Chapter 103
“It’s not you I’m looking for; I want to speak to Sonia. Is she there with you?” Grace asked on the other line, prompting Charles to glance over at Sonia.
“She’s here,” he answered.
“Pass the phone to her.”
Having made a noise of agreement, Charles handed Sonia his phone while saying, “Here, it’s my mom.”
Sonia took the phone over and greeted pleasantly, “Mrs. Lane.”
“Sonia! I’ve missed you so much.” Grace beamed as soon as she heard Sonia’s voice on the other end of the call.
Sonia, on the other hand, smiled as well. “I’ve missed you, too, Mrs. Lane.”
“You could always drop by to see me, you know.” Grace pointed out, feigning dejection.
“Sorry, Mrs. Lane. I’ve been tied up with tons of stuff recently. I barely have time to breathe,” Sonia winced and said apologetically.
few of my best recipes for you,” Grace cajoled kindly.
Sonia was just about to say something when Charles-who had been eavesdropping
-spoke up instead. “Mom, I’m bringing my darling for seafood.”
Grace, however, was insistent as she countered, “You know how restaurants never run a quality check on their seafood supplies, and it’s not as if they could do better than me when it comes to cooking.”
Sonia interjected, “Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Lane. We’ll go over to your place in a bit!”
“Oh, please, no need for the formalities. See you soon!” Grace chortled happily, elated that the younger girl had agreed to drop by for a meal.
When the call ended, Charles put his phone away and gave Sonia a resigned look. “Well, it looks like we’re going to have to give the seafood restaurant a miss.”
“It’s fine; there’s always next time, anyway. Now, we should probably go and pick out gifts for your parents.” With that, she linked arms with him and led him toward the car.
After they made their rounds through the boutiques in the mall, they finally picked out an elegant cloak for Grace and a tasteful necktie for Curtis. Then, they made their way to the Lane Residence.
had been best friends with Sonia’s mother. As far as Sonia was concerned, Grace was like a second mother to her, having taken care of her
long before Charles and Sonia pulled up in
Sonia had dropped by in six years, though she noted that the house looked the same as it had before. As such, she did not feel out of place
out of the house to greet her guest when she heard the sound of the car pulling up. Her eyes lit up at
Lane,” Sonia greeted with
sarcastically,
of it. My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good look at you!” She clasped Sonia’s hands in hers
amused by the remark. “No, I
Grace insisted. “Your face is
I’ve lost all my baby fat, so now I
Sonia placated. “Alright, that’s enough fretting, Mrs. Lane. Shall we
took her by the hand and led her into
home but them, and she couldn’t help but ask,
me how you‘ve been for the past six years.” Ever since Grace watched the press
Sonia answered easily with a nod and began to detail the life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept it brief
a physical show of frustration and snapped, “I knew those Fullers were rotten! You should have told us how badly they were treating you, Sonia. If you had told us, then we would have stood up for
he bit into an apple.
wounded him, and the rage he felt never went away. That being said, he was less angry with her than he
concern, Sonia felt warmth course through her. Tears pricked her eyes as she
able to get them to stand up for her throughout her marriage to Toby, but they couldn’t come to her defense all the time.
Grace gently prodded the younger girl’s
smiled good-naturedly as
this gesture and smoothed
he sniffed the air curiously. “Mom, what do you
this, Grace snapped out of her thoughts, and her eyes lit up with panic. She rose to her feet in a flurry
the kitchen to salvage the chowder simmering in the pot, and thankfully, she made it
of juice over to Sonia and said, “Here you go, Sonia. Have some juice while you watch a bit of television; I’ll be in the kitchen whipping up a couple more dishes, and we can dig in
Mrs. Lane.” Sonia nodded with a warm
“Come and
out?” Charles blinked. He could hardly believe what he had just heard as he pointed at his nose. “Are
face was
dare reject her. Resigned, he stood
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