Chapter 517 Tina’s Suicide
“You’re being so mysterious.” Rose took a sip of her tea before she continued speaking. “Well, I won’t probe any further if that’s the case. However, there’s something else I’d like to know. Sonia isn’t aware of the fact that she has fallen for you, and I wanted to point it out earlier, but you stopped me before I could do it. Why did you do that?”
“Because now isn’t the right time.” Toby leaned against his seat. “Sonia hasn’t realized her feelings for me, so she might not accept it if we were to point it out to her now. I’m afraid she might feel disgusted and resistant toward such a statement. My plan is for her to realize it on her own so that she can naturally accept the fact that she has fallen for me.”
There was no point in getting others to tell Sonia about her feelings—she wouldn’t accept it, and she might avoid or hide from Toby if that happened. The best solution was for Sonia to think things through, as this would make it more likely for her to accept Toby.
Rose gave him a thoughtful nod. “You’re right. Well, since you’ve already decided on this, you should just go along with your plan. However, I really hope that you can get married to Sonia soon. You don’t have to worry about Jean; I’ll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t pull any tricks.” Rose’s face darkened at the mention of Jean.
If it weren’t for the fact that Jean had taken care of Toby and was Tyler’s biological mother, Rose would have kicked her out of the house a long time ago. Jean didn’t know how to do anything except give the family more issues.
“I got it, Grandma. I hope it’s not too much trouble for you to deal with Mom.” Toby stood up to give Rose a bow. Rose hastily gestured for him to sit, and she was about to tell him something when she saw Tom walking over with Sonia. “Sonia’s here.” Rose let out a large grin. Toby immediately turned to see Sonia walking toward them.
Sonia hadn’t expected to bump into Toby there, and a look of suspicion flashed across her face before she looked away and pretended not to see him. “Grandma!” Sonia greeted with a smile.
“Take a seat, Sonia.” Rose patted on the spot beside her.
Sonia shook her head. “It’s fine, Grandma. I came to bid you goodbye. It’s getting late, so I’d like to head home now.”
“I see. That’s fine.” Rose knew that it was getting late, and she didn’t stop Sonia as she knew that Sonia had work the next day. Instead, Rose used her walking stick to support her to her feet. “You had a few drinks earlier, so you can’t go home on your own. I’ll get Toby to send you home.”
Does she want Toby to send me home? Sonia immediately rejected the offer. “It’s fine, Grandma. I’ll just call for a personal driver to take my car. He drank alcohol too, so he can’t drive me back.”
Toby’s face was grim as he spoke. “Tom didn’t drink. He can send us back.”
“Us?” Sonia froze.
Toby lowered his cup as he got to his feet. “I should be leaving too, Grandma. I’ll get Tom to drive us back now so that he can get off work earlier after that.”
“Great. You guys should leave together, then.” Rose rolled her eyes at Toby when Sonia wasn’t looking. It’s so obvious that he wants to leave together with Sonia. Well, I guess that’s good—that’s what I intended to do when I told him to send Sonia home.
“Look, I don’t need to follow you guys. I can—” Sonia was about to say something when Rose patted the back of her hand. “Alright, Sonia, go along now. I’d feel more at ease knowing that Toby’s the one sending you. I’d be more worried if you just hired a stranger as your personal driver.”
Rose turned to Toby just to pretend to give him a stern warning. “You’d better make sure that you send her home safely. You’ll be the first person I look for if something happens to Sonia.”
“Okay.” Toby nodded.
Sonia let out a bitter laugh. Fine. Grandma already has everything planned out for me, so I can’t do much, can I? If I reject her now, it’d seem like I’m being disrespectful. Forget it. Let’s just do it. “We’ll leave now, Grandma.” Sonia tidied her hair before she bid goodbye to Rose.
When Toby heard Sonia referring to them as ‘we’, he curled his lips into a slight smirk. Rose merely chuckled as she waved. “Okay, okay. Goodbye.”
Sonia nodded before she followed Toby out of the pavilion. They had only taken a few steps when she heard Rose talking in a playful tone behind her. “Look at Sonia and Toby, Mary. They look like a perfect couple.”
“They do.” Mary nodded agreeably. Upon hearing that, Sonia tripped on something and nearly fell. Toby instantly held onto her waist. “Watch out,” he uttered in a gentle tone.
“I got it. Thanks.” She straightened her back and was about to slip out of Toby’s grip. However, Toby then let go of her waist before he reached over to hold her hand. Sonia widened her eyes. “You…”
“I’m holding your hand because the path here is covered with large pebbles. The intention was to replicate the theme of an ancient garden but walking around this area with heels can get pretty hard. You’d fall really easily,” Toby said.
Sonia parted her red lips to speak, but no words came out of her mouth. She had no rebuttals—it was true that the ground made it hard for her to walk. She had already stumbled her way over when she arrived at the pavilion with Tom. If Tom hadn’t helped her over, she would have certainly fallen onto the ground.
I guess there’s nothing wrong with Toby holding my hand. I just don’t want to fall down, that’s all, Sonia thought to herself as she lowered her head. Toby knew that she had agreed to let him hold her hand when he sensed that her grip was no longer as tense as before. He smiled before tightening his grip and shoving both their hands into his coat pocket.
“You—” Sonia stared at him, her eyes filled with surprise.
“My hand’s freezing. I need to warm it up a little,” Toby uttered with a poker face.
Sonia’s lips twitched with annoyance. Did he say his hand is cold? What a lie! I can still feel the warmth from his palm. If anything, I’m the one who’s cold now. Wait! Sonia widened her eyes. Did he do this because he wanted to warm my hand? Sonia stared at Toby as she zoned out for a while.
“What is it?” Toby asked gently.
“I-It’s nothing,” Sonia mumbled as she looked at her feet. Toby didn’t force her to answer him when he saw her response. Instead, he gave her hand a soft squeeze before he shifted his gaze away from her.
Soon enough, the three of them exited the manor’s main gates and arrived at their car. At that moment, Sonia’s phone began to ring. She used one hand to unzip her bag and pulled her phone out. “Huh?” Sonia mumbled in a puzzled tone.
“What is it?” Toby asked. She showed him her phone. “How odd. It’s 11.00PM, yet the police are calling me.”
“The police?” Toby frowned. “Did you make a police report recently?”
“No.” Sonia shook her head. “That’s why I’m so surprised by this call.” This number was the number she had saved from her previous encounters at the police station. That was why the caller ID indicated that it was from the police station.
“You should just pick it up to find out what’s the matter,” Toby suggested. Sonia nodded as she swiped a finger across the screen to pick up the call. “Hello?” she uttered as she placed the phone against her ear.
“Something has happened, Miss Reed.” A stern, male voice sounded from the other end of the line.
Sonia’s expression turned serious when she sensed the man’s grave tone. “What is it, Officer Olsen?”
“Tina jumped off a building and killed herself,” Teddy replied grimly. A loud ringing sounded in Sonia’s ears as her expression turned into one of disbelief. “What did you just say? Tina… jumped off a building? She’s dead?”
Toby and Tom were just as shocked upon hearing Sonia’s words. “Tina killed herself?! How is that possible?” Tom was shocked.
“Put him on speaker!” Toby ordered. Sonia gulped and did as she was told. Teddy could hear all three of their voices then. “That’s right. About ten minutes ago, she jumped out of one of the windows in her ward. She died on the spot.”
