âHello, the person you called is unavailable. Please try again later.â It was the fifth time I called Christopher but failed to reach him. If my memory served me right, Christopher hadnât mentioned or even hinted at going on a mission before he left.
Why canât I get through? What on earth is going on? Could it be that Christopher is indeed on a mission? Otherwise, why didnât he let me tell Mark his whereabouts? After all, Mark is my father. Anyway, perhaps there is something sensitive that I shouldnât know about.
Later, I drafted a text message on my phone. In it, I asked Christopher to be careful and remember that I would be waiting for him at home.
Feeling that the draft wasnât good enough, I rewrote it to sound overbearing. Christopher, since youâre my right-hand man, I have a lot of things to assign to you. Remember to come back early. Also, remember that I am your chairman.
After sending the message, I put the phone aside and went to the kitchen. Since Tobey showed up late at the cafe, I only managed to have some appetizers before Flora came and accused me of being a homewrecker.
When the doorbell rang, I opened the door and was shocked to see Isabelle. It was the first time she visited me ever since I moved out from the Goldstein residence.
I welcomed her into the house and asked, âMom, do you prefer coffee or tea?â
âItâs okay. I wonât take up too much of your time. Are you having a late-night snack?â She was surprised to see food on the table.
âItâs my dinner.â I shrugged. Noticing that Isabelle frowned, I added, âI didnât ignore Tobey. On the contrary, he showed up late and his girlfriend ruined our dinner. Do you know how embarrassed I was? His girlfriend kneeled before me right away and begged me tearfully not to separate them.â
âDid you say Tobeyâs girlfriend crashed the party?â
Isabelle was surprised by the dramatic turn of events. After remaining silent for a while, she finally said, âWell, who doesnât have past romantic relationships? Since Tobey is an outstanding man, itâs nothing unusual for other women to fall for him. Itâs fine as long as he doesnât betray you after marriage.â
Isabelle refused to give up on matchmaking us. Feeling a headache, I replied, âIt appears that Iâm the homewrecker now. Besides, I think Tobey isnât fond of me. I mean, he has fixed his gaze on Flora ever since she showed up. Under such circumstances, our marriage might turn out to be miserable.â
âIâll talk to Tobey to resolve the problem.â Nonetheless, Isabelle was seemingly unbothered by what happened.
âYou canât resolve it right away, can you?â I murmured. Since Tobey doesnât like me anyway, why does Mom want me to marry him?
âThe Osborns wonât let an unworthy woman marry into their family. Given that youâre a Goldstein, I believe they wonât mistreat you.â
The way Isabelle worded her sentences made me feel like I would very soon marry Tobey. I was hungry before Isabella came over but lost my appetite after having the conversation. Well, I guess Iâll go on a diet today! I put the plate back on the table and heaved a sigh silently. Then, I tried to change the subject of the conversation. âDad was happy when I delivered lunch for him this afternoon.â
âBy the way, whatâs your dadâs opinion about putting me in charge of the Kenfort project? Has he agreed to it? And your dad wonât call for a board meeting to remove me from my vice president position, will he?â Isabelle finally stopped talking about Tobey and asked me nervously.