Chapter 55

Charles stood up to pour Ryan a glass of red wine. “President Drew, you must be joking. After her divorce, she didn’t even receive a single cent from her ex-husband. He’s a miser, so how could he possibly help my baby?”

“You didn’t even receive a single cent?” Ryan stared at her with a slightly shocked look on his face.

“Yeah. That’s not all—she didn’t even get any property or car, so would you be kind enough to give my baby some leeway and sell your business to her?” Charles placed his arms around Sonia’s shoulders as he said that.

Sonia, however, flung his hand aside. “President Drew, ignore all of his nonsense. I was the one who didn’t want anything.”

Ryan took his glass of wine and was just about to say something when he saw a couple walking toward them, hand-in-hand.

“President Drew, it’s a surprise to see you here. Miss Reed and Mr. Lane are here too. This is such a coincidence,” Tina smiled demurely as she greeted them.

Meanwhile, Charles gave a lazy stretch. “It’s unfortunate for us though. I don’t even want to see the two of you.”

Tina’s expression stiffened in response but she quickly regained her composure soon after that. “Mr. Lane, your words are as scathing as usual.”

Charles put both hands behind his head and relaxedly swiveled on his chair. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it. This is how I am when I’m with people I dislike. Unfortunately, you’re one of them, Miss Gray.”

“How dare—” Tina’s face turned pale upon being angered by his words.

However, Toby took her into his arms and he started to exude a menacing aura.

Sonia noticed his darkened expression and quickly tugged on Charles’ arm. “That’s enough. Stop it. Don’t forget what I mentioned to you earlier.”

However, Charles shrugged in response as he murmured, “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

The sight of the duo whispering to each other was unbearable for Toby. Just then, he let go of Tina and glanced at Ryan. “President Drew, have you considered my proposal for the takeover?”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet.” Ryan pointed at Sonia. “Your ex-wife is interested in my company too. She’s negotiating with me right now and the terms she offered are exactly the same as yours. I had assumed that you were the one who gave her the idea.”

Toby’s eyes flickered for a moment, which went by unnoticed. “No. I am quite intent on the acquisition of your company so there’s no reason for me to give this up just like that.”

Sonia grimaced upon hearing that and immediately, the seed of suspicion disappeared from her mind completely. That’s right. He doesn’t have a good impression of me so there’s no way he would help me. Besides, ideas are generally concocted by people, so it’s not a surprise for Z-H to come up with the same terms as Toby.

Toby glanced at Sonia from the corner of his eye and he relaxed his brows upon noticing the look of relief on her face. I knew that she would be suspicious of Z-H’s identity once she came to negotiate with Ryan. As such, he had purposely come over and said all that, intending to dispel her suspicions.

“Coincidentally, President Drew, I’m also quite intent on acquiring Continental Co.”

Toby’s expression remained impassive and he casually remarked, “Is that so? Then let’s wait and see who President Drew chooses.”

”Of course it will be Paradigm Co.!” Charles placed his hand behind Sonia’s chair.

Meanwhile, Tina gently tucked her hair behind her ears and revealed a slight smile. “From your options, the Fuller Group would be the best choice. Paradigm Co. is teetering on the edge of hardship so obviously, it wouldn’t be a good choice. What do you think, President Drew?”

Sonia placed down her wine glass and her expression darkened. “Miss Gray, where are your manners? I was here before you and I’m currently negotiating on behalf of Paradigm Co., yet you’ve barged in and thrown shade at us in front of President Drew. I don’t think this is the polite way to handle things, no?”

“Exactly!” Charles sneered at Toby quite coldly. “President Fuller, your girlfriend seems to be clueless about the rules in the corporate world and she’s obviously broken the rules. Don’t tell me you’re unaware of that too?”

Charles’ words were full of scorn and contempt and Toby felt quite uncomfortable hearing that. The latter then took Tina’s hands in his and said, “Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, Tina bit her lower lip. “Toby, did I… did I do something wrong?”

“It’s not a major thing. You just have to be more mindful in the future.” And so, the two of them walked off, hand-in-hand.

Charles pursed his lips in response. “That Fuller guy sure is protective of Tina! He doesn’t even have a limit for it!”

Sonia, on the other hand, felt a stabbing pain in her heart and she didn’t respond to Charles. Tina is his precious darling. Who else would he be protective of if not her?

Ryan took a sip of his wine. “President Reed, do you harbor and grudge ex-husband and his partner?”

She recollected herself and smiled faintly. “Not exactly a grudge, but we’ve had some disagreements. Alright then, President Drew. Why don’t we continue our negotiation?”

Meanwhile, Ryan leaned backward. “President Reed, do you remember the words spoken by your ex-husband’s fiancée earlier?”

“Of course.” Sonia nodded. “She’s right. The decision is in your hands. Of course, it’s evident that we’re not the best option compared to the Fuller Group but we have one advantage that they can’t compare against.”

“Oh?”

Suddenly, Sonia recalled Z-H’s mention of Ryan’s arrogance in their exchange of messages, and the smile on her face widened. “I can offer you the liberty of buying or selling your shares whenever you want to. In the future, if you have the means and would like to buy back the shares of Continental Co., I’ll sell it back to you at thirty percent extra of the current purchase price. However, if Continental Co. is merged into the Fuller Group, do you think you would still be able to buy back the shares?”

Although she had been a housewife for the past six years and was no longer up-to-date with the happenings in this world, Sonia remained well aware of Toby’s reputation in the corporate world as a living Hades. There was no way one would be able to win back something that had been taken over by him.

Ryan’s expression changed and he showed some interest. “It seems, your offer is quite tempting and is indeed quite difficult to reject.”

He then lifted his wine glass to propose a toast.

It’s a done deal? Sonia mused and was elated beyond herself. Soon after that, she lifted her wine glass to toast him upon being nudged in the elbow by Charles as he reminded her.

After their toast, Ryan stood up. “Alright, I’ve got to go and meet my friend at the hot springs. I’ll leave the two of you to your dinner. Let’s meet up in the next few days. Once I’m back in town, we can sign the merger documents.”

“Sure.” Sonia tried hard to suppress her excited feelings and smilingly agreed to his suggestion.

Meanwhile, Charles cupped her chin and his eyes sparkled with approval. “Baby, you’re awesome! Earlier when you were negotiating with him, you were stunning and your confidence shone through. I’m sure that you’ll be able to handle everything by yourself and soon enough you’ll definitely become a dominant lady figure in the corporate world.”

In response, Sonia hit his hand out of annoyance. “It’s okay to talk to me but stop touching me!”

Charles clutched at his chest dramatically with a hurt expression on his face. “Baby, this is too much! I can’t believe that you’re actually annoyed with me! We’ve known each other since we were young. How could you?”

Sonia rolled her eyes at him and completely ignored his antics.

Suddenly, Charles’ cell phone rang.

He stopped joking and took out his phone to glance at the screen. “Baby, I’ll go outside to take this phone call.”

“Go ahead.” Sonia made a feel-free gesture.

After he had walked off, she suddenly recalled something and took out her cell phone. She tapped into Messenger and clicked on her chat with the person with a goose as his profile picture. ‘Thanks for your tip.’

Z-H: ‘Did you close the deal?’

Sonia smiled and swiftly typed her reply. ‘It’s a done deal. You mentioned that Ryan was an arrogant person so I purposely provoked him by offering him the chance to buy and sell the shares whenever he wanted to. It was how I managed to win him over.’

Ryan’s personality meant that he would not go to his parents for money at all. At the same time, without Continental Co. in his hands, evidently, it would take him a long time to earn an extra thirty percent of the shares’ worth.

By then, perhaps Paradigm Co. would have been restored to its former glory and even if he decided to buy back Continental Co., it would not be a loss to the former either.

Z-H: ‘Congratulations.’

Sonia: ‘Thank you. I wouldn’t have succeeded so quickly without all of your tips. Can I treat you to dinner?’

She regretted her words immediately after sending the text. She could still clearly remember the details from that night. It’s going to be so awkward when we meet up!

On the other end in the hotel room, Toby had a black robe on and he was currently seated cross-legged on the couch. He stared at his phone with a dark expression as he mused, Dinner? He then pursed his lips and replied, ‘That’s not necessary.’

Sonia heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing his reply and she replied, ‘Alright then. Let’s talk about this next time.’

Z-H: ‘Sure.’

Sonia then logged out of her account just as Charles made his way back. “Baby, I’ll treat you to some time at the hot springs. How does that sound?”

Sonia’s eyes sparkled in response. “Sure! I haven’t been to the hot springs in ages.”

Ever since she married Toby six years ago, she had given up all of her pleasures in life. She had nearly forgotten the feeling of soaking herself in a hot spring.

And so, Charles dragged her along and rushed toward the hot springs. “Let’s go!”