“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.

else. In particular, Grace had been best friends with Sonia’s

Charles and Sonia pulled

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 a warm sense of

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

Sonia greeted with a bright

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

My attention is on Sonia now. Come here, Sonia, let me take a good look at you!” She clasped Sonia’s

by the remark.

Grace insisted. “Your face

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

then.” Grace took her by the hand and led her into

villa, Sonia noted that there was no one else at home but them, and she couldn’t help but ask,

golfing with his buddies. No 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

and began to detail the life she had had with the Fullers, though she kept it brief to save Grace the

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

he bit into an

and the rage he felt never went away. That being said, he was less angry with her than he was pitiful

of Charles and Grace’s outward concern, Sonia felt warmth course through her. Tears pricked her eyes as she said, “I didn’t want to make you worry

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.

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

smiled good-naturedly as she

this gesture and smoothed Sonia’s hair with motherly

then, Charles frowned as he sniffed the air curiously. “Mom, what do you

out of her thoughts, and her eyes lit up with panic. She rose to her feet in a flurry and exclaimed, “Oh, no!

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

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

nodded with

Charles a look. “Come and help me out in the

he had just heard as he pointed at his nose. “Are you

or not?” Grace’s face was dark

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

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