The One Who Bought the Rings
Upon entering his wardrobe, Toby headed straight for the display case where he kept his watches, ties,
and other designer accessories. Then, he placed the jewelry box into one of the empty compartments.
Having done so, he withdrew his hand and made to leave but stopped when he thought of something.
The next second, he opened one of the drawers and took out a black velvet box.
The box was small and fit in his palm. He opened it with one hand to reveal the two rings nestled
within. One of the rings was slightly larger than the other; they were matching wedding bands—
specifically made for him and Sonia all those years ago.
He stared at the rings, his gaze darkening as he picked up one of them and began to turn it, inspecting
the Fuller Family crest engraved beneath the band. The barest hint of a smile curled on his lips.
Sonia had always believed that she paid for their wedding bands, but in actuality, Toby had been the
one who bought them while she was kept in the dark, hence the Fuller Family crest on the inside of the
bands.
Six years ago, following his agreement to their marriage, Sonia dropped by the Fuller Residence to go
over wedding details and the matter of wedding bands. However, Toby had been hypnotized back then,
and all he could think about was Tina. He had felt unadulterated spite for Sonia, believing that she was
holding him hostage through marriage. Consequently, he couldn’t care less about what she wanted for
wedding decorations, and he had no interest in the wedding band designs; he had told her to make
arrangements on her own and left home after that.
He hadn’t wanted to even be in the same room as her. However, he hadn’t expected to run into her at
the mall that same day.
She had been standing at the counter of a jewelry store, single-handedly picking out their wedding
bands, which turned out to be the same ones he was currently holding.
Back then, she had probably been so overwhelmed by the joy of her upcoming wedding that she never
bothered looking into the price of the rings before asking the retail assistant to bag them up.
The rings had been valued at two million, but given how the Reed Family were on the brink of
bankruptcy, there was no way Sonia could have forked out the money. Buying the rings would have
inevitably crippled her and the rest of the family.
Realizing this, Toby intervened and showed up in the lounge behind the jewelry store. He paid more
than a million in secret, then ordered that the Fuller Family crest be engraved on the inside of the
wedding bands.
At that point in time, he had been bewildered by his own behavior. He had considered the possibility
that he might be insane because there seemed to be no other explanation as to why he would pay for a
woman he hated so much.
It was only after he had snapped out of the hypnotism and fallen in love with Sonia again that he
understood one thing: she had haunted the back of his mind even while he was hypnotized, but he
never realized it.
In the end, Sonia only had to fork out a third of the initial price to buy the rings, and she never found out
that he had paid for them too.
Recalling all this, Toby picked up the wedding band that was meant for him and slowly slipped it onto
his left ring finger. As soon as he did, his gaze fell upon the ring that would have belonged to Sonia had
they actually stayed married and whispered, “Just wait a little while longer. Before you know it, you’ll be
reunited with your rightful owner.”
After that, he closed the lid of the box and placed it back onto the display case, then wheeled himself
out of the wardrobe.
…
The next day, Sonia arrived at Paradigm Co. and came upon Daphne, who was standing at her usual
spot at Sonia’s office doorway as she greeted, “Good morning, President Reed.”
“Is everyone ready for the meeting?” Sonia asked as she opened the door.
Daphne nodded. “Most of them.”
“And what about Charles?” Sonia asked, opening the floodgates.
Hesitantly, Daphne replied, “President Lane is here as well, but…”
“But what?”
Daphne adjusted her glasses, behind which her eyes lit up with worry. “But something seems off about
him. He looks kind of upset.”
Upon hearing this, Sonia stopped in her tracks.
Daphne noticed the shift in her demeanor and parted her lips to ask, “President Reed, do you know the
reason why President Lane is upset?”
Sonia lowered her gaze pensively. “I guess you could say that.” She didn’t think Charles would still hold
it against her after she broke the conversation last night, but she supposed it was only fair that he did.
After all, sentiments would be worth nothing if they dissipated so quickly, let alone those to do with love.
“What happened to him, President Reed?” Daphne pressed out of concern, clenching her fists as she
eyed Sonia pleadingly and waited for an answer.
Sonia knew about Daphne’s feelings for Charles, and she did not keep the girl in suspense as she
explained, “Charles and I got into a disagreement.”
“Oh, I see,” Daphne replied numbly, with an unreadable look in her eyes. That makes sense. Given
President Lane’s sharp sense of humor and rapier wit, it’s rare to see him upset, and there are less
than a handful of people who could bring his spirits down, other than President Reed, of course. She’s
the only one who could affect him in any way at all.
She should have known that Sonia had something to do with Charles’ sour mood this morning.
Presently, Sonia clapped a hand on Daphne’s shoulder and said comfortingly, “Come on, there’s no
use dwelling on this. Let’s go for the meeting, and as for Charles, I’ll talk to him. If I can’t get through to
him, then I’ll have to let you take a shot at cheering him up.”
Taken aback, Daphne stammered, “M-Me?”
“Yes,” Sonia confirmed with a gentle nod.
“No, I can’t do it.” Daphne began to shake her head vehemently, flapping her hands to dismiss Sonia’s
suggestion.
Sonia burst into laughter. “Give yourself more credit. I’m sure you’ll make for the perfect shoulder to cry
on if you believe in yourself. Maybe the romance you’ve always dreamed of will happen if you just take
a leap of faith.”
When she heard the last part of Sonia’s encouragement, Daphne blanched and stared at her with wide
eyes. “President Reed, do you—” Do you know about my feelings for Charles?
As if reading her mind, Sonia grinned and said good-naturedly, “Give it your best shot!”
So she does know. Daphne gaped at Sonia, and it took a while for her to recover from her shock as
she asked slowly, “Aren’t you angry, President Reed?”
“Why would I be?” Sonia countered, somewhat confused.
Wringing the hem of her shirt nervously, Daphne swallowed and elaborated, “Well, because I… have
feelings for President Lane.”
A light chuckle escaped Sonia. “Why would I be angry about that? If you like Charles, or anyone else,
that’s your business. I don’t get a say in who you choose to have feelings for, and in this context,
Charles and I are just friends, so no, I’m not angry.”
Daphne relaxed after hearing this, and the anxiousness that had overcome her started to wane. She
was grateful that Sonia was open-minded, because she had had experiences with women who hated
seeing their male best friend—whom they had no intention of dating—getting attention from other
women.
As of now, Sonia said seriously, “Bottom line is, you won’t get what you want without trying. Just know
that if you and Charles ever start dating, you have my full support. You’re pretty compatible with him, in
case you don’t know that.”
She truly wished Daphne and Charles could end up together. Sonia couldn’t reciprocate Charles’
feelings for her, and if the sentiments had been allowed to continue, then they would both end up
getting hurt in the long run.
All the reasons added up was why she was elated to know that someone was romantically interested in
Charles. If the right person came along and managed to catch Charles’ attention, then he would no
longer have anything more than platonic feelings for me.
If that came to pass, Sonia would be free from such unwanted pursuits, and Charles would find his own
happiness as well. From how she looked at it, this was a win-win situation.
She was aware of how selfish she was being, and admittedly, she was taking advantage of Daphne.
However, seeing as Daphne already had feelings for Charles, all Sonia would be doing was helping the
girl achieve her dreams.
That being said, she would make sure to compensate Daphne for this.
Compatible with him. These words reverberated in Daphne’s mind, and she blushed crimson as she
said weakly, “You’ve got to be kidding, President Reed.”
“I’m certainly not! I’m telling the truth. Look, you can always sleep on this and make a decision in your
own time, but right now, we have a meeting to get to,” Sonia prompted with a smile as she took up the
documents on her desk and sauntered out the door.
Daphne snapped out of her daze and hurried to catch up.
Having arrived at the conference room, Sonia saw that the attendance was nearly full, but she could
not escape Asher’s snide attack as she walked over to her seat. “My, my, our dear Vice President Reed
has finally made her grand entrance. Being so fashionably late even after the rest of us showed up on
time. You certainly know how to keep us old men on our toes, don’t you? What, do you think you’re too
good for us?”
Sonia put down her documents and took her seat at the table, after which she shot Asher a withering
look as she retorted, “Well, what can I say? I am the largest shareholder of Paradigm Co., and I think
that gives me the privilege to be fashionably late, don’t you think? It’s not my fault that none of you
have enough shares to lord over my head in the first place.”
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