Titus nearly choked. He was aware of how problematic his words sounded, but he was the elder one in the conversation, so Toby shouldn’t have blatantly called him out even though what he said was wrong. Does Toby still want to be with Tina or not?
Titus let out a displeased grunt. “Tina has made a ton of mistakes in the past, Toby. You’ve always been on her side even when she did other things to Sonia, and you were always the one to clean up the mess for Tina. Don’t you think it’s a little too late to say that helping Tina is indirectly harming her now? That just means you’ve been harming her all along!”
Toby’s pupils shrunk as he tightened his grip around his phone. He didn’t respond immediately. Titus is right. Although everything that occurred to Sonia previously was the doing of Tina’s alter ego, I had still minimized the alter ego’s harm toward Sonia by comforting Tina’s original personality when she cried. Now, Tina’s alter ego is getting increasingly nasty, while Sonia is caught in a situation where she is the main target. I didn’t just hurt Tina, but I’ve also brought harm upon Sonia.
“You’re right, Titus. Perhaps I should change how soft-hearted I’ve been toward Tina. Otherwise—” Before Toby could finish his sentence, a blaring horn sounded in front of him. Immediately after that, a blinding pair of high beams struck against his windshield.
The white light disrupted his vision, and Toby couldn’t see anything in front of him. He knitted his brows as his expression turned grim. Then, he hastily calmed himself down and threw his phone aside to wind his window down to check the roads through his rearview mirror. He wanted to rely on his rearview mirror to find a spot by the side of the road where he could stop his car.
However, before he could turn the steering wheel, the car that had been shining its high beams in Toby’s direction crashed directly into his car. Bang! A loud crash sounded as Toby’s car shook wildly. His entire figure was thrown forward, and his forehead was split open as he slammed against the wheel. Red liquid covered his face instantly, and he lost consciousness soon after that.
On the other end of the line, Titus threw his phone aside angrily. “I can’t believe Toby ended my call! Does he even respect me at all?” His face was sour.
“All right, all right. Is there a need to be so angry?” Julia poured him a cup of tea.
Titus took the drink and finished it before slamming the cup onto the table. “I’m his future father-in-law, and he ended my call without even a simple goodbye. How am I supposed to be okay with that?
Other sons-in-law usually stick up to their wives’ fathers, and they’d be terrified to offend their in-laws in any way. But what about him? He always shows that attitude of his when he’s with us; he barely smiles at all! Have you ever seen a son-in-law like him?!”
Julia stroked Titus’s chest to calm him down. “Toby has a relatively calm and distant personality. I’m sure you know that by now.”
“His personality doesn’t give him an excuse to be rude and end my call!” Titus brushed Julia’s hand away and pulled his pants up as he sat down on the couch. “His attitude toward me makes me wonder if he truly loves Tina sometimes.”
Tina was by the railings on the second floor, and she tightened her grip around the railing when she heard her father’s words. A rather mysterious expression formed on her face. Meanwhile, Julia continued the conversation downstairs. “Pfft! What are you saying?
Of course, Toby loves her. He said that he fell in love with her a long time ago. If it hadn’t been for the Reeds that had barged in six years ago, Toby and Tina’s marriage would’ve already happened a long time ago. Anyway, did Toby say that he’s coming over?”
“He didn’t say anything. I guess he isn’t.” Titus massaged the space between his brows.
Upstairs, Tina sank her teeth into her bottom lip.
What she had been the most worried about was finally happening. Toby didn’t even offer to come and see me after he heard that I was crying. It’s clear that he’s starting to realize how I don’t matter that much to him. If this goes on, he’s going to end things with me before he even realizes that the one that he’s in love with is Sonia. No. I have to do something about this.
Tina balled her fists in determination as she walked away from the railings and headed back to her own room.
At the other side of town, Sonia, Carl, and Charles had just finished their meal and had just arrived at Sonia’s house when they heard sirens wailing and saw an ambulance rushing past them. When they looked at where the ambulance came from, they saw that there were a few police cars stopped by the side of the road. There was yellow tape surrounding the area, and there was a crowd forming around the space behind the yellow tape.
“What’s going on?” Sonia mumbled as she lowered the window to look at the crowd.
“I think there was an accident,” Carl replied. He looked away and handed Sonia’s handbag to her after that. “It’s late, Sonia. You should get some rest.”
“Yeah, baby. Hurry up and go home,” Charles said from the passenger’s seat.
Sonia nodded. “I’ll head up now.” She then got out of the car and waved at both the men before she headed toward her condominium’s entrance. Both Charles and Carl waited for her to get into the building before they drove off.
The next day, Sonia was awakened by Charles’s call. Without opening her eyes, she stuck her arm out of her sheets to reach for her phone on the bedside table. Her muscle memory allowed her to pick the call up and place the phone against her ear. “Hello?” she answered in a raspy and lazy tone.
“I have good news, baby!” Charles’s shrill voice rang beside her ear. The sharp sound hurt her eardrums, which immediately woke her up. She opened her eyes to sit up on her bed. While ruffling her messy hair, she responded in a cranky voice. “What good news is it? Why are you shouting?”
“Toby got into an accident,” Charles replied in an excited tone.
She widened her eyes. “What did you just say? He got into an accident?”
“That’s right. It was the accident we saw near your place last night.” He nodded.
She crinkled her nose. “Hold on. I’m a little confused. Are you saying that the accident we witnessed last night was Toby’s car?”
“That’s right,” he replied.
“Why would he get into an accident near my area?” Sonia was confused. Was Toby about to come over and see me last night?
“I don’t know, but the news of his accident is all over the Internet, and there are tons of reporters waiting outside the hospital right now. They’re trying to get more information on his injuries.
More importantly, the Fuller Group’s stocks are fluctuating like crazy right now. What a joy!” Charles was dressed in a fancy shirt on the other end of the line, and he was smacking his own thighs excitedly.
Sonia rubbed her temples. She was about to say something when her doorbell rang. “I’ll speak to you later, Charles. Someone’s outside my house,” she uttered in place of her initial reply.
“Who is it?” Charles immediately turned alert. It’s so early in the morning. Who could possibly visit Sonia apart from Zane or Carl?
“I don’t know either. I’ll go take a look. All right, goodbye.” Sonia ended the call and threw her sheets aside to put on her slippers and open the door.
The moment she pulled the door open, she felt a firm slap across her face. Sonia was completely dazed by the sudden attack, and she pressed a palm against her own face as she stared at the person in front of her door. It was Jean, with a hideous expression on her face.
The single slap hadn’t been enough for Jean, and she raised her hand to prepare for a second slap. Sonia hastily came to her senses and grabbed Jean’s arm before returning an attack by slapping the other woman.
Smack! The loud slap sent Jean onto the ground. Sonia had clearly used all her strength in her slap. Jean was stunned as she couldn’t believe that she had been hit. It took her a while to return to her senses. Then, she clambered to her feet as she gritted her teeth and shouted, “Sonia, you b*tch! How dare you hit me?! I’m going to teach you a lesson!”
With her arms spread out, Jean charged toward Sonia’s face. Sonia was already prepared for an attack, so she pulled out a feather duster that was on top of her shoe rack, which she sent directly toward Jean’s face.
