Checking in on You
“How are you so sure?” Sonia asked Rose while looking for her phone.
Rose sipped her tea leisurely. “That boy… He just wanted us to end our conversation early so you can
go back to rest. Although he said he would let us talk for half an hour, I know him—he definitely can’t
wait for half an hour. Check your phone if you don’t believe me.”
Rose beckoned Sonia to check her phone. And so, Sonia took out her phone and lowered her head,
thereupon her beautiful eyebrows twitched after she checked her phone. Then, she laughed.
“Grandma, you’re right! It’s really Toby.”
“Told you. Alright, pick up his call, or else he would come over in person in a short while.” Rose shook
her head and smiled helplessly.
With a hum, Sonia swiped the green button with her delicate fingertip and answered the call. “Hello?”
“Have you finished chatting with Grandma?” Through the phone, Sonia heard Toby’s deep and
pleasant voice.
Sonia nodded slightly. “Yeah, we’re almost done.”
“Then, hurry up and ask the servant to bring you over to rest,” Toby said.
Sonia rubbed in between her eyebrows. “Don’t rush us. I want to stay with Grandma for a little longer.”
“You’re not feeling cold there?” Toby frowned. “Besides, Grandma needs her rest. She’s old and can’t
stay up late.”
Meanwhile, Rose was leaning her ear close to Sonia’s phone. When she heard Toby’s words, she
rolled her eyes.
What does this boy mean by I can’t stay up late just because I’m old? He’s definitely spewing
nonsense! He’s clearly aware of my insomnia and that I basically go to bed very late every night.
It was none other than a false claim when Toby told Sonia that Rose could not stay up late.
Heh. Toby thinks I can’t see through him when I know what’s up his sleeve most of the time. It’s just an
excuse to trick Sonia into leaving and resting early. Alright. Fine. What more could I say? It’s all written
down by the will of fate. Being able to witness how he wholeheartedly pursues Sonia, I guess I’ll help
them.
At the thought of this, Rose moved her head away from Sonia’s phone and then held her forehead
tiredly. “Mary, what time is it now?”
“It’s ten o’clock, Old Mrs. Fuller,” Mary said as she glanced at the time.
Pretending to be surprised, Rose stood up. “It’s already ten o’clock? Oh my, it’s already this late? Mary,
isn’t it time for me to take my medicine?” As she spoke, she winked at Mary.
Of course, Mary would understand what Rose meant with a small signal, seeing she had served the old
woman for decades.
With her head half-lowered, Mary tried to hold back the smile that was slowly painted across her face.
She stepped forward to help Rose up. “Yes, Old Mrs. Fuller. The doctor said you must take your
medicine at ten o’clock every night, so why don’t we go back to your room first? And since you will feel
sleepy after taking your pills, you should rest early as well.”
“I guess you’re right. Let’s go back first.” Rose nodded, then turned to look at Sonia and sighed. “Sonia,
I have to go back to take my medicine first. Why don’t you listen to Toby and go back and get some
shut-eye?”
The corner of Sonia’s mouth twitched, and in her heart, she knew Rose was not returning to her room
at this hour to take her medicine. Instead, Rose took it as an excuse to pardon herself from the
conversation. The reason for Rose to do this was just to fulfill Toby’s wish to have Sonia go back. Also,
she could see that Rose had been trying to play cupid for her and Toby the whole night tonight.
Odd. Wasn’t Rose the one who clearly said she would not match Toby and me together anymore? But
why would she have such intentions now? Could it be that she saw through my feelings for Toby? As
expected, everyone had already noticed that I had fallen in love with Toby again. Only I myself was
blind enough not to notice and needed Nancy to remind me about it.
Though she let out a rueful smile in her heart, on the outside, she responded with a radiant smile on
her face. “I understand, Grandma. You rest early too, you hear?”
“I know… I know… Alright, I’ll get going first, and there will be someone coming over to take you to
your room later.” After that, Rose turned her head and looked at Mary, and she immediately walked
Rose out of the pavilion.
Now, only Sonia was left in the pavilion. She looked down and saw that the phone screen was still
showing that the call was ongoing. Her mouth widened, for she was feeling surprised. The call is still
ongoing!?
She thought Toby had hung up while she was talking to Rose. Sonia immediately held the phone close
to her ear and asked, “Toby, are you still there?”
“Yeah!” Toby replied.
Seeing as he answered her in a flash, it was obvious that he had been keeping the phone close to his
ear and had never taken it down all this time. Otherwise, he could not have heard her query and
responded right away.
Sonia’s heart softened, and she said, “Sorry, I was just saying a few words to Grandma.”
“I know.” Toby nodded. “Grandma has allowed you to rest early too.”
“You heard that?” Sonia exclaimed, feeling surprised.
Head lowered, Toby gave out a soft laugh. “Well, Grandma’s voice was rather loud. Alright. Just stay
there and wait for me. I’ll go over to pick you up and take you to your room.”
“No need for that, Toby. Grandma said she’ll let the servant bring me over…”
Before Sonia could finish her words, Toby instantly hung up the call. Dumbfounded and confused,
Sonia could only watch her phone’s interface switch back to the main page.
Ever since the day Toby decided to express his feelings for her, it was mostly her who would hang up
first on their conversation. But this time, he hung up the call ahead of her, so it was evident that he did
not want to hear her saying things like asking him not to come over.
Then, so be it. Since he’s already on his way here, I might as well ask him to send me to my room.
Sonia then put her phone back into her bag, picked up the teacup, and sipped her tea while waiting for
Toby’s arrival.
After having waited for about ten minutes, she heard footsteps coming from outside of the pavilion. She
put down the teacup, got up, and walked toward the door, preparing to open it. But who knew, before
her hand could touch the eaves, the door was pulled open from the outside.
Bewildered, Sonia looked up, and her eyes instantly met with Toby’s. Since Toby did not expect Sonia
to be standing behind the door, he startled for a moment and smiled. “Could it be that you were
opening the door for me?”
Sonia shrugged her shoulders noncommittally, after which Toby walked into the pavilion and put down
the bag in his hand.
“You… What is this?” Sonia asked as her head lowered down, looking at the bag Toby had put on the
table.
“Shoes,” Toby replied. After that, he opened the bag, revealing an exquisite-looking shoebox.
As she looked at the packaging of the shoebox, she took a rough guess in her heart. The pair of shoes
inside the box was probably Toby’s gift for her.
After all, where on earth could one find a pair of men’s shoes being wrapped and packed up in a pink
shoebox? Moreover, the size of the shoebox was small, so it could not possibly fit in a pair of men’s
shoes.
Just as Sonia had expected, a pair of beautiful women’s plush slippers was revealed before her eyes
as soon as Toby took off the lid of the shoebox.
Toby pulled out a chair and sat down, and then he patted the chair across from him. “Sit here.”
Sonia hesitated for two seconds but eventually sat down.
“This pair of slippers… is for you.” Toby picked up one of the plush slippers. “You may need to walk on
that uneven pathway a few more times as it will only be shoveled off starting tomorrow. But once you
put on this pair of slippers, you don’t have to worry about staggering to your feet again.”
At once, he bent down, and his hands reached out for Sonia’s foot.
Sonia’s pupils shrank after she realized Toby wanted to help her change her shoes, so she retracted
her foot. “I can put them on myself.”
Toby’s hand was left afloat, and he looked up at Sonia.
When he saw the blush on Sonia’s face and the uneasiness in her eyes, he could not help but chuckle
a little. So, he placed the slipper on the floor in front of her, took out another slipper, and placed it on
the floor in front of her as well. Then, his thin lips opened slightly. “Okay, I’ll let you put them on
yourself.”
Well, look at her being shy and all.
Seeing that Toby had no intention to help her to change her shoes forcibly, Sonia breathed a sigh of
relief. Then, she bent down, took off her high heels, and put on the plush slippers that Toby brought.
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