A Close Call
“Sure.” Sonia nodded as she grabbed a fork and sliced the Black Forest cake before putting it into her
mouth. With the soft texture and sweetness, the cake tasted so delicious that Sonia lost herself in it
while her eyes curled upward like a smile.
“It looks like you love it a lot,” Toby commented with a smile upon noticing Sonia’s reaction.
“Well, the taste is indeed not bad.” Sonia gave her compliment.
Toby held his cup of coffee in the air and said, “Glad to hear that. I have a few more right here, so you
could take them away if you want.”
“Thanks then,” Sonia replied and took a sip of her black tea. Deep down, she couldn’t deny how much
she loved the cake, so she reckoned she might as well take a few more slices of it since she had
already eaten one. After finishing the cake on her plate, she put it down and grabbed the bag beside
her before handing it over to Toby. “This is the jewelry you gave me. Thank you so much.”
“No worries.” Toby received the bag and gave it to Tom. “Please take care of it.”
“Sure, President Fuller.” Tom nodded and took the bag to the lounge, where there was a safe.
Watching as Tom walked away, Sonia asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to examine it? Aren’t you
afraid that I’d substitute it with a counterfeit?”
“No need for that. I don’t think you’d do that either.” Toby added while drinking his coffee, “Furthermore,
I wouldn’t complain either, even if you did that.”
Meeting the man’s sentimental eyes, Sonia felt her heart pounding even faster as she couldn’t help but
keep her head down.
On the other hand, Toby let out a sigh, feeling dismayed at Sonia’s slight resistance, although she had
stopped rejecting his advances to woo her. After all, he couldn’t stop wondering when she would ever
realize she was already in love with him if she continued to fight her emotions and resist his advances.
Ugh, man! I wish I could just tell her everything and ignore the fact that it may backfire.
While Toby was caught up in his thoughts, Sonia’s phone suddenly rang. She then reached for her
phone in her purse and realized it was a call from her secretary, Daphne. Thus, she chuckled at Toby in
embarrassment. “Excuse me, President Fuller. I’d like to answer this phone call.”
“Sure.” Toby nodded.
Sonia slid across her phone screen to answer the call, whereupon she put it to her ear. “Hello.”
“President Reed, I found something about the car license plate number that you told me to investigate
earlier,” Daphne answered.
Sonia sat upright and asked, “What did you find? Who is the owner of the car? Is there anything fishy
about it?”
The owner of the car? Toby pricked up his ears and put down his cup of coffee while staring at her.
What’s going on? Is she in some kind of trouble?
“The owner is just a normal civilian who has been using the car for years, so everything seems fine
here,” Daphne replied while skimming through her results.
“Alright, I heard you.” Sonia nodded when she heard her secretary’s reply. She then put her phone
away and heaved a sigh of relief with her mind put to ease. It looks like the driver who happened to be
going the same way as we did this morning is just a normal civilian. Well, I guess I can rest assured
now knowing that he wasn’t actually tailing us.
Noticing Sonia’s relief, Toby squinted and asked in a concerned manner, “What happened?”
“Oh, it’s no big deal, but it’s already dealt with anyway.” Sonia smiled faintly.
“Oh, good to know that. If anything serious happens, you can always come to me, and I’ll take care of it
for you.” Toby jutted his chin.
“Sure.” Sonia nodded, but Toby could tell how perfunctory her answer sounded.
“Alright, President Fuller. It’s getting late, so I should get going now. After all, I’m needed at the
construction site by 3 PM later.” Sonia lifted her arm and looked at the watch on her wrist as she stood
up. In fact, she hadn’t been to her plant at all, even though it had already been built for months.
Meanwhile, the construction team gave Daphne a call earlier and told her that they had finished
building the plant. Thus, they requested someone to examine and inspect the place upon completion
so that any amendments could be brought up and carried out. For that, Sonia decided to pay a visit to
the plant.
“Sure, I’ll see you out, perhaps.” Toby rose from his seat. Although he wanted Sonia to stay for a while
more, he didn’t really have a reason to convince her. Nonetheless, he was glad that she didn’t resist his
advances, so he could find an excuse to see her any time he wanted, unlike his previous experience.
On the other hand, Sonia didn’t reject Toby’s offer to see her out as she smiled and nodded in
agreement.
Then, Toby looked at his assistant, who had just come back from the lounge after putting away the
jewelry, and gave him an instruction. “Please pack the cake in the refrigerator.”
“Sure,” Tom replied with an affirmative hum and went on to do as he was instructed. Soon, he returned
with a delicate box, which Toby took and handed over to Sonia.
“Thank you.” Sonia took the box.
“Don’t mention it. Your love for the cake is the best way of showing your gratitude to me.” Toby looked
at her, speaking with a hoarse voice.
The next moment, Sonia’s ears blushed as she kept her head down without saying a single word.
In the meantime, Toby sensed her embarrassment and chuckled before he changed the subject. “Let’s
go.” Then, Sonia followed him out of the office and headed toward the elevator. When they got there,
Toby pushed the button to open the elevator door. “Where did you park your car, by the way?”
“The junction near your company’s entrance,” Sonia answered with the cake in her hand. In fact, she
parked her car there because she spotted a vacant lot there when she arrived.
While Toby nodded his head to show his acknowledgment, the elevator arrived. Then, he chivalrously
invited her to step into the elevator before he did, as Tom followed right behind to make sure the
elevator door was closed.
As the elevator descended, the confined space was shrouded by silence, with neither of them speaking
a word to the other. It wasn’t until they stepped out of the elevator that Sonia broke the silence and
said, “I’ll see you soon, so you should probably get back inside, President Fuller.”
“No worries. I’ll leave once you get into your car,” Toby said with one hand in his pocket.
Noticing Toby’s insistence, Sonia silently gave in and reached for the car keys to unlock her car door.
“Alright, I’ll make a move now. See you!” She waved her hand at the man.
“See you.” Toby responded with an affirmative hum.
When Sonia opened the car door and was about to enter the vehicle, a speeding car could be heard
charging from behind. As Toby looked up, he saw a black car of a Japanese brand traveling in their
direction at an unusually high speed. Sensing the driver’s intent to run over them, Toby appeared to be
shocked as he quickly seized Sonia’s arm and pulled her backward.
“Watch out!” Toby shouted with an intense voice.
“What’s wrong?” Sonia was jerked by the man to the side before she could understand what had
happened. However, she also didn’t manage to hold her cake tightly as it fell onto the floor. At the same
time, Sonia collapsed into Toby’s arms while both of them turned around in a circle with the man’s arm
around her waist. Then, both of them fell down onto the ground and rolled out of the way just before the
car could run over them.
In the meantime, Tina was frustrated with Toby’s swift reaction because he not only managed to dodge
her car but also save Sonia’s life at the same time. As she watched her chance slip through her fingers,
her face twisted in malicious horror. “Goddamn it!” Tina thumped the steering wheel and set her eyes
on the man and the lady outside her car window, gritting her teeth. In fact, she had been tailing Sonia
all the way there while waiting for an opportunity to hit her and run.
However, when Toby showed up as well, she was gleeful that luck was on her side. While Tina believed
she could only find peace in Sonia’s death, her love for Toby had grown into a grudgeful hatred. Thus,
she could never bring herself to forgive him.
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