Chapter 639
Rex, who had spent the most time around her recently, instantly caught the profound confusion etched across her face. He quickly shot a pointed look at his mother.
Suzanne had come here with only one desperate thought: seeing Elissa. Now that the girl was walking toward them perfectly safe, she couldn’t contain her overwhelming joy.
Catching Rex’s warning glare, she finally realized how overwhelming this must seem. She quickly reached out her hands toward Elissa. “I heard Laurel and the boys were coming to see you, and since I had some free time, I decided to tag along.”
“Thank you for thinking of me, Suzanne.”
Elissa felt a genuine wave of warmth in her chest. She walked over and sat down beside Suzanne, then looked over at the elders, greeting them with perfect politeness. “Old Mr. Wilkinson. Old Mrs. Wilkinson.”
Hearing those formal titles felt like a knife twisting directly into the grandparents’ hearts.
Old Mr. Wilkinson managed to maintain his composure, but his wife’s eyes instantly filled with tears. She started to lunge forward to pull Elissa into her arms, but Laurel firmly gripped her elbow, dropping her voice to a harsh whisper. “What did you promise before we got in the car?”
“I…”
Old Mrs. Wilkinson looked at Elissa’s pale complexion and forced herself to sit back down.
Originally, Laurel had planned for it to just be her and Suzanne.
But Tristan had been in the room and demanded to come along.
Then, while the household staff was busy packing up the ridiculous amount of gifts, word had leaked to the rest of the family.
And that was how this massive, chaotic entourage had ended up in the Murphys’ living room.
What had Old Mrs. Wilkinson promised before they left?
She had sworn to keep her emotions in check and not overwhelm their long-lost ‘Vera’ with a sudden, shocking confession.
But after decades of mourning, her actual granddaughter was sitting right in front of her. How was she supposed to act like it was just another Tuesday?
Janice had no idea why the older woman was suddenly so emotional, but seeing her calm down, she quickly smoothed over the awkward tension. “Elissa, they didn’t just come to check on you. Look at all the things they brought.”
Elissa followed Janice’s gaze and her jaw practically hit the floor. The entryway console table was entirely buried underneath a mountain of obscenely expensive gift boxes.
Stunned, Elissa turned back to Suzanne. “Suzanne, just you coming to see me makes me so happy. These gifts are way too much, I really can’t…”
She couldn’t accept a small fortune from people she barely knew.
Before she could finish the sentence, Laurel, who was sitting on her other side, patted her hand and laughed easily. “You’ve known us for a while now. Don’t you know how my mom operates? She practically thinks of you as her own daughter. If you make her take all these boxes back, she might actually cry the whole way home.”
Rex blurted out without thinking, “Exactly! We’re practically family, there’s no need to be so polite.”
“Family?”
Elissa blinked in confusion. The moment the question left her mouth, she realized she might have sounded rude.
Fortunately, Rex was completely shameless. “You’ve called me by my first name since we were kids,” he chimed in smoothly. “Doesn’t that make us family?” “…I suppose so.”
Elissa nodded with an accommodating smile. Pushing back any harder would just be disrespectful.
If the room hadn’t been packed with elders, Elissa would have loved to point out that every time she had ever spoken to him in the past ha had acted like it was a massive chore.
In fact, for years, she had genuinely believed Rex absolutely hated her.
Why else would he always look at her like she was a walking plague?
Jesse, catching the faint scent of prescribed herbs in the air, leaned forward, bis eyes full of genuine concern.
“low are you feeling? Di everything go okay last night. With the pregnancy, you really can’t afford to take any risks.”
“I’m doing okay.”
Elissa smiled softly, resting a hand over her lower stomach. “As long as I rest up for
a few days, I’ll be fine.”
Basically, the doctor had told her to avoid exhaustion and stay stress-free.
But with Rowan, Janice, and Mrs. Gable watching her like hawks, overexerting herself was literally impossible.
Hearing this, a collective sigh of relief washed over the Wilkinson family.
First, they were desperate for Elissa to stay healthy. Second, the three Wilkinson siblings were an absolute disappointment in the romance department. All three of them were in their thirties, and none of them had even come close to giving the family a grandchild!
Now, the entire family was pinning all their hopes on the baby growing in Elissa’s stomach.
Of course, their main priority was Elissa’s safety—the baby was just the most incredible bonus.
Old Mr. Wilkinson was so thrilled he slapped his thigh. “That’s wonderful, just wonderful!”
The pure ecstasy on his face was impossible to hide.
“…Thank you,” Elissa nodded politely, though her mind was spinning with confusion.
Every single member of the Wilkinson family was acting incredibly strange today. Especially Rex. He had been acting weird for days!