Chapter 1260 Befriending the Ladies
Sonia regretted making that joke. I shouldn’t have said that, especially when it comes to something like this. Just then, Toby broke her train of thought. “What are you thinking about?” She forced a smile. “Nothing. It’s just…”
“Hm?” “Well… About what happened just—” She didn’t get to finish her sentence as Toby had spotted something. He pointed at a group of ladies not far from them. “She’s right there.”
Sonia looked in the direction where he was pointing and saw a few ladies standing in the center of the hall, chatting away. All of them were in expensive clothes, and all looked regal. The one in the center of the group was the one Sonia wanted to talk to this time. She felt elated the moment her gaze landed on the lady she was looking for. “Oh, it’s her. I’ll be going, then.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” He stopped and looked at her. She shook her head. “No. You already helped me a lot tonight. I’ll do it myself. I’m the one who has a favor to ask, not you. I’d like to try it out myself. Besides, it’s all ladies there. I don’t think a guy showing up would be appropriate.”
He patted her head softly. “Alright, I’ll stay around, then. Gotta say hi to my grandpa’s friend.” He then pointed at the rest area and said, “I’ll be waiting for you there.”
Sonia nodded in acknowledgment. “Sure. I’ll be going now.”
“Okay.” Toby nodded. “Go. I’ll go after you manage to start talking to them.”
“Alright.” She smiled at him before turning around. She patted her chest as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Then, she mustered up her courage to approach the ladies.
Just then, one server called out to her, “Miss Reed, I can help you with the thing you’re holding if you want me to.”
She paused for a moment. She turned around to look at Toby when the realization struck her. He gave her an imperceptible nod when their eyes met. Ah, this is the one Tom sent to help me. She heaved a sigh of relief and handed her bag to the server. “Of course. Thank you very much.”
Surprised that Sonia was smiling at him, the server quickly bowed. “You’re welcome, Miss Reed.” And then, he looked at her hand. “I see you don’t have anything to drink. I shall be back with some. What would you like, Miss Reed?”
“Red wine.” She pointed at the group of ladies. “I’ll be there. Just come up to me when you’re done.”
“Of course.” The server nodded and left with her bag in hand.
She heaved a sigh. She gave Toby one last look before making her way to the ladies.
He watched on as she mustered up her courage to say hi. Then, she took the glass of ‘red wine’ and raised a toast. He only left after she managed to get along with the ladies and started chatting with them.
She had grown a lot before he knew it. If this were her from old times, she would never have the courage to say hi to those ladies. Now, all she did was muster up her courage, and she could already talk to them just fine. He was happy to see such growth in her.
Toby left her to her own devices and went to greet his grandfather’s friend. Once he did that, he stopped talking to anyone and refused others’ requests to chat him up. He went to the rest area and waited for Sonia to finish her talk with the ladies. Since he was adamant about refusing to talk to anyone, nobody tried to approach him. They didn’t want to get on his bad side, after all.
And because of that, he ended up staying at the rest area all by himself as nobody even dared to get close to him. None would approach him unless he summoned them. The older generation—who didn’t intend to work with Fuller Group and weren’t business partners with the company—wouldn’t humble themselves to greet him. The last generation could, but he made it clear he wanted no disturbance, so they didn’t go over to say hi. The younger ones feared him and would rather stay clear of him than go over to chat him up.
Thanks to that, Toby had some peace, which was what he wanted. The banquet’s host told all the servers to keep an eye on Toby. They would serve him right away whenever he needed anything as they dared not keep him waiting for long.
The host didn’t get angry at Toby when he didn’t come over to greet him. He didn’t have any complaints about it, either. He knew Toby only came because his girlfriend was here, not because the host was his friend. Now that his girlfriend wasn’t around, Toby did not need to talk to anyone, not even the host.
He was the most powerful man in this city, after all. So, the host didn’t get angry nor complain about Toby for his rudeness. The fact that Toby came was already something surprising, and it elevated his banquet to another level.
The host didn’t mind that Toby refused to talk to anyone. After all, his girlfriend was talking to the host’s wife, and Toby didn’t stop her. I think he likes us. The host smiled when he came to that conclusion in his mind.
Toby had no idea about the series of thoughts that just went through the host’s head. He sat in a corner as he sipped on some wine and scrolled through his phone. Tom just texted him. He said he found out which families the girls belonged to. They were from the LeBlancs and the Zartwursts. They were fourth-rate families in Seafield, and these families were in the food and fashion business respectively. It wasn’t until a decade ago did they start making a name for themselves. No, they were no aristocrats. At most, they were upstarts and not particularly rich ones.
These families weren’t on the list of guests, either. They went through a lot just to get the invitation cards. Their goal was probably to become sycophants of the true aristocrats so that their family could get stronger and become one of the aristocrats one day. However, Toby wasn’t going to allow their hopes to take form. They crossed me, so they could forget about becoming one of the aristocrats.
He pursed his lips, fury filling his eyes. The fact that these families infiltrated the banquet reminded him of Grace’s reminder. The Acrees. The ones in the seafood business. They got an invitation card as well. They’re going to try and match me up with their daughter. Wonder if they’re here. He then made a call to Tom.
It didn’t take long before Tom picked up his phone. “President Fuller.”
“I want you to check if there are any more uninvited guests, especially ones with the family name of Acree. Tell the host about it and keep those guests under check,” Toby commanded coldly. He planned to get rid of these families in one go.
