Fell Into His Love Trap (Skylar and Tobias)

"May I go to your room? It's too crowded here for me to speak frankly." Judy rose from the couch and dusted off imaginary dust from her buttocks. She did not feel comfortable sitting on a rich man's couch. Judy had never realized how much she hated the rich until she began complaining bitterly upon her arrival. Lucky Sheldon. His house is like a palace.

She could not understand why Sheldon detested being home. If she were that rich, she would never leave the house.

Tobias did not like strangers in his bedroom, so he took Judy to the study as it would not do for words to spread about him being alone in a room with her. Furthermore, she had come as his brother's guest. Claudia dragged Sheldon to the atrium. Although she was wearing a red dress embroidered with peonies, the expression she wore was not as merry-looking as her outfit.

"Where did you find this girl? I can forgive your usual delinquencies, Sheldon, but how could you bring a woman like that with no manners or etiquette home for Christmas? She wouldn't even greet the elders! Why does she even know your brother?"

"She isn't my girlfriend, Mom! We're just good friends. As for how she knows Tobias, you know Truman, don't you? She's his daughter."

Claudia had a deep impression of the name Truman. He had been Tobias' driver, who died in an accident.

She had never asked further questions about the specifics of the accident because she knew her son would not explain it to her satisfaction.

"What happened to Truman?"

Confronted by Claudia's questioning, Sheldon answered helplessly, "I'm not sure, either. How would I know about Tobias' affairs? I'm merely good friends with Truman's daughter. She's a poor girl. She has no one, so I brought her home for Christmas. It's just a matter of preparing more food, isn't it?"

Claudia had always expressed disdain for Sheldon's relationships, fearing the manifestation of a particular hereditary trait. The free-spiritedness of her son and his irresponsibility toward women was more like his father than she would have liked.

The sound of china shattering sounded behind them. Sheldon and Claudia whipped around simultaneously.

Sheldon turned pale when he saw Allie and chuckled at the recollection that it was the name she had taken on.

Allie had broken the teapot. She panicked and quickly squatted down to pick up the broken pieces. Sheldon merely watched from his great height.

Feeling sorry for Allie, Claudia told her not to use her hands lest she cut herself but to sweep them instead.

There were plenty of servants in the house, and Claudia was not an imposing employer. She treated them well.

Claudia was especially fond of Allie. She thought the girl was mature, sweet, and clever.

Somebody called Claudia, and she left. Allie gazed down at the broken shards nervously.

Aware of the value of the broken teapot, she shuddered to imagine the number of years of labor she would have to provide to pay the debt.

What was even more upsetting was that Sheldon had brought another woman home. It did not even seem that long ago since she had aborted his child that he had brought another woman home so brazenly without consideration for her feelings.

She gave a self-deprecating laugh, musing to herself all she was to him was a girl to warm his bed. Ever since the discovery of her accidental pregnancy, Sheldon had been cold to her without even offering so much as a kind word.

"The doctor said I might never have another baby. What are you planning to do about it?"

Sheldon frowned. "Why are you telling me this? On Christmas, no less! Don't you think it's not a good time? So what if you can't get pregnant? What happened to us was consensual, isn't it? Surely you're not expecting me to take responsibility and marry you because you may not get pregnant?"

Allie bit her lip at the sudden onset of pain. Sheldon's heartlessness disgusted her.