Chapter 512 Exchanging Dance Partners
If we’re standing so close to each other, then she will see us, and… Sonia lowered her head. Her expression had obviously turned sour. Zane spotted the change in his partner, and he quickly understood the reason for her bad mood when he saw Toby and Emily near them. It made sense—how could one expect Sonia to be happy when she was watching her lower dancing with another woman in front of her? Furthermore, she had just realized that she had fallen for Toby again.
Zane sighed under his breath before he turned to greet Toby and Emily. “Hey, guys. Are you here to dance too?”
“Yeah. I’m here upon someone else’s request,” Emily uttered as she patted Toby’s shoulder. Toby shot her a look to tell her not to touch him wherever she pleased. Then, he turned to focus all of his attention on Sonia. Sonia sensed someone looking at her, but she couldn’t tell who it was. However, she didn’t lift her head to check—she didn’t want to do such a thing. She knew that her mood would worsen if she looked up to see Toby and Emily standing together.
When Toby noticed that Sonia was completely ignoring him, he pursed his lips. The atmosphere around him seemed to turn heavier than before. Upon realizing this, Emily looked around a few times before she curled her lips into a smile. “Who’s this dance partner of yours, Zane?” she asked with an ulterior motive.
“…” Zane didn’t know how to respond. If I say that she’s from the Reed Family, Emily will immediately realize that she’s Toby’s ex-wife. Things will seem weird if she finds out that Toby’s friend is dancing with Toby’s ex-wife. Sonia could sense that Zane was placed in a tough spot.
Well, Emily has already asked about me. It doesn’t matter whether I’m doing it out of courtesy or if I’m trying to help Zane out of his tough spot—I’ll have to speak up either way. I can’t pretend that I don’t see them anymore. Sonia took a deep breath before she looked up, and her gaze swept past Toby’s figure to land on Emily’s face. “Hello, my name is Sonia Reed.”
“Sonia Reed. Doesn’t that mean that you’re…” Emily acted surprised as she turned to stare at Toby.
Sonia nodded. “Yeah. I’m President Fuller’s ex-wife. However, you don’t need to worry about anything as we’re no longer involved in each other’s lives.”
Toby knitted his brows when he heard her words. What does she mean by that? Could she have misunderstood something?
Similarly, Emily froze for a moment, but she chuckled when she realized what was going on. “You’re a really interesting person, Miss Reed. Toby and I aren’t—”
“Emily.” Zane sensed his opportunities being threatened, so he hastily interrupted their conversation. “Emily, Toby, the song is about to start. We can talk later, alright? There are a lot of people here. Why don’t Sonia and I free up this space for you? We can dance on that side of the floor. We don’t want to bump into each other while dancing, right?” With that said, he dragged Sonia over to the other side.
Emily stroked her chin when she watched the other couple walking off. “Zane cut me off intentionally, Toby. It seems like he doesn’t want your ex-wife to know about our relationship.”
“I know.” Toby nodded. “He likes Sonia too.” Zane probably noticed that I have caught feelings for Sonia again, Toby thought. That’s why he wants Sonia to continue misunderstanding my relationship with Emily. That’s the only way she will stay away from me. I can’t believe Zane’s using these manipulative tactics now, Toby thought as he glared at Zane. Toby’s eyes narrowed as if he were keeping watch on a potential threat.
“What? He likes Sonia too?” Emily was too shocked to wrap her head around the situation. “B-But how could he like Sonia? He’s your friend; shouldn’t he…”
“It’s fine.” Toby parted his thin lips to speak in an icy tone. “I won’t let them get together even if he likes her.” Sonia can only belong to me!
“What are you going to do now?” Emily asked him curiously, but Toby didn’t give her a direct answer and changed the topic. “The music is playing, Emily.”
Waltz music filled the room, and everyone on the dance floor began to move along to the rhythm of the music—one step forward, one step to the side, a spin, and another step backward. The Waltz wasn’t as upbeat as some other social dances, but a more elegant and gentle form of dance that was pleasant to the eyes.
Although Sonia was dancing with Zane, all of her attention was on Toby. It felt as if acid was corroding the surface of her heart as she watched Toby dancing with Emily. He injured his left arm, yet he insisted on dancing with Emily. It shows that Emily means a lot to him.
Zane’s lips curled downward when he realized that Sonia was focusing on Toby. He instinctively tightened his arm around her waist to pull her close to him. Sonia hadn’t expected Zane to do such a thing, so she stumbled and fell into his arms. “What are you doing?” she asked as she glared at Zane with a slight frown, clearly displeased with his actions.
Zane beamed. “You’re my dance partner, but you’ve been looking at someone else the whole time. You should at least show me some respect, right?”
Sonia realized that her actions had been inappropriate after hearing what Zane said. “I’m sorry. I…” She looked at the ground.
“Alright, forget it. Spin.” Zane removed his arm from her waist before he raised her right hand up. Like the rest of the ladies on the dance floor, Sonia went along the direction of the lifted right hand to spin around in her spot. After she spun, Zane placed his hand on her waist again. They came face to face with each other, and they continued dancing.
Meanwhile, Toby narrowed his eyes when he saw Zane and Sonia together, and he muttered to Emily, “I need your help during the last part of the dance, Emily.”
“What are you going to do?” Emily looked at him.
“During the final spin of the dance, I’m going to try to snatch Sonia over from Zane,” he stated before pressing his lips together. Emily giggled when she heard what Toby wanted to do. “That sounds pretty romantic. Okay, let me help you with that.”
“Thank you.” After thanking her, Toby took Emily’s hand and led her closer to Zane and Sonia. When they got closer, Toby and Emily returned to their dance position and continued waltzing.
Since Toby and Emily were standing behind Sonia, she didn’t realize that they had sneaked up behind her. Zane, on the other hand, was quick to realize that something was wrong. His eyelids twitched when he saw Toby. Toby’s doing this on purpose. He’s coming over intentionally. Judging by the excited look on Emily’s face, they might be planning something.
Zane had a bad feeling in his heart. He frowned for a moment before he realized that he could bring Sonia away from them to dance in another spot as well. However, before Zane could start moving, the song’s tempo changed from a gentle pace to a more exciting and upbeat one.
They were at the climax of the Waltz—this was also the part where the dance was supposed to get a little more exciting. The male and female partners would have to separate at this part—the male had to push the female about ten feet away from him, and the female would take two large twirls to return into the male’s arms. This part was also the most fun part to watch during waltzes.
Zane had no choice but to forget about changing spots for a while. He decided that he would bring Sonia away after they completed the two huge twirls. However, the moment Zane pushed Sonia out and away from him, Emily spun over and stopped in front of Zane. Toby, on the other hand, showed up in front of Sonia.
With one hand holding Sonia’s arm, Toby led her back to the spot he had been dancing with Emily. Sonia was too stunned to respond.
“Sonia—” Zane panicked and was about to run over when he saw what was going on. However, Emily put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. “I’m sorry that Toby stole your dance partner today, Zane. But it’s fine—I’m the compensation you get for that. We can be dance partners for the rest of the night.”
Zane’s lips twitched. Why would I want to dance with you? “You and Toby did this intentionally, right, Emily?” Zane shot Emily a disdainful stare.
