Chapter 1286 Mr. Fuller’s Achilles’ Heel
Harry was the mainstay of the Lore Family because neither Lynette nor Grayson could manage the company successfully. Harry was the reason why they could still live a luxurious life with nary a worry. However, once Harry fell, it was only a matter of time before the family collapsed.
At that time, Lynette would lose her status as the young lady of a wealthy family and be poor. How could she fight with Sonia if she didn’t have anything? How could she win Toby’s heart, then? In fact, there was a high possibility that she might lose the chance to even see Toby!
Therefore, she would not let anything happen to Harry no matter what. “Grandpa!” Lynette shouted his name anxiously, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Harry leaned against her for support; he slightly rolled his eyes back as he kept huffing and puffing as if he felt suffocated and would die at any given minute. Naturally, the two bodyguards were dumbfounded by such a scene as they both staggered backward hastily and waved their hands, indicating that they had nothing to do with Harry being like this.
Tom regarded them with blatant contempt. Tom looked nonchalant and composed compared to the two bodyguards’ frantic expressions. He merely stood there like a silent statue as he quietly looked at Harry without the slightest change in expression, nor did he have the intention to call the doctor over. It was simply because he had seen such a scene far too many times and had long been desensitized.
Frankly, he could tell at a glance whether Harry was really having trouble breathing or simply faking it. For example, at this moment, he knew that Harry was faking it, or at the very least, he was not in any serious medical condition. After all, Harry was extraordinarily skillful when it came to using his ‘illness’ as a tool.
There were several times in the past when Harry would go to Toby, hoping to get something from the latter. Once he realized that Toby would not budge, he would begin to put on an act of being sick, precisely like this. Regardless, once Toby agreed to his request, he would ‘recover’ immediately.
Tom bet that if Toby were here, he would also be equally calm and indifferent.
Just as Tom imagined Toby witnessing this scenario, Lynette suddenly shouted at him urgently, “Tom, what are you doing?! Can’t you see that my grandfather is not feeling well?! Hurry up and send him to the hospital, or at least call a doctor! I’ll make you pay if anything happens to him! Toby will not let you off the hook too!”
Tom pushed his glasses calmly and quipped, “Miss Lore, that’s such a serious accusation you have there. I’m not even going to bother to ask you if you can make me pay. Even Mr. Fuller won’t punish me for my actions. Can you please tell me what your relationship with Mr. Fuller is? Now, everyone knows that Mr. Fuller wants to cut all ties with your family, so they are watching on the sidelines, waiting for Mr. Fuller’s official statement. Anyway, to tell you the truth, our company’s PR department has prepared the statement and is waiting for the right time to publish it, but it will happen sooner or later. When that happens, you and Mr. Lore will have nothing to do with Mr. Fuller. So, tell me, will Mr. Fuller punish me for my indifference?”
“What did you say?!” Lynette was so startled by his remarks that she froze, and her voice turned shrill and ear-piercing. “Has Toby already drawn up a statement to break off ties with us?”
Even Harry couldn’t be bothered to play his patient persona at this moment. He was panting earlier, but now, his breathing returned to a smoother cadence. It was the effect of Tom’s words.
Tom sneered in disdain when he saw Harry behaving like this.
Harry felt a little embarrassed when he noticed Tom’s derisive expression, knowing that Tom was mocking him for feigning illness. Still, he was even more devastated and preoccupied with Tom’s remarks.
“Is Toby going to issue a statement about cutting ties with us?” Harry asked in a gloomy tone, his hands shaking violently all the while.
Tom crossed his arms in front of his chest as he mused, “Do you think it’s fake news? What do I have to gain by lying to you about this?”
That’s right. Tom had nothing to gain from this. Therefore, it meant that Tom had no reason to lie to them, which meant that everything he stated was pure facts!
Harry felt as if a bomb had exploded in his brain. His mind went blank, and he could not believe it. “No! Toby won’t do that!” Harry was so agitated that his originally ‘pallid’ face turned red, and his entire body trembled in disbelief. “I’m his teacher! I can even call myself his father! How dare he cut off ties with me?! This is sheer impudence! Isn’t he worried that he would end up being ridiculed and reprimanded by the people?”
Harry could not accept that Toby would be so cruel as to kick him to the curb. Even though he had heard of the rumors circulating out there, saying that Toby wanted to cut ties with him and his family, he never truly placed any stock in them. Indeed, he was worried and perplexed by the rumors, but he was confident that they were just that, rumors. Such a thing could never happen as he knew that Toby was not such an ungrateful person.
This explains why Harry didn’t do anything after what Lynette had done thus far. Other than asking Grayson to apologize to Sonia, he had no intention of allowing Lynette to apologize to Sonia in person. In other words, he had treated Sonia as a harlot who had somehow bewitched Toby for the time being.
Hence, in his eyes, Sonia did not deserve such a privilege at all!
First of all, Lynette was an elegant lady and Harry’s precious treasure. Therefore, in his opinion, she was way out of Sonia’s league. When he heard that Sonia had the cheek to demand Lynette to apologize to her personally, he could still recall his scorn toward that woman. Moreover, Harry did not think that Toby loved Sonia and that he would cut ties with them just because none of them apologized to Sonia sincerely.
Therefore, Harry didn’t bother going to Sonia and went straight to Toby to convince him that Lynette was still too young to know any better and promised she would not do it again. He believed that Toby was just temporarily frustrated and would forgive them with time, just as he always had.
Yet, a few days had passed, but Toby never gave them an inkling that he would visit them, nor could they get in touch with him.
Hence, to contact Toby and meet with him in person, they planned to hold a party for Lynette to celebrate her return and sent Toby an invitation, but he returned it utterly unopened. It was clear that Toby had no intention of attending the party, which slightly annoyed them.
From their perspective, they felt that they were trying to contact him to ease his mood and hoped that he would let bygones be bygones. Nonetheless, they didn’t expect him to be so enraged that he would not give them a chance whatsoever.
Anyway, there was nothing they could do despite feeling snubbed by his rejection. Since Toby refused to attend their party, they had no choice but to cancel it and come to this banquet, hoping to meet him.
Alas, they couldn’t even manage a private audience with Toby; instead, they were greeted with the announcement that he was about to release a statement that he would completely cut off all ties with the Lores. Harry was up in arms the longer he thought about it. “I’m his teacher! How can he do this to me because of a woman? He… He…”
This time Harry genuinely began to feel a little suffocated.
Lynette, who was holding Harry at the side, glared at Tom, feeling enraged and sad.
Toby really wants to break off ties with us! Does he know how much it breaks my heart for him to do this? Does he know what it means for him to do so? Unfortunately, the outcome is the same as the death of Grandpa! It means that I will have nothing left!
Tom didn’t know what Lynette was thinking, nor did he pay any mind to that woman. He merely glanced at Harry with a mocking gaze. “Mr. Lore, don’t be so surprised. ‘Because of a woman’? Do you think that she is just some random woman? You’re talking about the woman Mr. Fuller loves. She is the most important woman beside Old Mrs. Fuller! Everyone around Mr. Fuller knows how much he loves Miss Reed! We know what he has done to win her heart! For Mr. Fuller, she is her Achilles’ heel. He won’t allow anyone to hurt her, but you’ve done so time and time again. You chose to hurt Miss Reed, which provoked Mr. Fuller’s wrath in return, so you only have yourself to blame for landing in such a pathetic situation.”
