“I know.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. "I just don’t want to see your past brought up. And I really regret this.”
“Regret what?” She looked up at him in confusion.
Toby rubbed his forehead against hers. “For being absent in your life when you needed me. If I showed up when you told me that Jessica and her mother abused you in your letters, none of this would have happened.”
Even Tina wouldn't have showed up. We would have gotten together, gotten married, and have children now.
Toby was blaming himself. Seeing this, Sonia held his face in her hands and pinched him. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault. You had to stay in the hospital because of your heart condition. You can’t go around anywhere you like, so don’t beat yourself up. Besides, that only lasted a short time. Once my dad found out, they stopped doing it, so my childhood can still be considered a happy one.”
Toby pulled her hands off his face. “I still think I missed out on a lot.” Sonia smiled. “If you think so, then you’ll have to be even nicer to me.”
“I will.” Toby’s eyes lit up, then he pulled her closer and hugged her as tight as he could, as if he wanted to meld her into him.
Sonia felt uncomfortable, but she knew how he was feeling, so she didn’t stop him. It’ll just be for a bit.
Toby was reminded of something, so he loosened his hug and looked at her. “Oh, right. Do you know where Sandra is?”
Sonia arched her eyebrow. “Sandra?”
“Yes.’
Sonia pouted. “I thought about that when Jessica first came back to Seafield. I wondered why Sandra wasn’t with her. She was also alone when I saw her in Kosovo last time. Sandra is probably dead, I guess.”
“No, she is not.” Toby shook his head.
Sonia was surprised. “She’s not?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
Sonia sneered. “She’s a survivor, huh? She got cancer six years ago, so she must be in an even worse condition now. I thought she was dead, but turns out she’s still alive, huh”
“She’s in prison,” Toby said calmly, but it was a bombshell for her.
“What?” Sonia paused for a moment, then she stood up straight. “Jailed?
Why?”
Is it because she poisoned Dad? No. She did it when she was in Seafield. The foreign police wouldn't care about this. Besides, Jessica was her accomplice. If she was jailed because of this, there’s no way Jessica can go free.
“Involuntary manslaughter.” Toby straightened out Sonia’s hair and answered, “She and Jessica left for Mesania after their stint in Seafield, and they became Mesanians. They spent two years lavishly with the money they swindled from Paradigm Co., but since they had no income, the money dried up. Jessica and her mother aren’t the kind to want to work, so they...”
“So you’re saying they whored themselves out.” Sonia finished the sentence, but she was disgusted.
Toby nodded. “More or less. They went to nightclubs and tried to hook up with rich guys so they wouldn’t have to worry about money. Jessica’s young, so a lot of people want her, and eventually, she hooked up with a rich kid. Sandra might be older, but she still has her charm, and there’s a market for that. An old guy decided to be her sugar daddy. He liked her a lot and spent a lot of time with her. He was even going to divorce his wife for Sandra too.”
“Hold up.” Sonia raised her hand to stop him, then she gulped. This is going to be a bold guess. “Did the wife find out about the affair and went to argue? Was that the person Sandra killed?”
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