âDad has agreed to it and will sign the documents once youâre back to the office. Also, he asked me to pass you the document about tomorrowâs meeting.â
Before Mark left the office, he gave me the document and said that Mom would be delighted upon reading it. He even blinked mischievously and assured me that Mom would agree to all demands that I made.
Just as expected, Isabelleâs lips curled into a grin as soon as she opened the document. It was as though she had won the lottery. However, I couldnât help but feel slightly upset, for it proved that Isabelle was way more obsessed with self-interest than I thought. In the end, I didnât ask anything of her.
I disdained using the contract to exchange for things that I needed. If we had to maintain our mother-daughter relationship using such tactics, I wondered what was left between us. Perhaps there will be nothing left.
As the weather had become colder, I draped a shirt on myself before leaving the house. I was surprised to see Tobey standing outside my main door. Given that his shirt looked slightly damp, I guessed he had been waiting out there for quite some time. Meanwhile, Tobey handed me a bouquet of red roses and said, âGood morning. I hope youâll be as beautiful and cheerful as roses every day.â
I put on a faint smile and took the roses from him. âAre you gifting the flowers to me as an apology? If not, Iâll throw them into the garbage bin right away.â
âWell, roses, especially these eleven roses, symbolize eternal love.â Then, Tobey glanced at the closed door behind me and asked, âMay I come in?â
âIâm afraid itâs a bit inconvenient. After all, I donât want to make your girlfriend jealous.â After I blinked my eyes and declined his request, Tobeyâs expression turned grim.
âYouâre right. Despite being together for many years, we didnât get married or have a wedding. Because of that, Flora always cries and goes berserk whenever Iâm with another woman. Anyway, Iâm so sorry for what happened yesterday,â Tobey apologized.
âItâs okay. If we still have to meet up next time, Iâd suggest that you communicate with Flora. If you canât promise me this, I wonât show up next time. When that happens, please donât accuse me of disrespecting you. Iâll refuse to show up no matter how many times you ask me. After all, I donât want to be seen as a homewrecker,â I responded half-jokingly.
âWell, I still hope that you can agree to my win-win proposal. We will be married on paper only and you can decide when you want to get a divorce. In that case, getting married wonât stop you from doing anything. Isnât it a good planââ
âEnough! If you dwell on that, Iâm afraid we canât even be friends,â I interrupted.
After seeing Tobey off, I decided to go to Lane Corporation to find out what Christopher had been working on lately. Since I was the companyâs major shareholder, I wished to assist Christopher and lessen his burden.
When I was at the junction, a white car sped toward me. I couldnât help but frown while taking a few steps back. How can they drive that fast? I mean, theyâll be in deep trouble if they crash into a kid!
As I was pondering about it, the car suddenly stopped next to me. Then, two strong men in black shirts hopped out and rushed toward me. When I wanted to escape, one of them suddenly pulled my hair to drag me back.
âWho are you? Let go of meââ I tried to wriggle free from the man and bit his hand. In response, he punched me on my back. I staggered and nearly fell to the ground. At that moment, one of them grabbed my hand and covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief.
The strong chemical smell wafted into my nose and I soon lost consciousness.