Old Mrs Fuller’s Request
Being tactful, Sonia looked at Rose without a word; after all, she was the reason Toby nit-picked all the
details.
One moment, he was afraid that she would feel cold, and the next moment, he was scared that Rose
would prolong the chat with her and delay her from resting. But none would happen, and he was just
worried for nothing.
There was a heater in the pavilion, so Sonia would not feel cold at all. Besides, even if Rose would chat
with her for a long time, it would not hold her up from her rest. After all, she was a night owl. However,
when faced with Toby’s concern and care, she was slightly amused, paired up with a pinch of
gratefulness.
I mean, he won’t bother about the details if he doesn’t care.
“What are you thinking about, Sonia? Why are you giggling?” Rose asked with a gleam in her eyes as
she stared at a smiling Sonia.
There was a flash in Sonia’s eyes before she came back to her senses. “N-No… It’s nothing, Grandma.
Now that Toby’s gone, what is it that you wish to talk to me about?” She waved her hand.
Upon hearing Sonia’s words, Rose retracted the gentleness on her face and became serious.
Registering Rose’s change, Sonia subconsciously sat straight and put on a serious expression too.
“Grandma, what is it? Did something happen?”
“Well, that’s not entirely it.” Rose shook her head. “It’s just that it will be Toby’s biological mother’s
death anniversary in a few days.”
“Death anniversary?”
“Yes, my dear.” Rose sighed. “This is what I wished to tell you. I asked Toby to bring you over in hopes
that you could do me a favor.”
“Do tell, Grandma. Please. I’ll definitely help you if it’s within my capability,” Sonia said, her tone
sounding serious.
Rose smiled in relief. “Then, Sonia, I shall thank you first. You’re definitely capable of helping me. I
would like you to accompany Toby for the whole day on the day of his biological mother’s death
anniversary.”
“This… Is there a plausible explanation for this?” Sonia tilted her head, feeling confused at Rose’s
words.
Rose rubbed the grip of her walking cane, and her face was filled with distress. “I wonder if Toby has
ever told you anything about his biological mother.”
“Yeah, briefly. I know his biological mother died of suicide,” Sonia replied, nodding her head.
“Hmm. That’s right. Toby’s mother died by suicide, and Toby was the first person to discover her body.
Back then, Toby was just a young boy, aged around ten years old. One can imagine how traumatic it
was for the poor young boy to have witnessed his mother’s dead body with his own eyes. Hence, he
would be unlike his usual self every year on the day of his mother’s death anniversary.”
“How out of character will he be?” Sonia clenched her fist. She could not help but get anxious.
Rose picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. “On that day, he would let down his stronghold facade
before our eyes and become extremely fragile at heart. All he would do on this day is isolate himself
and drown himself in liquor. Then, when he emerges from his isolation the next day, he would act as if
the world was fine again, but it is hard not to notice the visible injuries on his body.”
“Visible injuries?” Sonia’s pupils shrank at once as soon as these two words appeared in her mind.
“Could he be self-harming inside the room?”
Rose nodded bitterly. “You’re right. He’s indeed self-harming. Toby’s mother slit her wrist and passed
away, and Toby was the first to discover his mother’s body. His former psychiatrist said because it had
left a traumatic impact on Toby, he would not be in the right state of mind on the day of his mother’s
death anniversary, and he would subconsciously harm himself.”
“So that’s why.” Sonia bit her lower lip. It was not made aware for her that Toby had such a secret.
However, it was possible since she never truly understood him anyway.
As Sonia’s pen pal or husband, Toby seldom took the initiative to tell her more about him.
Back when they were still pen pals, it was Sonia who told him everything about her, and most of the
time, he merely talked things through with her. He rarely shared stories about himself, and since she
seldom asked him, she had no idea how old John was, where he lived, and how his family’s situation
was.
After Sonia fell in love with Toby, she only knew that he was a gentle senior, but little did she know that
this senior was John, a pen pal who had been communicating with her for so many years.
Speaking of which, what she did to Toby was rather unfair. She had been complaining that Toby
couldn’t tell Tina was impersonating her. But, it was the same for her too. She could not recognize that
Toby was her pen pal, John.
But now she knew that he did realize Tina wasn’t her. He was merely hypnotized into forgetting about
the whole issue. As for her case, from the beginning till the end, she did not once recognize him as
John.
So, based on this fact, Sonia was fairly incomparable to Toby.
Furthermore, despite her words of affirmation in claiming she had loved Toby within those six years of
their marriage, she now saw she had only known him on a surface value but never in-depth. During
their days of marriage, she failed to realize that he was not Jean’s biological son and that he had lived
with congenital heart disease all along. She did not know he would succumb to his trauma one day
once every year.
In short, compared to what Toby knew about her, she really did not know enough about him. As such,
she began to doubt the love she had for him in the first place.
If she really had feelings for him and loved him deeply, why was she not aware of these things?
Following the heavy topic, the ambiance turned solemn. When Rose saw that Sonia lowered her head,
she thought Sonia was feeling sorry for Toby. “Sonia, I hope you can stay by Toby’s side on that day
and help me stop him from self-harming.”
“Me?” Sonia raised her head and pointed at herself.
Rose hummed, “Yes, you.”
“But Grandma… What if I could not stop this?” Sonia bit her lip and asked without confidence.
“Shouldn’t you and the rest of the family be doing this? Grandma, since you knew Toby would do this
on that day every year, I’m sure you must have stopped him in the past.”
“Yes, I tried to stop him before, but it was useless. Toby did not even grant us a chance to see him.
However, you’re different.” Rose looked at her.
Sonia doubted. “Why am I different?”
“Because Toby loves you.” Rose chuckled. “So, Sonia, how about you give it a try and see if you can
stop Toby. This is why I had asked you to come over tonight.”
Me? Really? I can’t believe this is the reason I was summoned. Toby loves me, so can I stop him for
real? Is this even possible? I doubt I’m able to…
Rose saw through Sonia’s reluctance to believe her reason and said softly, “Sonia, trust in yourself.
You can definitely do this. As Toby’s grandma, I really don’t wish to see Toby go insane every year
during the day of his mother’s death anniversary. So, I could only beg you.”
Rose stood up and wanted to give Sonia a bow.
Shocked and in a fit of panic, Sonia immediately stood up and grabbed hold of Rose. “Grandma… W-
What are you doing? This can’t be appropriate!”
Rose also knew what she currently did was inappropriate, but for the sake of Toby, she had no other
choice but to do this.
“Forgive me, Sonia. I don’t want to force you either, but I really have no choice. So, Sonia, you…”
“I promise you, Grandma,” Sonia said while rubbing in between her eyebrows after she had sat Rose
down.
Overjoyed, Rose exclaimed, “You promise? Really?”
“You even begged me, so how can I not agree?” Faced with the current situation, Sonia could only
reply with a bitter smile.
Slightly ashamed, Rose smiled. “Forgive me, Sonia.”
“It’s alright, Grandma. I don’t blame you. I just want to tell you that although I had promised to help you
to stop Toby, it’s still unknown whether it is within my capability to carry it out or not. I hope you won’t
be let down when the time comes,” Sonia said in hopes that Rose would be prepared for any possible
outcome.
Rose nodded. “Don’t worry, I understand.”
“That’s good.” After that, Sonia did not utter a word anymore.
Then, Rose added, “By the way, Sonia, please don’t let Toby know about this.”
“Okay.” Sonia nodded as a promise, putting Rose at ease, but just then, the cell phone in Sonia’s bag
rang.
Shooting the young lady a cheeky smirk, Rose made an educated guess, saying, “That should be
Toby.”
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