Chapter 458 Toby’s Plan
After having fed Toby a mouthful of chowder, Sonia placed the spoon aside and asked expectantly, “What do you think?”
“It’s delicious,” he said after he swallowed the chowder to give her a reassuring nod.
She broke into a smile. “Good. I’m glad.” Glad that all the stock-brewing, the dicing, the simmering and the stirring are all worth this moment of praise, she thought. Then, she brought another spoonful of chowder to his lips and prompted, “Here, have some more.”
And just like that, the both of them fell into a rhythm and before they knew it, the bowl was practically polished clean.
Sonia rose from her seat and asked, “Would you like another bowl?”
Toby shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m full.”
“Already?” She glanced at the empty bowl in her hand and frowned slightly. “You barely ate, though!” More importantly, the bowl she used was a small one and there couldn’t have been much chowder in it to fill him up so quickly, not while he was a man with a six-foot-three build.
“I’m actually full,” he insisted calmly as he took the mouthwash the caretaker had given him. “They gave me another bottle of IV after you left in the afternoon. Apparently, the fluid contains some substance that makes one feel a little bloated.”
“Oh, okay.” Sonia nodded at this new information. “Well then, I won’t try to force-feed you. I’ll keep the rest of the chowder in the fridge, so maybe you can get the caretaker to heat it up for you for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Toby replied.
into the kitchenette of the suite and returned to the room after she had kept everything
one in the room, she glanced
he explained with a book in
pressed, “What are you going to
are completely fine and I’m perfectly capable of being on my own for the night,” he
hands, she began
the sight of this, Toby’s gaze darkened.
it’s already 9:00PM,” she pointed out as she took
the book in his hand and asked, “Would you mind staying here for
him a bewildered
a bit. A friendly chat.” He steadily met her
a moment of hesitation, she relented. Nodding in agreement, she said, “Very well, but I
smile pulled on Toby’s
had asked that she stay
taught her the best way to navigate the tough commercial world. He even touched on the ideal direction
the drastic shortening of his lifespan, he now only had three good years, during which his body would slowly wear
Toby no longer had enough time to be her mentor and guide her through life in the industry. He had to teach
chew and spit Sonia out as every one of its nooks and crevices was marked with scheme. She was still
was. He would have shielded her from all of it and
slim for there to be room for hope. He was destined to wither away and leave her unprotected, but he would do whatever he could to make her stronger.
coaching. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was urgently trying to make her absorb all his pointers,
and paid attention, clinging to
helped him to thrive and survive. Experiences like
and soon,
had forgotten that she was supposed to return home at 10.00PM and as it is, she was already fast asleep with her head resting on her
her and called out softly,
she was sleeping soundly, for she did not wake up
he couldn’t bring himself to stir her awake. Glancing around the room, he saw the jacket she had hung up on the rack next to the bed.
of his arms was busted, he would have carried her into the adjoining room
the cast on his arm and a
fall off her shoulders, Toby reached out to move her hair out of
door to the hospital room opened.
made him clamp his mouth shut. He had no idea what he did wrong at first, but thankfully, he snapped out of his confusion in time to notice Sonia’s sleeping frame as she slouched over the bed. At that moment, he finally understood the warning look in Toby’s
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