A Humanlike Drug
Charles fell silent as well. For a moment, he couldn’t come up with a good solution. After all, they were
going up against the head of the Salzburg Family, a presence that not even the Lane Corporation could
mess with, let alone the current Paradigm Co. Otherwise, he would’ve put pressure on Connor right
away in the Lane Family’s name and forced him to return the spare parts.
Of course, there was another person at the moment who could make Connor hand over the spare parts
—Toby. To Charles, however, Toby was both his love rival and a nuisance, so he couldn’t ask Toby for
help. He couldn’t deign to do so, nor could he put aside his pride. At the same time, though, he couldn’t
tell Sonia to ask Toby for help. In reality, Sonia and Toby were a couple, so it was perfectly justified for
her to ask Toby for help.
However, Charles knew that Sonia wouldn’t want to rely on men to accomplish something. Otherwise,
she would’ve turned to Toby as soon as the incident happened instead of procrastinating until now.
Therefore, he respected her ideas as a friend. Since she didn’t want to ask Toby for help, he wouldn’t
bring this up, of course.
Furthermore, he had a selfish motive in not suggesting that she ask Toby for help. By telling her to go
to Toby, he would undoubtedly acknowledge that he was no match for Toby in every aspect. He wasn’t
as useful as Toby, nor could he be of help to her as Toby was. He knew it was despicable of him to
think like this, but it wasn’t like he wanted to do so.
He had loved Sonia for over ten years, having fallen in love with her since he matured at the age of
puberty. In other words, he had fallen in love with her much earlier than Toby had. In the end, however,
Toby had stolen her from him twice. He had said that he would now give up, get over her, and give
them his best wishes. Inwardly, however, he couldn’t reconcile himself to this. In short, he was unwilling
to go to Toby.
After much hesitation, Charles finally refrained from suggesting that Sonia turn to Toby for help. He
merely asked, “Sonny, how about we try to purchase another batch of spare parts from another
manufacturer of the same trade?
Let’s solve the problem with the spare parts first for the time being to let Paradigm Co. continue its
operations. As for the matter of settling the score with Connor, we can do it slowly after that. What do
you think?”
Sonia sighed. “Do you think that I’ve never thought of this solution? I considered it, of course, but it’s
useless. The spare parts manufactured by those of the same trade would have their manufacturer’s
logo engraved on them. If we buy them, we have to reprocess them in our factory to remove those
logos and engrave Paradigm Co.’s logo on them.
This will undoubtedly be a time- and labor-consuming big project that will take at least five days. So, by
the time those logos are removed, Paradigm Co. will be in chaos. Of course, we can purchase spare
parts that don’t have any logos on them yet, but such spare parts are very much in the minority.
Even if we buy such spare parts from all over the country, it probably won’t be enough. The spare parts
usually have logos engraved on them as soon as they’re produced.”
She inspected Rentoor’s processing lines before, so she knew full well when the logos would be
engraved on the spare parts. After all, the logos represented their companies so that one could tell the
manufacturer of these spare parts at a glance. Because of that, engraving logos on the spare parts was
a strict process that allowed no negligence, nor could they choose not to engrave logos on the spare
parts.
Upon hearing her words, Charles grabbed his hair in frustration. “We can’t do this, and we can’t do that.
Then what else can we do? Or how about we confront Connor head on and snatch the spare parts
back? But the chances of success are…” He didn’t finish his sentence as it would hurt to do so. It was
totally impossible for the current Paradigm Co. to go up against Connor and try to snatch the spare
parts back.
“Say, how about we ask Zane for help?” he suggested again with a smile.
Zane was a government official. If he stepped in, Connor would probably have to do him a favor. It was
an act of provocation against the Seafield government for Connor, a citizen of Westsanshire, to come
to Seafield—which was under the Coleman Family’s jurisdiction—and make things difficult for a
Seafield enterprise. Therefore, as the largest representative of the Seafield government, the Coleman
Family would probably step in.
However, Sonia shook her head as well. “I’ve considered this as well, but I rejected it. Don’t forget that
Zane is friends with Toby. If I ask Zane for help, Toby will definitely learn about it. What will he think by
then?
Will he think that I’d rather bypass my boyfriend and ask somebody else for help rather than turning to
him? What position am I putting him in? Do I have a place for him in my heart? By then, there will
definitely be problems in our relationship, which will be entirely my fault. I don’t want such things to
happen.”
Relationships were no joking matter. There were a lot of times when both sides were very close, but
problems might occur in a supposedly smooth relationship because one side or the other made a
slightly wrong move.
Therefore, there were a lot of times when it was better to think twice before doing anything and not do
anything one wasn’t supposed to do. Moreover, she had asked for Zane’s help a few times before. How
could she have the cheek to turn to him again when she had yet to return his favor?
Upon hearing her say so, Charles fell silent. To think that she refused to ask Zane for help in
consideration of Toby’s feelings! Well, that shows how much she cares about him right now. Charles’
heart ached so badly that he couldn’t help tightening his grip on his phone. He replied with a wry smile,
“I really wonder if Toby is a humanlike drug.”
“Huh?” Sonia was startled. Apparently, she didn’t understand why he described Toby as such.
Leaning back in his chair, Charles rested his head on the headrest and closed his eyes slightly to
conceal the sadness in them. “I’m talking about Toby. If he’s not a humanlike drug, how can he make
you care so much about him right now? There’s also my parents. When I went home this morning and
asked them about how things went when you and Toby visited home last night, they couldn’t be more
satisfied with him.
They took my hand and heaped praise on Toby. Not only that, but they even frowned at me for being
inferior to him in every aspect. I was so pissed off, you know? That was why I said I was wondering if
he was a humanlike drug. It’s enough that he put you under his spell, but why would my parents be so
full of praise for him as well? Who is their son, Toby or me?”
Upon hearing his complaints, Sonia covered her mouth and shook with laughter. “Alright, Charles, stop
being jealous. Actually, your parents praised Toby so much for a reason. He gifted them with presents
that were very much to their liking. That’s why…”
“I see.” Charles figured out what had happened even though Sonia didn’t finish her sentence. Toby was
rich and lavish with money, so it was true that his presents would satisfy Curtis even more easily than
the presents given by Charles, who was Curtis’ own son. After all, it would indeed be somewhat
stressful for him to buy some of his parents’ favorite items.
“Ah, never mind. I’ve lost to Toby when it comes to you. Now that I’ve lost to him again in front of my
parents, I think I’ve gotten used to it.” He waved his hand before getting back to the subject on hand.
With a serious expression, he said, “Sonny, if worse comes to worst, let’s take out a bank loan and use
it to pull through this.”
Sonia’s expression turned grave. “You mean we should give up the batch of spare parts?”
Charles nodded. “That’s right. If we really can’t get the spare parts back, we have no choice but to give
up. But after we give up, there’s no way the current Paradigm Co. can pay the miscellaneous costs, so
we can only take out a loan and pull through this crisis while waiting for the machines you ordered from
Kosovo to arrive.
By then, we’ll be able to produce the spare parts by ourselves without collaborating with anyone, so we
won’t have to worry about these things anymore. What do you think?”
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