Upon hearing the man's words, Sonia nodded in understanding. "Good to hear that. No matter what, you still have us by your side. None of us will treat you as a substitute for anyone, so don't think too much about it. Got it?" she said while staring at him.
Toby felt a warm feeling in his heart at the sight of the woman's serious expression. Caressing her tender cheek, he replied softly, "Yeah, I got it."
Sonia put her hand on the back of the hand that Toby caressed her cheek with. She asked, "That's good. Are you still sad and upset, then?"
Toby shook his head. "No, I'm not sad or upset anymore, because you said you’re staying by my side." He was only upset, anguished, and furious when he first learned that his mother had raised him to be Connor's substitute. After all, it was his own mother who had done so to him.
However, after his anger cooled, he gradually calmed down. He began to realize that even though his mother had treated him as a substitute, she had passed away for nearly 20 years, and he didn't have to bother about a person who had passed away for a long time.
Still, as he was unable to vent his anger on her, he could only take all his anger and humiliation out on Connor. It didn't matter whether or not Connor knew he was a substitute for the former. Even if Connor was aware of it, he wouldn’t let Connor off. Somebody had to bear the responsibility for the wrong that had been committed. Since his mother had passed away, it was only natural that Connor should be the person who bore the responsibility.
After he figured this out, his anger subsided a lot, and the violent rage within him gradually disappeared. Even if he didn't figure it out, he wouldn’t keep being angry all the time. Instead, he would quickly compose his emotions. He couldn't let Sonia worry about him all the time, for his anger would scare her and make her feel uneasy. Moreover, she had been comforting him all this while, so he couldn’t let her concerns and words of comfort come to naught. At the thought of this, he caressed her cheek even gentler, and his hand lingered on her face, as if to trace its outline.
Sonia's cheek itched somewhat as Toby caressed her, so she grabbed his wrist and took his hand off her face right away. "Well, since you're alright, let's eat first. It's well past noon now, and I'm hungry. You must be hungry as well, aren't you?"
Toby didn't answer her whether he was hungry or not. Hearing that Sonia was hungry, he took her hand and hurried to the kitchen. "Let me fix you something to eat."
Seeing him in such a hurry, Sonia stopped him with a look of amusement. "Wait a minute."
Toby stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. "What's wrong?"
"You don't have to cook. I’ve already made lunch." Sonia tugged at her apron.
Only then did Toby notice that Sonia was wearing an apron. His attention had been focused on her face since he opened the door and saw her just now, so he really didn't notice the apron she was wearing.
Sonia put down the apron. "I made a lot of your favorite dishes, so eat more later. I made them specially for you."
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