Standing before Love - Season 2 Episode 14

Once he returned to his own condominium, Tony took a shower before he lazed around and pulled his phone out. This was the first time he had ever fiddled with the Messenger application on his phone; he never had the time or interest to do such things in the past. However, after he heard the single, simple word in Myra’s voice note to him, he felt as if his heart was immediately soothed by her presence around him.

It was almost a compulsion for him to lie on his bed and play the same voice note continuously. “Okay,” said Myra’s voice note. He pressed to play it again. “Okay.” Again. “Okay.” He was about to play it another time when his phone started to ring. Naturally, Tony answered the call immediately.

“Are you actually using your phone, Tony? How did you pick up your call so quickly?” Elliot sounded flattered on the other end of the line. Tony’s response wasn’t pleasant as the voice that came from his phone wasn’t the one that he longed to listen to. “Spit it out. What is it?”

“It’s a success!” Elliot didn’t seem concerned to hear Tony’s icy tone on the other end of the call. “Lyla just replied to the message on your phone. She kept thanking you in her message; she sounded almost as though she would get in bed with you if you asked her to!” She doesn’t know that she just turned herself into one of our chess pieces, though!

Upon hearing the news, Tony relaxed the muscles between his eyebrows for a short moment. Then, he frowned and gave a slight scoff. Elliot was curious to hear what was going through Tony’s mind right then. “Sean’s about to get a divorce with Myra. They’re free to get married to whoever they want to after this. It’s your chance to shine, Tony!”

When Tony recalled how Lyla had arranged for the workers at the construction site to go against Myra, he felt his chest burning with rage once more. “Once the divorce happens, I want you to release the news of Estelle being the new ambassador of the Hart Group’s Sunny Bay Project. From then onward, the Hart Group will ban all of Miss Fisher’s appearances on any of our advertisements.”

Elliot froze for a second before he began to chuckle at the woman’s bad luck. “Are you trying to take revenge after what happened with Myra, Tony? She’d be so happy if she found out about what you did for her!”

Would she be happy? All Tony could recall then was the glum, dejected look on her delicate face when she left the restaurant. It seems like I can’t bear to see her going through even the slightest trouble, huh? Tony curled his lips into a smirk before he ended the call.

After that, he continued to scroll through his Messenger. He paused for a moment before he decided to type a text in the conversation that followed the short voice note he had been listening to. ‘Are you asleep?’

The response popped up on his phone almost immediately. ‘No… Is anything the matter?’

He felt an inexplicable sensation brewing in his chest right then. He relaxed his tensed facial muscles as he typed in his message before he could stop himself. ‘It’s nothing. You should get some rest.’

As he composed his message, Tony recalled what Elliot had told him once. He said that I’ll have to be very gentlemanly when I’m trying to chase after a girl; I should include thoughtful and sweet words in my text. Things like ‘get some rest’, ‘good morning’, ‘good night’, ‘sweet dreams’, ‘how have you been lately?’ and so on… Tony thought about it for a while longer before he typed an additional ‘Good night’ at the end of his text with his tense fingers. He then stared at it for a while before he sighed and deleted the last sentence, sending out the rest of the text.

She no longer replied to him this time. He narrowed his eyes before throwing his phone over to his bedside table. 30 minutes later, he picked up his phone once more. It still had the Messenger application open, but he hadn’t received the message that he was waiting for. His lips curled into a self-deprecating sneer.

Meanwhile, Myra was no longer certain about her feelings once she received Tony’s last text. However, there seemed to be a voice that rang in her head as she lay in silence that night. You shouldn’t fall for a man like him, the voice reminded her. You wouldn’t be able to handle it if you have to go through what happened with Sean all over again. Her muscles were rigid for a long time before she finally lowered her phone and put it away.

Tony didn’t manage to receive any further texts from Myra that night. Instead, he received a new request on his Messenger. He tapped on it to see a profile with a plate of food as its display picture. He thought that it was some silly account and wanted to ignore it at first, but for some reason, he felt the urge to accept the request that night. Soon enough, the other person texted him an image along with one single sentence.

‘Have you ever tried pasta prepared by Myra, Tony?’

Tony didn’t need to guess to know who the sender was. However, his face darkened as he stared at the image of the pasta bolognese in his phone. It’s late now; it’s been a few hours since I last had a meal… I had no idea that the old man actually went to visit Myra! But judging by how things went, they seemed to have got along well with one another, right? Why didn’t Myra tell me anything while we were texting on Messenger earlier? Tony felt a surge of annoyance—it seemed to stem from the slight jealousy that he felt right then. He simply let out a cold scoff as he ignored his grandfather’s message.

Meanwhile, Sebastian had only gotten Henry to teach him how to use the Messenger application recently. I went through all that trouble just to show myself off in front of Myra. Why is my own grandson ignoring me right now?! The old man pouted before he sent another message over. ‘You must be envious and jealous; you must hate me now! Aww! You have no idea how amazing Myra’s cooking was—it was really the best. It tasted so good that I almost swallowed my own tongue after I finished her food. Oh, right—I forgot that you’ve never tasted it. You probably don’t understand what I’m talking about. It was so good…’

Tony gave the message a death glare. He was irritated over the fact that one was even allowed to type so many words within a single text message. He ran his fingers all over the screen as he hastily typed out a reply. ‘What do you have to be proud of? I’ve even tasted the soup she made. That pasta is no big deal.’ He sent his text message.

According to the old man’s understanding of his grandson’s cranky personality, Sebastian hadn’t expected Tony to respond to his message. To his surprise, he felt his phone vibrating against his pillow right after he climbed into bed with his wife. He immediately picked his phone up and took a look at the response.

His eyebrows trembled in anger when he saw what Tony had written. How dare that brat prepare soup for my grandson! She’s not even his girlfriend yet. How could she do that?! He then stared at his phone furiously as he contemplated how he could respond to Tony. Right then, Lisa turned to look at her husband’s phone before she mumbled under her breath. “How childish.” He quickly threw his phone aside before he wrapped his arms around his own wife. “I don’t want to talk to Tony anymore. You’re so much better than him, Lisa…”

The next day, Sean looked completely exhausted when Eve called him over to pay her a visit. Her heart ached at the sight of him. “How are things going in the company, Sean?” Eve had assumed that all the company matters had been well-handled after hearing what Richard told her the day before. However, now that she saw the pale and grim expression on Sean’s face…

Lyla’s phone rang before Sean could say anything. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the phone number. She had initially wanted to step outside to take the call, but she changed her mind. I don’t have anything to hide. I should just pick it up here. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end of the call belonged to Leo. “Greetings, Miss Fisher. After hearing rumors about the Chase Group having some issues with their business, Director Hart has decided that he will have to further consider his decision to purchase the Chase Group’s property on sale for the Hilliville project.”

“What?” Lyla’s face fell immediately. However, before she could say anything more, the man simply hung up on her.

Meanwhile, Eve—who was extremely alert and vigilant toward any potential mishaps—immediately recalled what Lyla had told her before when she noticed the look on Lyla’s face. “Did that big client of ours just change his mind?”

The look on Lyla’s face made her seem as if she had just encountered a ghost. Instead of replying to Eve’s question, Lyla simply turned toward Sean. “What exactly happened with the company, Sean?”