Ch. 1171..1180

Chapter 1171 A Long Face

Sonia didn’t think she could finish the soup. Toby, who was beside her, remained silent. However, he was holding the bowl in his hands as he watched Rose with a look similar to Sonia, quietly protesting.

Not only had he a full stomach, he also found the soup disgusting as he studied it. Even more, it was giving him an impression of sewage water instead of soup.

“I’m not taking no for an answer. You must drink them.” Rose’s smile dropped from her face, and a serious and stern expression replaced it as she watched them. “These soups are made for you. You can take it slow if you’re full. You don’t have to rush, but you must finish them.”

Mary nodded as she agreed with Rose, “That’s the point, Miss Reed. This is for your good. Drinking the soup can nourish your body.” “I don’t doubt the benefits. However, I want to know why you made the soup for us all of a sudden?” Sonia asked in resignation. Toby nodded, eager to learn the truth as well.

To that, Rose answered, “Both of you went overboard last night. I understand if young ones like you can’t keep yourselves away from each other for more than one minute, but you need to do it in moderation. You can’t risk your health just because you’re young.

Have you ever thought about your older days? Elders like us are hurt to see the young ones not paying attention to their health, so we decided to step in. That’s why we asked the chef to make the soup to nourish your body.”

As Rose finished her words, Sonia could feel her mind go blank in a second as her cheeks flushed and her body heated up. She thought everything was water under the bridge, and both Rose and Mary would spare her the tease.

The two women indeed didn’t tease them with words, and they began to worry about Sonia and Toby’s health instead. Moreover, the elderly women even made Sonia and Toby the nourishing soup and urged the duo to finish the soup.

Their considerate gesture was causing a bigger impact on Sonia than a tease, as she felt embarrassed and shy regarding this matter.

At that moment, Sonia grabbed the bowl in her hands as she lowered her head to hide her face. She sat there with a flushed face, but she couldn’t even form a reply due to the embarrassment.

Toby raised his brows out of surprise as the corner of his thin lips twitched in disbelief. Before this, he cast a look at his grandmother to remind her not to mention the matter in front of Sonia, or else the younger woman would be embarrassed.

To his surprise, even though Rose didn’t tease them at first, she couldn’t help but talk about it when she explained the purpose of the nourishing soup to them.

Toby turned to the woman on his side, who was hiding her face from the others, and a look of resignation emerged on his face.

He wasn’t the one to blame in this situation as he already reminded Rose to not mention the topic. Never would he know that she asked the chef to prepare the nourishing soup for them.199713

His serving of soup kept bothering him, so he lowered his head to study the bowl of soup with an odd smell in front of him. Then, he shifted his attention back to the two elderly women on the other side and began with a low tone, “Grandma, I understand the need to make soup for Little Leaf. After all, she’s a woman, and has a physically weaker body.”

As he finished his words, Sonia immediately rolled her eyes at him. Pretending to not notice her, Toby continued as he looked at Rose. “I’m a man, but you still made the soup for me. Do you think I have a weak body?”

In short, he found the existence of the soup before him unpleasant. The nourishing soup was nothing more than a symbol of humiliation to him. I’m a man! A healthy man, alright? Why would I need this?

To Toby, the soup implied that he was a man with a deceiving appearance in others’ eyes. It told the story that he was a strong and tall man by appearance but in fact was physically weak inside. Moreover, it was indicating that his ability to function as a man was being looked down upon.

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No matter what the intention was, Toby wasn’t pleased to have the bowl of soup to himself. If the soup wasn’t given to him by Rose but by somebody else, he would think that person had a death wish.0

“I didn’t say anything, did I?” Judging from the gloomy look on his face, Rose could tell what thoughts were running through his mind without even asking. After all, Toby’s grandfather had asked her about the same thing back when they were younger.

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In their younger days, she made the same soup for her husband, but he didn’t appreciate the gesture as he thought she was implying that he lacked certain abilities as a man.

She could still remember her husband’s expression until today, and it was no different compared to her grandson’s expression at the moment.

Thus, it only took one glance for Rose to understand Toby’s displeasure. Sipping her tea in a calm manner, she continued, “You can nourish your body without being physically weak. You shouldn’t think that your health doesn’t matter and doesn’t need any nourishment just because you’re still young and healthy. Once you age, you’ll no doubt get weaker. I’m doing this for your good. Who else do you think?”

Toby wasn’t pleased to listen to the words “weak” and he got more uncomfortable.

Even though he knew Rose made the soup for him out of the purpose to strengthen his body and maintain its health instead of thinking he was weak, he lacked the spirit to accept her gesture.

Due to the men being competitive and holding their egos in this kind of matter, as long as there was a suggestion to nourish the body, the men would involuntarily relate them to the implication of their incompetence as a man.

Even after the men learned that the other party had good intentions, they would still feel discomfort.

Toby was sharing those same thoughts, just like any other man would have at the moment. Watching the soup in front of him, he found it especially irritating and couldn’t wait to pour it away.

Meanwhile, as Sonia was a woman, she didn’t see someone making the soup as an implication of her incompetence as a woman. She was merely embarrassed by the gesture.

Seeing the young ones in front of her not making a move to have the soup at all, Rose could feel a headache coming on.

She massaged her temples to ease the pain. “What are you waiting for? Drink it, Sonny. Last night was too much for you, so you need to drink more to nourish your body. Remember that you’re a girl, that kind of thing would bring more burden to your body, so you must drink the soup for your health. There’s no need to be embarrassed at all. It’s common among women, and all of us have experienced the same feeling. In my younger days, my mother-in-law also made me soup. I didn’t even feel embarrassed as a woman from the previous era, so there’s no point in feeling shy as a modern woman.”

Sonia reflected on Rose’s words as she began to think she was indeed conservative and easily got embarrassed.

After all, the people around her were well aware of what happened between her and Toby last night. Sonia saw no point in shyly avoiding it. Instead, she should face it by taking a direct approach.

Besides, Toby had never got shy about it. It was basically about her blushing the whole time in this kind of situation while he didn’t even give a care in the world.

Thus, Sonia made a mental note to learn about his optimism from time to time, so she could have less pressure in her daily life.

As she finished the thought, she took a deep breath and raised her head before she cast a smile at Rose. “You’re right, Grandma. Thank you for your consideration in asking them to make the soup for me.”

“That’s the spirit! And you don’t have to thank me. I’m your grandmother, too. We’re family. This is what I should do for you as your grandmother. Come on; drink it.” Rose chuckled.

Sonia hummed before she used the spoon to drink the soup.

Drinking the hot chicken soup, she wondered whether it was her mind affecting her thoughts, but she indeed felt the effect.

The warmth spread through her exhausted body. As the tiredness was lifted from her body, she couldn’t help but drink more.

Rose was watching Sonia enjoying the soup the whole time. However, the former slowly steered her attention to Toby after some time.

He wasn’t drinking the soup like Sonia. Instead, he pursed his thin lips and furrowed his brows, pulling a long face at the soup in front of him. Noticing he looked at the soup as if he was facing his enemy, Rose almost rolled her eyes at him.

“What now? Do you think I’ll poison you? Are you going to keep staring at it?” Rose muttered, intending to embarrass him.

Chapter 1172 The Soup Has a Terrible Taste

Sonia put her spoon down and turned to Toby. Pursing his thin lips in conflict, he spoke after a while. “It’s not like that.”

“If so, why do you keep staring at it and not drinking?” The smile dropped from Rose’s face, to which he replied in resignation, “Grandma, does the soup look edible to you?”

He pointed to the bowl in front of him. Rose, however, only replied in dismissal, “The soup is made for you, so what do you think?” Toby took a deep breath upon hearing that. “If it is as you say, then why is my soup different from Little Leaf’s?”

“He’s right, Grandma.” Sonia nodded. “It is obvious that mine is chicken soup, but I can’t tell what his soup is, and it’s weird. Why can’t we get the same soup?”

Judging by its smell, Sonia could tell it must have a terrible taste without drinking it. Besides, it had an unnatural color. I wonder why Grandma made Toby this kind of soup. I doubt it is useful to the body. Sonia was utterly suspicious about the soup.

Hearing Sonia take his side, Toby was touched. That’s my wife! She’s showing consideration for me the whole time, unlike Grandma. Watching the soup in the bowl, Toby felt his stomach churn.

He doubted that Rose wanted to help him nourish his body. Instead, he was sure she wanted to poison him.

Taking note of the young ones’ suspicion and confusion, Rose sighed. “You’re good at imagining things. I didn’t give you the same soup because they have different effects. Sonny is a woman, and a female’s body is different from a man’s, which is why she’s drinking the chicken soup. It was good to have the chicken soup after the menstruation phase or exhaustion. You, being a man, have no need to drink it.”

As she finished her words, Rose rolled her eyes at him. Toby pursed his thin lips before he muttered, “I don’t mind what hers is. What I’m curious about is mine. Did I get served the water to wash the pot that cooked the chicken soup?”

Sonia choked at his words before she coughed heavily until her cheeks flushed and tears hung on her eyelashes, which made others worried about her. “What’s wrong, Sonny?” Feeling worried, Rose put her cup aside before she attempted to rise to her feet and check on Sonia.

However, Mary was more worried about Rose. As the latter stood, Mary pressed Rose’s shoulder to put her back in the seat. “Don’t worry, Madam. Just sit here. I’ll check on her.”

At that, Mary walked toward Sonia. On her side, Sonia’s well-being occupied Toby’s mind. As soon as she coughed, he left his seat and embraced her in his arms. He patted her back to help her with her breathing.

After a moment, Sonia’s breath finally calmed down, and relaxed with his help. At that moment, Mary handed over something to her. “Here you go, Miss Reed. Have this.”

“What is this?” As he released her, Sonia sat upright in her seat to look at Mary’s eyes. After coughing, she had a raspy voice, and it sounded pitiful to the onlookers.

Mary stared at her with a distressed look and replied, “This is a medicine effective for a sudden cough. Miss Reed, you must feel the discomfort of your lungs after the cough a moment ago. This pill will help you to get better soon.”

Sonia smiled at Mary’s words. “Thank you, Madam Mary. That’s exactly what I need right now.”

“Here. you go, then” Mary’s smile grew wider.

Sonia hummed before she took the pill from Mary and put it in her mouth as she raised her chin. Toby passed her a glass of water.

Shooting daggers at him, Sonia took the glass and drank the pill with water.

Scratching the bridge of his nose, Toby shifted his eyes away in guilt as he knew the reason why she choked. Thus, he was avoiding her.

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Noticing his guilty look, Rose scoffed in disdain. “You should’ve minded your words. What do you mean by ‘the water to wash pot’? That’s nonsense! Look what you’ve done to Sonny.”

Sonia nodded hastily in agreement. “That’s right! Don’t you think you’re too creative?”

Goodness knows how astonished she was when she heard Toby’s description of the soup.

At first, she never thought about that. However, his words were echoing in her mind, and the impression of the soup was a bowl of water to wash the pot popped up in her mind.

As such, Sonia had no idea about what her response should be.0

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On the side, Toby cast her a glance before he turned back to Rose. “Don’t tell me you don’t think they look the same.”

“They don’t.” Rose’s expression sank at his words. “Mary helped me to ask the family chef to prepare this. How dare you degrade it? It is made with various ingredients and hard work.”0

“Oh?” Toby raised his brows. “Grandma, what was the wate—I mean, nourishing soup made of, pray tell? Why does it smell odd?”

“Well, the soup—”

Before Mary could finish, Rose tugged her pants under the stone table to stop her.

The gesture was telling her something. Mary’s eyes shifted quick-wittedly before she smiled. “There are basic ingredients for soup, but we added some animal organs. They have high calories, and are good for men.”

“Mary is right. Enough with your nonsense; just drink it. ” Rose scowled, impatiently urging Toby and sounding as if she would feed him the whole bowl of soup in one gulp if he hesitated longer.

Sonia then turned to Toby and tugged his sleeve. “Why don’t you just drink it? Indeed, it has an odd smell, and I don’t think its taste would be any better. However, it certainly won’t be the water that cleaned the pot. You’re Grandma’s grandson, and she won’t harm you.”

Nodding in agreement, Mary chimed in, “Miss Reed is right. Young Master Toby, you should drink it. It’s good for your health.”

Rose didn’t speak, but her eyes were staring at Toby intensely.

Facing the three pairs of eyes watching them, Toby had no choice but to compromise. He grabbed the bowl with furrowed brows, taking a breath before he shut his eyes and took the first sip.

He decided to take the risk. After all, no matter the appearance, the soup was a kind gesture from his grandmother. Thus, he must drink it, regardless of the ingredients of the soup.

When Toby was drinking the soup, the three women were watching him with intensifying glances. Contrary to Rose and Mary’s relieved faces, Sonia was worried about him.

Truth be told, she was worried that the unidentified liquid would cause harm to him.

I hope I’m wrong about that. Tightening her grip on the spoon, she watched in anticipation.

As the thought occurred in her mind, she heard him making a sound and spitting out the soup.

She was surprised to see him in such a state.

“What’s wrong?” Sonia leaned forward to check on him.

Toby’s body was half turned to her while he had one hand around his throat and another one to grab the side of the table. He was spitting out the contents from his stomach, and the discomfort flushed his handsome face, indicating his struggle.

Sonia could see his fingers tightening around the table with force as the veins on the back of his hand popped up, showing that he wasn’t in his best state.

Other than Sonia, Rose and Mary were also taken aback by his reaction.

“Young Master Toby, are you all right?” Mary walked over and asked in concern.

Even though Rose wasn’t speaking, her eyes betrayed her worries. After all, he was her eldest grandson, and she wasn’t that heartless to see him suffer.

However, Toby was not feeling well at the moment and had no scope to answer their questions.

Watching his face contorted in pain, Sonia felt bad for him. She stood at his side and patted his back, just like he did a moment ago.

Watching the scene unfold, Rose and Mary looked at each other.

“Madam, we made a mistake, haven’t we?” Mary began with mixed feelings.

Chapter 1173 Faking Sick

Rose and Mary made the stew for Toby because they figured that it was nutritious and good for him, but they forgot to consider that he might not want any of it.

It wasn’t until Toby directly puked and grimaced in disgust that she realized not everyone could stomach the stew. In fact, now that she thought about it, Toby liked his food mild, but the stew had a strong gamey flavor.

Rose felt a little rueful when she watched Toby retching. So, she lowered her voice and mumbled, “Well, the stew is good for him, so I wanted him to drink it. That’s why I stopped you from letting him know the stew’s ingredients.”

“But he can’t have any even though he doesn’t know the ingredients.” Mary felt sorry for Toby.

Rose pursed her lips, slightly guilty. Then, after a while of silence, she sighed. “I might have overestimated him, but alas… He can’t even drink a mouthful of the stew.”

Mary’s lips twitched slightly, but she didn’t comment.

Although she was Mary’s best friend, she was not a part of her family, so she couldn’t concur when Mary turned her nose up at Toby.

Moreover, she could guess how awful the stew was, although she didn’t drink it. She bet that others would spit the stew out, too, when they drank it, so it was honestly not Toby’s fault that he had such a severe reaction.

Meanwhile, Toby couldn’t be bothered with the conversation between Rose and Mary. All he cared about was getting rid of the awful taste in his mouth. He even considered cutting off his tongue momentarily before his rationality took hold of his brain again.

He felt like the ‘thing’ he drank wasn’t stew but some rotten mush. The taste and smell of the so-called stew were so vile and horrendous that he couldn’t even bring himself to swallow it.199715

He could feel the stench lingering in his mouth even after throwing up. To make matters worse, he could taste the rotting taste. There were just some things that weren’t meant to be tasted by the human mouth.

Due to the rancid smell filling his nostrils with extreme prejudice, the disgusting stench made him feel dizzy. He knew he wasn’t suffocating, but frankly, he’d rather be launched into the sun right about now so that he could stop feeling the sour taste in his throat.

What kind of stew is this?! D*mn!

Toby was in unspeakable distress and felt like crawling out of his skin and abandoning his human shell.

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Sonia could feel his torment when she observed his expression, which worsened her anxiety. She handed him a glass of water when he stopped gagging over the stew. “Here. Drink some water and rinse your mouth.”0

Plain water was what Toby needed the most right now. Life water! He took the glass of water and began to gargle, wanting to flush the disgusting taste out of his mouth.

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Soon, he finished the glass of water, and the taste in his mouth did wash down a little, but he could feel that a large part of the residue still lingered in his mouth.

The stench would even be emitted whenever he opened his mouth, so he covered his mouth when he spoke, “Grandma, what is in this stew?! Please tell me honestly.”

He glared at Rose and Mary with red-rimmed eyes and a grim expression.

Sonia also looked at Rose and Mary curiously. She wanted to know what ingredients they used in that stew that caused Toby so much misery.

Rose and Mary were taken aback by the couple’s curious and indignant glances. They exchanged slightly guilty glances when they saw that the stew was so terribly received.

Mary tugged at Rose’s sleeve and silently inquired if she should tell them the truth.

Rose’s eyes darted around anxiously, and she refused to look at the couple.

Tell them the truth? How? If I tell them the truth, Toby will definitely be pissed, so no! I can’t say it!

Rose suddenly touched her forehead, and her face twisted in a painful grimace at the thought of this. She mumbled weakly, “Gosh! Why does my head hurt? It must be because I stayed in the pavilion for too long. The wind is quite cold today, and I feel chilly. I have to go back to my room to rest. Mary, help me up. Let’s go back to my room.”

With that, she winked at Mary and extended her hand toward her.

Mary instantly understood her intention. She immediately looked concerned, held Rose’s hand, and helped her up. “Are you okay? Oh dear, you look so pale. I’ll help you to your room. Walk slowly.”

As she urged, she helped Rose to walk out of the gazebo.

Sonia and Toby sat there and quietly watched the two old ladies putting on an act.

Their acting skills were so lousy that no one would believe them.

Sonia shook her head in amusement and did not expose their lies, but Toby, who was determined to know what he was forced to take, was not so lenient.

“Stop right there!” He lifted his gaze, and his deep, clear voice resonated through the gazebo.

Rose and Mary instinctively stopped in their tracks as soon as they heard him.

Toby stood up with one hand in his pocket and the other on the stone table. He glared at the backs of the old ladies and hissed, “Do you think you can just get away with it after playing a prank on me? Grandma, Mary, do you think I’ll let you off the hook just because you pretend to be sick?”

Rose and Mary donned uneasy expressions when Sonia and Toby couldn’t see their faces.

When they turned around, they immediately hid their uneasiness, and both looked utterly innocent and bewildered at his accusation.

“Toby, what are you talking about? Feigning illness? I don’t understand.” Rose’s eyes flickered around as she refused to look Toby in the eyes.

Mary was always on Rose’s side, so she quickly nodded and echoed, “Young Master, how can you accuse Old Madam of pretending to be sick? She is weak, to begin with, and the cold wind isn’t conducive to her health. You know about her condition, so how can you say that she is pretending to be sick?”

“Oh, Toby, you break my heart by saying that. Argh, ugh, my head is hurting again. Mary, let’s go.” Rose rested her head on Mary’s shoulder and urged Mary to leave.

Mary did not want to stay here any longer, too, because she was worried that Toby would pursue the matter seriously. She quickly nodded, held Rose’s hand, and practically scurried away.

The two old ladies’ shenanigans amused Sonia so much that she covered her lips as she giggled softly. This was the first time she had seen them so cheeky and funny.

She had never expected the two old ladies to pull such a childish act, such as pretending to be sick in order to get away from trouble.

An elderly could bring joy to the family, and it just so happened that they had two elders in the house.

Sonia muffled her giggles while turning to look at Toby beside her. Just as she had expected, Toby was even more grumpy at being the butt of the joke.

She was supposed to feel agitated when on behalf of Toby, but the whole thing was too hilarious that she could barely keep a straight face.

After all, not many people in this world could upset Toby like this. But, more importantly, he couldn’t even do anything about this since their intentions were good.

At this moment, Toby looked like a pushover after being bullied.

Sonia’s amused expression was imprinted in Toby’s eyes and mind, and a dark gleam flashed across his eyes.

Alright, just you wait! I’ll deal with you after I finish dealing with Grandma and Mary. I want you to know that your action comes at a price! Serves you right for laughing at me!

Toby swiftly regained his composure, and when he returned his attention to Rose and Mary, who tried to scramble away as fast as they could, he curled his thin lips into a cold smirk.

This time, he vowed to find out just what they were up to, so he would not let them off the hook that easily.

Don’t even think about getting out of this!

“Grandma, since you’re dizzy, I’ll call the doctor over and check on you. You won’t get better if you simply rest in your room. I’ll be worried sick. What do you think, Grandma?” Toby narrowed his eyes, and his eerie voice that carried a hint of threat wormed into Rose’s and Mary’s ears.

Chapter 1174 Thanks a Lot

Toby’s words sent a chill down Rose’s spine. Still, she tried to wriggle her way out of this mess as she smiled sheepishly and shook her head. “No, you don’t have to call a doctor.

It’s not a big deal. I just feel dizzy, and I’ll be fine after a nap. I always feel dizzy, and I know how to make myself better. So you don’t have to call the doctor over. It’s quite troublesome.”

D*mn, if you call the doctor over, you’ll know that I’m faking it! No way! Rose muttered in her heart. The smirk on Toby’s face turned shaper. He walked forward and stopped behind Mary and Rose. “It is not troublesome at all. We pay for the live-in doctor to be at our beck and all.

If he thinks that a few minutes of walking is a great deal of trouble, we should just fire him! Since we pay him, he is obliged to treat his patients at any time, in any place, and under any circumstances, or it is a dereliction of his duty, and I have the right to fire him. Grandma, do you want him to get fired?” “Of course, I—”

“If I’m not mistaken, the doctor we hire to care for your condition is Mary’s close relative.” He knew just what Rose was going to say, so he interjected as soon as she opened her mouth and then looked at Mary. In the face of Toby’s fearsome glare, Mary lowered her head guiltily.

She knew precisely why Toby brought up the family doctor and her relationship with the doctor at this moment. Toby wanted to force both of them to come clean about the stew’s ingredients by threatening them with the doctor’s employment.

Yikes, no wonder Young Master Toby is known as the Demon of the Business World. He will strike at his opponent’s weaknesses in order to achieve his goals. The Fuller Family and Fuller Group are lucky to have him as the head of the family and the company, but it is unfortunate for us to be under his reign right now. Mary lamented bitterly in her heart.

Rose, on the other hand, was enraged. She turned around, poked Toby’s nose, and growled, “Hey, b*stard, how dare you say such a thing?! What the hell are you thinking? Are you trying to break Mary’s heart?”

Toby shrugged innocently. “What are you talking about, Grandma? No, I’m not trying to break Mary’s heart. I just think maybe it’s time to give the doctor a new job.”

“You’re bluffing! You know better than anyone what you’re implying.” Rose snorted coldly, refusing to believe his nonsense.

Sonia also felt that Toby had gone too far, so she stood up and wanted to dissuade him, but before she could say anything, Toby changed his tone, “Alright, Grandma. I was just joking. I didn’t actually want to fire the doctor, but I need to reconsider his employment and trustworthiness in the future. You do know that I hate being deceived the most. So, do you want to tell me what the stew is or not?”

Rose was about to refute him grumpily when Mary stopped her.

Finally, she sighed and looked at Toby, “Okay, I’ll tell you, but promise me that you won’t get angry.”

Toby’s expression softened slightly at her cooperation. “Alright, I promise I won’t get angry, and I’m sorry for threatening you just now, but I hope you understand that it doesn’t feel good to be kept in the dark.”

Mary waved him off. “Yes, I understand, Young Master, and I’m not angry about that. I know that you won’t do anything to the doctor and will not fire him even if I refuse to tell you the truth in the end. After all, I kept you in the dark, not them, and you wouldn’t punish them for something they didn’t do. I raised you, so I know you very well. Since I’m well aware of this, I know you’re just trying to scare me.”

Toby chuckled. “Wow, you saw through my tricks.”

Both Rose and Sonia breathed a sigh of relief, especially Rose, who thought that Toby would actually go through with his threat so that he could get his hands on the ingredients behind the stew.

Mary was Rose’s best friend for decades, so much so that Rose had regarded Mary as family.

Toby’s threat to Mary would not only humiliate Rose but also break Mary’s heart.

She was worried that this incident would break Toby’s relationship with herself and Mary.

Fortunately, it was just a scare.

Rose sighed lightly and sat down.

Nevertheless, Rose was still a little upset with Toby’s attitude, although she knew that he simply threatened them and did not intend to walk the talk.

Judging from Rose’s expression, Mary knew that she was unhappy with Toby, so she chuckled and reassured her, “Old Madam, please don’t blame him. After all, it’s our fault. Although we made the stew for his sake, we never considered if he would like the stew, and we did not tell him the truth about the stew’s ingredients simply because we didn’t want to upset him. It’s our fault, to begin with, so we should take his threat as our penalty. Let’s call it even.”

“You’re always siding with him!” Rose huffed and glanced at Mary in exasperation.

Mary smiled lightly before looking back at Toby. “Actually, the stew is good for you. The ingredients have aphrodisiac effects.”

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“A-Aphrodisiac effects?!” Toby’s lips and eyes widened in disbelief.

Mary nodded. “Yup.”

At this moment, Toby began to feel a headache. “Mary, do you think I need that? Or do you and Grandma think I’m that frail?”

Do they really think I’m impotent, so they made me a stew with aphrodisiac ingredients?! Toby thought in shock.

Sonia, who stood behind them, couldn’t help but burst out in laughter because she never expected that this was the effect of the disgusting stew. Regardless, she felt that her abrupt laughter was rude and would hurt Toby’s ego, so after a laugh, she quickly muffled her mouth and only revealed her smiling eyes. However, her actions did not dissuade her from watching the hilarious interaction.0

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She simply tried to keep a straight face and force her bubbling laughter down her throat.

Toby could hear her giggling, and he felt a little dismayed. Only after clenching and loosening his fist in his pocket several times did he force himself not to turn back and glare at Sonia in frustration.0

Mary didn’t exactly know what Toby felt right now, but judging from his grumpy expression, she could tell that he was up in arms.

Even Rose also pursed her lips sheepishly and began to think that she might have arrived at the wrong conclusions.

“Uhm, please don’t misunderstand, Young Master. We have never thought that you are impotent, but we just want to give you supplements. We’re just worried that your health is declining since you’re getting older. Also, why must we take supplements when we’re not healthy? We must take supplements all the time. If we only take supplements when we’re sick, it may not work as effectively,” Mary explained.

Sonia covered her mouth and nodded with a smile, totally agreeing with Mary’s words. Yup, she’s right!

Tobe took a few deep breaths in order to suppress the urge to shout at them. He looked at Mary and Rose and said with a plastic smile, “Oh, thanks a lot for your concern then.”

Mary waved him off with a relatively small smile. “You’re welcome. We—”

“It’s good that you know we care about you.” Rose tugged at Mary’s arm and accepted Toby’s thanks.

Chapter 1175 It’s So Funny

Rose thought matter-of-factly, Why shouldn’t we accept his gratitude? We truly care about him! He may not like how we show our concern, but our concern is genuine and sincere. So, he should thank us, shouldn’t he? So, it’s reasonable for me to accept his thanks, isn’t it? In that case, I can and will do so!

However, Mary glanced at Rose uneasily and communicated to her through her eyes, Old Madam, can you not hear the sarcasm in Toby’s tone when he thanked us? No one says thank you with gritted teeth! So it’s apparent that he is mocking us!

Rose blinked at her and communicated through her gaze, I don’t care if it’s sarcasm. The point is he thanked us, so we should assume that he is sincere and accept his thanks graciously.

Mary hummed awkwardly and was rendered speechless by Rose’s logic. Therefore, she could only smile awkwardly at Toby.

Toby observed their interactions closely and knew just what they were thinking.

To be honest, he was a little amazed at Rose’s cheekiness.

He deliberately thanked them sarcastically, but to his bewilderment, Rose accepted his gratitude without hesitation. However, it made him feel like he was talking to a wall. Not only could he not get any response from the wall, but he also felt defeated by the lack of response.

He wanted to say something more, but at this point, he didn’t know where to begin.

Sonia, standing behind him, raised her eyebrows because she knew Rose did that on purpose.

She seemed to realize why Toby was so cheeky and bold. From the looks of it, she felt that these must be inherited traits.

Sonia touched her forehead and shook her head in amusement.

“Forget it. I don’t want to talk about other things. I want to know what is in that stew.” Toby massaged his temples, feeling a headache building the further this conversation dragged on.

Mary opened her mouth and seemed hesitant. Then, she remembered that she had promised to tell him the truth, so she took a deep breath and mumbled timidly, “Uh, we didn’t use any strange materials. They are mainly a deer antler and a bull’s penis…”

When Mary said the words ‘a bull’s penis”‘, her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible. Toby was confident that she attempted to mumble the words because she didn’t want him to know the exact ingredient. Still, he had to know, or he would eventually drive himself up the wall trying to figure out just what was in that stew had succeeded in driving his faith in humanity to a new low.

“A bull’s what, Mary? Please say it clearly,” Toby frowned as he urged impatiently.

Mary glanced at Toby and then at the curious Sonia. Eventually, she caved as she closed her eyes and yelled, “A BULL’S PENIS! Old Madam, let’s go, NOW!”

With that, she grabbed Rose’s hand, and both ran away as fast as lightning while Toby and Sonia were left dumbfounded as they stared at their retreating figures.

Sonia was the first to regain her composure. When she laid her gaze on Toby, who was still wholly flabbergasted by the reveal, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

It was just too hilarious, and there was no way she could keep a straight face after this!

A bull’s penis! Oh my gosh, a bull’s penis!

Toby actually drank a stew made of a bull’s penis! This was probably the first and last time he would ever drink such a thing.

“Hahaha!” Sonia doubled over in laughter until her eyes turned teary.

Her laughter pulled Toby back to his senses. His handsome face turned pale and red in humiliation, which made the whole thing even funnier.

He turned around and asked Sonia, who was sitting on the bench and couldn’t stop howling in laughter, in a dangerous, “What’s so funny?”

Don’t you know why?! Sonia was laughing so hard that her stomach began to hurt. She knew that she should probably stop, or the pain would worsen. But when she looked at his face, that was a cross between ashamed and angered; she just couldn’t help herself. “N-Nothing. Hahaha! No, it’s nothing. I’m not laughing because you d-drank that stew. I’m laughing because… because… Haha!”

Oh gosh, I surrender! I can’t make anything up right now! It gets funnier the more I think about it!

Toby felt enraged again when he watched Sonia chortling at him and heard the words ‘a bull’s penis’ from her mouth.199717

When he thought of the bowl of stew, he knew it would be nasty due to its strange stench, but it had never crossed his mind that they used a bull’s penis to make the d*mned thing!

No wonder there was a gamey smell in the stew. How could it not smell gamey?!

Toby tried to suppress his rage by taking several deep breaths, but when he thought of the ingredients in the stew, he could feel his blood boiling.

He could forgive Mary and Rose for suspecting that he was impotent and intending to give him supplements in this regard.

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What else could he do otherwise? He couldn’t punish them, could he?0

They did this because they genuinely cared about him.

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But why couldn’t they use other ingredients? There were so many ingredients in the world that had aphrodisiac effects, so why did they have to choose such a disgusting one?!

His mouth was filled with that awful stench right now, and he couldn’t forget that he drank the stew made from a bull’s penis!

Because of this matter, he was traumatized, and he estimated that it would take a long time before he could look at a bowl of stew without thinking about that horrid crime to humanity.

“Stop laughing.” Toby was furious and resigned when he looked at Sonia, who was still laughing.

He was frustrated because she didn’t feel sorry for him, and he was resigned because he loved her and couldn’t bear to reprimand her for laughing at him.

Naturally, Sonia knew just how he felt based on his expression, and she felt a little guilty for laughing at him, but she couldn’t help it. The matter was so funny that another round of giggles would start whenever she thought of it.

“Sorry, sorry… I’m so sorry… I-I can’t help it. I’ve heard of people eating this stuff out of curiosity or for the aphrodisiac purpose, but I never thought that you would be one of them, though unintentionally. Seriously, I didn’t think you would ever encounter such a thing in your life, but thanks to Mary and Rose, you gained such an experience! Oh gosh, it’s so funny. How do you feel right now?” Sonia wiped the tears at the corners of her eyes and took several deep breaths. Finally, she managed to quell her laughter.

She would giggle from time to time, but it was indeed much better than the uncontrolled laughter earlier.

Toby looked in askance at her. “How do I feel? What do you think? Do you think I’ll feel good?!”

Other than those who loved to eat this kind of food, anyone would feel their stomach turning when they found out that they had unintentionally eaten such a thing, right?

This was exactly what he felt right now. He felt utterly disgusted. In fact, the smell still lingered in his mouth, and it made him want to puke again.

When she saw his tight frown and the grumpy and disgusted grimace on his face, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud again, and her incessant laughter irritated Toby.

Toby’s glare darkened, and he stared at her. “How could you still laugh?”

“No, no… I’ll stop now.” Sonia waved her hands. “It’s just that… Hah! Oops, I’m sorry, I can’t help it. Give me a minute. Let me calm down. I’ll stop laughing altogether when I calm down.”

After she said that, she raised her hands in surrender and began to take deep breaths.

When she was doing so, he kept staring at her with that deep gaze. He looked like a wolf who had just locked his eye on his prey.

Sonia stopped her actions, swallowed nervously, and muttered, “Uh, can you please don’t look at me like that? I’ll stop laughing at you, I promise.”

Alas, Toby remained unmoved, and he focused his gaze on her intently.

Chapter 1176 Let’s Get Stinky Together

Toby’s glare was threatening enough that Sonia could feel her scalp numb under his penetrating gaze. She rubbed her nose awkwardly and mumbled, “Uhm, are you worried that I’ll tell others about this? Don’t worry.

My lips are sealed. This is our secret. Also, you’re mine. When they mock you, they’re mocking me too, so I won’t tell anyone, I promise. You can trust me on this.”

Toby remained silent. Sonia didn’t know what he was thinking about at this point. She blinked and huffed, “Are you still not satisfied? What else do you want me to do?

I know that you feel awful after drinking such a thing, and perhaps, you are traumatized, but it’s not really a big deal. Grandma and Madam Mary kinda tricked you into drinking it. It’s not like you drank it on purpose. Just let it go. You’ll forget about it soon. You—”

Before she could finish her sentence, he suddenly marched forward, grabbed her wrist, tugged her to him harshly, and pulled her into his embrace. Then, he lowered his head and kissed her, forcing her to swallow her tirade.

Sonia clearly did not expect Toby to kiss her suddenly. She froze on the spot, and her eyes widened in shock. She was in a daze until he pried open her teeth with his tongue and stuck his tongue into her mouth. When he did this, she smelled the strange stench from his mouth. Only then did she jolt awake and retched in disgust. Her face turned ghastly pale as a result. She nudged his chest with all her might, trying to shove him away.

She had to keep her distance from him because his mouth was really gross at the moment.

Of course, she knew that it was not his bad breath. She had smelled the stew before, so she could immediately recognize the stench in his mouth.

Yet, she didn’t expect the stench’s residue to remain in his mouth for so long. It showed how awful the stench of that stew was and how long the stench lasted.

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At this moment, all Sonia could smell was the stench of the stew. She felt disgusted and wanted to puke, but Toby kept kissing her and refused to release her. Because of his kiss, she had to endure her urge to vomit. Her face was pallid, and her eyes turned watery under such torment.

In her honest opinion, they kissed for far too long until she finally got used to the stench. It was only then that Toby released her as if he felt sorry for her.

As soon as she broke free from his embrace, she immediately pushed him away, bent down, pressed one hand on the table, and proceeded to throw up. The sound of her vomiting echoed across the yard. It was easy to tell that she felt thoroughly grossed out.

Toby stood beside her and wiped the saliva on the corner of her mouth with his thumb. He felt distressed to see her in such a state. Then, he grabbed the glass of water and handed it to her. “Here, rinse your mouth.”

Sonia glared at the glass of water in his hand and then at the concerned-looking Toby with redrimmed eyes. Then, she snatched the glass of water indignantly and rolled her eyes at him.0

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Toby knew from her reaction that she was pissed. Yet, all he could do was smile at her,

D*mn, I’m so pissed! I have never met such a horrible b*stard! Why did he kiss me when his mouth stinks?! Now, even my mouth stinks! Oh dear, my mouth is full of the stench. I can even smell it when I open my mouth. Argh, it’s so disgusting!0

At the thought of this, she began to feel her stomach roiling in disagreement, and she wanted to throw up again. Thus, she hurriedly raised her head to drink the water and rinse her mouth again, utterly ignoring Toby’s presence.

Toby stood beside her and patted her back gently to ease her discomfort.

When she was rinsing her mouth and gargling, she was pretty surprised that water worked wonders. As she finished the glass of water, the stench in her mouth faded considerably, and she felt less disgusting now, but—

Sonia cupped her palms over her mouth and exhaled. Then, she smelled the breath she exhaled and began to hurl again.

Indeed, the smell did not completely disappear. It only faded.

Sonia wanted to cry in anguish right now. Therefore, she turned and glared at Toby. “It’s all your fault! My mouth stinks now!”

“I know.” Toby covered his lips and coughed sheepishly. “I kissed you on purpose.”

Sonia widened her eyes in utter disbelief. “What the hell did you say?! Y-You kissed me on purpose?! You purposely wanted to infect me with this?!”

His eyes darted elsewhere, refusing to meet her infuriated gaze.

Sonia’s whole body trembled in rage. “Hey, don’t look elsewhere. Look at me! Tell me, why did you kiss me?!”

Toby looked at her and confessed candidly, “It’s simple. You laughed at me, so I wanted you to get a taste of this. In this way, I drank the stew physically, and you drank it indirectly, so you can no longer tease me.”

Sonia was rendered speechless as she didn’t expect such a simple reason to be the reason for her current predicament. Just because she laughed at him, he retaliated against her out of anger and made her mouth stink too.

What the heck…

“You’re such a nasty b*stard. Why didn’t I know that you’re so petty?” Sonia was so angered that she lashed out.

Toby sheepishly scratched his nose and didn’t say a word.

Sonia was huffing and puffing indignantly. “Alright, I’ll remember what you did to me. You’re not allowed in my room tonight. Go and sleep on the couch.”

“What?!” Toby was aghast. He couldn’t believe his ears.

What did she just say? Did she ask me to sleep on the couch tonight? Did she literally kick me out of the room tonight to sleep on the couch? No way!

“Little Leaf—” He wanted to explain, hoping that she could change her mind, but Sonia raised her hand and silenced him. “Don’t call me by my nickname. I don’t want to hear it. You retaliated against me for laughing at you, so now this is my revenge against you. So there!”

After she said that, she stormed out of the gaze in annoyance.

She wanted to desperately brush her teeth to get rid of the stench in her mouth. It was so gross.

It was all the petty Toby’s fault! She just laughed at him a little, but how could he do this to her?!

She was determined to refuse him entry into the bedroom, nor would she give in. Argh, I’m so pissed!

Sonia quickened her pace with reddened eyes due to fury this time.

Toby followed after her, trying to think of something so he could get back into her good graces again. He could sense her aggravation even if he could not see her face right now.

He admitted that he had gone a bit too far, but he didn’t regret it.

If he didn’t do such a thing, he would be the only one who drank the awful stew, and she would have the chance to mock him forever.

In order to put an end to this situation, he had to drag her down with him. Both of them had to drink the stew, and they had to experience this… Horror together. Only by doing so would she stop mocking him about this matter.

At the thought of this, Toby curled his lips into a faint smile and was obviously in a better mood. In fact, he could somewhat accept the fact that the stench still lingered in his mouth.

He also anticipated her annoyance before kissing her, so he was not worried. He would attempt to coax her later, so whether or not he would sleep on the couch tonight was still up in the air.

He shrugged nonchalantly and followed behind her leisurely, kicking pebbles from time to time.

On the other hand, Sonia knew that Toby was following her, although she kept walking at a fast pace. After all, his footsteps were loud, and she could hear them clearly.

At first, she assumed that Toby followed her because he knew that she was pissed, so he wanted to coax her and apologize for what he had done just now.

Because of this assumption, she slowed down a little, allowing him to catch up with her. Yet, after she slowed her pace, he didn’t even chase after her, which was very strange.

Toby had long legs, and he usually wasn’t one to amble. So, she knew he could catch up to her quickly if he wanted.

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Chapter 1177 Sonia’s Envy

Despite Sonia’s efforts, Toby still didn’t catch up to her. She couldn’t help but turn her head back slightly to see what he was up to, but she was even more annoyed by what she saw.

He was actually taking his own sweet time and strolling as if he was sightseeing. He was obviously not trying to catch up with her by walking at such a pace!

If he had wanted to apologize to her, he would have caught up with her. He wouldn’t have been walking at such a leisurely speed. Apparently, he did not intend to apologize to her or coax her! What the heck?!

Sonia was so furious that she stomped her feet. She had wanted to give him a chance to apologize and even slowed her pace to wait for him, yet it was just her wishful thinking! He had no intention of cheering her up at all!

Alright then, I won’t give you a chance again! So go and cuddle yourself on the couch tonight! At the thought of this, Sonia retracted her gaze. Instead of slowing down to wait for Toby, she accelerated her pace and stormed off.

When Toby saw her suddenly picking up speed, he was puzzled and wondered what she was thinking.

He couldn’t read her mind, so he decided to stop guessing her thoughts and just chase after her. He caught up with her this time, but she scowled at him.

She had just given him a chance to repent his sin, but he didn’t cherish it, so what was the point of catching up with her now?

She was annoyed by his behavior, so she didn’t want to talk to him. So, Sonia pretended as if Toby was invisible. She wasn’t in the mood to look or even speak to him.

Her actions gave Toby a headache.

He planned to cheer her up so that she would stop being angry with him, but she was treating him as though he was air at the moment. He figured she wouldn’t even listen if he tried to talk to her now.

What should I do?

Toby massaged his temples as his head began to throb in pain.

There was no answer to his answer right now, nor could anyone give him the answer.

Sonia’s one-sided silent treatment against him lasted until noon when Rose and Mary reappeared.

When Rose glanced at Sonia and then at the agitated Toby, she couldn’t help but ask, “Sonny, did you and Toby fight?”

She didn’t want to get involved in their disputes at first because she figured it would be best to stay out of it and let them solve their own problems, lest things worsen. However, she couldn’t bear to see Toby’s helpless look and Sonia ignoring Toby completely. Therefore, she went against her principles and decided to meddle.

If they really fought, she could try to ease the tension between them. She could even help them mediate the misunderstandings.

No matter what, she didn’t want them to have a big fight over something trivial because they had finally gotten back together after so long.

When Sonia heard Rose’s concerns, she realized that her anger toward Toby was so obvious that even Rose and Mary were picking up on it.

In fact, she was a little embarrassed when she heard Rose’s question.

After all, this was Rose’s house. Not only was she angry with Toby—Rose’s grandson, but even Rose noticed it and asked her about it. As an outsider in the house, she felt somewhat awkward and uneasy. She also wondered if Rose would be displeased with her.

Sonia tucked her hair behind her ear and quickly reassured her, “No, Grandma, we didn’t fight.”

Indeed, we did not fight. I simply don’t want to talk to Toby because he’s a j*rk.

“Is that so?” An unconvinced Rose turned her gaze to Toby.

“Yes,” Toby muttered.

Rose frowned in confusion. “Since you didn’t fight, why—”

Sonia looked away and remained silent.

Toby cleared his throat and explained, “It’s my fault. I—” He briefly told Rose how he infuriated Sonia.

It finally dawned upon Rose after hearing Toby’s story, and she glared at him disdainfully. “Serves you right! How could you do that to her?! Even I want to spank you.”

Mary nodded approvingly. She had never heard of such retaliation.

Just because Sonia laughed at him, he took revenge on her by kissing her so that both of them would have to experience the stew.

It was also surprising that Toby made such a childish move! Mary would not have believed it if it had been in the past.

Toby lowered his head, so Rose could not see his expression. She scoffed at him and immediately beamed at Sonia, “Sonny, calm down. Toby wasn’t thinking straight this time. Just take it as he was out of his mind. It’s not good for your health to be angry all the time.”

“I know.” Sonia smiled back at her. “I’m not angry anymore.”

“Good girl.” Rose took her hand and patted it gently. “Sonny, you’re such a sweetheart. That brat, on the other hand, is so hopelessly childish! He’s thirty years old now, but he still behaves in such a silly way. I wonder who he learned it from. Sonny, he’s silly, so just ignore his behavior and forgive him, okay? You don’t have to stoop to his level and get so upset, right? There’s no point in doing so. What do you say?”

Sonia smiled. Although Rose was berating Toby by saying that he was childish and silly, she was actually persuading her on Toby’s behalf to forgive him. Rose was indeed a considerate grandmother who cared about her grandson.

Sonia glanced at Toby enviously. She envied him for having such a lovely grandmother, but she was an orphan.

Her biological parents abandoned her after birth.

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She was fortunate to be adopted by her father and loved by her adoptive parents, but unfortunately, her mother died when she was young, and a few years later, her father passed away as well.

She had a maternal grandfather, but they rarely met or contacted each other because of work.

Technically speaking, she had no family.

Hence, she envied Toby for having a grandmother who genuinely cared about him.

It must feel so nice.0

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“Okay, I won’t be angry with him anymore. Actually, I wasn’t angry with him. I was just upset. Now that you have persuaded me, I can’t be willful, right?” Sonia placed her other hand on Rose’s hand and smiled sweetly.

Rose was relieved when Sonia said that she was no longer furious with Toby.0

Finally, they had made up. They wouldn’t fight again, right?

Rose looked at Toby and frowned in puzzlement when she saw Toby staring blankly at Sonia, seemingly lost in thought.

What is up with him? Doesn’t he hear that Sonny is no longer angry with him? He should come over quickly and cheer her up! What is he doing there in a daze?

Her grandson was a hopeless fool.

Rose exasperatedly raised her feet and kicked Toby under the table.

The abrupt attack snapped Toby back to his senses. He extended his arm and pulled Sonia into his embrace.

Not only Sonia but Rose and Mary were also shocked by his actions.

What is going on? Mary thought. Why is Toby suddenly hugging Sonia?

In contrast to Mary’s puzzlement, Rose smiled in relief.

Not bad. Not bad at all. As expected of my grandson, he is still smart and slick as ever.

Chapter 1178 Connor Was Beaten

Rose wanted to knock some sense into Toby’s head so that he could swoop in and completely cheer Sonia up immediately.

When Toby regained his composure after Rose’s reminder, she assumed that he would humor Sonia with some sweet talk. Still, to her pleasant surprise, he immediately embraced Sonia, which exceeded her expectations.

A hug was far more effective than sweet talks.

Indeed, she was now old, so her ideas were somewhat conservative, but it didn’t matter as long as Toby was bold and straightforward.

Rose grinned from ear to ear when she looked at the couple hugging each other.

Mary noticed the delightful smile on Rose’s face. Although she didn’t know why Rose was so happy, she felt relieved and reassured.

On the other hand, Sonia finally came to her senses in Toby’s arms. She raised her arms and nudged Toby, attempting to push him away, but unlike her shove when he kissed her earlier, she pushed him very gently this time.

After all, Rose and Mary were watching them, and she couldn’t push Toby away with all her might. Hence, she patted his back lightly with a flushed face, signaling him to release her.

Frankly speaking, she was quite embarrassed when he decided to shower her with affection with an audience.

However, Toby had no intention of letting go of Sonia, although he sensed the silent implication behind her actions. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and snuggled her close.

Sonia’s body stiffened. Then, she sighed in resignation, leaned over, and whispered, “Toby, what are you doing? Let me go. Mary and Grandma are watching.”

“No, I don’t want to let you go.” Toby wrapped one arm around her waist and stroked her hair gently with the other hand. “You don’t have to envy me. You have a family too. I’m your family, so my family is yours too. You told Grandma that you wished she could treat you as her own granddaughter. Have you forgotten? So, we are your family, and you can treat her as your grandmother too.”

Sonia suddenly froze when she heard his remark, and her hand suspended mid-motion.

“C-Can you read minds?” Her slightly widened eyes were full of astonishment.

Toby chuckled. “I knew what you were thinking just by looking at your eyes. Also, the way you looked at me carried such an obvious longing, so it was only natural for me to be able to guess what you were thinking.”

Sonia leaned her head on his shoulder and chuckled. “You know me so well. I feel like I can’t hide any secrets from you.”

“That’s about right. It shows that we can be honest with each other, isn’t it?” Toby ran his fingers through her smooth and silky hair lovingly.

“You’re right.” Sonia smiled happily. At this moment, she completely forgot about Rose and Mary.204989

When Toby hugged her, she was flustered because she didn’t expect Toby to be so affectionate in front of Rose and Mary. Nevertheless, she was touched when she heard Toby’s warm reassurance and wholly ignored her surroundings. All she could feel right now was the man hugging her and the tenderness she held for him in her heart.

Meanwhile, Rose and Mary were amused to see the couple snuggling up to each other.

“Mary, do you see how touched Sonny is? I wonder what Toby said to her to make her feel that way,” Rose looked up and asked Mary, who was standing beside her.

Mary shook her head. “How should I know, Old Madam? But I guess it’s some romantic words that can instantly cheer Miss Reed up.”

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“Perhaps.” Rose nodded.0

“Old Madam.” At this moment, a servant walked in from the living hall.

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Sonia recognized the person immediately. It was none other than Olivia, whom Toby had specially assigned to take care of her when she lost her sight.

Olivia walked in and greeted Rose first before turning toward Toby and Sonia and smiling at them.

The arrival of Olivia finally made her aware of her surroundings. Sonia reflexively looked at Rose and Mary, who looked at her with teasing eyes. Her face turned beet red in embarrassment, and she immediately pushed Toby away and sat back down.

Toby was still immersed in the comforts of holding a loved one in his embrace. So, he pouted as soon as she pushed him away. I’m still not done hugging you!

“Olivia, is lunch ready?” Rose asked Olivia with a smile.

“Yes, Old Madam.” Olivia nodded. “Lunch is ready.”

“Wonderful. Set up the table. We’ll be right there,” Rose instructed.

Olivia nodded and left.

Mary helped Rose up from the chair. “Sonny, let’s go and have lunch with me.” As she spoke, she offered Sonia her hand.

Sonia hastily got up and held Rose’s hand, and the three ladies walked out of the living room side by side toward the dining room. They didn’t even ask Toby to come along, as if they tacitly ignored him.

Toby had reasons to suspect that they were deliberately ignoring him.

Still, he shook his head with an amused smile on his face, shoved his hand in his pockets, and followed after them.

After lunch, Sonia formally said goodbye to Rose and left with Toby to the office. They had work to do, so they couldn’t stay here all the time. Regardless, they could stay a few hours more at home because they purposely postponed their work to make time for family.

Despite Rose’s reluctance, she knew that they were busy, so she urged them to leave for work. Only after Sonia promised to come over and see her often did she beam in joy.

Tom had been waiting for Sonia and Toby at the entrance of the old manor, and Toby’s customized Mayback was parked behind him.

When he caught sight of the two walking out of the old manor, he greeted them and then opened the back seat door. Sonia got into the car first, followed by Toby.

After the two took their seats, Tom got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. While he was fastening his seat belt, he gushed at Toby with an excited smile on his face, “Mr. Fuller, there is good news.”

“What is it?” Toby tidied his cuffs, sounding somewhat uninterested.

Sonia, on the other hand, was intrigued. She put her handbag beside her and stared curiously at Tom.

Perhaps Tom felt that it was impolite and inconvenient to speak to them without facing that, plus Toby did not urge him to drive, so Tom unbuckled his seat belt and turned around to face them.

“The men we sent over to keep an eye on Connor have sent word that someone covered Connor with a sack and beat him up!” At this point, Tom’s face grinning in glee, and even his eyes lit up with obvious delight. “They didn’t know what Connor had done and who he had offended that the other party retaliated in this way. The retaliation was a bit of child’s play, but it was practical and straightforward. He was beaten up! I bet that Connor must have felt so humiliated this time. He has never been treated like this before. This was a personal insult to him. It serves him right, haha! I must say that the person who did this is a genius!”

He was so thrilled when he spoke of this that he even slapped his legs and laughed.

Sonia assumed that the good news that Tom was referring to was something else, but this news wasn’t in line with her thoughts. She felt a little conflicted about Tom’s compliment because he was actually praising her and mocking her simultaneously.

How can he say that her method of covering Connor up with a sack and beating him up is child’s play?! It’s absolute genius!

Sonia couldn’t help but pout in dismay.

Toby narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed Sonia’s displeasure, and a hint of something flashed across his eyes. Then, he turned his attention to Tom and asked, “What did you say? Someone wrapped Connor up in a sack and beat him up?”

“Yup!” Tom, who was so excited that his face was flushed, nodded profusely. “When I received the news, I couldn’t believe it and thought I had misheard it until the men sent me the photos of Conner’s condition. Only then did I finally believe that he was roughed up. Of course, they didn’t know who did it, but it is good news for us. It’s a great pleasure to see how miserable Connor is after such an ordeal. Mr. Fuller, do you want to look at the photos?”

Chapter 1179 Helping You Out

Before Toby could say anything, Sonia had already stretched her hand toward Tom. “Show me! I want to see the photos.” She wanted to know how Charles and his men beat Connor up and were extremely curious about the outcome.

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Toby took another glance at the eager Sonia and finally nodded. “Show us.”

“Alright,” Tom answered, reached into his pocket, and grabbed his phone. Then, he tapped on the screen twice, turned the phone around, and showed the screen to Toby and Sonia.

Sonia and Toby leaned forward slightly so they could get a better look at the photos, and sure enough, Sonia saw the image on the screen.

The photo was not very clear because it was zoomed in. In fact, it was a little blurred, but they could see the content quite well.

In the photo, Connor was leaning against the crumbling wall. His face was severely bruised; it was ugly enough that it was only a face a mother could love. His nose was bleeding, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. One of his eyes was swollen, so much so that he had a slit for an eye.0

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Not only that, but he also looked utterly disheveled. Of course, his face was a mess, but even his usually coiffed hair was in disarray. He no longer looked dignified and wise like she used to see him in the past.

Connor, in the photo, looked as pathetic and miserable as a beggar.0

The brown sack covering the lower half of his body was eye-catching.

It was evident that the other party had just released Connor from the sack, revealing only his head and upper body. His lower body was still in the sack.

“Wow, he looks terrible.” Sonia leaned back on the seat and clicked her tongue lightly.

Toby raised his eyebrows and leaned back without a comment.

Tom kept the phone away and quipped, “Yes. Judging from the bruises on his face, I can immediately tell that the people who beat him up targeted his face as they gave him a good beating. I estimated that his body was bruised too, but our men could only take photos from a distance for fear of being discovered, which was why the photos weren’t in high definition. Otherwise, we may be able to see his condition clearly.”

“It’s not a big deal. Just find out which hospital Connor went to and get the report. It’s that simple, isn’t it?” Toby curled his lips slightly and suggested.

Tom slapped his thigh again. “You’re right! How could I forget? Okay, I’ll ask our men to investigate this matter.”

After that, Tom lowered his head and began to draft the message, saying, “I wonder who Connor has offended this time that resulted in such a beating. Maybe, we can take the initiative to become allies. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Maybe they know something about Connor that we don’t. Then, we can exchange information, and it’ll be easier if we want to move against him in the future.”

Sonia shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know much about Connor. In fact, she didn’t know as much about Connor as they did.

Toby noticed Sonia’s reaction again and chuckled because that confirmed his speculation. “You’re going to be disappointed. The people who beat Connor up don’t know much about Connor, so you won’t get what you want.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tom and Sonia turned and looked at him simultaneously.

“How can you be so sure, Mr. Fuller?” Tom asked. Sonia was curious to know the answer to the question too.

Toby disregarded Tom and smirked at Sonia. “You had someone beat up Connor, didn’t you?”

Sonia’s eyes widened in shock, and she was dumbstruck.

Tom was even more bewildered, so much so that he looked at Sonia in disbelief and shrieked shrilly, “What?! Miss Reed, did you order someone to beat him up?!”

Sonia looked at the astonished Tom and then at Toby, who looked like everything was within his calculations. Eventually, she sighed. “Yup, I did it, but how did you find out? I didn’t say anything, nor did I want to tell you about it.”

Toby took her hand and played with it. “It wasn’t hard for me to find out. It’s true that you didn’t say anything about being the mastermind behind Connor’s beating, but your reaction and expression exposed you.”

“My reaction and expression?” Sonia blinked in bewilderment, obviously not realizing what kind of response she had made that exposed herself.

Toby took her hand to his lips and kissed it gently before revealing the truth, “When Tom told us that someone covered Connor with a sack and beat him up, the first reaction for those who didn’t know the truth should be surprised. I was surprised because not only did I not expect Connor to be beaten, but also the way he was roughed up.”

“Yes, you’re right!” Tom nodded profusely. “As I said, when I first heard the news, I thought that I misheard it or our men were joking. Anyway, I couldn’t believe that someone actually beat Connor black and blue until I saw the photos.”

Toby didn’t respond to Tom’s remark. He raised his chin slightly and continued, “But, Little Leaf, you were not surprised at all when you heard the news. In fact, you smiled. It was not the kind of delightful smile when your enemy was beaten, but it was the smug smile after you achieved your purpose. How could a person not be surprised and smile when learning about this? This would only happen when you were the one who arranged this and knew about his beating. So—”

Toby stopped without finishing his sentence, but Sonia and Tom knew what he meant.

Sonia shrugged in resignation. “Oh, I see. I thought that as long as my lips were sealed, you would not know that I was the mastermind, but I didn’t expect that my reaction would betray me. What is more shocking is that you paid attention to my reaction when you learned that Connor was beaten up and could even come to such a conclusion within minutes. You’re so scary because no one can hide anything from you. I suddenly have more sympathy for your enemies.”

Toby kissed her fingers and smiled enchantingly. “Thank you for the compliment, Little Leaf. I feel very honored.”

“Hah!” Sonia glared at him and withdrew her hand. “It wasn’t a compliment.”

Toby chuckled and didn’t say anything.

Tom swallowed nervously, and his eyes were full of shock as he looked at Sonia as if seeing her under a new light. “Miss Reed, did you really do it?”

“Yup.” Sonia chuckled shyly.

“D*mn!” Tom gasped in surprise. “I would never have thought that you could do something like this!”

Sonia waved him off and chuckled in embarrassment.

Toby crossed his legs elegantly and regarded her curiously. “So, why did you do it?”

Tom also looked at Sonia with glowing eyes because he was intrigued as well.

Sonia stuck her tongue out cheekily. “Well… I’m trying to help you out.”

“Help me out?” Toby was shocked at first, and then his eyes and voice turned gentle and tender as he said, “Why do you want to help me out?”

Toby’s voice was so different than usual that Tom felt goosebumps and rubbed his arms in discomfort.

Chapter 1180 Teach Him a Lesson

Toby assumed that the beating was not because Connor murdered his father, broke his mother’s heart, and made him lose both parents since he was young.

Toby’s resentment toward Connor was so massive that a simple beating would not be able to relieve his rage at all.

Sonia knew about this matter, so she wouldn’t have made up her mind to help him out because of this. Therefore, he presumed that what Sonia meant by helping him out was a slight grudge that was much milder than his father’s murder and his mother’s heartbreak.

Sonia tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced at Tom before saying, “Do you remember when I told you yesterday morning that I wanted to talk to you?”204991

“Yes, I do.” Toby nodded.

Sonia sighed. “But we spent the night in the old manor last night, and we—”

At this point, she suddenly realized something and blushed. She glanced at Tom, who was looking back at her curiously, and quickly blurted, “Anyway, we didn’t manage to have that talk last night.”

“So, did you plan to tell me about you beating up Connor?” Toby asked.

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“Yes.” Sonia nodded. “Tom went to see you at Bayside Residence the night before when you came home, didn’t he? You guys talked for a while. I didn’t know what you were talking about, but you looked quite upset when he left. Obviously, something had happened, but when I asked you about it, you refused to tell me and even said that you were fine. But, of course, I knew you weren’t okay, and you weren’t telling me because you didn’t want me to be worried, so you decided to keep me in the dark. But how could you not know that I would still be concerned over this even if you didn’t tell me anything? I didn’t sleep well that night because of this.”0

“I’m so sorry.” Toby’s eyelashes fluttered as he gently embraced her. “I didn’t know about that.”

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Indeed, he didn’t want her to be worried because of that incident, so he decided not to tell her, but he never thought that she would be so concerned that it disrupted her sleep. So it was his fault for not thinking things through.

As for Tom, who was in the driver’s seat, he lowered his head sheepishly and turned around quietly after hearing what Sonia said. So he understood Sonia’s decision.

Oh gosh, it’s my unlucky day. Miss Reed will definitely tell Mr. Fuller that I was the one who told her about this.

At first, he thought that they had talked things out last night, but he didn’t know that they didn’t discuss the matter at all.

Why didn’t they talk?! If Miss Reed talked to Mr. Fuller last night, and she told him that I was the one who told her about it, Mr. Fuller couldn’t do anything to me because I wasn’t there! But it seems that I have run out of luck. I didn’t expect them to talk about this when I’m right here! Under such circumstances, Miss Reed will undoubtedly reveal the truth, and I can’t escape if Mr. Fuller wants to beat the cr*p out of me!

Oh dear… Tom prayed for Toby to be merciful.

Sonia had no idea that Tom was on pins and needles now. She made herself comfortable in Toby’s arms, nudged his shoulder gently with her chin, and smiled as she looked out the window. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t want to tell me because you didn’t want me to worry. I can understand your concern, and it wasn’t your fault. So, the next day, when you returned home to take the USB drive, I asked Tom what he said to you last night.”

At this point, Toby could hazard a guess about what had happened. So, he narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze at the driver’s seat.

Although Tom had already turned back and sat properly in his seat, Toby’s glare sent a chill down Tom’s spine, and he shivered in fright.

Toby’s glare was so fearsome that it could scare him even if he didn’t meet his eyes directly.

“Did he tell you everything?” Although it was a question, it sounded more like a statement.

Sonia nodded. “Yes, he told me, but it was only because he was worried about you after I described your mood after the meeting. He knew that he couldn’t persuade you, nor would you listen to his advice, so he suggested that I comfort you. At the very least, you would listen to me.”

Tom, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, was touched.

Miss Reed, you’re the best! He knew that Sonia intended to tell Toby that he didn’t mean to spill the beans, and she hoped that Toby would not blame him for this.

Toby pursed his thin lips before saying, “Don’t do it again.”

Tom knew that Toby was referring to him, so he nodded repeatedly. “Got it, Mr. Fuller. I won’t do it again.”

Tom heaved a sigh of relief.

He was over the moon because this comment indicated that Toby forgave him and would not punish him, and it was all thanks to Sonia.

On the other hand, Sonia was upset, and her expression sank. “What do you mean by that? What if you encounter a similar situation next time? Will you keep me in the dark again? Do you want me to be worried again?”

She wanted Toby and Tom to know they didn’t consider her feelings.

Tom gave Toby a helpless glance before turning his head again as if he had nothing to do with it.

Actually, it was indeed none of his business. They were a couple, and Toby was the one who misspoken, so he should own up to his mistakes and handle the problem.

As his subordinate, Tom decided to be one with the background and provide mental support from afar.

Tom’s action infuriated Toby, and his face darkened, but what could he do? Could he shake Tom down?

Of course not. His priority now was to coax the angry Sonia and cheer her up.

Toby massaged his temples and looked at Sonia apologetically. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it through. I promise I won’t keep you in the dark again, okay? This will never happen again, and I’ll tell you everything, okay?”

Sonia side-eyed him and huffed. “That’s more like it.”

When he noticed the slight curl of her lips, he heaved a sigh of relief. Phew, she’s happy now.

Sonia was amused and slightly annoyed when she heard his sigh.

D*mn it, does he think that I’m so obnoxious and illogical? Why does he look like it takes a lot of effort to cheer me up?!

After she rolled her eyes at him, she cleared her throat and continued where she left off, “When I found out from Tom that you were upset because Connor had threatened you with your mother’s relic, I was pissed by the fact that such a disgusting person like Connor actually existed in this world. They dated once, for goodness’ sake. Even if he didn’t love her anymore, he shouldn’t drag her into this for the sake of their past relationship, not to mention that your mother is dead. But he’s so awful. He threatened you with a deceased person’s relic just to save his illegitimate daughter. This was just too much! So, I decided to teach that p*nk a lesson.”

“So, you asked someone to wrap him up in a sack and beat him?” Toby looked at her in amusement.

Sonia giggled sheepishly. “Yes. You know that my power is limited. I can’t do anything to do much, so I could only use such a childish and direct method.”