Chapter 474 Toby Had Started to Matter to Her
Presently downstairs, Sonia finally snapped back to reality. She stood up and shot an annoyed look at Zane. “What are you doing?”
He was momentarily taken aback by her reaction. His eyes glimmered, and he drew his hand away. “I was helping you to wipe away the cream.”
To prove himself, he showed her the napkin and gestured at her to take a look.
Indeed, she noticed that there was a little bit of cream on it. Knowing that she had misunderstood him, she calmed down and took her seat. “Oh, you’re right. Sorry. I thought you wanted to—”
“You thought I wanted to take advantage of you?” Zane grinned at her.
Sonia pursed her lips at him without a word. “Anyway, you should stop acting that way. Others might misunderstand. You could tell me and let me do it myself.”
“It’s just a simple gesture to help you. No one’s going to misunderstand our relationship. But if you insist…” He shrugged nonchalantly, and though he seemed to have agreed, the disappointment he felt was indescribable.
He had planned to have her get used to his occasional flirtatious behavior, making his way to her heart until he could touch her heart one day. Therefore, her wariness was shocking to him—she did not give him even the slightest chance to flirt at all.
Looks like the journey to her heart is going to be a long one.
Flashing a bitter smile, he could only shake his head.
An hour later, they finished their meals. Sonia paid for the meal, had two pieces of strawberry cake to-go, and prepared to go home.
Stepping out of the restaurant, she was greeted by a blast of cold air that swept across her body and face. She couldn’t help but sneeze, and her body started trembling.
Seeing that, he hurriedly asked, “Are you cold?”
“Yeah, a little,” she nodded and replied before looking up at the sky.
The sky was dark, without any trace of a star and the moon. The darkness was rather depressing, and it seemed like rain was about to follow not long after. While thinking, she felt a weight on her shoulders, like something had been put on them.
She hurriedly looked down and found that a coat had been draped across her shoulders. It didn’t take long before she realized that the familiar coat was Zane’s.
She spun around to look at him and confirmed that he was not wearing the coat anymore. It surprised her to see that he was only dressed in a shirt and a knitted vest. “Why did you give the coat to me?”
“Aren’t you cold? This is what I should do as a man.” He chuckled.
To that, she frowned disapprovingly. “Even so, you will feel the cold as well. I don’t want you to catch a cold because of me. Take this back and wear it.”
As she spoke, she attempted to take off the coat and return it to him.
He forcefully draped the coat onto her again. To stop her from taking it off, he pinned her shoulders. “Alright now. Listen to me. Keep the coat on. I’m a grown man. I won’t easily catch a cold.”
“But…”
She tightened her lips in confusion and was about to reply when a male voice interrupted them. “Hey, can you step aside? You’re both in the way.”
This voice…
Her vision trailed to the direction of the voice behind her, and soon enough, she saw both Toby and Tom standing not far away. They were looking at her and Zane without any expression.
It is Toby indeed! But why is he here? Isn’t he still warded?
It didn’t take long for Zane to ask the same question. With a huge grin, he looked at Toby. “Oh, Toby, how are you? What a coincidence! Are you having your dinner here too? I thought you’re still hospitalized, so I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Toby did not reply. Instead, his dark gaze fell on Sonia’s shoulders.
She sensed that as well. With all her might, she shook off Zane’s hands from her shoulders. At the same time, she took off the coat and threw it back to Zane. Staring back at Toby, she stammered, “Um, t-the coat is…”
“Sonia, why do you bother explaining when you have nothing to do with him?” Zane narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her face.
Truly, she was caught off guard by that comment before coming back to her senses with a sour expression.
Yeah, it is true that I have nothing to do with Toby anymore. Whatever I do, it is not his business.
If that’s the case, why did I bother to explain to him about Zane’s coat on me? Have I lost my mind?
At that thought, she lowered her eyes and fell silent.
Toby finally spoke with an icy tone. “I’ll leave you to continue what you’re doing.” Then, he walked over to the Maybach parked by the road.
Tom gave Sonia and Zane a light nod as a goodbye and followed suit.
Now, it was Zane’s turn to feel confused.
What’s the matter? Even after seeing me with Sonia, he did not stop me. Not only that, he asked that we keep going at it!
Is this… Is this really Toby Fuller?
Additionally, Toby did not look envious or angry when he saw him putting the coat on Sonia.
Okay, what is going on now? Did he experience an epiphany or something?
Zane stared at the figure that was moving away with utter disbelief in his eyes. As for Sonia, she felt her heart tighten when Toby left. Before she knew it, she had started running in his direction. “Wait a minute.”
Toby was already in the car. When he heard her voice, he stopped in the middle of closing the car door.
She jogged to the car door and panted softly. Then, she looked at him and mumbled, “Well…”
“What is it that you want to say?” he asked her casually.
She bit her lower lip. To be honest, she had no idea what she wanted to say. The sight of him leaving pushed her to chase after him without knowing it.
Even she had no explanation as to why she had done that. Not only that, she felt a little angry at him for not showing any response when she was standing beside Zane.
“If you’re not talking, I will return to the hospital.” He placed his hand on the door handle as he addressed her.
Her eyes flickered before she organized her thoughts and responded, “I mean, I just wanted to ask you why you are out here when you’re not officially discharged.”
“A family friend who was close to my late father asked to meet to discuss a collaboration. I took a three-hour leave from the hospital,” he replied breezily while staring at her. Then, he added, “Anything else? If there’s nothing else, I will shut the door now.”
“N-Nothing more.” She shook her head.
Indeed, Sonia had nothing to say to him. From the start, she had run to him without a good reason. Her short question just now was the only thing she could say after racking her brain.
Toby grunted and shut the door. “Let’s go.”
“Sure,” Tom replied and ignited the engine.
Sonia watched on as the Maybach drove into the traffic, her hands clenching into fists. Overwhelmed by the situation, she was even experiencing an indescribable confusion.
All the while, Zane had been standing at the same spot. Eventually, he walked up to her with the coat in his arms. “Do you still need the coat?”
She shook her head wearily. “No.”
“Guessed so.” Zane flashed a smile, yet it wasn’t one out of happiness. From the way things went, he could tell that Toby meant something to Sonia.
If that wasn’t the case, Sonia wouldn’t have thrown the coat back to him at the sight of Toby and kept a distance between them. She did not want anything to do with him out of fear that Toby might misunderstand their relationship.
Toby was once the love of her life; it wouldn’t come off as a surprise if she fell for Toby again. No, the probability was pretty high. For all one knew, the plane crash was the catalyst that awakened her hidden feelings.
After all, it was hard to come across a man who would risk his life for her. Who else other than Toby would deserve her love?
It looked like Zane would soon win the bet with Sonia. Despite that, he was not happy at the prospect of winning.
Anyway, there was one thing that cheered Zane up tonight, which was Toby’s haughty attitude toward Sonia.
Keeping that in mind, he put on the coat and asked cautiously, “Sonia, is there some conflict between you and Toby?”
