Chapter 513 She’s My Cousin
Emily twirled in front of Zane before resting her hand on top of his shoulder once more. She acted like she didn’t understand his question and asked, “What do you mean, Zane?”
“There’s no need to put on a show at this point, Emily. You and Toby came over to dance beside Sonia and me because you guys wanted to exchange partners during the climax of the song, right?” Zane cast an angry glare at Emily.
She spread her red lips into a smile. “Fine, fine; I guess we didn’t manage to trick you after all. I can’t help it. Toby’s my cousin, so I have to help him to get the girl he likes, right?”
“That may be true, but don’t you think it’s a little too immoral to help him snatch a girl from another guy’s arms?” Zane pushed Emily away as he stopped dancing with her.
She staggered backward before steadying herself. Despite Zane’s harsh treatment, she didn’t seem angry at all—she merely tidied her long hair while speaking with a smile. “I don’t think it’s immoral at all. You’re not dating Sonia, so this is a fair competition. I guess it might be a little unfair for you since you don’t have a helper, but… I’m sure you can tell that Toby and Sonia are in love with each other, Zane. Do you think the partner exchange would have gone so smoothly if they didn’t have feelings for each other?” If Sonia hadn’t been interested in Toby, she wouldn’t have gone along with him even if he dragged her over. She might have even slapped him on the face.
However, Sonia did none of that and allowed Toby to lead the way. This showed that deep down, Sonia wanted to dance with Toby too. Zane quickly realized what Emily meant, and he clenched his fists after he turned to look at Toby and Sonia, who were already dancing. “I know that they’re in love, but…” Zane’s heart was filled with resentment.
“Since they’re in love, why don’t we just support their relationship?” Emily interrupted him with the wave of a hand. “I know you like Sonia, but what’s the use of you being stubborn when she isn’t going to reciprocate your feelings for her? You will end up hurting yourself, and you will still end up seeing Toby and Sonia together. Letting go would be the wisest thing to do here,” Emily advised.
Zane hung his head low. I understand all of that, of course. But I just can’t bring myself to let go of this. Although the public knows me as a playboy, I’ve never truly fallen for anyone. This is the first time I’ve properly fallen in love with a girl—how could I let go when I just caught feelings for someone?
After a moment of silence, Emily stepped forward and held onto Zane’s arms. “We can talk about this later. Let’s continue the dance, Zane; this is the last part of the song.”
“Forget it. I’m not in the mood. You can dance on your own,” he muttered while brushing her hands off. Then, he turned to walk off the dance floor and toward the hall’s exit.
Emily stuck her tongue out as she watched Zane leave. “Oh, dear. I seemed to have broken a young man’s heart. The number of sins I’ve committed just for the sake of you, Toby!” she mumbled to herself while she watched the rest of the couples dancing.
On the other side of the dance floor, Sonia had started regaining her senses after the initial shock of being pulled away by Toby. She tried to extract her hand from Tony’s hand, but his grip felt like a clamp, not allowing her to escape at all. He was holding her hand in a skilled manner—his grip was firm enough that she couldn’t leave, yet it wasn’t hard enough to hurt her.
“Let go of me, Toby!” Sonia hissed as she frowned at him.
He looked at her. “Stop moving around. My body’s still weak, and I only have one functioning arm. If you move around too much, you might bump into my other arm and dislocate it again. What are you going to do then?”
“You’re the one who’s asking for it! Why did you go onto the dance floor when you’re still not well? How do you expect yourself to dance with a sling around your arm?” Sonia shot him an exasperated glare.
His gaze darkened upon her words. “I can’t help it. I just felt like dancing all of a sudden.” He couldn’t bear to see Sonia and Zane dancing together, but he couldn’t charge in to pull them apart as that would ruin his grandmother’s party. So, he had no choice but to go onto the dance floor himself before coming up with a scheme to steal Sonia away from Zane’s arms.
However, Sonia didn’t know any of that. When she heard Toby say he felt a sudden urge to dance, her first thought was of him dancing with Emily. Rage burned inside her and she stared at him unhappily. “If you want to dance, then why did you bring me over? Why don’t you let go of me and dance with your partner, Emily, instead?”
“Are you jealous right now?” Toby raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Sonia looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on—her expression was one of utter shock. A hint of panic appeared in her gaze as she increased her volume to defend herself. “What nonsense are you talking about? Jealous? Why would I be jealous?” I don’t love him, so what’s there to be jealous about? Yeah! That’s right! There’s nothing to be jealous about. Sonia bit her lip and nodded to herself.
Toby smirked when he saw the look on her face. “Sure, sure. You’re not jealous. Regardless, there’s no need for me to go to her,” he uttered.
“Why?” Sonia was puzzled.
Toby remained calm and collected even as he told Sonia a lie. “My beloved cousin wanted to dance with Zane,” he explained.
“Wait. What? Your cousin?” Sonia looked up at Toby in surprise. Did I hear him wrongly? He called her his cousin, right?
Toby nodded. “Yeah. Emily’s my cousin. Her full name is Emily Johann, and her mother is my mother’s cousin. That’s how we’re related.”
Cousin… They’re cousins! Emily’s his cousin, not his love interest. So, I’ve misunderstood the situation all along… Sonia pressed her lips together and lowered her head when she realized what she had done. Her face was beet red, and she felt a mixture of embarrassment and joy as she processed the situation. She didn’t know what she was happy about, but she could feel her entire body relaxing. It felt as if a huge rock had been lifted off her chest—she even felt like she could breathe better.
Love and care spilled out of Toby’s gaze when he saw Sonia smiling to herself. I know that now’s not the right time, but I really wish I could pull her close for a hug. I have to control myself. I just have to wait for a while more, he said to himself.
The song ended after a while, and their dance came to an end. Sonia and Toby came to stand beside each other, and they held hands while they bowed to all the guests who had been standing around them and watching them dance. The guests let out loud cheers for all the dancers. While the crowd was still clapping, Sonia straightened herself and pulled her hand out of Toby’s.
Toby’s eyes glinted with sorrow when he first looked at his empty hand, but he quickly readjusted himself. Right then, Mary helped Rose back into the hall, and they headed directly for the stage. It seemed as if Rose was about to give a speech.
Toby turned to look at Sonia. “I’ll go over since Grandma’s about to give a speech. You can sit and get some rest, or you can get yourself some food,” he suggested.
“Okay,” she replied. After that, Toby parted his long legs and strode in Rose’s direction while Sonia turned to head to the resting area. She hadn’t danced in a long while, so she felt exhausted after the performance. When she got to the couches, she poured herself a glass of juice before she rested on one of the seats and took small sips of her drink.
From her seat, she could see Rose and Toby speaking on the stage. However, her movements froze as she suddenly realized something. Where’s Zane? I don’t think I’ve seen him since Toby brought me away. She hastily put her juice aside before she got up and looked around in search of Zane. However, after looking around the whole place, she couldn’t find him anywhere. A mixture of guilt and shame bubbled up in her chest.
