Chapter 2195

"If you've got the guts, grab those little gift boxes of yours and come with me." Marilyn strolled up to the gates. With a flick of her hand, the tightly shut red gates began to creak open slowly. She turned back to Adam with a look half challenge, half amusement. "You coming?" Without hesitation, he replied, "Give me a sec." He first bent down to check on Flynn, making sure he was merely asleep, then locked the car and began unloading the items from the trunk. Flynn was definitely not allowed inside Wynthorpe Manor, so whatever was going in, Adam would have to carry himself. Facing the stack of gift boxes, now piled nearly waist-high, he undid the button of his suit jacket, preparing to lift them. On the other side, Marilyn clicked her tongue in mild annoyance. Behind her, her seven crimson fox tails swept through the air. With a flick of fiery supernatural energy, a few strands of her fur shimmered in the wind, gathering midair into a cluster of miniature red foxes. Adam watched as the tiny foxes lined up in neat rows, leaping onto the boxes, two to a box, effortlessly lifting and carrying them through the gates. In no time, the entire load had been divided among the miniature foxes. Adam, now empty-handed and free, simply followed behind them, walking with Marilyn through the slowly opening gates into Wynthorpe Manor that sprawled across half a mountainside. … Elsewhere, inside the manor, the mother-and-daughter duo finally laid everything bare. They now sat side by side in a somewhat awkward silence. The matter of Vlad's lurking malice could wait. Though years of estrangement had been cleared away, rekindling intimacy after so long was no easy feat. That earlier moment, when Thalia had thrown herself into Louise's arms and called her mother with tearful desperation—that had been part strategy, part surrender. Thalia, after all, was now a mother of two. It didn't feel quite right to nuzzle and cling to her mother like a child anymore. She couldn't bring herself to act overly affectionate, but it was obvious that something in her had softened. Her tone with Louise, at the very least, carried a comfort and ease that hadn't been there before. After clearing the air, Thalia quickly remembered that Adam was still waiting outside the manor. Instead of getting up to leave, she scooted a little closer to Louise. Tilting her head slightly, she asked, "Since we've come to this, don't you think it's time to meet your son-in-law? He happens to be right outside, actually." Louise had just been quietly taking in the warmth and closeness of her daughter, but the moment the words "son-in-law" dropped, her expression hardened instantly. She turned her head slightly, clearly disinterested. "Another day." Though she had once loved a man herself, she didn't feel particularly inclined to like this human who had "taken" her daughter. The manor wasn't a place for humans to enter, either. Hearing that tone, unmistakably unwelcoming, Thalia panicked a little. She clutched Louise's arm and protested, "Another day? He's right outside! And he made it his goal to come here with me!" Louise glanced down at the arm Thalia was clinging to but said nothing. The latter immediately tightened her hold, her voice turning soft and playfully wheedling. "Father was a human, too! How can you still look down on his kind? He's my man—the father of your grandchildren! And you've never even met him once all these years!" Louise shot her a sidelong glance, but seeing how pitiful and clingy she looked, she stayed unmoved. "As you said, I've gone many years without meeting him. Why bother doing it now? No, I'm not meeting him today." Thalia instinctively wanted to reason with her, but just then, a memory of her father flickered through her mind. She paused, swallowed her frustration, and hugged Louise tighter, her voice softening to a deliberate sweetness. "Mother, please…" Louise stayed silent. Sensing she was getting somewhere, Thalia instantly wrapped herself around her like a clingy vine, her voice turning syrupy sweet as she coaxed, stringing together one soft, drawn-out "Mother…" after another. Just as Louise was about to give in, the door suddenly swung open with a whoosh. Two distinct presences flooded into the room. One belonged to Marilyn, lively and unmistakable. The other, human, steady, and uninvited, was clearly Adam's. The former's cheerful voice echoed through the room. "Louise! Look who I brought you!"