Chapter 822 Zane’s Confusion
The way Toby said this confirmed Zane’s suspicion that he knew who Sonia’s birth parents were.
Toby was irate after being questioned on matters concerning Sonia, but that did not dissuade Zane from pressing further. Instead, he chuckled as he shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s a little too late for you to point that out to me, Toby. If you told me that this had nothing to do with me before I went to the court hearing with Sonia, I’d gladly walk away right now without another word. However, as things are, I’m already involved. Jessica didn’t tell Sonia everything back in the courtroom, but she had said enough to make Sonia grow suspicious.”
“What?” Toby’s back stiffened as a grim look passed over his face. “What do you mean she’s grown suspicious?”
“You heard me,” Zane affirmed with a nod. “It was only after Jessica had brought up the matter of Sonia’s birth parents when the bailiff clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her from continuing. Based on the timing of the bailiff’s gesture, anyone could tell that it was made to stop Jessica from speaking on the matter. Sonia isn’t a fool to begin with, and she’s bright enough to connect the dots right away. If I hadn’t been quick enough to sense that you were behind this and talked Sonia out of her initial suspicions, she would have demanded an explanation from Jessica herself. You know how that could have been a real possibility.”
Toby clenched his fists and made no reply. He felt nothing but a strong surge of rage for the incompetent fools who worked at the courthouse.
“If you think about it, Toby, you ought to thank me for stepping in,” Zane added insouciantly as he swiveled in his chair. “Do you still think that this has nothing to do with me? I was dragged into this the moment I covered for you, so what choice do you have now other than to tell me who Sonia’s birth parents are? That would be for the best, and I can keep covering for you if I know the truth. I wouldn’t want to unknowingly help her track them down.”
This rendered Toby speechless, for he knew that Zane made sense.
If Zane were to work together with Sonia to take down the Gray Family, it naturally meant that he would look into them as well. Eventually, he would start digging up more information on Rina. Once he had all these leads and lay them side by side with Sonia’s findings, he would inadvertently help her piece up the puzzle.
There was no telling that Sonia wouldn’t start questioning her own identity after that.
In fact, it was impossible to assume that she wouldn’t figure it out, and there could only be so many coincidences before real doubt began to sink in. More importantly, Sonia was already suspicious; based on her character, she wouldn’t be so easily dissuaded by a few lighthearted words on Zane’s part.
Toby lowered his gaze as he thought about what he had asked Sonia on the phone earlier. He asked her if Jessica said anything strange to her in the courtroom, specifically anything that alluded to the identity of Sonia’s birth parents.
He had believed her when she said Jessica told her nothing of the sort. However, after hearing what Zane said, he realized that Sonia had lied to him.
Jessica had told her about her birth parents, which was a strange topic in itself. Yet, Sonia did not relay this to Toby at all. This could only mean that she was suspicious of him, and even though Zane had tried to put her doubts to rest, it couldn’t have been enough to quell her suspicions. Otherwise, why would she have lied to Toby?
At the thought of this, Toby grew somber as he began to worry. He was acutely aware of the fact that he was losing control over the matter of Sonia’s birth parents. Now that her suspicions had been seeded, it wouldn’t take long for them to sprout.
Sooner or later, she would discover the truth about her birth parents, and Toby feared it might be sooner than later.
For a moment, he was so frustrated that he even began to feel a strong urge to murder those who might tell Sonia the truth, particularly Jessica.
However, killing Jessica was not a feasible plan since it would only aggravate Sonia’s suspicions.
More importantly, Sonia still needed Jessica to bear a child for the Reed Family.
As such, Toby needed to abandon quick measures and focus on the big picture.
Meanwhile, Zane had a bad feeling when he saw the dark and ominous look on Toby’s face. He understood the man well enough to know that he was planning something wicked.
“Hey, Toby, maybe you should—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Toby looked up at him and cut him off icily, “I can tell you who Little Leaf’s birth parents are, but you must not tell anyone. If you do, I won’t spare you from my wrath even though I’ve known you for over twenty years.”
Upon hearing Toby’s grave tone, Zane immediately knew that there was something wrong with Sonia’s birth parents, and whatever it was must be kept secret from everyone else, especially Sonia herself. Perhaps something drastic will happen if she finds out. At the thought of this, he nodded and promised in all seriousness, “Don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word about it. I’ll cover for you, and I’ll even get someone to keep an eye on Jessica so that she won’t get the chance to tell Sonia about it.”
When Toby heard this, his expression softened slightly, and he lowered his gaze as he said in clipped tones, “Sonia’s birth parents are Titus and Julia Gray.”
“Excuse me?” Zane was so shocked by this that he stood up from his chair and gaped at Toby incredulously. “You’ve got to be joking, Toby. How could Titus and Julia be her parents?”
Toby met his bewildered gaze and asked, “Do you honestly think I’d joke about something like this?”
Zane was at a loss for words. After all, he knew Toby would never do that. He was too serious to make a joke or prank someone, which could only mean that he was telling the truth.
His thoughts clamored at that moment, and he looked completely dumbfounded. He clenched his fists as he paced from one end of Toby’s desk to the other, and he muttered in a seemingly endless loop, “How could they be Sonia’s parents? How? Last I checked, Titus and Julia didn’t have two daughters.”
Toby took a sip of his iced coffee and said, “No, you’re right. They only have one daughter named Rina.”
Zane stopped in his tracks and stared at him with wide eyes. “Are you telling me that Sonia and Rina are the same people?”
Toby did not shake his head or nod. He made no answer, but it was clear that he was confirming the fact that Sonia was indeed Rina.
After inhaling sharply, Zane then asked, “How can Sonia be Rina? If that’s the case, who the hell is Taylor?”
“Isn’t Taylor the replacement that you and Sonia found?” Toby asked as he eyed the other man steadily.
Zane parted his lips, and after a pause, he said, “Yeah, she was supposed to be the replacement at first, but the DNA test afterward showed that she was indeed Rina. How can Sonia be Rina all of a sudden? What the hell is going on? My head hurts from having to process this.”
He sat down and clutched his head as if to keep his mind from imploding, and he looked like he was questioning everything he had learned since birth.
Toby set his iced coffee down and said curtly, “The DNA test results were fake.”
“What?” Zane exclaimed in shock. “Fake?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Wait, what?” Zane was flabbergasted as he raked his fingers through his hair. “The results can’t be fake, though. I was there throughout the whole process, and I had my men keep an eye on the other facilities too. There is no way those results could’ve been faked.”
Toby gazed at him witheringly. “The results weren’t sabotaged because the DNA samples used in the test were Sonia’s and Titus’ right from the beginning, not Taylor’s and Titus’. In other words, it wasn’t the DNA test results that got swapped or tampered with, but Taylor’s DNA sample.”
“Wait a minute.” Zane put up his hand. “Let me get this straight. You said that Taylor’s DNA sample was swapped, but I saw her pull out her hair for the sample with my own eyes. Sonia never once pulled a single strand of her own hair, and Taylor’s sample was sent to the facilities immediately. I had my men keep an eye on the whole process, so there was no way the sample could’ve been swapped. How in the world did Sonia’s DNA sample get mixed up in all this anyway?”
