Chapter 1168 Directly Ignored
Jean felt her jealousy and rage bubble up when she saw Toby shielding Sonia behind him in such an overprotective way. She was jealous about the fact that even she, Toby’s own mother, had never been protected like this by him.
And she was angry about the way Toby reacted. Jean hadn’t even done anything to Sonia and yet, Toby already was acting as though Jean was going to lay her hands on Sonia. His distrust for his own mother truly hurt Jean. As she thought about this, her gaze on Toby suddenly turned resentful.
Toby didn’t know what Jean was upset about, and he had a small frown when he asked, “Why did you come to the old manor, Mom? When did you get here?”
“I have only gotten here a while ago,” she grumbled. “I came to see your Grandma. I am leaving now.” “Grandma?” He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
It wasn’t as though he didn’t know the kind of person Jean was. Even though she wasn’t unfilial, she definitely didn’t like Rose all that much. After all, Rose didn’t like Jean a lot either.
Because of that, Jean wouldn’t usually drop by to pay Rose a visit if she didn’t need to. Why would she voluntarily come anyway if she was going to get nitpicked whenever she came here?
It was obvious that Jean was now here for Rose because of something. However, Toby didn’t pry into it since Jean wasn’t bringing it up herself. “Alright. Be safe on the road.” Holding Sonia’s hand, Toby guided Sonia aside to make way for Jean.
Jean only hummed in reply before she lowered her head and walked past the couple. Right from the start, Jean hadn’t spared Sonia even one glance—it was as though she thought Sonia wouldn’t notice.
Indeed, she did this intentionally. Jean might have promised Rose that she wouldn’t go against Sonia anymore and she wouldn’t treat her badly, but Jean didn’t say that she would pretend like she was fine with Sonia when they met.
No matter what, Toby’s stepmother was still his mother and elder. As long as she didn’t go against Sonia or give her an attitude, Jean simply ignoring Sonia couldn’t count as her trying to pick a fight with the younger woman.
It wasn’t like they could point out Jean’s mistake and tell her that she was wrong. After all, the women had never gotten along in the first place. Them ignoring each other was probably the best way they could coexist without getting into fights.
Furthermore, Sonia would be the one who was narrow-minded and petty if she was mad at Jean for ignoring her. The only person they could blame then was Sonia. That’s right. Sonia is the one to blame.
The more Jean thought about it, the straighter her gait became. Even Sonia could tell how haughty Jean was at this moment even without looking at her face and just seeing her from behind.
She just didn’t know what Jean was feeling so proud about. However, Sonia wasn’t interested to know about that. Instead, she was more curious about Jean’s earlier attitude.
She looked away before continuing ahead with Toby. “Did you see your stepmother’s reaction earlier?” she asked as she walked. “Sure did.” He nodded truthfully with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
“I thought that she would complain about me when she saw me. After all, she has always wanted to argue with me over something whenever we met in the past. I thought that it would be the same this time as well. But instead of doing that, she pretended not to see me and just left,” she commented with her arm hooked around his.
He nodded in agreement at her words. “It was pretty surprising.” Toby was aware of how much his stepmother hated the sight of Sonia, and he also knew that the two would quarrel every time they met.
Of course, Jean was always the one who started the arguments, and Sonia was merely defending herself. However, them having fights was an undeniable truth.
He had protected Sonia behind him because he, too, expected Jean to react the same way this time. He wanted to get the women out of each other’s sight to prevent them from starting something again.
To the couple’s surprise, not only did Jean not have the slightest intention to quarrel, she had left right after having a brief conversation with him.
Her sudden change was truly surprising even to Toby.
“This might be better. I never wanted to argue with her and make things awkward by being between you and her. It is great that she is finally realizing this.” Sonia smiled.
However, Toby still had his lips pursed as he protested, “But she still intentionally ignored you. That was rude.”
“It is nothing.” She shrugged. “I could kill to have her ignore me like she did. Because other than that, she would always bare her fangs and glare at me, or chew my head off for some reason. Compared to that, I would rather have her treat me like I am thin air. It is not like I want to talk to her anyway.”
As Sonia spoke, she suddenly lifted her chin and peered at him tentatively. “Do you think that I am mean to you mother?”
The man patted her on the head and smiled helplessly. “Of course not. I have never thought about wanting you and her to get along well. Some people are born to never be on good terms with one another. This is actually great. It is better to ignore and stay out of each other’s way than kicking up a fuss every time you meet.”
“Now that’s better.” Sonia shifted her gaze away and let out a smile again. “I am quitting as your girlfriend if you think I am wrong for doing this.”
The man looked at her tenderly and murmured, “Did you forget what I said? Between you and her, I will unhesitantly choose you. Why would I think it is bad for you to think this way?”
Hearing that, Sonia tightened her hold around his arm before slightly tilting her head to the right to rest it on his shoulder. She conveyed to him through body language that she was happy to hear his words.
Toby looked at how affectionately clingy she was being, and he couldn’t help the overflowing tenderness that appeared in his eyes.
Rose and Mary were sitting in the gazebo when they saw the couple walking toward them from afar.
The moment Mary saw them, she pointed at the couple and commented, “Look, Old Mrs. Fuller. Young Master Toby and Miss Reed’s relationship has been getting better. They are even sticking to each other when they walk.”
“Indeed.” Rose’s face was full of smiles as well. “Just look at how lovey-dovey Sonny is toward Toby. He is so happy I feel embarrassed looking at him.”
“Young Master Toby is beaming.” Mary giggled with her hand over her mouth.
Rose then gently flicked the bubbles floating on the surface of her tea with the teacup’s lid and took a sip of tea. She seemed rather impatient as she mused, “It seems like it won’t be long before we hear good news from them.”
“If Young Master Toby and Miss Reed are going to keep sticking to each other like that, they surely will have a child before long.” Mary nodded in agreement.
“Mary.” Rose put down her teacup. “Tell the servants to bring the food and soups here. Now that the children are awake, we should quickly feed them so they don’t starve.”
“Alright, I’ll be back soon.” Mary left the gazebo after replying to her instruction.
She had just walked out of the building when she came across Toby and Sonia.
Sonia quickly came to a stop before she smilingly greeted Mary. “Good morning, Madam Mary.”
Toby, too, gave a small nod in acknowledgement.
Mary had a half smile on her face when she greeted them in return. “Good morning, Young Master Toby and Miss Reed. Please head into the gazebo where Old Mrs. Fuller is resting in. I am on my way to have your breakfast brought out. You must be tired after that tiring night you both spent together.”
After saying that, Mary walked past them with a teasing smile on her face, leaving behind a flushed Sonia and a thick-skinned Toby who had his eyebrows slightly raised.
Sonia was no fool, so of course she immediately knew what Mary meant.
A tiring night, she said.
The only reason she would say that was clearly because she knew what the couple did together last night.
Even though Sonia had mentally prepared herself for Rose and Mary’s teasing after she woke up this morning, she didn’t think Mary would come to her at full force the moment they met. She might have prepared herself, but this was enough to make her so embarrassed and awkward she didn’t want to see anyone else.
As her embarrassment took over her, she couldn’t help releasing her hold on Toby’s arm and lowering her head. With her face covered in both palms, her red ears were proof of how mortified she was now.
