Chapter 1377

Chapter 1377Chapter 1377
When Rita saw that Sonia was fine, she secretly sighed in relief. "President Reed, I shall leave now."
"Wait," Sonia called out, promptly stopping the retreating figure. She continued, "I told you before that
I'd talk to Charles about Daphne. I discussed this with him over the new year. He didn't want to let her
go, but you don't have to worry about her safety. He won't do anything to her."
Rita was exhilarated to hear that. "Oh, that's great! I always worried that President Lane might hurt her.
You know how he treated her before."
She did not need to explain Charles' behavior, for it was widely understood.
Sonia rubbed her temples. "I had a long talk with him. I believe he will eventually realize that he had
been treating Daphne wrongly. By then, she will be free. That's why I didn't force him to let her go.
Even if I did, he wouldn't accept the decision, and I might even push him to make some extreme ones.
That's why I want to give him some time to cool down and think through his actions. During this time,
he will not lay a finger on Daphne."
"Anyway, as long as President Lane doesn't hurt her, I have no other worries. The rest are their privacy.
I don't think we're in a position to interfere. If we cross a line and make him feel like the entire world is
against him, he might be pushed to an extreme."
Sonia replied, "You're very right."
"Alright. I will go back to work." "Sure." Sonia waved at her.
After Rita left, Sonia was alone again in the office. She opened her palm and stared at the USB drive
that was now hot to touch because of her grip. She was drowned in bitterness once more.
This was Carl's final gift for her as an apology for what he had done to her. She knew that he meant for
it to be an apology, and that was the reason she felt upset.
She never wanted any gift or apology from him. She just wanted him back, but that was impossible
now.
She clutched the item tightly but did not plan to check the contents, for she was still deep in sorrow
from Carl's disappearance. Tina was not as important to her as him.
Throughout the day, she was in no mood to work. After settling the pile of documents on her desk, she
spent her time spacing out in her office until it was time to get off work. She perked up a little and drove
herself back to the hospital.
At first, she did not plan to tell Toby about Carl's visit today. However, his first question for her was…
"Why did Carl Lee meet you?"
It hit her that any of her movements would never escape Toby's eyes. The bodyguards he arranged for
her were tailing her 24/7. Therefore, they could not miss the event that Carl had visited Paradigm Co.,
so they proceeded to inform Toby about it. "He visited me to discuss important matters." Sonia put down her bag and walked up to him. "But I'm
surprised that you didn't call me. You're being very chill today."
Carl Lee met with her in the morning, which was around the time Toby got the news, but he surprisingly
did not make a move on it. That was uncharacteristic of his jealous self.
Toby put away his book, took her wrist, and pulled her into an embrace. "I wasn't happy to learn that he
met with you, but I know he isn't the Carl who had feelings for you. That's why I could hold back even if
I was upset. Plus, I don't want to stress you out and make you think of me as a clingy man who checks
in with you all day."
"Well, you still asked me about it when I came in!" She gave him a playfully accusing look.
He chuckled. "I didn't want to bring it up until I saw your swollen eyes. Did you cry?"
She pursed her flaming red lips; her silence was an admission.
"I had to ask you about the meeting because you cried. Did he upset you?" He gazed at the woman in
his arms.
Sonia shook her head. "No, he didn't, but he told me a truth that I cannot accept."
"And what is that?" Toby frowned.
She wiggled out of his arms, and tears welled up in her eyes once more. "Toby, Carl's gone!" "What?" He was taken aback. Soon, he looked shocked after digesting her words. "Do you mean that
the host personality 'Carl' was gone?"
She would address only the host personality as Carl.
Sonia answered, "Yes. Carl Lee told me that Carl was unable to face the things he had done to me. He
was afraid I'd resent him and refuse to forgive him. That's why he forced his alter to show up. He
wanted to escape from the situation and have Carl Lee face it for him."
Toby nodded. "That's not impossible. Carl had always lacked confidence and was a little cowardly. I'm
not surprised that he chose to escape."
Her throat was dry. "He even told me that Carl still felt guilty toward me after running away. Two months
ago, Carl couldn't stand it anymore and had a conversation with the alter, but it was more of a deal."
He was fast to guess the deal. "Did Carl ask his alter to take over as the host?"
"Yes." She flashed a bitter smile. "Carl could not face me or himself. That's why he decided to escape
by having Carl Lee take over. There will not be a Carl in this world anymore. What's left is Carl Lee."
Toby gave her a gentle hug. He felt rather sorry to see her upset.
Honestly speaking, he was glad that his romantic rival, Carl, was gone. Now, he had one less man
around Sonia to worry about. Still, he knew that Carl's disappearance would hurt her, and he was
unable to feel happy about the situation, seeing how miserable she looked.
"Carl had always been rather lacking in confidence, and dare I say—a little extreme. I bet he'd alreadyTh€ connection to th€ §ource of thïš dat@ r€§t$ in n0v3lebookthought of vanishing from the world for a long time. Why else would he come up with an alter-
personality? I guess you were the reason he had an alter but did not let the alter take over. He met you,
and he suppressed the existence of his alter. In front of you, he put up the front of an obedient sibling
until he did you wrong. That's when he was scared that you'd hate him. As he was unable to accept his
wrongdoing, he decided to vanish. To be honest, his fate was destined from the start," Toby concluded
calmly while caressing her hair.
Given Carl's personality, he would drive himself to destruction one day. Hence, his disappearance was
not a surprise.
"But why didn't he ask me at all? That fool! He never asked for my forgiveness nor confirmed if I hated
him. Had he come to me, I'd tell him that I have forgiven him. I didn't blame him at all. Perhaps he
wouldn't have disappeared this way," she said, choking back tears.