"Oh, my. You sound so fierce," Charles teased.
Sonia was startled. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times when she saw him. "Charles?"
"That's me." Charles walked over to the bed and sat down on a chair.
Sonia tilted her head sideways with a confused expression. "What are you doing here?"
"Why wouldn't I come and visit you when something as serious as this happened?" Charles studied her and frowned when he saw her gaunt, pale face. "Why did you lose so much weight?" he asked with a frown.
"I have no appetite, so I lost some weight." Sonia touched her face and forced herself to smile.
"Even if you have no appetite, you should still try to eat something anyway. Your body wouldn't be able to take it if you don't. And you're not just eating for one now. There's someone else you need to feed." Charles lifted his chin to point at her stomach.
Sonia stroked her belly. "Don't worry. I know everything you just said. Madam Mary has been coming up with all kinds of new food to whet my appetite. You don't need to worry about me."
"How am I supposed to not worry about you? Look at how frail you've become. You even fainted just from being affected by what someone else said." Charles rubbed his forehead. "Do you feel better now? Does your abdomen still hurt? My heart nearly stopped when I heard from Toby that something happened to you."
"I'm sorry for making you worry," Sonia said with an apologetic smile. "I feel a lot better now. There's no discomfort."
Charles waved it off. "You don't need to apologize. I'm like a brother to you, aren't I? It's only right for me to worry about you. Since you're better now, it's safe enough for me to say what I'm about to say to you."
"What are you going to say to me?" Sonia pursed her pale lips.
Charles looked at her. "You already know the answer to that, don't you? That's right. I'm here to ask you about your thoughts after finding out your real identity. Don't get agitated. Since you've found out about it now, you need to have the courage to face this head-on and consider what you're going to do next. You still need to resolve the situation, don't you? You can't just pretend as if you don't know anything and ignore it completely. It'll only make things worse for you."
Sonia couldn't respond.
"What do you want to do, Sonny?" Charles asked. "Do you want to reunite with the Grays?"
"No! I don't want to reunite with them!" Sonia shook her head violently as if she was having a meltdown. "I don't want to acknowledge my relationship with them. I'll never!"
"Okay, okay. If you don't, then don't. Calm down." Charles was afraid that she'd faint the way she did earlier today, so he quickly tried to soothe her emotions.
Sonia slowly regained her composure. Her eyes were red as tears dripped onto the white sheets. "Charles, why me?"
She stared at him with reddened eyes. Her question was both for him and for herself. "Why can't I be an orphan who was abandoned by her parents? Why did I turn out to be Rina Gray?"
Sonia couldn't come to terms with the truth and couldn't accept it either.
It felt as if life was playing a cruel joke on her.
No one else knew the way she felt when Taylor told her everything. She felt as if the sky had fallen. Everything turned black. She couldn't see the light.
Charles wanted to say something, but he couldn't give an appropriate response when Sonia was reacting this way.
Well, he wanted to know the answer to her question too. Why did it have to be her?
Why didn't Mr. Henry throw the baby he stole into the river?
No. Hang on. He shouldn't. If he did, then Sonny wouldn't be here right now.
It could only be chalked down to a cruel twist of fate.
"Don't dwell on this now, Sonny. Let's take it slow and talk about it, okay?" After a while, Charles finally regained his voice. He placed his hand on Sonia's shoulder and attempted to comfort her.
Sonia closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down.
She noticed that her abdomen was starting to hurt again.
"I want to ask you something, Sonny. Do you hate your father?" Charles asked abruptly.
Sonia looked at him and shook her head. "Of course not."
"But he took you away from the Grays," Charles pointed out. "You're in this awkward predicament now because he took you away from your real parents. Do you really not feel any hatred toward him? After all, he's the one who caused everything that happened to you."
"I never hated him." Sonia bit her lip before declaring in all seriousness, "Dad shouldn't have stolen me from the Grays. He broke the law. Other people might think he's the bad guy and the true culprit behind what happened to me today, but in my eyes, that's not true. He did take me away, but he didn't kill me. He raised me as if I was his own daughter and gave me fatherly love. He taught me to be a kind and righteous person. Titus couldn't have given me any of that. If I had grown up with the Grays, I wouldn't have become the person I am today. I might've become someone like Tina instead."
The Grays were known for spoiling their children.
Sonia continued, "Furthermore, in my eyes, I don't think Dad is the one who caused everything. The real culprit should be Titus, shouldn't it? He was the one who was jealous of Dad and Paradigm. He was the one who hired someone to steal Paradigm's secrets and caused the company employee to take his own life. If Titus hadn't done any of that, then Paradigm wouldn't have gotten into trouble and Dad's reputation wouldn't have been destroyed over his employee's death. He wouldn't have stolen a child from the Grays. Isn't it Titus' fault for pushing Dad to the point where he did such a thing?"
Sonia looked at Charles. "Even though Dad took me away, he didn't kill me. Anyone else who resented Titus that much would have probably either made my life a living hell or killed me to take revenge on Titus, but Dad didn't. He was a kind man. He was so kind that he raised his enemy's daughter and gave her all the love he had to give as a father. That's why I don't hate him. I have no right to hate him."
In fact, if she had a choice, she would rather be Henry's daughter instead of Titus' daughter.
She couldn't accept the possibility that she might have become someone as evil as Tina if the Grays had raised her.
Charles nodded to show that he understood what she meant before asking a different question. "What about the Grays? Do you hate them? They were the ones who lost you and made you end up in this predicament."
Sonia balled her fists. Her eyes were red as she declared, "I hate them! But…"
The cloud of emotions in her eyes cleared up as she cupped her head with her hands. "But… not as much as I used to!"
This was what she couldn't accept the most.
How could her hatred for them dissipate just because they were her biological parents?
She felt guilty toward Henry and the fact that the Reeds were the ones who raised her.
"That's normal." Charles patted her on the shoulder in understanding. "It's strange when you're related to someone by blood. It's almost as if there's an innate connection. When two strangers who are connected by blood run into each other, they'll have a strange sense of affinity with them. Also, children have a natural bond with their parents. It's perfectly normal that your hatred for the Grays decreased when you found out they are your biological parents."
Sonia looked up. "Do you think that's very hypocritical of me? Don't you think I'm betraying the Reeds? And Dad?"
Charles shook his head. "Of course not. I told you. It's an innate connection and it's not your fault. In any case, even though you hate them less now, it doesn't mean you don't hate them at all. You don't have to feel as if you betrayed anyone. Don't overthink this. Furthermore, even though the Grays are despicable, there's a part of them that makes them deserving of your diminished hatred toward them."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Boss, Your Wife's Asking For A Divorce, Again
Same story i read about Jarred and Amber Reed...