Chapter 655

Toby’s Birthday

Meanwhile, Daphne smiled wryly as her head moved backward after getting poked. “A little. Still, people
are fools for love, yes? I’m sure you’ve experienced this in the past as well, Chairman Reed.”

Sonia didn’t know what to say upon hearing that because Daphne was right. People were fools when
they were in love, and she was indeed love drunk in the past too. Still, even when she recalled how
much of a fool she was in the past, she couldn’t bring it upon herself to hate her past self.

Sonia’s past self was her most innocent form, as she had never experienced any hardship yet, and all
she could focus on was to love Toby and wait for her love to be reciprocated. Sometimes, she really
missed her past self because her current self wasn’t able to love a person so stubbornly any longer.

The current Sonia was rational for that. Although she could still love, she would never allow herself to
lose herself or her pride and turn into a mindless puppet for love. True love should be equal.

There’s no power relation in a relationship, and true love means equality. Both parties should encourage
and support each other. Should both of them stop loving each other, the separation should be mature
and calm without hard feelings.

Sonia had made it clear to Toby that they were together now because they loved each other.

In the future, if any party stopped loving the other party, they should talk about it and break up peacefully
instead of torturously tying each other down.

At the thought of that, Sonia patted Daphne’s back. “You’re right. I was a fool in the past, just like you,
but my current self is definitely not one. Of course, I can’t force you to change your mindset toward love
now, as everyone has a different mindset during different phases of their life, and me forcing you to
change will be self-defeating. Maybe you’ll become someone like me one day after you experience
enough pain in your relationship.”



“Is that so?” A confused glint flashed past Daphne’s eyes.

Knowing that Daphne didn’t really understand what she was talking about, Sonia chuckled lightly.
“Alright. You shouldn’t think too much about it, and I won’t ask Charles about this, so don’t worry. It’s just
your thrown scarf. You—”

“I’ve already contacted my past colleagues and asked for their help to retrieve it,” Daphne said timidly.
“They’ll probably send it back to me tomorrow.”

“I see.” Sonia nodded, indicating that she understood.

Then, she thought of something and asked again, “By the way, can I know why Charles hates you? Is it
because you love him? Because that’s a really ridiculous reason to hate a person. As someone who
grew up with him, I understand his personality, and it’s impossible for him to hate girls who like him.”

After all, Charles was good-looking and came from an influential family, so his upbringing wasn’t too bad.

Ever since he was a kid, he’d always had girls that liked him and confessed to him. Nevertheless, he
would always reject them politely and return the gifts that they gave him politely. He’d never cause any of
the rejected girls to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable.

Therefore, Charles had always had a good image in front of the ladies. Thus, Sonia was confused when
she learned that Charles hated Daphne.

By right, Charles wouldn’t have hated Daphne for confessing to him as she had been working as his
secretary for years, and the two of them were friends as well.

Still, Sonia couldn’t help but notice that Charles’ attitude toward Daphne was really odd.

Upon hearing Sonia’s question, Daphne panicked visibly before she quickly lowered her head to cover
her nervous look. “M-Maybe, it’s because I don’t deserve him…”



After she spent the night together with Charles, his attitude toward her took a drastic change as he was
disgusted at her for taking the opportunity to get into his bed.

Although she felt aggrieved and wanted to defend herself, she knew she did indeed have different ideas
when she didn’t push him away, causing them to have a physical relationship.

When Daphne thought about it now, she really regretted her actions. If she had pushed Charles away
and stopped him back then, he wouldn’t have hated her, even though he’d still not accept her.

At the thought of that, Daphne covered her face and started sobbing. “All of this is my fault. I asked for
it…”

Nevertheless, Sonia narrowed her eyes when she saw Daphne’s reaction. “What happened between you
and Charles?”

Daphne sniffed before shaking her head. “Chairman Reed, can you stop asking me about that? I really
can’t tell you about it…”

Sonia sighed helplessly when she saw how much pain Daphne was in. “Alright. I’ll stop asking you about
it, and I won’t confront Charles either. You can confide in me once you’re ready, and I’ll still be willing to
be your listening ear.”

“Thank you, Chairman Reed.” Daphne stopped covering her face and forced a thankful smile while Sonia
passed her a tissue paper. “You shouldn’t thank me. Maybe I shouldn’t have encouraged you to confess
to Charles; maybe things wouldn’t end up like this for you if I hadn’t done that.”

“It’s not like that.” Daphne took the tissue paper and dried the corners of her eyes before whispering,
“This isn’t your fault, Chairman Reed. Even if you hadn’t encouraged me to do so, President Lane and I’d
still end up like this either way.”



As Sonia only encouraged Daphne after what happened between her and Charles, what happened
between them wasn’t Sonia’s fault.

Still, Sonia couldn’t help but sigh helplessly, seeing Daphne’s reaction, and went quiet.

Meanwhile, Daphne pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “Alright. I’m fine now, Chairman Reed.
Thanks for comforting me. I’ve taken up so much of your time when you should have been busy with
work. You should return to your work now.”

Figuring out that Daphne didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Charles any longer, Sonia could
only go along and hummed in acknowledgment. “Sure, I’ll return to my office now. I won’t ask you or
Charles about anything, and I’ll leave you guys alone to deal with your problems. Of course, you can talk
to me anytime you want if you need my help.”

“Thank you, Chairman Reed.” Daphne nodded.

Then, Sonia patted Daphne’s back again before leaving. When she returned to her office, she sat down
in her office chair and massaged her temples.

I really didn’t expect Charles and Daphne’s relationship to take such a complicated turn. From Charles’
hatred toward Daphne and his action of throwing away her gift, it seems like Daphne had really done
something that crossed his line.

Still, Daphne’s action to give Charles a present made Sonia recall something.

Toby’s birthday is coming soon, too. Should I prepare a present for him?

Sonia tilted her head and pondered to herself, Should I get him a shirt? Maybe not, though! All of Toby’s
outfits are tailor made and cost up to millions. There’s no way that I can buy him clothes when there’s
only about a million in my savings. If that’s the case, maybe I can get him clothing accessories such as a



necktie clip. Still, Toby doesn’t need stuff like this, and he could also get items with better quality than the
ones that I got him. In that case, it would be inappropriate for me to buy him these as well.

Although Sonia knew that Toby would wear what she gifted them, his competitors would surely make a
joke out of him. They’d laugh at him for wearing cheap accessories and question Fuller Group’s ability.

In short, Sonia couldn’t allow Toby to get laughed at by others because of her presence.

Wouldn’t that mean that I still don’t know what to buy him?

Sonia scratched her head before sighing and taking her phone from the table. ‘Are you there yet?’ She
tapped into the messaging app to send Toby a message.

Toby’s reply came in quick. ‘Just got down from the car.’

Right then, he closed his car door with a smile on his face before staring at his phone while heading to
the elevator.

Initially, Toby wanted to text Sonia after he got out of his car, but he didn’t expect Sonia to send him a
text first.

Is this what they call telepathic?

On the other hand, Sonia leaned back when she saw Toby’s reply. “That’s good to know. By the way,
what kind of gifts do you like?”






62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda