Old Mrs Fuller’s Fury
Mr. Franklin’s gaze uncomfortably shifted between the two. He then hesitated for a moment before
suddenly bringing one hand up to cover his eyes. “Oh my! My old eyes can’t see anything well. Don’t
mind me and carry on with whatever you are doing.”
And with each word, he slowly took little backward steps toward the exit of the pavilion.
His words finally brought Sonia back to reality, and when she realized she was still being held by Toby,
she quickly pushed herself out of his embrace. Her face was flushed as she stood there in silence.
It all happened so fast that Toby could only stare at the empty space near his chest where Sonia was
just seconds ago. His eyes held a hint of regret as he pursed his lips and said, “Alright now, Mr.
Franklin. Don’t come in just to leave like that.”
Upon hearing that, Mr. Franklin stopped shuffling backward before cautiously removing his hand from
his face. Looking at the now-separated duo, he let out an embarrassed laugh. “My apologies, Young
Master Toby. I didn’t mean to intrude,” he bashfully said.
“It’s fine. Why have you come?” Toby asked while nonchalantly waving to urge him to get on with what
he interrupted them for.
Seeing Toby’s unconcerned attitude, Mr. Franklin could only let out a small cough to ease his nerves
before he announced his purpose. “Old Mrs. Fuller wanted me to let you know that you may go ahead
and rest in the bedroom that has been prepared.”
“Sure. We’ll be there soon,” Toby said and nodded in return.
Mr. Franklin then gestured behind him and said, “I’ll take my leave first then, Young Master Toby.”
The man in question merely hummed in reply.
Done with the task he was entrusted with, Mr. Franklin then turned to leave the two of them alone to
themselves at the pavilion.
After Mr. Franklin had left, Toby picked up the box with Sonia’s high heels in it and said to Sonia, “Let’s
go. I’ll take you to the room.”
She stroked her face at that and gave a simple “Okay”.
They proceeded to leave the pavilion as they headed for the bedroom. After a few minutes of walking,
they arrived at the room, whereupon Toby opened the door for her. “This is where you’ll be spending
the night. Rest well, okay?”
“Got it, and you too. I’ll be heading in then,” she replied as she took the shoebox from him.
Hearing the answer he anticipated, he nodded in acknowledgment. “Go on.”
She gave a small wave to bid him goodnight, and just when she was about to turn around to walk in, he
suddenly called out to her. “Sonia, wait.”
Confused, she turned to look at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
His thin lips parted. “Don’t forget that you agreed to get together with me. You have half a month to
organize your thoughts.”
The tense look on his face surprisingly made her smile. “I remember what I said,” she reassured him.
It was obvious that Toby was worried Sonia would go back on her words if she were to forget ever
making such a promise to him. Why else would he mention it even though all Sonia was doing was
heading to bed?
“Good,” Toby said upon hearing her answer. The strained expression on his face visibly relaxed as he
loosened his grip on her wrist. With his hand in the pocket of his pants now, he said, “Get some sleep.
I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Toby,” she smilingly said with a nod before going into her room.
Toby’s own lips curled into a smile as he looked at the closing door. At that moment, a silhouette
appeared from behind. “Young Master Toby.”
The familiar voice made Toby’s smile disappear in an instant. He turned around to look at that person
before questioning, “Mary, what are you doing here instead of keeping Grandma company?”
“I’m here on Old Mrs. Fuller’s behalf. She would like for you to pay her a visit,” Mary said with a smile.
Mary’s reply only made Toby raise his eyebrows quizzically. “Does Grandma need me for something?”
he asked.
Without divulging much, Mary nodded. “Yes.”
“Alright,” Toby answered curtly as he started making his way toward his grandma’s room with Mary in
tow. It only took a short while for them to reach their destination.
Toby walked through the bedroom door that was wide open and was promptly greeted by the sight of
Rose sitting on a couch with a towel in her hand. She seemed to be meticulously wiping at something
with it.
Upon closer look, he realized that she was cleaning his grandpa, Norman’s favorite tea set before he
had passed away.
After all, Norman and Rose had been a pair of lovebirds the whole time they lived as a married couple.
Everyone knew that it was an old habit of Rose to touch any of Norman’s used items whenever she
started to reminisce about him.
“Grandma,” Toby called out to make his presence known. He then walked over to sit down on the
couch across from his grandma.
Rose moved her gaze from the tea set, and she could tell something was different about Toby with just
one look. “You punk, are you this happy because Sonia agreed to be with you?” she teased.
She was sure that something big must have happened for someone like Toby to not hide his joy. It was
written all over his face.
He picked up another towel and began wiping down the tea set too. “We are not official yet, but we’re
getting there,” he said.
“Oh? And how are you so sure about that?” Rose, who was confused by his confidence, asked.
The smile hanging on his lips only got deeper as he thought about the whole ordeal. He explained,
“That’s what she told me. She needs time to prepare herself for a relationship again, but she agreed to
reconcile after half a month.”
Upon hearing that, Rose was so surprised that even her hands stopped wiping. “Did Sonia really say
that?” she asked again to make sure.
“Mm-hmm,” he sing-songed with a smug expression on his face.
That made Rose purse her lips discontentedly. “God must have been blind to allow things to go your
way,” she grumbled.
The dissatisfaction in her voice made him frown as he asked, “Shouldn’t you, my grandma, be on my
side?”
Her hands then started rubbing and wiping again. “I’m just saying it as it is. With how you treated her
six years ago, Sonia shouldn’t even have to entertain the thought of forgiving you. You must have one
hell of luck to not only get her to forgive you, but also agree to a reconciliation. That is why I said that
God must be blind.”
When Toby heard the statement, his smile seemed to freeze. “From what I’m hearing, it feels like you’re
against us getting together,” he said.
“That’s not it.” She shook her head in response and continued, “I’m supportive of her being together
with the you now. But if you’re going to treat her like how you did six years ago, I want you to stay away
from her. Don’t hurt her anymore, Toby. Which is why I need to know now that you’re not going to
repeat what you did to her in the past.”
He immediately nodded, and with a somber look, he announced, “Of course, I won’t! I have not told you
after all this time, but not only me but our whole family was hypnotized six years ago. I never meant to
treat her that way!”
Toby would not have known that Sonia was Maple if he was the only one who had fallen for the
hypnosis, but even Grandma, Tom, and Tyler did not realize the truth. That was when he knew
something was obviously off.
Miles also confessed that his encounter with Rose and the rest had been planned from the start, which
was when he took the chance to hypnotize them. That was how he managed to keep the fact that
Sonia was, indeed, Maple hidden for six long years.
“Hypnosis?” Rose repeated the word in a grave tone, her eyes staring straight at Toby. “Is this true?”
“It’s all true. Tina’s hypnosis not only prevented us from recognizing Sonia, she also made me believe
that she herself was Sonia. She hypnotized me into loving and staying loyal to her only. I wouldn’t have
woken up from the hypnosis if it weren’t for the car accident I was involved in. I would probably still be
hung up on that imposter,” he finished his sentence coldly. His eyes were cast downward as though he
was in deep thought.
Rose could only exclaim in surprise, saying, “No wonder you did a 180 from being such a gentle person
to an extremely cold one six years ago! This also explains why I thought you had become your old self
again after the accident.”
Although it was a hard-to-believe story, Rose naturally trusted the words her grandson was telling her.
Furthermore, she could have easily known the validity of his claim if she were to ask another hypnotist
regarding this. There was no need to make up a lie like this at all.
Still, she was undeniably shocked that her grandson had to go through such a terrible thing and that
she herself had been hypnotized without knowing.
Her anger flared as she heavily thumped her fist on the table. “Who was the one who did it?” she
demanded. The air at the moment was so thick with tension it was almost suffocating.
But of course, Rose was a person who had lived more than half her life, and she had even been on the
frontline during the war in her younger days. It was only natural that she would be intimidating when
angered.
However, Toby was not put off by his angry grandma. He only put down the teacup he had wiped clean
as his mouth coldly spat out a name as though it was venom. “Tina. She hired someone.”
Hearing those words from her grandson made her so angry she could only laugh. “That woman again!”
Her eyes, filled with bloodlust, turned into slits as she said, “What a fine daughter the Gray Family has
raised. Do you have any idea how much worse things could have gotten because our whole family was
hypnotized by Tina?
We’re lucky she only used hypnosis to do the things she has done so far. Just imagine if she had
hypnotized you into becoming her puppet and had used you to cause havoc within Fuller Group, or
even worse, the Fuller Family. Not even you would’ve been able to go against her if that’s the case!”
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