Chapter 87

Chapter 87

“Where are you heading to, President Reed?” the driver asked once Sonia got into the car. She placed

her walking

stick aside as she replied to him. “Bring me to City Stadium, please.”

“Okay.” The driver started the car. The trip from Paradigm Co. to City Stadium was a 1-hour long car

drive. The

stadium was known for being one of the most congested areas in Seafield as it was close to the city’s

airport, so

Sonia found herself caught in a jam. Time continued to tick, and the clock struck 4.00 p.m. while they

were still

on the road.

Meanwhile, Tyler was dressed in a black jersey with the number ‘8’ printed on it. He was warming up

on the court

while glancing at the audience seats. A disappointed look formed on his rather pale face when he saw

that the two spaces that he had pre-booked were empty. What’s up with them? Why did neither of them

come?!

“Hey, Fuller, what’s up?” One of Tyler’s team members came over and tapped him on the shoulder.

Tyler shook his head. “Nothing,” he muttered in a rather dispirited tone.

“Well, you should rush over if nothing’s up. The coach is asking us to gather.” The teammate pulled his

hand back

and strode toward the rest area that was prepared for the players. After taking a final glance at the

audience

seats, Tyler turned and went after his teammate.

Beep! The players officially got into their rows after the whistle blew, and the match began after each

party

shook their opponents’ hands. Tyler was the small forward and also the star player of the team. Once

the person

in the center passed the ball to Tyler, Tyler would begin to travel with the ball. His actions were swift,

and it only

took him a single dodge to avoid the opponents’ attacks. Without much effort, he brought the ball past

the free throw line and tossed it into the ring. He scored! The audience cheered for them, and Tyler

gave his teammates celebratory high-fives. “You’re amazing, Fuller. It’s only the start of the game, and

you’ve already shown them

who’s king,” one of the teammates said.

—

“That’s right. If we go on like this, we’re definitely going to win” someone added.

“Let’s go, Fuller!” His teammates cheered him on and tapped him on the shoulder. Tyler nodded while

throwing a

glance at the same spots in the audience seats. The two spots he had saved were still empty. At that

moment,

he could feel tears forming in his eyes as he felt sorry for himself. He put in so much effort to get two

tickets for the best spots in the stadium, in hopes that they would come and watch him during the

competition. Yet, neither

one of them showed up to support him! He had been looking forward to seeing them!

Tyler raised his arm to rub his eyes before returning to his spot with his head hung low. He was waiting

to get the ball. Soon enough, his members sent the ball into his hands, and he dribbled it while

preparing to score. The other team already knew that he was a formidable opponent, so three players

stepped forward to play defense while he attacked; they wanted to stop him from scoring. Tyler’s heart

sank when he realized that three players were surrounding him, for he had understood that he was

their main target. The game was going to be a hard

one for him!

Sonia finally arrived at the stadium at 4.30 p.m. “I’ll wait for you in the car, President Reed” the driver

said after

he helped Sonia out of the car.

“Okay.” Sonia nodded before she hobbled toward the entrance of the stadium with her walking stick as

support.

She heard a series of sighs coming from the crowd the moment she walked into the stadium. When

she looked over at the audience’s faces and saw the looks of disappointment on them, she couldn’t

help but wonder what had happened during the match. She soon found her answer when she shifted

her gaze to the scoreboard-the

OV

ces

scores were at 20-40, with Team Kosovo leading by 20 points ahead of their national basketball team. I

can’t

believe our team is a full 20 points behind the opponents! We’re playing from our home court, and most

of the audience are people from our country, so they must feel disappointed to see their national team

losing to Team

Kosovo by so many points.

“Excuse me. Excuse me!” Sonia got the crowd to give her space so that she could make her way to her

seat. By

the time she finally arrived at her spot, she caught sight of someone walking toward her. She froze

when she

exchanged glances with the other person-it was Toby!

Toby was just as shocked to see Sonia in the stadium. He gave her a slight nod before he glanced at

the ticket

she held in her hand. “Did Tyler give you this?” When Tyler handed him the ticket the morning before,

he noticed that Tyler had another ticket in his hand. The seating number was the one next to the

seating number on Toby’s ticket. Before this, Toby assumed that Tyler would give the ticket to his

friend, but Toby was surprised that Tyler

had given it to Sonia.

Sonia mumbled a response as she sat down in her seat. “Yeah, he gave it to me.” If she knew that

Tyler had given

another ticket to Toby, she would’ve never agreed to come. However, she had no choice but to stay

since she had

already arrived.

Seeing that Sonia had already settled down in her seat, Toby did the same, for he didn’t want to block

the audience at the back. “Are you interested in basketball?” Toby asked, with his gaze still fixed on the

court.

“Are you talking to me?” Sonia frowned.

“Who else would I be talking to?” Toby’s handsome face darkened as he spoke. We are the only two

people we know in the crowd. Who else does she think I’m talking to? Could I be talking to myself?

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect you to start a conversation with me.” Sonia’s gaze fell upon the court as

she spoke. “I’m not interested in basketball. I’m only here to watch the competition because I didn’t

want the ticket to go to

waste.”

“I see.” Toby’s lips twitched a little before he muttered a short reply and went silent. Sonia wasn’t in the

mood to

care about him, so she watched the tournament in silence as well. After a while, Toby carefully turned

his head a little to peek at Sonia’s sharp and well-defined side profile. He gazed at her thoughtfully.

Right then, the crowd around them began to voice their complaints. “Sh*t. What sort of nonsense is

this? Our

opening was so good, and I thought our national team would definitely win this round. I can’t believe

Team Kosovo is getting the upper hand.”

“Exactly! We‘re only in the second period, and we’re already losing by so much. Team Kosovo is

probably going to beat us by triple the number of points by the end of the game, huh?” someone

added.

“Forget it! The more I watch this match, the more furious I get. I thought I’d get my money’s worth when

I saw the

opening of the match, but I can’t believe this is what I’m watching right now.” The audience was losing

their passion and hope for the national team, and many of them began to throw their cheering sticks

away before getting up and leaving the stadium.

Sonia glanced at the departing crowds before turning toward Tyler, who had his hands pressed against

his knees

for support while he panted on the court. “It looks like they’re really losing,” she uttered. Toby narrowed

his eyes, but he didn’t reply to her words.

Beep! The whistle indicated the end of the second quarter, and both teams returned to their own resting

areas to

get some rest. The coach began to shout at Tyler the moment he got hold of Tyler. “What’s up with

you? You

were doing so well at the start. What happened toward the middle of the game? Do you really think

you’re playing

up to your own standards?”

Tyler lowered his head without saying anything. The rest of the teammates dropped their towels and

voiced out

when they saw this happening. “Forget it, coach. The other team was attacking Fuller. Three or four of

their players would block Fuller, and he couldn’t manage-”

“What do you mean he couldn’t manage?! Didn’t all of you block him during our training? Didn’t he

always

manage to find a way to slip past you guys? Why can’t he do that now? It just looks like he’s not putting

in his full effort!” The coach’s chest was heaving with anger.

Even the teammates who had spoken up for Tyler were afraid to say anything else at that point. The

coach wasn’t wrong, after all. “I need to use the bathroom.” Tyler lowered the towel that had been

hanging by his neck

before he strode toward the bathrooms. Toby pressed his lips together and got to his feet when he saw

his

brother walking off.

“Are you going to look for him?” Sonia curled her lips upward.

Toby gave her a faint nod. “Tyler doesn’t seem to be in good condition today, and I want to take a look

because

I’m worried about him. Do you want to come along?” Toby didn’t understand why he felt the need to ask

her that

question.

Sonia pointed at her own leg. “Do you think I can stroll around easily? On top of that, I don’t want to

see him because this will be my last time doing anything related to the Fuller Family. Once this

competition is over, whatever the Fuller Family does will no longer have anything to do with me.” With

that, she picked up a water bottle and twisted it open to have a drink.

Toby fixed his gaze on her for a while before he turned to leave the crowd.