Chapter 878 Lucius Hayes is Injured
Toby was irked by the look on Oscar’s face. He frowned and asked, “So what? Would I be afraid if he came knocking on my door?”
“No, no, not at all. I didn’t mean it that way,” Oscar hurriedly explained himself to avoid any misunderstandings. “What I mean is, Mr. Salzburg tends to resort to rather unsavory means to get what he wants, so you should keep an eye out for that, President Fuller.”
When Sonia heard his explanation, her expression grew serious as well. “What do you mean? Is he going to do something underhanded?”
Toby was also starting to look a little grim as he waited for Oscar’s answer.
Oscar continued, “Mr. Salzburg does tend to rely on some underhanded tactics. I don’t know if he would use them on President Fuller, but I do know that in order to meet his goals, he has done so to numerous other influential families in Westsanshire. I had taken a trip to Westsanshire for one of my cases a while ago, and I heard that the Salzburgs are currently feuding with the Hayes.”
“The Hayes?!” As soon as Sonia heard that, she straightened up and asked, “What happened to the Hayes?”
The Hayes were Carl’s family. She did not care which personality was in charge of his body right now. To her, he was still the Carl that she knew. Since the news involved his family, she felt the need to pay closer attention to it.
Toby knew why Sonia was suddenly so concerned about what Oscar said. He pursed his lips in slight displeasure, but he did not say anything, nor did he fly into a fit of jealousy either. Maybe he was feeling more secure now, since the words that Sonia said earlier were etched into his heart. He would no longer feel overwhelmed with jealousy.
Oscar was unaware of Sonia’s relationship with Carl, so he had no idea why she cared about the Hayes, but he answered her anyway. “The Hayes recently appointed a new head of the family, and he was eyeing a piece of land in Westsanshire that Mr. Salzburg was also keen to get. Neither one of them wanted to give it up, but Mr. Salzburg managed to get it since he had a lot more influence. However, Mr. Hayes was unwilling to let it go, and somehow, right before they were able to sign off on the transfer of land ownership, Mr. Hayes convinced the owner to sell it to him instead of Mr. Salzburg. Because of this, Mr. Salzburg threw a fit and the next day, Mr. Hayes was injured.”
“What?” Sonia stood up with a stricken expression. “Carl got injured?”
“Carl?” Oscar’s brows creased a little.
Sonia replied hoarsely, “Carl, also known as Lucius Hayes, is the new head of the Hayes family, and also my younger brother.”
“I see.” Oscar nodded in realization.
At first, Toby was rather annoyed by the fact that Sonia seemed so worried over Carl’s injury. She was showing too much concern for him. Her reaction now was even bigger than it had been when she heard about the Hayes earlier. He might be feeling a little more secure and was not about to fly into a fit of jealousy, but he was still a little upset. However, when he heard the word ‘younger brother’, his brows unfurrowed and his mood immediately got a lot better.
He was just her brother.
A brother would be nothing more than a brother. So what if he had some tricks up his sleeve? If Sonia saw him as a brother, then Carl would never be anything more than a brother to her in this life!
Why should he care about a brother? He was going to become Carl’s brother-in-law, so why would he get jealous over his younger brother?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. His lips began to curl up again and it was clear that he was in a good mood.
On the other hand, Sonia was not aware of Toby’s internal monologue. She was preoccupied with the news of Carl’s injury.
Her hands were tightly clenched as she anxiously asked Oscar, “Mr. Woolley, did Carl really get injured?”
She had to double-check.
However, Oscar could only shake his head and say, “These are all hearsay, and I’m afraid that I don’t know for sure. After all, I’m not someone who is able to meet Mr. Hayes in person. However, the news has spread across the wealthy circles in Westsanshire, and they seemed to be quite consistent, so I think it’s true.”
It was true…
Sonia bit her lip and turned to look at Toby in the hopes that he might be able to assuage her fears.
Instead, Toby shrugged and sighed. “I haven’t been paying attention to the goings-on in Westsanshire, but since the news has already spread that far and wide until even an attorney has heard it, then it’s most likely true. With the influence that both the Hayes and the Salzburgs have, it’s unlikely that anyone would spread a false rumor.”
No one would dare to incur the wrath of these influential families by spreading such rumors.
The thought had crossed Sonia’s mind as well, and her heart sank even deeper. She wobbled and seemed to have lost all energy as she fell onto the couch.
Toby wrapped his arm around her waist and frowned. “Don’t be so upset. Carl is just injured, but his life is not in danger. You don’t have to worry about it.”
Sonia rubbed her forehead and said, “I know, but I can’t help myself from worrying. Carl is like my little brother, and he has already been through so many struggles in life. I…”
“Carl is no longer the same person that you knew before,” Toby interrupted her and reminded her.
He wanted to remind her that Carl was currently under the control of his alternate personality. It was not the main personality, the Carl that she knew. They may share the same body, but they were two different people. This meant that the one who was injured was someone else, and not the Carl that she knew. This way, she could feel a little less worried about him.
“I know what you’re saying, but it’s Carl’s body, so I…”
“If the current alternate personality has already overpowered the main personality, or if Carl had willingly allowed Lucius Hayes to take control and refused to regain control, then it means that it will forever be the body of Lucius Hayes. This means there would no longer be a Carl Lee in this world, and it means that the person you’re concerned about right now is Lucius, not Carl.”
Toby looked her straight in the eye. “Even if Carl returns one day, it’s still sometime in the future, and not now. The person now isn’t Carl, but Lucius, so you don’t need to worry yourself over a stranger.”
Sonia parted her lips to speak, but no words came out.
Toby was right. It was the alternate personality—Lucius Hayes—who was in control of the body right now, and not Carl. Lucius was just a stranger, and in fact, a stranger that she was not very fond of. There was no reason for her to be concerned about him. However, even though she could break it down like that, she was still a little worried.
She took a deep breath and bit her lips. “Is Carl… never waking up again?” She had no idea if it was a question that she was asking to herself, or to the man beside her.
Toby stayed silent for a while before responding solemnly, “I don’t know. It’ll depend on whether he is willing to seize back control over his body and whether he is strong enough to overpower Lucius or not. If he isn’t, then he won’t wake up.”
“Can’t we get a doctor to wake him up?” Sonia stared at Toby with hopeful eyes.
Toby shook his head lightly. “I don’t know. I’ve asked Miles about this before, since he’s a hypnotherapist and is familiar with such cases. He told me that if the alternate personality has managed to usurp the place of the main personality, then it means that the main personality isn’t strong enough to compete. Or perhaps the main personality does not wish to face the world and chooses to relinquish control over the body. Either way, if you want to resort to external means of waking Carl up, it seems like it’s unlikely that you’ll succeed.”
This was not a lie. Truth be told, Toby was not keen on having Carl regain control over his body. Just like Charles, Carl’s feelings toward Sonia were very strong. In fact, Carl was even more crazy, and a lot more dangerous. In order to be with Sonia, Carl was willing to go so far as to drug her in spite of his claims about loving her. He was a ticking time bomb.
Unfortunately, Sonia always had a soft spot for Carl, and she even forgave him for drugging her. If Carl came back, Sonia would still be trusting and would not have her guard up against him. Either way, Carl would surely continue to force his way into Sonia’s life. If that happened, then Toby would not be able to rest easy. He would be constantly worried about the possibility of Carl harming Sonia again. He was sure Carl was capable of that.
