“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.

“Well, you could come over for a meal right now if you have the time. I’ll bust out a 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.”

offer, Mrs. Lane. We’ll

soon!” Grace chortled happily, elated that the younger girl had agreed to drop by for

Sonia a resigned look. “Well, it looks like we’re

go and pick out gifts for your parents.” With that, she linked arms with him and led

boutiques in the mall, they finally picked out an elegant cloak for Grace and a tasteful necktie for Curtis. Then,

was more family than anything else. In particular, Grace had been best friends with Sonia’s mother. As far as Sonia was

and Sonia pulled up in front of the Lane

was the first time 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 at all and rather felt

heard the sound of the car pulling up. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Sonia, and she approached the latter with

Sonia greeted with

both women embraced, Charles stood by the side and drawled sarcastically, “Don’t mind me, Mom.

I say I’m getting tired of it. My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia,

the remark. “No, I haven’t,

insisted. “Your face is all

little more slender than usual,” Sonia placated. “Alright, that’s enough

along, then.” Grace took her by the hand and led

else at home but them, and she couldn’t

why don’t you tell me how you’ve been for the past six years.” Ever since Grace watched the press conference, she had been

and began to detail the life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept it

the edge of the coffee table in a physical show of frustration and snapped, “I knew those Fullers were rotten! You should

as he bit into an apple. “That’s what I

and the rage he felt never went away. That being said, he was less angry with her

her. Tears pricked her

she had lost both her parents, and the closest thing she had to a family was Grace and the rest of the Lanes. She might have been 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. Besides, they weren’t actually related to her, which meant her troubles would only grow to become an unnecessary burden for

going to do with you?” Grace gently prodded the younger girl’s forehead and heaved

that Grace was frustrated, but she smiled good-naturedly as

gesture and smoothed

sniffed the air curiously. “Mom, what do you

thoughts, and her eyes lit up with panic. She rose to her feet in a flurry and exclaimed, “Oh, no! My seafood

toward the kitchen to salvage the chowder simmering in the pot, and thankfully, she made it

brought two tall glasses of juice over to Sonia and said, “Here you go, Sonia. Have some juice while you

Lane.” Sonia nodded with

look. “Come and help me

he had just heard as he pointed at his nose.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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