“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.”

interjected, “Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Lane. We’ll go over to your place

happily, elated

call ended, Charles put his phone away and gave Sonia a resigned look. “Well, it looks like we’re going to have to

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

picked out an elegant cloak for Grace and a tasteful necktie for Curtis. Then,

with Sonia’s mother. As far as Sonia was concerned, Grace was like a second mother to her, having taken care of her ever since her mother’s

wasn’t long before Charles and Sonia pulled up

the same as it had before. As such, she did not feel out of place at

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

greeted with a bright

by the side and drawled sarcastically, “Don’t mind

as she said pointedly, “I see you every day, and believe me when I say I’m getting tired of it. My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good look at you!” She clasped Sonia’s hands

the remark. “No, I

insisted. “Your face is all cheekbones

baby fat, so now I appear a little more slender than usual,” Sonia placated. “Alright, that’s enough fretting, Mrs. Lane.

course. Come along, then.” Grace took her by the hand

entering the villa, Sonia noted that there was no one else at home but them, and she

for the past six years.” Ever since Grace watched the press conference, she had been wanting

had had with the Fullers, though she kept it brief

still furious when she heard the last of the story. She slapped the edge of the coffee table in 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 you and gotten them

bit into an

rage he felt never went away. That being said,

course through her. Tears pricked her eyes

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

gently prodded the younger girl’s forehead and heaved

good-naturedly as she wrapped the latter’s

softened at this gesture and smoothed Sonia’s hair

the air curiously. “Mom, what do you have on the stove? I think it’s

up with panic. She rose to her feet in a flurry

second longer, she rushed toward the kitchen to salvage the chowder simmering in the pot, and

juice over to Sonia and said, “Here you go, Sonia. Have some juice while you watch

nodded with a warm

shot Charles a look. “Come and help

you out?” Charles blinked. He could hardly believe what he had just heard as he

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

Comments ()

0/255