They Might Not Be Father and Daughter
Toby pinched his nose while asking in a grave tone, “What happened after that? Has there been any
updates from the police? What did they say?”
Tom shook his head. “Sorry, President Fuller, but there’s no update regarding this. According to the
police, Connor asked to meet Anya alone when he went. The police couldn’t comply with his request to
let Anya off, but Connor is one of the city’s biggest taxpayers, so the police wouldn’t turn down such a
small request. Therefore, the police had no idea what they had talked about during their private
meeting. But…”
“Shoot!” Toby frowned in displeasure.
Tom hemmed. Not daring to tarry, he hurriedly continued, “The police officer who took Connor to see
Anya gave us a strange piece of information. He said that judging from Connor and Anya’s manner
toward each other, they didn’t seem like father and daughter; instead, they seemed more like a superior
and his subordinate.”
“Oh?” Toby stopped pinching his nose as suspicion showed on his face. “A superior and his
subordinate?”
“That’s what the police officer said, but I don’t know the details. I didn’t see it myself, after all,” Tom
replied seriously.
Toby rubbed his thumb and forefinger together a few times. “Did he explain in detail why they seemed
not like father and daughter, but like a superior and his subordinate?”
“He did.” Tom nodded. “According to him, when Connor saw Anya, his face didn’t show the slightest
excitement or joy of seeing his daughter. Even if he wasn’t happy, he should’ve been angry, right? After
all, now that his daughter had gotten into such big trouble, he should’ve been exasperated and
disappointed as a father. But Connor looked neither happy nor angry. When he saw Anya, he looked
very imperturbable, as if Anya weren’t his daughter but someone unrelated to him.”
“Is that so…” Toby mumbled thoughtfully while lowering his eyes. Then, he asked, “What about Anya,
then?”
“Anya was strange, too. When she saw Connor, she didn’t react like she was meeting her father; she
didn’t look happy at all. A daughter should’ve been excited and overjoyed to see her father come to
save her, right? But she wasn’t. When she saw Connor, she was only terrified.”
“Terrified?”
Tom nodded. “That’s right. I’ve confirmed it repeatedly, and the police officer insisted that she looked
terrified. People in their line of work would’ve seen all kinds of people, so there was no way he
would’ve misread her expression.”
What Tom said was indeed true, so Toby didn’t ask any further. After a while, he finally said, “Go on.”
“Yes, President Fuller.” Tom continued, “Anya was terrified of Connor from the bottom of her heart.
According to the police officer, Connor had probably done something to her before, which was why she
was so terrified of him. And besides, when Anya saw Connor, she didn’t call him ‘Dad’ or ‘Father.’
Instead, she called him ‘Mr. Salzburg,’ which was why the police officer wondered if they really were
father and daughter.” The father wasn’t happy to see his daughter, nor was he angry or exasperated by
her incompetence. On the other hand, when the daughter saw her father, she wasn’t excited about
being rescued. Instead, she was terrified. This is strange no matter how one looks at it, right?
Toby narrowed his eyes in thought without saying a word. Anya was terrified of Connor, who had done
something very terrifying to her. Would a father do something terrifying to his daughter? Well, there
certainly are such fathers in the world, but I believe they’re in the minority. However perverted Connor
is, he wouldn’t have done anything terrifying to his daughter—unless they weren’t father and daughter!
They aren’t father and daughter, huh… Toby’s eyes flickered as the idea crossed his mind. That’s right!
If they aren’t father and daughter, then all of this makes sense. “Tom,” he said.
Tom straightened up upon hearing Toby’s words. “Yes, at your service, President Fuller.”
“Try to get your hands on Anya and Connor’s DNA samples,” Toby ordered in a grim voice.
Realizing what Toby meant, Tom immediately asked, “President Fuller, are you suspecting that…”
“Uh-huh,” Toby replied.
Tom took a deep breath. “Yeah, that’s indeed likely. It’s just that I don’t understand it. If they really aren’t
father and daughter, then why are they pretending to be?”
Toby’s eyes darkened. “It’s pointless to think about these right now. We’ll know why once we get to the
bottom of it.”
“Yes, President Fuller,” Tom replied.
Toby massaged his temples. “How did the meeting go after I left?”
Upon hearing his question, Tom instantly rolled his eyes. Oh, President Fuller, so you still remember
that you’re the company’s president and that you’ve left the Fuller Group and the meeting behind, huh?
He wished he could throw this remark at Toby, but he didn’t have the nerve to do so. Therefore, he
could only take a deep breath, compose himself, and reply with a businesslike smile, “Don’t worry,
President Fuller. The meeting went without a hitch. After you left, I gathered everyone and continued
the meeting.”
The meeting wasn’t a particularly important meeting where Toby had to be present. In reality, even if
Toby—the Fuller Group’s president—was absent, the meeting could still go on, for the amount of
property and money involved weren’t much. Because of that, Tom had the courage to continue the
meeting as Toby’s personal assistant. If there were many properties involved and the amount of money
was huge, Tom couldn’t chair the meeting on Toby’s behalf, of course.
Upon hearing that the meeting had gone smoothly and ended without a hitch, Toby gave an “Uh-huh” in
satisfaction. “Good to hear that. Well, if there’s nothing else, I gotta go,” he said. With that, he hung up
the phone heartlessly right away.
At the Fuller Group, Tom rolled his eyes as hard as he could as he listened to the disconnect tone on
his cell phone. President Fuller, you can hang up all you want, but before you do so, could you please
tell me if you’ll still be coming to work today? There’s a desk full of documents waiting for you to sign
and deal with! He turned to look at the pile of documents on Toby’s desk before letting out a sigh of
distress. There are so many documents, and they’re all urgent. When is President Fuller gonna come
back to deal with them? They’re worth a fortune, a fortune I say! He grabbed his own hair in frustration.
A while later, however, Tom suddenly calmed down and looked at the pile of documents coldly. Ha! If
he’s not coming back, then fine. It’s President Fuller’s own company, anyway, so the money lost will be
his own. Even the boss himself doesn’t worry about it, so why should I—a mere employee—be
worried? At the thought of this, Tom instantly felt much more relaxed. Then, he walked out of Toby’s
office while humming a tune.
Meanwhile, at Bayside Residence, after putting down his cell phone, Toby sat in his chair and linked his
fingers together on the desk before him. The lights in the study were off, and the curtains were closed,
so it was very dark in the study. As a result, Toby was almost shrouded in darkness, which made him
seem mysterious and grim since no one could see his expression clearly.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Sonia’s gentle voice rang outside. “Toby?”
Upon hearing the woman call out to him, Toby looked up and took his hands off his desk. Then, he
stood up, went over to the door, and opened it.
Seeing the pitch-dark study, Sonia turned to look at the man before her. She asked with a slight frown,
“Why didn’t you turn the lights on?”
“I forgot,” Toby replied as his thin lips parted.
Sonia didn’t bother to ask if he had really forgotten to turn on the lights or if he had purposely kept them
off. Instead, she asked, “Are you feeling better?” She was referring to whether Toby had swallowed the
fact that he was a substitute.
Toby lowered his eyes. “Yeah, I am.”
“Then what about your mom—”
Toby lowered his eyes and replied impassively, “I don’t blame her for that, but I won’t have any feelings
toward her anymore. Now all I have for her is respect.” Even though his mother was nice to him, he
really couldn’t withstand the fact that she had used him as a substitute. That isn’t something a mother’s
supposed to do!
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