Madam Escaped Again, Sir (Lillian Hawkins and Eric Walker) novel Chapter 458

After having fed Toby a mouthful of chowder, Sonia placed the spoon aside and asked expectantly, “What do you think?”

“It’s delicious,” he said after he swallowed the chowder to give her a reassuring nod.

She broke into a smile. “Good. I’m glad.” Glad that all the stock-brewing, the dicing, the simmering and the stirring are all worth this moment of praise, she thought. Then, she brought another spoonful of chowder to his lips and prompted, “Here, have some more.

And just like that, the both of them fell into a rhythm and before they knew it, the bowl was practically polished clean.

Sonia rose from her seat and asked, “Would you like another bowl?”

Toby shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m full.”

“Already?” She glanced at the empty bowl in her hand and frowned slightly. “You barely ate, though!” More importantly, the bowl she used was a small one and there couldn’t have been much chowder in it to fill him up so quickly, not while he was a man with a six-foot-three build.

“I’m actually full,” he insisted calmly as he took the mouthwash the caretaker had given him. “They gave me another bottle of IV after you left in the afternoon.

Apparently, the fluid contains some substance that makes one feel a little bloated.”

“Oh, okay.” Sonia nodded at this new information. “Well then, I won’t try to force-feed you. I’ll keep the rest of the chowder in the fridge, so maybe you can get the caretaker to heat it up for you for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Toby replied.

She brought the flask into the kitchenette of the suite and returned to the room after she had kept everything in place.

Upon seeing that he was the only one in the room, she glanced around and asked, “Where’s the caretaker?”

“I let her off her shift,” he explained with a book in his good hand.

As she walked over to his bed, she pressed, “What are you going to do at night if you let her off early like this?”

“My legs are completely fine and I’m perfectly capable of being on my own for the night,” he said matter-of-factly as he looked up at her.

Now that she saw his point, Sonia nodded. After dusting off her hands, she began to make her way to where she had left her purse.

At the sight of this, Toby’s gaze darkened. “Are you leaving?”

“I should be. I mean, it’s already 9:00PM,” she pointed out as she took her purse and checked her belongings.

He cast aside the book in his hand and asked, “Would you mind staying here for a while longer?”

“Why?” She cast him a bewildered look.

“I figured we could talk for a bit. A friendly chat.” He steadily met her gaze. “Please?”

She glanced at the time and after a moment of hesitation, she relented. Nodding in agreement, she said, “Very well, but I must leave at 10:00PM. I need to get some sleep before my trip to the countryside tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.” A satisfied smile pulled on Toby’s lips.

Sonia placed her purse down and took her seat once more next to the bed. He had asked that she stay for a chat, but in all honesty, it was more of a crash course on business management than a casual conversation.

The whole time, he spared not one second on pleasantries as he divulged business management tips to her and taught her the best way to navigate the tough commercial world. He even touched on the ideal direction that Paradigm Co. should take in terms of corporate growth and the various industries that the company should invest in.

Initially, he had wanted to coach her on these things over the course of a hopefully developing friendship, but following the drastic shortening of his lifespan, he now only had three good years, during which his body would slowly wear out just to keep him alive.

At this point, Toby no longer had enough time to be her mentor and guide her through life in the industry. He had to teach her everything he knew before his body started to give out.

The business world was cruel; it would mercilessly chew and spit Sonia out as every one of its nooks and crevices was marked with scheme. She was still green, so there was no way she could understand how dark and twisted the industry could be.

If he could continue living, she would never have to discover how terrifying the industry was. He would have shielded her from all of it and kept her rose-colored glasses intact even if the industry rained bullets on it.

Alas, the chances of him staying alive after three years were too slim for there to be room for hope. He was destined to wither away and leave her unprotected, but he would do whatever he could to make her stronger. Going forward, she would be on her own as she tried to survive the industry.

Meanwhile, Sonia was admittedly taken aback by Toby’s sudden coaching. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was urgently trying to make her absorb all his pointers, like he was leaving her with them.