Madam Escaped Again, Sir (Lillian Hawkins and Eric Walker) novel Chapter 497

“Who’s getting engaged?” Toby wasn’t at Fuller Group today—he had decided to stay home and rest in the penthouse that he was temporarily staying in. He was dressed in a black pajama set and was resting on the couch by the balcony when he received Zane’s call. He had been flipping through a finance magazine, but any calm and peace he felt disappeared once he heard Zane’s words, and he frowned.

Zane responded to Toby while staring at the huge television in front of him. “You, of course. You’re getting engaged to Lily.”

“Why aren’t I aware of my own engagement?” Toby’s sulked, and the air around him seemed to turn a few degrees colder. What’s up with this guy? He isn’t just starting rumors about my engagement; he’s even matching me with that disgusting woman from yesterday. My taste is way better than that!

When Zane heard what Toby said, he paused for a moment before he calmed himself down to speak. “Toby, are you saying that you’re not arranging a marriage with the McRae Family? The engagement is just a false rumor, right?”

“I’ve never said anything about arranging a marriage with the McRaes, so how could I possibly be engaged?” Toby pursed his lips. “Who told you about this engagement?”

“The Internet,” Zane replied. “It’s all over the news. All of the websites are claiming that you and Lily are getting engaged. I called to ask you right after I saw an article. I can’t believe it’s all fake! Sh*t. The media site that started this sure has some guts! How dare they report fake news?” Zane continued rambling about media ethics, and a flash of anger surfaced in Toby’s gaze as he narrowed his eyes.

People are spreading false rumors about my engagement with the McRae Family on the Internet, huh? How did false statements like these get onto the Internet? A steely look formed on Toby’s handsome face as he ended Zane’s call and left the couch to walk to his study. He turned his computer on to search for the news articles related to his engagement.

A number of articles with similar contents popped up once he ran a search. He scrolled through the titles to find more than ten thousand comments on each of the articles that reported about his engagement with the daughter of the McRae Family. The attention and fame that this piece of news was getting were no less than the top celebrity scandals in the country.

Toby twisted his face into a frown, and he exuded a forbidding aura as he continued scrolling the news. He had never been someone who enjoyed publicity, so he was thoroughly annoyed by all of the comments he saw online. However, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get the situation under control when it was still such a hot topic. All he could do now was wait.

He shut his eyes to suppress the frustration he felt, and he only opened his eyes when he felt slightly calmer. When he clicked on one of the posts, he immediately understood the reason for all the false rumors about his engagement with Lily. There was a picture online that seemed to be taken from an odd angle which made him look as if he were hugging Lily. The image of him giving Lily a ‘fond’ gaze had been snapped by some paparazzi, and the paparazzi immediately assumed that he was in a relationship with Lily. It seemed like that was how all of the rumors started.

Once Toby figured that out, he quickly noted a few media companies’ names. There were still sparks of anger in his eyes as he took his phone over to give Tom a call. However, before he could dial Tom’s number, he received an incoming call from Rose.

“I saw some articles about you getting engaged to that girl from the McRae Family, Toby. Is that true?” Rose asked in a stern voice. Before Toby could say anything, Jean’s worried voice sounded through the call. “It’s false news, isn’t it,

Toby? You can’t get married to someone from the McRae Family. Their family is going downhill, and a union of our families would only—"

Before Jean could finish speaking, she was cut off. Moments later, Rose’s voice sounded through the call. “Just ignore your mother, Toby. I want you to be honest to me. What’s going on here?”

“It’s false news,” Toby uttered as he massaged his temples. Rose’s expression didn’t change on the other end of the call —she looked as stern and strict as she usually did. However, her tight grip on her walking cane loosened a little after she heard what Toby said. “So... You aren’t getting engaged to Lily, right?” Even her tone sounded gentler than it did before.

“Yeah, I’m not.” Toby nodded.