Chapter 572 It’s Titus
Upon hearing Nancy’s words, Sonia felt as if the whole world was spinning underneath her while there was buzzing in her head. Then, she facepalmed and staggered on her feet as she nearly collapsed onto the ground.
The moment Toby saw Sonia’s reaction, he quickly stood up and pulled her into his arms so that she could rest on his chest. “Watch out.”
“I’m fine.” Sonia shook her head while answering with a hoarse voice. After all, she didn’t think there was more to her father’s suicide because she had always thought it was due to the devastation from Paradigm Co.’s impending bankruptcy and the betrayal of Jessica and her mother running away with his money. Therefore, when Nancy told Sonia that her father killed himself because Jessica and Sandra had drugged him and coaxed him to take his own life, Sonia struggled to accept the harsh truth. No! How is this possible?!
“Nancy, are you telling me the truth? You aren’t lying, are you?” Sonia freed herself from Toby’s arms and walked closer to Nancy, desperately seizing Nancy’s hands while waiting for an answer. Deep down in her heart, she wished Nancy was merely pulling her leg or telling a lie.
In the meantime, Nancy saw through what was on Sonia’s mind and sympathetically nodded. “I’m sorry, Sonia, but what I just said is the truth. I’m not lying at all. When I first heard this, I was just as shocked as you are right now. At that moment, I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone as evil as Jessica and her mother would ever exist in this world, as if patricide or killing one’s own husband was nothing wrong. However, I wasn’t aware of the relationship between you and Jessica until I learned yesterday that she is your half-sister. It was then that I realized she could be the one who drugged your dad and made him end his life, so I quickly came over to tell you the truth.”
When Sonia heard Nancy’s explanation, she knew that she could no longer fool herself by believing that what she heard was all a lie. Thus, all energy seemed to have been zapped from her and she collapsed onto the couch with dazed eyes on her pale face, feeling as if her body had just turned cold.
“Sonia.” Toby walked closer to her and called out to her in concern.
Sonia responded by looking at him for a few moments before she responded, “Jessica… How could she do that?! Where did she have the guts to drug our father and make him kill himself?! How could she have committed patricide even if Dad had never treated her well?! That was her father!”
Deep down in her heart, she reckoned that their father was never once mean to Jessica. Instead, it was Jessica’s rebelliousness that resulted in Henry often giving her a piece of his mind, but even so, Sonia believed that he still loved Jessica. That was the reason why she couldn’t accept what her half-sister had done.
Then, there was Sandra. Sonia condemned her in her heart and wondered what Henry had done to deserve a horrible death at his own wife and daughter’s hands. Did Dad ever treat both of them unfairly? Nope. Did he ever deny them their pocket money? No! He allowed them to spend as much as they wanted. Even when Paradigm Co. was in trouble, he never deactivated their bank cards, so why would they want to kill him? The more Sonia dwelled on those thoughts, the more she shivered with fear. In the end, she couldn’t suppress her emotions and ended up bursting into tears.
Meanwhile, Toby gently rubbed the back of her head and cuddled her in his arms while he spoke in a deep voice, “Cry all you want because after this, you’re going to avenge your father’s death, so you need to be strong and tough.”
She cried even louder when she heard that, her body stiffening from head to toe. Then, he gently patted her back while gazing at Nancy. “You said Jessica was talking on the phone with the person who supplied her the drug, right? Did you hear who it was?”
As soon as Sonia heard Toby’s question, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. After that, she freed herself from his arms and looked at Nancy too. Nonetheless, Nancy apologetically shook her head and replied, “Nope, Jessica didn’t address the person on the other side of the phone call, but she only mentioned some name that had the word ‘Gray’.”
“Titus Gray,” Sonia replied as she bit her lips.
“What makes you so sure?” Toby looked at Sonia in bewilderment.
A confident Sonia nodded. “The reason why Paradigm Co. landed into trouble six years ago was because Titus had set my father up. Back then, there was a piece of land that my father wanted to acquire, but Titus somehow found out about it. So, he connected my dad to his own friend, who then informed Titus that there was a decent piece of land in Easton City.”
“Easton City?” Toby squinted. “I remember that was where the catacombs were subsequently discovered and exhumed from. Am I right?”
She replied with an affirmative hum. “Yes, Titus was aware that the place had catacombs beneath the ground, which he used to plot against Paradigm Co. and my father. Relying on his faith in Titus’ friend, my father trusted every word that the man said without a question. As a result, he fell into their trap and spent all the Paradigm Co. assets to bid for the land. If that land had been decent indeed, it would have helped to improve the business in Paradigm Co., but sadly, it wasn’t.” She clenched her fists and added in a high-pitched voice, “A month after the exploitation and development of the land had begun, the construction team discovered catacombs beneath the ground, which subsequently drew the attention from the relevant authorities. After an investigation, the artifacts found were deemed to be extremely valuable for archeological studies, so the government decided to seize the land but only compensated Paradigm Co. with ten percent of the initial acquisition price!”
“And since it wasn’t possible to retrieve the rest of the capital, Paradigm Co. was soon doomed into bankruptcy.” Toby continued the story.
Sonia then gulped and nodded. “That was exactly what Titus wanted. Right after the catacombs were discovered, he visited us and gloated at my father while also admitting that it was his plan to set my father up. Besides that, Titus also said he wouldn’t stop until our family fell apart, which would make sense to say that he abetted Jessica and Sandra to drug my father and get him killed!”
“That’s highly possible.” Toby stroked his chin and continued with his speech in a deep voice. “Nevertheless, there is nothing you can do at the moment until you discover evidence that can prove that Titus was the mastermind.”
“What about Jessica?” She gazed at him. “Since she and her mother were the ones who drugged my father, I bet Jessica would know who provided her with the drug, so let’s just capture her.”
“Well, you have a point there, but I’m afraid that Jessica might not even know who she was in touch with. What if the person she was in contact with was merely one of Titus’ men? Because if that was the case, we still can’t testify against him either.” Toby pointed out a theory that didn’t sit right with Sonia.
“I don’t care. I have to try.” Sonia kept her head down and took a deep breath while looking at Nancy. “Nancy, do you know where the Lazuli Family has taken Jessica to?”
“I’ll have to ask Mr. Lazuli first,” Nancy answered shortly before something else crossed her mind. “You’ll probably have to wait until the afternoon, though, because he will likely be having an important meeting with my father at this moment. Thus, I think they won’t be reachable anytime soon.”
“It’s okay. Once you are in touch with Mr. Lazuli, please ask him for me.” A grateful Sonia nodded.
Soon, Nancy excused herself and made a move, which left only Toby and Sonia in the living room. Then, Sonia sat there with her head lowered as she still tried to overcome the emotional devastation. After all, what Nancy had just told her was simply beyond shocking and heartbreaking. Meanwhile, he only sat silently beside Sonia like a guardian angel watching over her.
A few moments later, Sonia wiped her face and said, “Did you know? I actually noticed something wrong with my father six years ago, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.”
“What are you trying to suggest?” Toby asked while passing her a glass of water.
When she took the glass of water, she let out a long sigh before she answered, “A month before my father took his life, he seemed to be so mentally ill that he became forgetful, temperamental and absent-minded.”
