This Time, I Will Get My Divorce, Mr

Could it be Tina? But that doesn’t make any sense…”

He trailed off pensively, then shook his head as he reconsidered. “It’s only natural for Tina to keep that a

secret from us, but there’s no way she could stop us from putting the pieces together. So how could we

have overlooked all the clues that pointed to the fact that Miss Reed and Maple are the same person?

It’s all so

confusing, isn’t it?”

Just then, Toby looked at Tom intently and asked, “Do you believe that there might be some mysterious

force in this world that could control one’s thoughts and emotions?”

Tom froze at first, but he chuckled dismissively as he quipped, “Well, of course, though I’m quite sure the

force is called hypnotism.”

As soon as he was done speaking, a sudden realization dawned upon him, and he slightly opened his

mouth as he pressed, “Is this the reason why you asked to see a therapist the last time, President

Fuller? I thought you were trying to find an emotional outlet or something but were you suspecting that

you have been hypnotized?

And from what President Fuller said earlier, he was implying that I have been hypnotized as well!

Toby’s eyes were dark with thought, and when he remained silent, Tom took it as a confirmation

While Dr. Anderson had reassured Toby that he was not hypnotized, he was still certain that the opposite

was true, only that the doctor had not been able to diagnose him as such. Perhaps the person who had

carried out the hypnotism was far more skilled at it than Dr. Anderson and the other therapists.

Dazed, Tom patted his cheek and muttered, “How did this even happen?”

Toby looked down, the wheels in his mind turning. “From now onward, go and contact the world’s most

renowned hypnotists-the more,

the better!”

“Yes, sir!” Tom promised immediately, his expression stiffening.

It was only sensible that only the most renowned hypnotists could break them out of this state of mind-

control that they were in. Just as Tom was about to leave to carry out his new orders, he thought of

something and asked, “By the way, President Fuller, would you like to reconcile with Miss Reed?”

7 00000

Reconcile... Toby made no reply as he dipped his head and pondered on the idea of it.

He had always wanted to meet up with Maple before he found out that she was Sonia.

But now that he knew the person behind Maple’s pen name, the idea of reconciling with Sonia terrified

him, for there was far too much that had happened between them.

As though sensing how conflicted Toby was, Tom sighed and pointed out bluntly, “Look, President Fuller,

I know you said you loved Tina, but that was because you thought she was Maple. However, all this

while, everyone can tell

that you never loved her at all.”

When Toby heard this, his lips twitched. “When did you realize I was never in love with Tina?”

“From the very beginning,” Tom answered easily. “I believe it was six years ago when you first met Tina.

You might have said you loved her, but I could tell from your eyes that you did not. You were only kind to

her because you thought she was Maple, and it was only when Maple was brought up that love would

gleam in your eyes. In other words, you have always treated Tina and Maple as two separate entities.”

Toby fell silent at this.

Having heard what Tom said, he concluded that he indeed had never loved Tina. Tom had gathered as

much six years ago, while he only became aware of this after the car accident.

Could all this really have happened because of that mysterious force?

“There’s something else I’d like to tell you, President Fuller-the person you love is actually Miss Reed,”

Tom added as a matter-of-fact while adjusting his glasses.

A look of surprise flashed in Toby’s eyes. “I’m sorry. Did you just say that I’m in love with Sonia?”

“Yes, and you’ve been in love with her for quite some time now, though you never realized it. along with

Old Mrs. Fuller, Mr. Coleman could tell all along, but we didn’t tell you. I wanted you to realize it on your

own because there’s a chance that you might not believe me if I were to tell you outright.” Tom lifted his

hands with the palm facing upward, sounding as if he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

Meanwhile, Toby’s throat felt dry, and he could not utter a single sound, but at the same time, he felt as

though there was a tempest within him.

How could I possibly be in love with Sonia?

And yet, try as he might rebuke such a notion, he ultimately could not.

Toby loved Maple, and now that she turned out to be Sonia, it would naturally mean he was in love with

the latter. The equation was logical, but that was clearly not what Tom had meant; he was trying to tell

Toby that at some point, he had begun to fall for Sonia, even before the whole truth was revealed.

ovov

“So why are you telling me this now?” Toby demanded hoarsely.

Tom rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, it’s only because we’re sure Miss Reed is Maple now, but from the moment I realized you were in love with Miss Reed, I knew you no

longer had any affection for Maple.” He paused in thought. “You were only attached to the idea of her,

and that made you think you were in love with her, but now that both these women are one and the

same, I figured I’d have nothing to hide anymore.”

There was a steely glint in Toby’s eyes, and he grew reticent as Tom’s words sunk in.

I get it now. I thought I was in love with Maple all this time, but that hasn’t been true for a while now, and I‘m actually in love with Sonia instead!

Even if Maple was Sonia, the love he had for the latter was entirely different, because it was one that

happened before he even knew the truth.

Perhaps that was the reason why he felt he had lost something precious when he first divorced Sonia. In

fact, this explained why he was always so jealous and angry whenever he saw her getting close to other

men.

At that moment, everything fell into place. He could finally understand why he was always so affected by

Sonia and why he had sipped her leftover tea and became lost in thought at the sight of her lipstick stain.

It was because he loved her, and there was no mysterious force at play; he was truly in love with her.

Tom saw the expression on Toby’s face and knew instantly that the man was processing all this. He

beamed and prompted encouragingly,

“Go and reconcile with Miss Reed, President Fuller. I’m sure she would forgive you once you tell her that

the both of you were pen pals.”

Would she honestly forgive me? Toby’s lips pressed into a thin line.

He wasn’t sure if Sonia would forgive him, but he really did want to know why Tina had turned up in her

place after they had agreed to meet up all those years ago.

More importantly, he wanted to find out how Tina even knew they were pen pals in the first place!

With that in mind, Toby fished out his phone and called Sonia’s number only to hear a cold automated

voice answer in her stead, monotonously informing him that her phone had been switched off.

Tom heard it as well and cleared his throat. “Well, that shouldn’t stop you, President Fuller. Why don’t

you look for her and explain things to her in person?”

Toby’s eyes glimmered at this, and for a brief second, he almost took Tom’s advice.

But the next moment, he shook his head and said, “No. I want to go over to the Gray Residence and

personally expose Tina for putting on an act all these years.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll bring the car around immediately,” Tom said with renewed fervor as he adjusted his glasses

and left to get the car ready.

Meanwhile, Toby clicked into his phone gallery and found the two pictures of Sonia that the boutique

assistant had taken previously. His eyes were dark with a gentle longing as he muttered to himself, “Six

years we were married. Why didn’t you ever tell me that you were my pen pal?”

If she had only given him some kind of clue that would make him realize she was Maple, then he never would have treated her the way he had!