Hurt Julia
Toby’s eyes glinted, and he hugged her even tighter. “Nothing. I just thought of something, but it’s not
important.”
“Is that so?” Sonia leaned against his chest. She stopped asking him, even though she could feel that he
was bogged down by something. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, then I won’t pry.
“Right. I’ll make a call, then we’ll have lunch.” Toby let her go.
Sonia got off his lap and nodded. “Sure. You do your job. I’ll call Zane to thank him.”
Toby was about to leave, but he paused and turned around to say, “Don’t talk too long. Just say thank
you and hang up.”
Sonia knew why he was saying that. He just doesn’t want me to talk too long to other guys. He even
listens in when I talk to Charles. Of course Zane will alert him. She waved him off. “Okay, okay, I get it.
Just do your work.”
Toby went to the balcony, but after just taking a few steps, he stopped again. “Remember, just say thank
you. Even if he tries to talk to you, just ignore him and hang up.”
Sonia rolled her eyes and waved him off once more, then Toby finally went to the balcony. She looked at
him for a moment and shook her head, though she was smiling. She then picked her phone up and
called Zane.
Toby closed the french window and made a call. It went through a moment later, and a woman’s voice
said carefully, “Mr. Fuller…”
“I assume that you saw the press conference today?” he asked coldy. He placed one hand on the
guardrail and looked at the city.
Rina stared down. “I did.” That was how she knew things had gotten very serious and had gone to the
hospital as fast as she could.
As she expected, after the Gray couple heard what Sonia said, they started suspecting that Sonia was
their real daughter. She even heard what Julia really thought about her. If she didn’t overhear it, she
wouldn’t have known that Julia was only pretending to love her. She even said that even though she
knew Taylor was their ‘real daughter,’ she just couldn’t bring herself to be close to her. She only
pretended to love Taylor so she wouldn’t hurt her.
They don’t know why they can’t feel close,but I do. It’s not that they can’t; it’s that they want to be close
with their real daughter, not an impostor. But Mom doesn’t know I’m a fake, so she has to act. I don’t
understand. Is a bond of blood that important?
After hearing her answer, Toby squinted dangerously. “If you saw it, then you should know that Titus will
start to suspect her of being the real Rina. After all, she did release her details. He’s already suspecting
something now, and he’s looking into it. I want you to go to him right away to quash his suspicions once
and for all. Stop him from looking into Sonia’s past, understand?”
“I understand, Mr. Fuller.” She took a deep breath and nodded. “I know what I should do. Don’t worry. I
will stop Dad from looking into this any further.” If they find out that Sonia is their real daughter, I’ll be in
trouble.
“Good. Now do your job.” Toby nodded and hung up.
Rina put her phone down. She looked at the screen and heaved a sigh. Then, she kept it and went to a
ward. Once she was there, she knocked on the door.
A moment later, a weak voice said, “Come in.”
Rina bit her lip and turned the doorknob. The door opened easily, and she went in, though her head was
hanging low. “Dad, Mom,” she called.
The Gray couple quickly looked at her. Titus was reminded of what happened, so he coughed awkwardly.
“Welcome back, Rina.”
Julia put the bowl and spoon down. She stood up from beside the bed and smiled apologetically at Rina.
“Rina!”
Rina only nodded at her.
Julia went over to her. “Where have you been, Rina? I went after you, but you shook me off easily. I was
worried, you know.”
She was about to hold Rina’s hand, but Rina’s eyes gleamed, and she dodged Julia’s hand as she
pretended to look hurt.
Julia’s face froze, and her hand hung in the air. She felt awkward and at a loss, and she didn’t even pull
her hand back. Evidently, she didn’t think her daughter would avoid her, and she teared up. At the same
time, she blamed herself for this.
She knew why Rina was acting that way. She’s still hurt because of what I said. Of course she is. That’s
really traumatizing. She has suffered for more than two decades, and now that she finally came back to
us, she heard me saying that I only pretended to love her. How can she not be hurt after hearing that I
just can’t bring myself to feel close to her?
I can understand why. I can see why she’s so cold to me. Even so, I just can’t feel close to her. She
wasn’t about to tell Rina that, nor would she ever let anyone else know. She would start to rectify her
wrongs and accept her daughter. At that thought, Julia put her hand down and looked at Rina tearfully.
“Rina.”
Rina was still staring down in silence. She knew Julia must be blaming herself for hurting her. She knew
Julia wanted to apologize, but Rina knew she mustn’t accept it. She must pretend that she didn’t want to
face Julia for the time being.
If I forgive her so easily, her guilt will lessen and even disappear. She might think I wasn’t hurt at all. I will
not forgive her that easily. I will keep her curious and keep the flame of self-blame alive. She’ll only give
me more that way. Rina went past Julia with her head lowered and headed straight for Titus.
Julia was shocked, and she was on the verge of tears. She was nearly crying a moment ago, and now
she was truly shedding tears. She quickly turned around and looked at her daughter. Rina’s deliberate
neglect hurt Julia. “Rina, you—”
Rina cut Julia off, “Dad, I need to talk to you.”
Titus was an experienced businessman, and he could see that his daughter didn’t want to talk to his wife.
After all, Julia did hurt her, but seeing his wife looking so sad was breaking his heart as well. Even so, he
couldn’t help anyone here, since it would be unfair to the other side no matter which side he chose. Titus
sighed. Being sandwiched in the middle is so annoying. He massaged his temples and looked at Rina.
“What do you want to talk about?”
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