The Way of the Skank
“Boyfriend?”
The woman in the wheelchair took her hand off Toby’s chest and flashed Sonia a sheepish smile. “I’m
sorry, miss, I didn’t mean to offend you. I was only trying to clean his face, and I must have put my hand
on his chest to keep myself from falling. I’m sure you won’t mind.”
She might be apologizing, but she didn’t look like she meant it at all, and there was even a trace of a
smirk tugging on her lips, as if she was challenging Sonia.
What was even more infuriating was the way the woman drawled ‘I’m sure you won’t mind’. This skank is
outright provoking me!
Sonia was so mad she thought she might combust on the spot.
She had more or less figured out that the woman was only provoking her because she had her eyes set
on Toby. In all fairness, any woman would prey on him, seeing as he was tall and handsome with a well-
built figure, not to mention he carried himself with such natural grace and a sense of nobility that belied
his billion-something net worth.
At the thought of this, Sonia glanced over at the man lying unconscious in bed, and while she was
frustrated at him, she was also sympathetic toward him. She was frustrated that he had gotten the fancy
of yet another hussy within such a short span of time, but her heart twisted at the sight of him lying in bed
with a bandage wrapped around the crown of his head. The impact must have really hurt him.
With a sigh, she decided to reason with herself. It wasn’t Toby’s fault that the wheelchair-bound vixen
had decided to set her eyes on him, and Sonia’s anger ebbed away following this line of reasoning. She
retracted her gaze and turned to eye the woman imperiously, then barked, “Of course, I mind. I mind very
much! Move!”
She was not leaving any room for negotiation, and there was even a commanding edge to her tone as
she ordered the woman to move away from the bed.
The smile on the woman’s face slipped. Obviously, she hadn’t expected such a blunt and cutting
response from Sonia. A dark look flashed in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared as the woman gave
Sonia yet another gentle smile. “I’m sorry, miss. I know my presence here disturbs you, but I can’t leave
right now. See, I was the one who caused him to get into the accident, and it goes without saying that I
have to take responsibility for it. I would like to remain by his side and nurse him back to help, so I hope
you’ll understand, miss.”
Sonia gaped at the woman in disbelief. She didn’t think the woman would spew such disgusting
nonsense just to stay by Toby’s side.
Resisting the urge to retch, Sonia shot the woman a look so frigid that it was a wonder she didn’t turn to
ice. “Listen here, lady—my boyfriend is only lying here because of you, so of course, you’d have to take
responsibility, but there are plenty of ways for you to go about it. I don’t think my boyfriend needs you to
take care of him, considering I’m already here to do just that, and I’m well within my rights to do it, too.
So I suggest you stop crossing the line,” Sonia snapped with angry contempt.
Sonia thought she was being subtle with her words, if not diplomatic. After all, she highly doubted that
other women would go easy on the shameless hussies who went around seducing their men. Other
women in Sonia’s position might even abandon reason and shriek at the top of their lungs or resort to
violence. And here I am being civilized, if not just a bit terse with her.
She hoped the woman would know better than to be thick-skinned. If she insisted on staying instead of
moving away, Sonia would have to get rid of her the hard way. She was no longer the compassionate
and empathetic person she used to be; she would much rather let someone else bear the brunt than
shoulder through it like a naive fool.
Alas, Sonia underestimated the woman and how brazen and shameless she could be. It didn’t take long
after Sonia had delivered her warning that the woman looked wounded. The next second, the woman’s
eyes turned red with fresh tears, and she started to cry.
Frowning, Sonia demanded irritably, “What’s with the waterworks?”
The woman buried her face in her hands as she whimpered, “Miss, I know you don’t like me taking care
of your boyfriend, but I really didn’t mean to cross any lines at all. I genuinely want to nurse this man
back to health, seeing as I was the cause of all this in the first place. I have to do something to make it
up to him, and if I don’t, I’d only blame myself even more; this will haunt me, and the guilt will eat me
alive, and I’d feel as if something is pressing down on my chest. Please, Miss, I’m only hoping that you
could give me a chance to make things right and allow me to take care of him. But I promise you that I
won’t do anything more than that, so don’t you worry. I only want to atone for my mistakes and spare
myself from the guilt. Otherwise, I’d…”
When the woman trailed off, Sonia’s face grew somber as she demanded through gritted teeth,
“Otherwise, you’d what?”
The woman chewed on her bottom lit. “Otherwise, I’d only live in guilt for the rest of my life, and I might
grow so depressed that I’d take my own life to save myself from the pain.”
“Really?” Sonia asked, narrowing her eyes.
Nodding earnestly, the woman affirmed, “Really.”
However, Sonia let out a cold bark of laughter and countered, “And what does all that have to do with
me?”
“What?” The woman was stunned. She clearly hadn’t been expecting such a response.
The corner of Sonia’s lips lifted in an impassive smirk as she elaborated, “I don’t see how a suicidal
attempt on your part has anything to do with me. I can’t just leave my boyfriend under the care of a
scheming no-good woman in order to protect your feelings, can I? Sorry, but I don’t think I’m that
altruistic!”
With that, she shot the woman a look of unadulterated disgust, then immediately pulled the wheelchair
away so that the woman was removed from Toby’s bedside.
Sonia’s push made the wheelchair roll forward uncontrollably, bringing the woman meters away from the
bed as it went along with momentum.
If the woman had not reacted in time to stop the wheelchair, she might have rolled right out the door of
the hospital room altogether.
Having regained control over the wheelchair, the woman spun around to face Sonia, who was sitting next
to the bed and gently caressing Toby’s forehead. A grimace twisted the woman’s features, but she
quickly hid it and resumed a miserable front as she whined, “You’re being a little unreasonable, miss. I’m
only trying to take responsibility for my mistakes, and you won’t even give me the chance to do that. It’s
cruel, don’t you think?”
She certainly never thought Sonia could be so heartless. I even put out the suicide card, and she still
stood her ground, the woman thought angrily, frowning. It’s as if she’s no longer the Sonia I used to
know.
Presently, Sonia dipped a cotton bud into the water and gently brushed it over Toby’s lips to moisturize
them, not at all paying any attention to the wheelchair-bound hussy.
She knew that vixens like her would only be spurred on if the conversation dragged on. The more Sonia
said to her, the more she would try to rile her up. As if I’m stupid enough to hash things out with you, you
skank. Go waste someone else’s time.
Upon seeing that Sonia was determined to ignore her, the woman clenched the edge of her armrest so
tightly that her hands began to tremble. Her eyes turned red, and her blood was boiling with rage. When
did Sonia become such a tough cookie?
Just as the woman bit down on her lip and tried to provoke Sonia further, the sound of approaching
footfalls came from outside the door, followed by Tom’s voice as he asked aloud in confusion, “Hey,
why’s the door open?”
Then, he appeared in the doorway with a bunch of invoices in hand, ready to confront the lady in the
wheelchair.
He had warned her repeatedly to stay out of Toby’s room, and yet he returned to see that the door was
left ajar and the woman, who was supposed to be outside in the hallway, was nowhere to be found. It
didn’t take a genius to know that she had deliberately gone against his warning and wheeled herself
merrily into Toby’s room.
At the thought of that, Tom grew mutinous, and his face was as dark as a stormy sky as he marched into
the room.
However, as soon as he did, he saw that the woman in the wheelchair was not the only one in the room,
for Sonia was standing next to Toby’s bed as well.
At the sight of Sonia, the dark look on Tom’s face was quickly replaced by a wide grin as he greeted,
“Miss Reed, you’re finally here!”
Sonia discarded the cotton bud into the trash can by the corner, then set the glass of water down before
she turned to nod at Tom in mild acknowledgment. “Yeah, if I hadn’t hit traffic on the way here, I would
have arrived ages ago.”
“Well, you got here with plenty of time to spare anyway, Miss Reed. I’m sure President Fuller will be very
happy to wake up and find you at his bedside,” Tom said with a kind smile.
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