Jean had never imagined Toby would favor Sonia over her. She couldn’t believe that if it came down to it, she would lose to Sonia.
The revelation struck her like a bolt of lightning. In a daze, she plopped down on the couch with a hollow look in her glistening eyes.
Toby’s gaze darkened at the sight of this. He waved his hand mutely to have Tom wheel him upstairs, and the latter hurried to do as told.
It didn’t take long for the both of them to arrive in the upstairs hallway. Tom opened Toby’s bedroom door and wheeled him in, saying, “Aren’t you worried that you might have hurt Madam White’s feelings with what you told her?”
Toby parted his lips and pointed out impassively, “Some things just can’t be avoided. It’s for the best if I let her know how much Sonia means to me; otherwise,
she would never dial back on her unjust hostility and continue to mess with Sonia.”
“That’s true,” Tom agreed, nodding.
Presently, Toby took out the Ocean’s Heart from his pocket. “I’m going to need some cleansing solution.” The necklace had been worn by Jean, and he hated to give it back to Sonia without first cleaning it thoroughly.
“Right away,” Tom said solemnly, instantly catching on to what Toby intended to do. As such, he headed out the door to get the cleansing solution ready.
Owing to Jean’s vast jewelry collection, the staff at the Fuller Residence practically stock-piled bottles of jewelryspecific cleansing solutions. Tom needed to only ask one of the servants to get a large cup of it, which he immediately brought up to Toby’s room.
Toby had him place the cleansing solution on the desk, and when that was done, he dunked the Ocean’s Heart into the liquid. It took only seconds for the solution to turn murky, and Toby used a long glass rod to gently stir the Ocean’s Heart while it soaked in the solution, giving it a thorough cleansing.
Tom, on the other hand, stood to one side with a towel in hand as he watched the cleaning process.
It was only after the solution had turned clear once more that he walked up to Toby with the towel. “Here you go, President Fuller.”
Toby took the towel and placed it on the desk; then, using a pair of tongs, he retrieved the Ocean’s Heart from the cup of solution and laid it on the towel.
Now that the Ocean’s Heart was clean, it sparkled like it was new. In particular, the diamond that formed the centerpiece dazzled under the lights, emitting breathtaking rainbow hues.
Toby took the towel and gently wiped the remaining solution off the Ocean’s Heart, then patted it completely dry. As he did so, he said to Tom, “Go into my wardrobe and bring me a jewelry box.”
Following this, Tom went into the wardrobe and soon returned with an intricate jewelry box.
Having painstakingly dabbed every last droplet of the solution off the Ocean’s Heart, Toby carefully placed it into the box. “You’re dismissed.”
“Yes, sir,” Tom replied, then nodded once respectfully before walking out the door.
Now that Toby was alone in the room, he picked up his phone and gave Sonia a call. It took only seconds for her to answer, and she asked on the other line, “Is there a reason why you’re calling me at this late hour?”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” He pressed the phone to his ear and asked lightly, not answering her question.
Sonia was working away on her laptop, but when she heard what he said, she stretched her neck to loosen the stiffness that was setting in and gave a short laugh. “No, you didn’t. I’m not asleep yet, so I don’t think it’s a bad time.”
“Good,” Toby said slowly, toying with the jewelry box in his hand. Then, he asked, “You know you didn’t have to give the Ocean’s Heart back to me.”
She froze at this, then frowned and pointed out, “Are you bringing this up because you just got to know about it?”
He hummed in response. “Yeah.”
“No way,” she mumbled, her brows drawing closer together. “I passed the Ocean’s Heart to Jean after you were hospitalized so that she could return it to you on my behalf. How did you—” At the mention of this, she broke off and was suddenly reminded of how greedy Jean could be. Looking sullen, she asked, “Did Jean take the Ocean’s Heart for herself instead of handing it over to you?”
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