Nervous Meeting
He really knows how to flirt.
“No, it’s not.” Toby had no idea Sonia was overthinking, though her reddened face did arouse him, but he
held down the urge to bite her.
Sonia kept glaring at him. “Why not? I’m going to be thirty in three years. Don’t you think it’s icky calling
me that?” If she was a teenager or a lady in her twenties, she would have accepted that easily. Of
course, she was still happy hearing that, and it was sweet, but it still felt awkward for her.
Toby chuckled. “Don’t think too much about it, and don’t make yourself sound like an old woman. If
you’re old, then I’m ancient. Just toss it out the window. I call you baby because I want to. No matter how
old you are, you’re still my baby, even if your hair is all white.” He held her in his embrace. “Age has
nothing to do with it. It depends on how much someone cares for you. I love and care for you, so you’ll
always be my baby.”
That made Sonia even redder, and her heart started to race. She would be lying if she said she was not
delighted to hear that. Every woman would love to be someone’s baby, and she felt delighted to be his.
She hugged him back and closed her eyes. “You’re such a flirt.” She smiled. “At this rate, I’m going to
lose myself in your love.”
“And I’ll be more than happy to hold your hand.” He brushed his hand down her hair. “I’ll make sure you
never lose your way.”
“I’m holding you to that.” She looked at him.
Toby nodded. “Of course.”
Sonia said nothing, but she held him tightly.
Toby brushed her hair and kissed the top of her head. “Why did Mrs. Lane call us over?” He could
understand if she only called Sonia, but inviting him as well was weird.
She leaned against his chest, her eyes closed. “Mrs. Lane is my mother’s best friend, and she’s really
nice to me, just like how my mother was. I might call her Mrs. Lane, but she’s like my mother. Now that
she knows we’re back together, she wants to see you.”
For some reason, Toby felt himself getting nervous. If Mrs. Lane sees Sonia as her daughter, does that
mean I have to think of her as my mother-in-law, and that I’m meeting her parents? “Must we go?” Toby
gulped and asked, sounding hoarse.
Sonia felt him tensing up. She opened her eyes and got up to look at him. “You don’t want to see them?”
“It’s not that.” Toby shook his head. A long while later, he finally said, “I’ve never actually done this
before, so…”
Henry was still alive when Toby married Sonia, but he was already hypnotized back then. He believed
that he was forced into the marriage because he had to repay some debt. Because of that, he despised
her and had no love for Henry. She had asked him to meet his father before they got married, but he had
refused without any hesitation. He never expected that he would lose the chance to meet Henry forever.
Technically, he had never met his in-laws. He did visit his grave with her, but it was still something he
would never get to do. This great loss in life translated to an intense hatred for Tina. If it were not for her,
he would not have had to go through so much to find his true love, nor would he let Sonia lose her only
family.
If he was not hypnotized, he would have gotten together with Sonia a long time ago. He would never
have let Paradigm Co. get into trouble without even lifting a finger to help. Yes, he had done a lot of
wrong things, but Tina was even worse than him. Sonia lost her parents, and her biological parents
were… inconsequential. It was natural that she thought of the Lanes as her parents, which would make
them his in-laws, given how much they cared for her.
He had no chance to see his in-laws before this, but now he did. The problem was that he had no idea
how to deal with them, or how he should talk to them. He had been the leader of a great company for too
long. Aside from Sonia, his grandmother, and Jean, he was always arrogant to everyone else.
He did have the position and wealth to do so, so he never thought that was the wrong attitude to take.
Nobody thought so either. However, now that he was about to see the couple whom Sonia thought of as
her parents, that attitude would not fly. They would be his in-laws after all, but still, he had no idea how to
deal with them.
The Greys were his in-laws back when he was hypnotized. Technically, he had experience dealing with
in-laws, but the problem was he never liked them.
Yes, he disliked them. He was under a spell that made him believe he loved Tina, but how he felt about
everyone else did not change. He knew the kind of people the Greys were, and he disliked them for that.
He was only polite to them for the sake of Tina, but when push came to shove, he was still arrogant
when it came to the Greys.
Titus and his wife knew that, and they hated it, but there was no way they could do anything about it.
Instead of his in-laws, Toby treated the Greys like business veterans whom he could overwhelm.
He was not lying when he said he didn’t know how to deal with in-laws, as he never treated the Greys
like they were his in-laws. Things were different now, though. This time, he was going to see a couple
whom Sonia saw as her parents. She cared for them deeply, and he felt no resentment toward them.
Naturally, he could not treat them like how he treated everyone else. He had to treat them like real in-
laws, but he had no idea how to do that. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. In the
end, he pursed his lips.
Sonia was astonished to see him looking so nervous, and her jaw dropped. “Whoa. Toby, don’t tell me
that you’re nervous about the meeting?”
She hit the bullseye, and he tensed up further. “I’m not,” he lied stubbornly.
Sonia pinched his arm, but it was as hard as steel. She was amused. “Yeah, right. I can see right through
you. Look at your face. It’s practically telling me you’re nervous.” She poked his cheek.
Toby held her finger. “Stop messing around.”
“Alright, fine.” Sonia grinned, letting him pull her finger down. It’s so obvious that he’s nervous.
She found it unbelievable, however. Toby held immense power in his hands, and yet he felt nervous right
after she told him they were going to meet a couple whom she thought of as her parents. He looked like
every guy who was going to meet their in-laws the very first time, and the Lanes were not the ones who
raised her up. He would be more nervous if he were to meet Dad and Mom.
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