At that moment, Toby finally understood why Sonia would run so hastily toward the building as soon as she stepped out of the car. She ran off like she was trying to get away from something wrong she did, but it turned out I was right. She ran off because she had done something wrong. After all, she intentionally left a lipstick mark on my face to make me look like a clown in front of my employees.
The reason Toby could tell that Sonia did that on purpose was that she had never left any mark on his cheek before every time they parted in the past. Every time she pecked his face, she only pecked his cheek gently without leaving any mark behind, but unlike she usually did, she kissed his face a lot harder than usual that day.
I thought she only kissed me so hard because she was starting to miss me already. Thinking Sonia loved him more, Toby was initially happy until that moment when he found out she was just pulling a prank on him. Of course, she would leave a lipstick stain on my cheek with that kind of pressure. What a naughty girl! Toby shook his head helplessly, chuckling without feeling mad at Sonia. Instead, his heart was melted by her lovely mischief. Soon, he produced a handkerchief out of his left breast pocket and wiped off the lipstick stain on his fingertip.
Noticing Toby's reaction, Tom couldn't help but feel annoyed with his superior. Come on, Mr. Fuller. Can't you stop flexing about your girlfriend in front of a bachelor like me? What are you trying to prove? You both spend most of your time together, yet that is still not enough. Miss Reed made you carry her lipstick mark to work so that you could make me feel bad. Please cut me some slack, Mr. Fuller. Despite Tom's frustration, he continued to keep a brittle smile on his face while forcing himself to see if the hickey on Toby's cheek had been wiped off.
Upon putting away his handkerchief, Toby finally laid eyes on his assistant. "What are you holding?"
Tom then pulled himself together and handed the document over to Toby. "Mr. Fuller, these are the findings that I have gathered about all the properties under the Salzburg Family, as you instructed earlier. However, the info available here is nothing too specific or classified, as Connor is a shareholder in some of these companies. I have yet to dig deep enough to find out any insider info, so there are some other companies in which I'm not sure whether Connor is involved."
"Alright, I heard you. Open the door now, would you?" Toby replied with an affirmative hum and took the document, skimming through the papers while telling Tom to do as he said. Tom replied affirmatively and opened the door, whereupon he followed Toby out of the office.
Meanwhile, Sonia was sitting in her office at Paradigm Co., holding a pen in her hand while skimming through a file on the desk. Although she appeared to be going through her documents, she had been looking at the same page for quite a few moments without flipping it. Instead, she was propping her face with one hand and spinning her pen with the other, caught up in her train of thought. Deep down, she was wondering whether Toby had already arrived at the Fuller Group, thinking the kiss mark on his cheek must have been discovered by that time. For that, she couldn't stop asking herself how Toby reacted upon finding out about the lipstick stain on his face. His employees must have laughed at him, and even if they didn't, their snigger would probably give them away. When Toby noticed their reactions, it wouldn't take him long until he noticed the mark on his cheek.
At the thought of that, Sonia was disturbed by the question of whether Toby was mad about what she had done. After all, she put herself in the man's shoes and realized it might have been embarrassing for him to walk around with a hickey on his cheek. Oh, man! When he finds out about it, he is going to blame me for humiliating him. Then, he is going to retaliate against me. Alas! Sonia let out a sigh and adjusted her sitting posture. At that moment, she began to regret letting her impulse take over her because she merely wanted to teach Toby a lesson for always taking advantage of her. Thus, when she kissed him on the cheek, she felt her adrenaline rush through her veins and decided to leave a lipstick mark on his cheek.
Nevertheless, Sonia later realized she neglected Toby's egoistic nature, berating herself for selfishly disregarding his status due to her recklessness. Oh my gosh! Those veterans in the Fuller Group are going to criticize Toby and give him a hard time. What am I going to do? Sonia rubbed her cheeks in frustration, beating herself up once again for her selfishness and lack of sensibility. Ugh! Dang it! I can't help but feel worried for Toby. He is probably going to be so mad at me now. Overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, Sonia struggled to muster the courage to give the man a call and asked whether he was angry with her. However, her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a knock on the door. Therefore, she pulled herself together and took a deep breath, shouting at the door. "Come in."
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