Chapter 820 Buy You a Meal
“That’s not an issue. You guys are boyfriend and girlfriend now. If everything goes smoothly, both of you will even remarry and become husband and wife by then. You’re not really owing him or whatsoever. Isn’t it reasonable for him to do these for you?” Zane shrugged disapprovingly.
However, Sonia shook her head and replied, “Nothing in this world should be taken for granted. True enough, Toby and I are boyfriend and girlfriend now and will eventually become husband and wife, but this doesn’t mean that he has to do everything for me. This concept is wrong per se. Besides, I don’t prefer owing favors to others to begin with because it makes me feel uncomfortable as if there’s a weight on my mind. I can only feel relieved upon returning those favors.”
“Yeah, I can tell that.” Zane looked at Sonia and agreed.
Sonia smiled and continued, “I’ve just said that I’ve already owed Toby too much even before we got back together, so I don’t wish to owe him more. Moreover, now that we’ve reconciled, I’ll feel inferior to him and that we’re not equal in this relationship if I have to trouble him with everything and owe favors to him. In addition, if I’m counting on him to solve all problems for me, I’ll lose my problem-solving skills and the ability to think independently. Eventually, I’ll think of asking for Toby’s help whenever I encounter a difficulty, but have you thought of this…”
“Think of what?” Zane blinked in confusion.
She put the cup of black tea on the table. “At this moment, Toby is very much in love with me. I believe he’ll not turn down any requests from me and he’ll try his best to achieve them. As much as this is great, if our love for each other fades off someday and he stops loving me anymore, but it has already become a habit for me to rely on him, will he continue helping by that time?”
She shook her head and added, “I don’t think so. Sometimes, love will cease to exist after it is depleted. So, I don’t want to treat Toby like a handyman who can handle everything for me. Not only is this unfair to him, it’s also a misjudgment and distrust of my own ability.”
Zane was completely stunned upon hearing Sonia’s statements. He parted his lips but couldn’t say a word to refute her.
In his original conception, a man should pamper his woman and directly help her to solve any problems or difficulties when one arises. He thought it was the right thing to do because it was a man’s responsibility.
However, after listening to Sonia’s opinion, he was able to look at things from a different perspective. All of a sudden, he thought his original conception didn’t appear to be right after all.
Indeed, it was a way to show one’s love and care toward his lover by helping his lover to solve every problem.
Nonetheless, this love would indeed make his lover lose the ability to be independent, and make the other party become someone who couldn’t handle situations independently. So, was this actually an act of love or harm?
Zane reckoned the answer was both. It was not wrong to lend a helping hand, but one shouldn’t do it blindly in an obsequious manner. It would only be truly meaningful for one to extend his support to his lover when the other party ran into bottlenecks.
Besides, Zane totally agreed with one point that Sonia brought up—when one was in love with another person, he or she would not mind taking all the trouble to solve every problem for the other party. However, once the love ceased, the person would start feeling annoyed.
As much as the person might continue helping the other party for the sake of the relationship that they once had, he or she would become tired of it after several times.
At this thought, the affection in Zane’s gaze toward Sonia increased. “Indeed, you’re still so unique and sober when looking at things.” And that was exactly the reason why he couldn’t let her go.
Nonetheless, Sonia did not perceive the implication in Zane’s words. Smiling, she said, “Besides these reasons, there’s another one—Toby will definitely not allow me to return him favors even though he has helped me this much. If I insist on returning him favors, he will surely be displeased, but I don’t wish to have arguments with him. So, when I face some difficulties that can’t be solved on my own, I’ll think of you and Charles. At least, we’re friends, so you guys can’t reject it when I want to return you favors because you know I’ll be unhappy if you actually did.”
With a sudden realization, Zane wore an unfathomable smile. “No wonder. I was thinking why you didn’t seek Toby’s help for this matter but actually came to me. So, it turns out that it’s because I won’t and can’t reject your return of favor. I guess the same reason goes to the pursuit of the Gray Family, then.”
“Hmm?” Sonia stared at Zane.
Zane leaned forward slightly and explained, “Before this, I couldn’t understand why you didn’t ask for Toby’s help to seek revenge because that would be much easier. Although Toby can’t tackle the Gray Family directly because he might receive warning from the authorities, given his power, it’s a piece of cake for him to destroy the Gray Family in the dark. Even if the authorities know it is Toby’s doing, they can’t really give him warnings since he did not do it outrightly.”
He tapped his fingers on the table and continued, “So, if you actually asked Toby to help you go after the Gray Family, the Gray Family would have long been gone and won’t be alive and kicking until today. However, you did not seek Toby’s help all these while and insisted on relying on yourself. After so much effort, the effect is still vague. I was wondering what the reason behind your approach was, but I didn’t expect it is actually because of this.”
“Well, this is not the sole reason,” Sonia said with downcast eyes. “The main reason is that the grudge is between the Reed Family and the Gray Family, so what’s the point of leveraging the Fuller Family’s power to seek revenge? The Fuller Family has such achievements today thanks to Toby’s grandfather. His grandfather is one of the pioneers in developing this country and has left a very good impression on the authorities. I don’t wish the positive image of Toby’s grandfather, which he had diligently built all these years, to be affected in the authorities’ opinion just because Toby helped me to seek revenge. I can’t be that selfish.”
“Well, it’s not wrong to say that, but have you thought that Toby actually will not let the Gray Family off too? Tina Gray hypnotized Toby—this alone has started a feud between Toby and the Gray Family, yet he has not gone after the Gray Family all these while. Have you thought of the reasons behind it?” Zane asked.
Sonia smiled and replied, “I’m actually aware of it because I’ve asked Toby the same question before this. He said it’s because of me. He knew I wanted to seek revenge on the Gray Family with my own ability. So, after I rejected his help, he established that he can wait for me to finish taking vengeance first, then he’ll handle the remaining powers of the Gray Family and take that as a revenge on Tina for hypnotizing him.”
“So, you guys actually have had everything arranged. It seems like I’ve been worrying for y’all for nothing.” Zane twitched the corner of his lips in resignation.
Sonia checked the time on her watch and said, “Please don’t say that. I appreciate your concern toward us. You helped me to find a compatible gene this time, so I owe you a favor. I’ll do whatever you ask me to, but of course, illegal affairs are an exception.”
“Don’t worry.” Zane waved his hands about. “I’m an officer to begin with, so I won’t possibly consciously break the law. Besides, I won’t ask you to do something that puts you in a difficult position, but I can’t think of what I need yet. I’ll let you know after I’ve decided.”
“Whatever, but please don’t forget about it because if you do, I might take it as I’m unaware of it,” Sonia quipped. Thereafter, she stood up and took her purse. “It’s almost lunch time. Let me buy you lunch to thank you for accompanying me to the trial just now and for helping me to look for the gene.”
Zane leaned backward vigilantly and blurted, “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of using this meal to fulfill the promise earlier.”
She was amused. “Of course…”
Hearing that, he became even more alert.
Sonia rolled an eye at him and said, “Of course not. I’ll be belittling myself if I actually intended to return your huge favor just by buying you a meal. Alright, let’s go. Time for lunch.”
“Coming.” A giggling Zane followed Sonia and went out of the cafe.
After lunch, Zane and Sonia went their separate ways.
Zane did not head back to Coleman Villa but drove to the Fuller Group as he wanted to clarify some matters with Toby.
Upon arriving at the Fuller Group, Zane walked straight to the elevator without anyone stopping him. After all, he came so frequently in the past that even the receptionists knew him, so they naturally wouldn’t stop him.
However, the truth was Zane never came ever since he told Toby that he was in love with Sonia. And in fact, the friendship between the two men was not as deep as before with even cracks in their relationship.
Nevertheless, the outsiders were unaware of all these and they actually thought Toby and Zane were still as close as before.
