Chapter 516 Charles’ Selfishness
Both man and woman were standing in front of the railing, and they had their backs turned against Toby. Toby couldn’t see their faces, so he couldn’t tell what they were talking about. However, when he realized that both of them had kept a distance of more than ten inches between each other, his expression softened a little.
“When did Charles arrive?” Toby asked coldly.
Tom took a glance at his wristwatch before answering. “About ten minutes ago.”
Toby nodded. “Why are you looking for me?”
“Old Mrs. Fuller wants you to go over,” Tom explained.
“I’ll go to her now. I want you to stay here and keep an eye on them. If Charles gets any closer to Sonia, I want you to separate them from each other,” Toby ordered.
The corner of Tom’s lips twitched when he heard Toby’s words. Can you stop acting like a kid, President Fuller? Of course, Tom didn’t reveal his true opinions and merely pushed his glasses up his nose as he agreed to Toby’s request. “I got it, President Fuller.” Toby took one last glance at Sonia and Charles before he walked off to look for Rose.
Meanwhile, on the balcony, Charles swirled his wine glass as he looked at the dejected woman whose gaze was fixed on the floor. “What is it? Are you in a bad mood?” he asked worriedly. “I told you so much, but you barely responded to what I said.”
“Yeah, I’m in a pretty bad mood.” Sonia clinked glasses with him before she raised her head to sip her drink. Charles turned around to rest both his arms against the balcony’s railing. “What is it?”
Sonia looked at the view from the balcony. “It’s nothing. I just think that feelings are the least reliable thing in this world,” she uttered.
Charles was about to take a sip of his drink, but his actions came to a halt when he heard what she said. “Are you talking about romantic feelings?”
“Yeah.” Sonia nodded. “I told you that Toby wanted to let go of me before this, right? He changed his mind tonight, and he said that he’d wait for me. Don’t you think his feelings for me are a total joke, Charles?” He gives up on me when he wants to, and he changes his mind when he wants to. What do I mean to him?
The smile on Charles’ face turned stiff as he tightened his grip on his glass. “It does sound like a joke. What about you? What do you think about all of this?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Did you agree to date him or something?”
Sonia took another sip of her drink. “Why would I agree to anything? I don’t love him. I’m just angry because I feel like he’s playing with my feelings.”
“That’s great.” Charles heaved a sigh of relief. She hasn’t realized that she’s in love with Toby yet. I’m afraid she will eventually realize this about herself. When that happens, I’ll lose my chance again.
“That’s great?!” Sonia turned to face Charles as she glared at him puzzledly. “Did you say that it’s great for him to play with my feelings?”
Charles hastily shook his head and waved his hand frantically. “No, no! That’s not what I meant. I mean, it’s great that you didn’t agree to date him,” Charles explained.
“Really?” Sonia gave him a side-eye.
“Yeah. I swear.” Charles held up three fingers.
“Fine. I’ll trust you for now. But I still think there’s a hidden meaning in your words earlier,” she uttered with a pout.
“How could that be possible?” Charles looked away sheepishly. “What else could my words mean? I genuinely think it’s great that you didn’t agree to date him. You should stop overthinking it, darling.” He gulped a huge mouthful of red wine after that.
Sonia figured that she was being a little too sensitive, so she shifted her gaze and looked at her own wine glass. She remained silent for a few seconds before she parted her red lips to speak. “Charles, Toby mentioned that he had a reason for letting go of me previously. What do you think the reason was?”
Charles placed his empty glass at the side. “How should I know? Perhaps he didn’t even mean what he said.”
“You think he was just giving me an excuse?” Sonia looked at Charles.
Charles nodded. “Yeah. He decided to let you go previously but he’s going against his own words now, so he definitely needs a seemingly valid reason to explain his previous actions. Maybe he just came up with an excuse because he couldn’t find any better reason at that moment.”
“Is that so?” Sonia mumbled. Charles looked at her earnestly. “Of course. I’m a man—I understand the way other men think. Trust me, darling.” He reached over to pat Sonia on the shoulder.
Tom, who had been watching from afar, widened his eyes when he realized that the time had come for him to do his job. He let out an exasperated sigh before he straightened his tie and walked toward the balcony. “Mr. Lane,” Tom uttered as he walked over to the two people at the balcony.
The look on Charles’ face darkened when he saw Tom. “What are you doing here? Did Toby send you here?”
“No. It was Mrs. Lane who told me to get you.” Tom fixed his glasses as he responded in a calm tone. Charles froze upon hearing this. “My mom?”
“Yeah.” Tom nodded.
“Why is my mom asking for me? And why did she tell you to come get me?” Charles frowned.
“I’m not sure about that. Why don’t you go over to ask her yourself, Mr. Lane?” Tom’s gaze landed on Charles’ arm on Sonia’s shoulder. “You should hurry over, Mr. Lane. I think it’s a pretty urgent matter,” Tom added.
“You should go ahead, Charles. Perhaps there’s some sort of emergency,” Sonia urged.
Charles nodded. “Alright. I’ll go over to take a look, then. You—”
Sonia glanced at her watch before interrupting him. “It’s getting late, so I should be heading back soon. I’ll go give Grandma my wishes.”
“Alright. I’m afraid I won’t be able to send you off. I’m not leaving anytime soon because my dad wants to introduce me to a few people later.” Charles rubbed his eyebrows as he spoke in a frustrated tone.
Sonia beamed. “It’s good for you to meet new people. Well, you should go now.”
“Goodbye, then.” Charles lifted his hand to stroke Sonia’s hair. However, Tom immediately spoke up when he realized what Charles was trying to do. “Let’s hurry, Mr. Lane.”
“I don’t need you to remind me, you busybody.” Charles shot Tom a fierce glare. After that, he lowered his hand, which had just been inches away from Sonia’s head. He stuck his hands into his pocket before walking back into the hall.
As Tom watched Charles leave, he let out a soft sigh. President Fuller told me to keep an eye on Miss Reed and Charles—it’s my duty to keep them apart once Charles tries to make a move on Sonia. I guess my job here is done.
“Tom.” Sonia didn’t know what Tom was thinking about, and she walked over to interrupt his thoughts. “Where’s Grandma?”
“I can bring you to Old Mrs. Fuller if you’d like to see her, Miss Reed,” Tom offered.
“I hope that won’t be too much of a hassle.” Sonia nodded.
“It’s fine. Let’s go.” Tom gestured for Sonia to follow behind him, and they walked in the opposite direction of where Charles had gone.
At the same time, Rose was at the outdoor pavilion having tea with Toby. She took a glance at her precious grandson before she spoke. “Did you notice how Sonia seemed really worried about you when you saved her after Jean nearly knocked her down?”
Toby lowered his teacup and knitted his brows upon hearing his grandmother. “Yeah, I noticed.”
“I think Sonia has caught feelings for you once more.” Rose rubbed the dragon head of her walking stick as she continued. “I’ve always assumed that Sonia would never have feelings for you again after she got over you. I’m surprised that my assumptions were proven wrong. However, I’m really curious about how she started falling for you again. Did something happen recently? Is there something that I’m not aware of? When I saw Sonia last month, she was still filled with hatred for you, yet she seems to be attracted to you now. I’m sure something must have happened in between this period.”
“You sure are observant, Grandma.” Toby lifted the teapot to refill Rose’s cup. “There were some things that happened between us this month. However, I have no plans of telling you about the incident—I’d just like to keep it a secret forever. All you need to know is that Sonia has developed feelings for me once more.”
