Chapter 681 Sonia’s Nickname
Tom had very nearly killed Rose with what he had told her the day before, but even as she pulled through and was recuperating just fine, she was still in shock.
As such, he had no excuse and he was willing to take any punishment Toby might have for him; he was the one to be blamed anyway.
Toby lowered his gaze imperiously as he stared at the man bowing before him. He had his lips pressed into a grim line as the air around him grew cold and still. He didn’t look like he was going to ask Tom to straighten his posture anytime soon because he was truly and absolutely furious.
For a moment, the tension at the doorway was suffocating and no one dared to speak a word. Aside from the sound of shallow breathing, they were engulfed in a deafening silence that became a fertile ground for fear to grow.
And Tom was a blooming example of that notion.
For each minute that Toby neither spoke nor asked him to straighten his posture and instead stared at Tom mutinously was another minute that Tom spent crippled with panic and anxiety. He would much rather have Toby kick him or verbally lash out at him—at least he wouldn’t be so terrified that beads of cold sweat would break out all over his forehead.
“Toby,” Sonia urged quietly as she sighed and tugged on Toby’s sleeve. She understood the pressure Tom must have felt at that moment and was close to speaking up for him.
As if reading her thoughts, Toby shot her a look and finally relented. He turned his frosty gaze toward Tom and demanded coldly, “What did you say to Grandma?”
Upon hearing this, Tom let out a huge sigh of relief. If President Fuller is speaking now, it means he isn’t as angry as he was minutes ago and my life will be spared! This is all thanks to Miss Reed; had she not urged President Fuller earlier, he would never let me leave unscathed.
“President Fuller, I told Old Mrs. Fuller…” He glanced over at Sonia before flashing her an apologetic smile.
Sonia knew that she was not meant to listen to the conversation and gave him an understanding look as she elaborated, “I’ll head back inside the apartment and allow you guys to have a word. I’ll be out once you’re done.”
With that, she spun and sauntered through the doorway. She wasn’t upset, for she had known since yesterday that Tom had no intention of letting her in on the details of his exchange with Rose.
Toby, on the other hand, merely stared after Sonia’s retreating figure but didn’t move to stop her.
Tom was a man of propriety and if he was asking Sonia to give them some privacy, that could only mean that his exchange with Rose the day before had something to do with Toby’s physical condition.
Rose was a woman who had endured all the hardship that life had to offer and she wouldn’t have collapsed over some trivial news. Even if the Fuller Group was to be liquidated, she would still stand firm and hold her ground.
However, her only weaknesses were Toby and Tyler, so anything that had to do with their lives and safety would inevitably cause her to collapse in shock.
When Sonia’s silhouette had entirely disappeared through the doorway, Toby turned to look at Tom with a pair of dangerously narrowed eyes. “Did you tell Grandma about my heart?”
There was only one thing threatening his life now and it was his failing heart, so it went without saying that Rose only collapsed after learning of this matter.
A guilty Tom bowed his head and muttered, “Yes.”
The air around Toby grew still once more and his voice sounded as if it came from the freezing depths of hell as he bit out, “Why would you tell her about it? Didn’t I ask you to keep it a secret from Grandma, Sonia and the others? How is it that you’ve forgotten all about that and blurt everything out?!”
“I’m sorry, President Fuller,” Tom apologized woefully. “I was going to keep Old Mrs. Fuller in the dark about this, but she sensed that something was wrong the moment you were drunk on red wine alone. It was a fatal crack in your plans, President Fuller, and there was no way Old Mrs. Fuller couldn’t have known that there was something off about you. Besides, she questioned me incessantly and demanded an answer, which was why I… I didn’t have a choice but to tell her the truth. And even if I didn’t, she would have looked into this whole thing herself and stumbled upon the truth eventually.”
Toby’s lips were pursed into an even more frigid line as he fell speechless. He was a reasonable man after all and after hearing Tom’s explanation, he realized that he couldn’t blame Tom entirely.
Most of the fault was his own anyway; he had overestimated his own physical tenacity. He never thought that his current condition would make him susceptible to even the otherwise underwhelming influence of red wine.
Rubbing his forehead tiredly, Toby said, “I’ll let this slide, but only because nothing serious has happened to Grandma.”
Tom’s eyes brightened at the news of his salvation. He broke into a surprised smile as he frantically replied, “Thank you, President Fuller!”
“How’s Grandma doing now?” Toby asked before he tightly pursed his lips.
Adjusting his glasses, Tom informed dutifully, “Old Mrs. Fuller is fine now. We admitted her to the hospital in time for the doctor to perform the necessary treatment on her and she recovered within a considerably short period of time. That being said, she’s still in the hospital at the moment and won’t be discharged until tomorrow. The doctor said she needs to recuperate and be under observation for a bit.”
Having heard this, Toby hummed in acknowledgement. “Got it.”
“By the way, President Fuller,” Tom began as he suddenly recalled something. He eyed Toby evenly and added, “Miss Reed might not know about your heart condition just yet, but she’s probably already suspicious. She even asked me what was wrong with you and why it could possibly make Old Mrs. Fuller collapse upon learning of it. I managed to suppress her curiosity, but I don’t think that will remain the case for long; knowing her, she’d start asking for an explanation on your part soon.”
“I know. I’ll handle matters on Sonia’s end, so just keep your mouth shut.” Toby looked up and appraised Tom before adding icily, “If I discover that you’ve been blabbering about my secret to someone else, I have mines in Africa that still need a supervisor and you’d be perfect for the role.”
Tom swallowed convulsively as panic dawned upon him. Nodding profusely, he responded, “Don’t you worry, President Fuller. My lips are tightly sealed! I will not breathe a word about this to anyone!”
He had no plans on supervising the mines in Africa; it was havoc there and he had a feeling that he might not recognize himself if he ever made it back home.
“Very well. Go and get the car,” Toby ordered flatly, rubbing the space between his brows. “Drop Sonia off at Paradigm Co. before we head over to the hospital.”
“Yes, sir,” Tom answered solemnly before he hurried to the elevators.
Toby spun on his heels as well and entered the apartment.
Presently, Sonia was sitting on the couch while speaking to someone on the phone. When she heard the approaching footsteps, she turned to meet his gaze and quickly chirped into the phone, “Okay, got it. I’ll be back in a jiffy. See you later!” She hung up her phone and stood up to greet Toby. “Did you and Mr. Brown talk things out?”
“Yup,” Toby replied with a nod. “Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
“Oh, don’t be.” She shook her head. “I was just talking to Daphne on the phone anyway.”
“Is everything okay?” he asked, glancing at the phone in her hand.
She kept her phone. “Yeah.”
“Then, we should make a move.” Toby offered his arm to her, the indication clear in his gesture.
Sonia smiled and walked over to graciously take the proffered arm. This time, the both of them finally made it out of the apartment without any hassle.
Tom brought the car over and dropped the couple off at the Royal Restaurant for breakfast, thereafter he sent them to Paradigm Co..
When the car pulled up at the company building, Sonia exited from the car.
She had only just rounded the vehicle to head to the building entrance when Toby rolled down his side of the window and called out, “Little Leaf.”
As she halted in her footsteps, she turned to look at him with wide eyes, clearly astonished as she asked, “W-What did you just call me?”
“Little Leaf,” he repeated with the barest of smiles tugging on his lips.
Hot tears sprang to her eyes as she gaped, seemingly at a loss of words. Her voice was thick with sentiment as she pressed in disbelief, “H-How did you find out about my nickname?”
It was Sonia’s father who had given her the nickname. Before he passed on, he revealed that it was a term of endearment from her mother that was derived from her love of maple leaves. He had brought Sonia’s mother on a trip abroad to see the maple leaves in person the year before her death.
As a result, the nickname was created and given to Sonia in memory of her mother, which subsequently became Sonia’s pen name.
However, since Sonia’s father had already passed, no one else addressed her by Little Leaf. Everyone had all called her by her given name and no one knew about this nickname of hers except for Charles and Grace, but even they never called her by that term.
The nickname was special to Sonia and she was adamant that only her parents had the right to call her by it.
Alas, she didn’t think that for the first time in six years, she would hear herself being called Little Leaf once more, and by Toby, no less.
