Chapter 203
Before Zane could speak up for himself, Dous barreled toward Sonia and wrapped his arms around
her waist, thereafter whining, “Aunt Sonia, Uncle Zane was pinching me!”
Sonia’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she surveyed Zane reproachfully.
Zane was quick to raise his hands, as though the gesture was symbolic of his innocence. “No, I did not!
Why would I pinch the little guy? I was only teasing him.”
“Teasing him, you say? So, why are his cheeks all red?” Her heart twisted as she soothingly caressed
Dous’ face, which was pink from the pinches. Then, she usingly addressed Zane, “You’re just like
Toby.”
At the mention of Toby, the yful glimmer in Zane’s eyes dimmed. “Toby?! What did he do?”
She rolled her eyes in exasperation and exined witheringly, “He practically kneaded Dous’ cheeks
until they were redst night. It’s always brute force when ites to you men.”
His brows furrowed. “He kneaded Dous’ face? Does that mean the both of you met Toby after I left
last night?”
Sonia handed a spoon to Dous and pulled up a chair at the table. “That’s right. Dous was hungry,
so I brought him out for food. We then ran into Toby at the restaurant. When Dous needed to use the
restroom, I was too embarrassed to bring him into the men’s room, so Toby brought him instead.”
“Oh, okay.” Zane nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, Dous was taking his oatmeal when he suddenly piped up, “Mr. Toby was hurt too.”
“Hurt?” Zane could not hide his shock as he looked over at Sonia. “How did that happen?”
She pinched the space between her brows in exhaustion as she began to narrate what had happened
the night before.
After he heard the whole story, he rubbed his face and remarked, “There must have been some kind of
jinx on you guys. I mean, the chances of stuff like this happening are practically slim-to none otherwise!”
A rueful smile yed on Sonia’s lips. “Believe me, I know.” She thought they had been rather unlucky as
well.
“You’re fortunate to have escaped unscathed,” he pointed out with a lopsided smile, his eyes meeting
hers.
The corners of her lips slightly tipped up. “That’s only because Toby shielded me and was hurt instead.
I’m still thinking about how I should thank him for it.” She didn’t want to show up at his ce to deliver
her thanks in person. If she did, a certain lunatic named Tina might very well
unleash chaos once more.
As though he read Sonia’s mind, Zane took a bite of the pancake and casually responded, “That should
be easy. It’s not as if you were the one who forced him into saving you. Why don’t you rustle up a get-
well-soon hamper or something and have someone send it over to him?”
“A get-well-soon hamper?”
“Yeah.” Zane nodded emphatically. “The man had injured his foot. I’d say that’s a good excuse to send
him a hamper.”
Sonia found this suggestion a rather sensible one and after she sipped her milk, she agreed with it. “I
guess that works. I’ll have someone make the arrangementster.”
When breakfast was over, the three of them left the apartment.
Upon arriving downstairs, he took Dous by the hand and stood in front of his car. Then, he nced
over at her meaningfully as he said, “Thanks for taking care of Dousst night.”
“It’s no big deal.” She stepped forward and ruffled Dous’ hair affectionately. With a smallugh, she
added, “Besides, I like hanging out with Dous.”
“I like hanging out with you too, Aunt Sonia. Can Ie by again soon?” Dous lifted his face and
blinked his pair of sparkling eyes at her.
“Of course you can,” she promised, nodding in affirmation.
Upon hearing their exchange, Zane felt the wheels in his mind turn. He grinned at Dous as he
interjected, “Don’t you worry. I can drop you off here whenever I have the time.”
Dous resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his own uncle. I know you’re just trying to use me as an
excuse to see Aunt Sonia, you sly man. However, given how much he wanted Zane to triumph in his
romantic pursuit, he refrained from calling the older man’s bluff.
“By the way, are you going to the hospital for the operation today?” Zane’s gaze flickered over to Sonia’s
lower abdomen.
Her smile faded as she suppressed her heartache. A strained hum then escaped her before she
answered, “Yes, I’ll be going this afternoon.”
“In that case, I’ll be there and I won’t take no for an answer. I know Charles will be present as well, but
maybe I could lend an extra helping hand or something. Better to be safe than sorry, right?” he offered
compassionately.
Sonia was mildly amused by his insistence. “Okay, then. You maye.”
“It’s settled then.” Zane waved his hand at her. “Right, I’ll be taking Dous home now. See youter.”
Dous brought his little hand up and waved goodbye at Sonia too. “Bye, Aunt Sonia.”
“Bye, Dous,” she responded with a warm smile.
Zane and Dous left in their car secondster and she did not stay in ce for long. After having
checked the time, she drove to Paradigm Co.
As soon as Sonia arrived at thepany, Daphne trailed after her and said, “President Reed, here is
today’s schedule.” With that, the secretary began to detail the agenda lined up for Sonia.
Sonia took the schedule over and perused it while she walked.
Upon browsing the list, she handed it back to Daphne and announced, “I’ll be going to the hospitalter,
so cancel the afternoon line-up, seeing as there’s nothing important anyway. Also, I’ll have to see the
schedule for the next couple of days.”
She would be staying in the hospital for a few days following the operation, which meant she would have
to reorganize her uing schedule and push back a couple of unimportant meetings.
Daphne nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Sonia had only just opened the door to her office when she turned and asked, “By the way, could you
rustle up a get-well-soon hamper? Make sure to pack it with goodies, preferably for someone who needs
a treat after injuring their feet. Have it delivered to President Fuller of Fuller Group and charge it to my
personal ount.”
“President Fuller?” Daphne could not hide her surprise. Is President Reed trying to patch things up with
President Fuller by sending him a surprise hamper?
When Sonia noticed Daphne’s expression, she knew instantly that Daphne misread her intentions. Sonia
lowered her gaze and exined vaguely, “He’s hurt. Given that he’s our biggest coborator, not to
mention the man in charge of the alternative energy technology project, we should offer him our kindest
wishes and concern as a matter of courtesy.”
“I see.” Daphne was in a daze as she nodded her head while the wild guesses she made immediately
dissipated.
At the sight of this, Sonia found herself heaving a quiet sigh of relief. However, she maintained her
composure as she waved her hand, dismissing her secretary with a breezy, “You may leave now.”
“Yes, of course. Right away.” Daphne nodded once and turned to leave.
Sonia watched with darkened eyes as Daphne left her office. She had not borated on the cause of
Toby’s injury precisely because she wanted to prevent Daphne from overthinking.
After all, it would be hard to exin why Sonia was hanging out with her ex-husband at the amusement
park-and at night, no less. Even if she were to say that the meeting had been purely coincidental, there
was no telling whether Daphne would truly believe her. Indeed, the girl might say otherwise, but she
would be skeptical all the same.
As she brushed away those thoughts, Sonia pulled out her chair and sat down before she buried herself
in her work.
Over at Fuller Group, word of Toby’s injury, which unfortunately could not be kept a secret, spread like
wildfire throughout the office building.
He had arrived at work that morning in a wheelchair and discretion was a luxury not afforded to him after
everyone had witnessed his less-than-mboyant entrance.
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As news of this broke out, otherpanies caught wind of it and were eager to show their concern.
Countless calls were made and dozens of get-well-soon hampers were sent to him.
Tom had only just seen the clients out the door when he was stopped in his tracks by the receptionist,
who called out for him. “What is it?” he asked curiously as he walked up to the front desk.
The receptionist gestured toward the intricately-wrapped hampers in which were expensive goodies, “Mr.
Brown, a director from yet anotherpany has had this gift delivered.”
He nced at the hamper and its extravagant contents before he grimaced, “Didn’t we just announce on
our website that all gifts are politely declined? And here we have another hamper to pile onto the others
that we have yet to sort through.”
“Maybe the sender missed our announcement,” the receptionist guessed with a shrug.
Tom adjusted his sses. “Very well, then. Who’s the sender? Whichpany is he or she from?”
“Paradigm Co.,” she replied tly.
“Paradigm Co.?!” he repeated in bewilderment.
The receptionist nodded. “That’s right.”
He straightened his posture and grew somber before he responded briskly, “Okay, hand me the note and
I’ll have the hamper sent up.”
“Got it.” The receptionist was new at her job and she had no idea of the importance Paradigm Co.
connoted. With that being said, she did not question Tom when she saw how serious he was and handed
him the gift note without further dy.
He took it from her and scanned the inscription. Then, he shoved it into his pocket before picking up the
hamper and hurrying toward the elevator.
It didn’t take long for Tom to arrive at the presidential office, where he entered after knocking on the door.
Toby looked up at that moment with a frown when he registered the hamper in Tom’s arms. Clearly
disgruntled by the presence of yet another gift, he snapped, “Didn’t I say to stop bringing
these gifts up to my office? Bring it over to the finance department and have them figure out the cost so
that we can return the sender’s favor.”
“This one is different, though,” Tom countered as the light reflected off his spectacles.
Toby suspiciously narrowed his eyes. “How so?”
“This hamper is from Miss Reed,” Tom rified, peering earnestly at Toby’s expression. When he saw
the displeasure on Toby’s face being reced by mild surprise, he suppressed the urge to grin impishly.