“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.

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

and Sonia pulled up in front

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

the house to greet her guest when she heard the sound of the car pulling up. Her eyes lit up at the

Lane,” Sonia greeted with

embraced, Charles stood by the side and drawled sarcastically, “Don’t mind me, Mom. I’m just your biological son,

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

somewhat amused by the remark.

“Your face is all

slender than usual,” Sonia placated. “Alright, that’s enough fretting, Mrs. Lane. Shall we head into the

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

no one else at home but them, and

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

easily with a nod and began to detail the life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept

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

as he bit into an apple. “That’s

the rage he felt never went away. That being

of Charles and Grace’s outward concern, Sonia felt warmth course through her. Tears pricked her eyes as

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 them. She would rather give them a

am I going to do with you?” Grace gently prodded the younger

Grace was frustrated, but she smiled good-naturedly as she wrapped the

and smoothed Sonia’s hair with motherly

“Mom,

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

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

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

Mrs. Lane.” Sonia nodded with a

shot Charles a look. “Come and help me

blinked. He could hardly believe what he had just heard as he pointed at his nose.

coming or not?” Grace’s face was

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

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