“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.”

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.

more family than anything else. In particular, Grace 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 ever since

long before Charles and Sonia pulled up in front of the Lane

though she noted that the house looked the same as it had before. As

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

Sonia greeted

by the side and drawled sarcastically,

I’m getting tired of it. My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good

was somewhat amused by the remark. “No, I haven’t,

have,” Grace insisted. “Your face is

all my baby fat, so now I appear a little more slender than usual,”

by

Sonia noted that there was no one else at home

matter. Sonia, 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 wanting to know all

to detail the life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept

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.

bit into an apple. “That’s what I

kept mum about her abusive marriage wounded him, and the rage he felt never went away. That being said, he was less angry with her than

Sonia felt warmth course through her. Tears pricked

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

gently prodded

that Grace was frustrated, but she smiled good-naturedly as she wrapped the latter’s arm like an affectionate

at this gesture and smoothed Sonia’s hair with

he sniffed the air curiously. “Mom, what do you have on the

panic. She rose to her feet in a flurry

the kitchen to salvage the chowder simmering in the pot, and thankfully, she made it in time to keep the chowder from

“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

Lane.” Sonia nodded with

Charles a look. “Come and help me

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

Grace’s face was dark

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

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