A Talk
I see. Sonia heaved a sigh of relief. And I thought he was a psychic.
A lock of her hair had fallen out of place from the running earlier and she pushed it behind her ear. She
looked at Connor and said, “I imagined quite a different person, Mr. Salzburg. I never thought you’d look
so friendly. I apologize for looking so surprised.”
She was just being polite, though. Connor’s looks were deceiving, but she knew he was not friendly at
all. He was just putting on an act, but thanks to that front, she was not feeling as nervous anymore.
He ignored the little white lie and waved her off with a smile. “It’s nothing. If anyone should apologize
here, it’s me. I’m sorry for scaring you, Miss Reed. I spoil my assistant a little too much, so he can be
quite arrogant. I’m really sorry for his behavior.”
Connor was about to bow when Sonia stopped him. “It’s alright, Mr. Salzburg. You don’t have to do this.”
She would have let him bow to her, but he might get back at her for this, so she stopped him. People like
him thought they could do no wrong, and all their apologies or bowing were just for show.
If she did not stop him, he would get back at her someday for this. He might be smiling on the outside,
but he would have already thought of Sonia as his enemy on the inside. Whatever courtesy they offered
was just for show. If someone was stupid enough to let them do it, they would think that the other person
was at fault, not them. Just as Sonia expected, Connor started beaming the moment Sonia stopped him.
He straightened his back and said, “My, you’re such a kind person, Miss Reed.”
Sonia forced a smile. “You flatter me, Mr. Salzburg.” Yeah right. I would have let you bow if it weren’t for
the fact that you’re a hypocritical snake. The fact that he betrayed Toby’s mother disgusted her despite
them not meeting before. Sonia was a woman, so of course she would take the women’s side and reject
jerks like Connor.
“You’re too modest, Miss Reed. I’m just speaking the truth.” Connor’s warm smile had still remained.
She looked at his smile, and she frowned. For some reason, the way he carried himself felt familiar. A lot
of people were gentle, and she had seen a lot of people like Connor, but due to their differences,
everyone was different despite them being gentle.
It was her first time seeing Connor, but the way he carried himself was really familiar. She must have
seen it before, or she would not feel this way. Who is it? She bit her lip and wracked her brain to search
through her memories. A moment later, the image of a young man in a white shirt popped into her mind.
She opened her mouth in disbelief. Toby? Toby’s the one who gave me that feeling before?
Sonia quickly faced Connor again and compared him to the young, gentle Toby in her mind. In the end,
she noticed that Toby acted just like Connor when he was younger.
There’s no way two men can carry themselves in the exact same way, unless one of them is modeled
after the other. Connor can’t be modeled after Toby. The guy is about twenty years older than Toby is, so
Toby must be modeled after Connor. The younger they are, the easier they are to sculpt. There are only
a few people who would model Toby after someone though. It’s either his grandmother, father, or mother.
No way Grandma and Toby’s father would model him after someone else, especially not Connor.
Grandma thinks he’s the one who seduced Toby’s mother while Toby’s father thinks Connor’s the one
standing between him and his wife, stopping them from being a real couple.
They hate Connor’s guts. There’s no way they’d model Toby after him, so that leaves only one answer.
The one who modeled Toby after Connor was his own mother. She loved Connor, but she couldn’t see
him, so she modeled her own son after her lover just to satiate a part of her yearning.
If that’s true, then Toby’s really… Sonia gasped as sadness and sympathy welled up within her. If that
was true, then Toby had her sympathy.
Even though she did her job as Toby’s mother and showered him with all her love while she was alive, it
could not change the fact that she used Toby as some sort of tool.
She did not bring him to this world out of love. She only thought of him as an item to complete her
mission and break free from the Fullers. On top of that, she even modeled Toby after Connor just to calm
her yearning. To make things worse, she abandoned Toby when he was only ten years old and took her
own life for Connor’s sake. It traumatized Toby and something that he still could not get over after many
years.
Toby’s mother was the textbook definition of selfish. She only loved and cared for Toby because he was
the only thing she could use to finish her task. Her love was filled with selfish agendas. It tainted the love
of a mother, one of the purest loves in the world. Compared to that, the love and care Jean had shown
for Toby was more innocent and pure.
Oh, Toby. Sonia felt tears welling up in her eyes, and her heart ached.
A lot of people envied Toby for being born in a great family like the Fullers. He was born on a silver
platter, but none knew that his childhood was a wreck. And the one who did all this to him is right in front
of me. He’s the cause of all his pain. That fact alone made her feel nothing but contempt toward Connor,
and she showed it all in her eyes.
Connor noticed that as well and he squinted. A flash of cruelty appeared in his eyes, but it faded right
away. He kept smiling as if nothing had happened. “Is there something on my face, Miss Reed? Why are
you looking at me like that?”
Sonia looked down, hiding the contempt she felt for him. “Nothing. Are you here to talk about Anya’s
case?” Sonia cut to the chase.
He was surprised about how straightforward she was. He fiddled with his thumb ring while smiling. “Yes,
that’s part of why I’m here, but I’m also here to see an old friend.” There was love and reminiscence in
his eyes when he said that.
She noticed that and she could guess who his old friend was. Toby’s mother. She was not buried in the
cemetery of the Johann Family after her death because the family was not what they used to be
anymore at that point.
She was not buried in the Fuller Family’s cemetery either. The Fullers would have allowed it, but Toby’s
mother probably refused the offer. She wanted to break free from the Fullers when she was alive, so it
was impossible that she would want to be buried in the family cemetery after her death. That would tie
her to the family for eternity.
The Fullers buried her in a regular cemetery in the end, but Sonia had no idea where it was as Toby
never told her about it either.
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