Chapter 54

Toby’s expression darkened when he heard that.

Charles glided toward them soon after that and came to Sonia. “Baby, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“That’s good to know,” Charles muttered and he heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he reverted to an impatient tone and yelled at the person on the slope, “Hey! Miss Gray, can you hurry up?”

As soon as Tina arrived by skis, he rudely retorted, “I saw everything that happened, so don’t you dare deny it! You shoved Sonia!”

“My vision was kind of blurry because of the helmet.” Tima bit her lip and apologized to Sonia. “I’m sorry for accidentally shoving you, Miss Reed.”

“Sonia was right in front of you and she wasn’t standing by the side. You would have been blind to not see her!” Charles held up his arm and waved it in front of Tina’s eyes. “Miss Gray, have you gone blind? Do you need me to refer you to a doctor for treatment?”

“That’s enough!” Toby said with a displeased tone. “I just saved Miss Reed and Tina has also apologized to her.”

However, Charles revealed a cold smile and countered, “President Fuller, you’re clearly aware of how steep this trail is. Meanwhile, my baby is just a beginner in skiing. If no one had come to her rescue after Miss Gray’s shove, she would definitely have broken a bone if she had rolled down the hill.”

“Can I assume that your girlfriend attempted to murder Sonia?”

“Charles, stop being so aggressive!” There was a tinge of redness in Tina’s eyes due to the anger she felt and her voice trembled slightly as she mumbled, “Honestly, I didn’t see her earlier. If you’re unable to let go of this then I can ski downhill right now and Miss Reed can shove me as revenge.”

“Okay!” Charles agreed right away, “You can head uphill right now and let Sonia shove you. I’ll be there to save you then we’ll be even.”

Speechless, Tina leaned against Toby and revealed a weak, pitiful look on her face.

Sonia noticed Toby’s darkened expression and it seemed that he was angered by Charles’ persistent aggressiveness. And so, she tugged on Charles’ arm. “Come on, let’s head back.”

However, Charles was significantly displeased as he shouted, “I don’t want to go yet! You’ve already gotten a freaking divorce with Toby. Besides, his girlfriend is being a bully! Are you going to continue being a doormat?”

Upon hearing that, Sonia got close to him and mentioned in a low voice, “The details regarding the takeover of Continental Co. were given to me by Zane.”

Zane and Toby had a close relationship. The former would have no qualms about following all of the latter’s instructions and would choose to disregard their collaboration if requested by the latter.

Sonia didn’t intend to let Tina get away with this either; however, she was much more reluctant for Toby to get involved and prevent her from taking over Continental Co.

Charles quickly weighed out the pros and cons on his mind as soon as he heard her words. In the end, he snorted coldly but he significantly toned down. However, he turned around and flipped the two of them off before leaving.

Angered beyond words, Tina thought to herself, I’ve never met a guy as scathing and as despicable as Charles!

Just then, she noticed Toby’s expression, which was as cold as ice, and she explained softly, “I was too engrossed in skiing so I didn’t notice Miss Reed in front of me. I apologized to her but then I didn’t expect Charles to be so aggressive. Ahem!”

She leaned forward and coughed several times, her face turning paler than before.

Toby couldn’t bear to keep up his cold demeanor upon noticing her pallor and he took her into his arms. “I’m next to you so he wouldn’t dare to do anything to you. The most he could do is attack you verbally. It’s too cold here. Let’s head back to the hotel.”

“Okay.” Tina wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled faintly.

……

It was already 5 PM when Sonia and Charles arrived back at the hotel.

She dropped by the front desk and was told that Ryan was currently in the gaming room, so she went to see him by herself. Just then, she utilized Charles’ usual shameless behavior and explicitly revealed to Ryan her plans to take over his company and that the price was negotiable.

However, despite her efforts, he was quite stubborn and refused to agree to her terms. Finally, he muttered in a frustrated tone, “I don’t care how much you’re willing to offer but I’m not going to sell the company! You should leave.” Then, he chased her out of the gaming room.

Meanwhile, Sonia was left standing there with a massive headache. She was just about to call Charles to come over and help her but then she realized that based on Ryan’s current attitude, the other man would most likely be unable to convince Ryan even if he utilized his glib tongue. Besides, she wouldn’t be able to gain learning experience if she didn’t take the initiative to handle discussions personally.

Just then, Sonia recalled the man and she tapped into her Messenger. She found his contact number and fired off a message. ‘Have you dealt with Ryan Drew, the boss of Continental Co., before? He’s quite difficult to deal with. He doesn’t seem interested in talking to me no matter how much my offer is.”

After sending the text, Sonia suddenly wondered, Why am I asking this guy? Wouldn’t it be better if I asked Zane?

Sonia tried to recall her message but time had lapsed and this option was no longer available.

Just then, the man replied to her message.

Z-H: ‘Ryan is an arrogant man and he doesn’t like having strangers interfering in his company. He doesn’t want his company to be managed by another company. Previously, he went into talks with another company regarding a merger, but he refused the offer because the other party requested to take over the operation side.’

Z-H: ‘He doesn’t have a great relationship with his dad so you should tackle things from this aspect.’

Sonia managed to grasp the meaning behind his short sentences.

Sonia: ‘In my offer, I should specify that he gets to retain his rights to operate the company without any interference. Then, I could request for higher stakes in the shares obtained or perhaps, I can provoke him by mentioning his dad.’

Z-H: ‘You got it. That’s quite bright of you.’

The man’s reply took some time. He was concise with his words but each of his sentences were extremely useful to her.

The negotiation tips he gave her were enlightening. Moreover, she realized how to avoid showing a disadvantaged front while negotiating with Ryan.

Sonia: ‘Hey, Goose. Do you work for Zane or do you operate your own company? I noticed that you’re quite knowledgeable.’

Z-H: ‘I’m not known as Goose.’

Sonia: ‘Well, you never told me your name either, but It doesn’t matter. This is just a nickname!’

Sonia: ‘I won’t delete your contact. Why don’t you retain my contact too? It’s good to have you as a friend. You’re knowledgeable and it’s just nice because I lack a mentor for guidance.’

Sonia: ‘I’ll compensate you for your time. In the future, if I come to you with any questions, you can decide on the price for each question.’

In the hotel room, Toby revealed a frustrated smile upon reading the multiple messages sent by Sonia.

He had casually decided to provide her with a piece of information because she had helped Tyler but now, this woman was taking advantage of the situation and making excessive requests.

After quite some time, he finally replied to her: ‘Sure. Alright.’

Sonia: ‘You have such extensive knowledge; plus, you’re a kind guy. You’re just as cute as your profile picture.’

Just then, Toby grimaced. He didn’t even want to look at her message and logged out of their chat. Then, he dialed Tom’s number.

On the other end, Tom answered the phone quite quickly. “President Fuller, is there anything that you need?”

“I had a Messenger profile that you managed previously.” Toby frowned. “There are so many pictures that you could have chosen, but why did you choose one with a goose?”

Tom replied tactfully, “The goose looked quite cute and I thought it would make you seem more approachable.”

Toby remained silent upon hearing that.

“President Fuller, you’ve been using that profile for quite some time now. Why didn’t you change the picture if you were uncomfortable with it?” Tom tried to indirectly hint that he was not at fault. “I could show you how to change it right now if you don’t know how to—”

“That’s not necessary!” With that, Toby directly hung up on Tom.

……

During dinner, Sonia made her way to Ryan’s table with Charles.

She took a seat across from Ryan and smiled faintly. “President Drew, there are quite a few empty seats here. Would you mind if my friend and I joined you at your table?”

Ryan kept his head lowered while he ate and ignored her.

“I know that you’re the founder of Continental Co. and the company is your baby.” Sonia kept both of her hands folded on the table and she mentioned smoothly, “After we take over Continental Co., I promise you that you’ll be the ultimate decision-maker for the running of the business. Continental Co. will be a separate entity and I won’t assign any management team to monitor your work.”

Ryan lifted his head to glance at her upon hearing that. “Who coached you on negotiating this way? Was it your ex-husband?”

Upon hearing that, Sonia was caught by surprise.

Ryan placed down his cutlery and revealed an unhappy expression. “Your ex-husband had his eyes on my company all this while. He assigned multiple staff on his management team to ask me out and negotiate terms. I was quite annoyed by all his pestering, which is why I came overseas for a short ski trip. Then, you ended up here!”

“President Fuller and I have been divorced for quite some time now. I obtained the details regarding the takeover of Continental Co. from another friend.” Sonia explained to him, but she started to suspect something was amiss. He said that all of this was also mentioned by people from the Fuller Group, but I was coached on this by Z-H. If this is true, then could it be possible that the man from that night… Could he be Toby?