message after seeing it. If that was really the case, there must’ve been a misunderstanding between them.

For a time, Sonia’s mind was in turmoil. She bit her lip so hard that her lower lip turned pale and was almost pierced. If it weren’t that she couldn’t call him and ask him directly about it in Charles’ presence at this moment, she would’ve actually called him and asked him what was going on.

She wouldn’t have been as puzzled and clueless as she was now. She could only make wild guesses on her own, but the more she guessed, the more flustered and anxious she became.

Charles noticed from the corner of his eye that something was wrong with Sonia all of a sudden. Sitting in the driver’s seat next to her, he turned his head to dart a quick look at her. Then, he asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Sonia clutched her phone to her chest while managing a weak smile. “Nothing.”

“Do you think I’m gonna believe it?” Charles curled his lips. “We grew up together, so I know you better than Toby does. Whenever something happens to you and you don’t want to talk about it, you’ll force a smile like this. So, how could I not tell that you’re lying?”

Speechless, Sonia hung her head without saying a word. Now that her lie had been exposed, what else could she say?

Just then, Charles’ car happened to stop at a red light, allowing him to finally turn his head to look at Sonia. He asked, “Come on, what happened? Everything was okay just now. Why are you depressed all of a sudden?”

Putting her cell phone into her handbag, Sonia put her hands on her cheeks and massaged them. Then, she replied, “It’s really nothing, actually. It’s just that Toby and I were texting just now, and I sense that something seems to be wrong with him.”

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“Wrong?” Charles raised his eyebrows. “What kind of wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Sonia shook her head with a look of confusion in her eyes. “He texted me that we should talk tonight. Such words are only used when there’s a conflict or a misunderstanding, but there isn’t any conflict or misunderstanding between us. When he suddenly texted me that we should talk, I can’t help but wonder if something went wrong in our relationship.”

“I see.” Charles raised his chin in comprehension. “Are you sure that nothing has happened between you two?”

“Nope, absolutely nothing.” Sonia nodded earnestly. She and Toby had said goodbye to each other when the latter left home in the morning, so how could anything have happened between them?

“That’s strange, then.” Charles drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.0

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Sonia’s eyes lit up as if she had found a bosom friend. She quickly chimed in, “That’s right. You also think it’s strange for him to say that all of a sudden, no?”

“Uh-huh,” Charles mumbled. “Indeed, words like ‘let’s talk’ won’t be said when there’s nothing wrong. He probably said so because something happened.0

But since there’s no conflict or misunderstanding between you two, you don’t have to be worried. Perhaps he just wants to talk about business-related stuff. After all, Paradigm Co. has collaborations with some of the Fuller Group’s subsidiary companies. Perhaps that’s what he wants to discuss with you.

It’s just that he didn’t make himself clear, so you should ask him about it tonight,” he said in an attempt to comfort her. In reality, he was anxious for Sonia and Toby to break up so that he would stand a chance, but even so, he wouldn’t fish in troubled waters by stirring up trouble. Otherwise, he’d be no different from a homewrecker.