“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.

and their relationship was 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

long before Charles and Sonia pulled up in front of the

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

guest 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 spread

Sonia greeted

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

My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good

by the remark. “No,

have,” Grace insisted. “Your

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

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

one else at home but them, and she couldn’t help but

No matter. Sonia, why don’t you tell me how you’ve been for the past six years.” Ever since Grace watched the

and began to detail the life she had had with the

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

bit into an apple. “That’s what I told

fact that she had 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 he was

warmth course through her. Tears pricked her eyes as she said, “I didn’t want to make

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 them. She would rather give them a peace of

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

smiled good-naturedly as she wrapped the latter’s arm like

at this gesture and smoothed

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

out of her thoughts, and her eyes lit up with panic.

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

tall glasses 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

Sonia nodded with

Charles a look. “Come and help me out

could hardly believe what he had just heard as he pointed at his nose. “Are you serious, Mom?

not?” Grace’s face was dark as she

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