Chapter 215 An Unexpected Son
"Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, you're finally back."
Martha came to greet them at the gate, a worried expression etched across her face. “Martha, what’s wrong?” Quinley asked suspiciously.
Martha hesitated, her eyes shifting from Quinley to Zachary.
"Mr. Jennings, something terrible has happened."
"What is it?"
Zachary’s expression darkened slightly. The entire way back, he had been pestering Quinley about the gift she mentioned, unable to contain his excitement.
Martha just kept sighing, not knowing where to begin. "You should go inside and see for yourself," she said with her head hung low.
Zachary strode inside with Quinley right behind him.
"Martha, what on earth happened?" Quinley asked again.
Martha didn’t answer. She simply walked inside with her head down.
In the living room, a chubby little boy was crouched on the carpet playing with building blocks. When Zachary entered, the boy looked up and blinked his big eyes at him. Then Quinley came in too. The atmosphere became very strange, with everyone's eyes fixed on the child. He was adorable, with a round, cherubic face.
"Who is he?"
Zachary asked with furrowed brows.
The child seemed frightened. He clutched his blocks tightly, his mouth turning down as he started to cry.
From the kitchen, Elise poked her head out.
"Zach, keep your voice down. You're scaring him."
She came out carrying a freshly made pumpkin pie. "Cheese, you must be starving. Have something to eat."
Quinley's eyes widened as she stood frozen in place.
"Mom, who is this child?"
Elise didn't even look up. She focused on feeding the child, who seemed well-behaved and obedient.
"Martha, what's going on?"
Zachary's suspicious gaze swept toward Martha.
Martha lowered her voice. "This morning I heard the doorbell, so I went to check. This child was standing at the gate crying, calling for his daddy. When I opened the door and asked where his father was, he insisted he was in here and just ran inside. I couldn't get him to leave no matter what."
"Martha, how could you just let a random child in? He must be lost. We should call the police right away—his parents must be worried sick looking for him."
As Quinley spoke, she reached for her phone to call the police.
"No need to call the police."
Elise suddenly stopped her.
"Mom, what are you doing? His parents must be searching everywhere for him. We can't just keep him here."
"I said no police, so no police."
Elise's tone was firm.
Quinley looked at Zachary, who shook his head at her.
"What's going on with Mom?"
Quinley was completely confused.
Zachary let out a soft breath. "She probably just really loves kids."
Quinley watched as Elise patiently cared for the child with a kind smile. "Are you full? If you're still hungry, I'll make you more," Elise said.
The child shook his head. Elise reached out and patted his head. He grabbed his blocks and continued playing while Elise got up and headed toward the kitchen.
Quinley quickly followed her in. "Mom, what's really going on here?"
Elise kept her head down washing dishes. “What do you mean?” she said firmly. “Starting today, this child will stay with me. If you think he’s in the way, I’ll take him back to Lakeside City.”
In the living room, Zachary crouched down.
"Your name is Cheese?"
He picked up a block and tried to talk to the child, but the boy seemed absorbed in his own world, not acknowledging him at all.
Zachary moved closer. "Where do you live? Do you remember?"
The child slowly raised his head, glanced at him, then looked away again.
"Do you remember who your father is?"
As long as the child said a name, Zachary could have Lucas track that person down immediately. But what he never expected was for the child to raise his head again and look at him seriously. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
"My daddy is Zachary Jennings."
In an instant, it felt like a bomb went off in Quinley's ears.
"What did you say?"
She rushed out of the kitchen and ran up to the child.
The child seemed scared. He scrambled up from the floor, dodged around Quinley, and ran straight to the kitchen, throwing himself into Elise's arms.
Quinley was confused, and so was Zachary. She turned to look at him.
"What's going on?"
"How would I know?"
Elise picked up the child and headed to her bedroom, leaving everyone behind.
Quinley chased after her. "Mom, you can't just take him."
The child was crying in fear. Elise held him tightly. "Don't be scared, don't be scared. Our Cheese is such a good boy," she coaxed him gently.
"You frightened him."
Before Quinley could react, Elise went inside her bedroom with the child. By the time Quinley tried to follow, the door was already locked.
Zachary irritably yanked off his tie and paced around with his hands on his hips.
"When this child showed up, did he have anything with him?"
He asked Martha.
Martha thought carefully. "Yes, he was carrying a teddy bear backpack."
"Where's the backpack?"
Martha slapped her forehead. "The backpack is in Mrs. Ginger's room."
If Elise was protecting this child, she must know something. A child suddenly appearing claiming to be Zachary's son—Quinley couldn't accept it. She didn't know why Elise was acting this way, but right now, her mind was a complete mess. She left Zachary behind and hurried back to the bedroom.
She'd been ready to tell Zachary the good news about her pregnancy. But before she could say anything, a son had appeared out of nowhere.
This news came too suddenly—Zachary couldn't accept it either. He told Lucas to investigate, but there wasn't much to find right away. When he returned to the bedroom, Quinley was already lying down with her back to him. He felt irritated, but more than that, frustrated.
“Please believe me,” he said. “There’s something fishy about this. How could I suddenly have a son?”
Zachary wanted to explain, but right now, he didn't know where to begin.
"Let's sleep. I'm tired."
Quinley said flatly.
Zachary lay down beside her. Though she hadn't questioned or raged at him, he could clearly feel her unhappiness.
"Honey, didn't you say you were going to give me a gift tonight? What is it?"
Zachary didn't actually care about the gift anymore, but he wanted to distract Quinley somehow. Without this interruption, Quinley's gift would have made him happy all night. But now...
"It's nothing."
Quinley responded coldly.
"I'm sorry. Today is all my fault. Don't worry—I'll get to the bottom of this."
Quinley said nothing, and Zachary didn't push. They turned off the lights and lay there, neither able to sleep.
Zachary's mind was a tangled mess. Everything had happened so suddenly that he hadn't had time to react. But the darkness gave him a chance to calm down and think.
The child had called him daddy—someone must have taught him to say that. But who? And why had he suddenly shown up at his house? Strangest of all, Elise should be furious, so why was she treating the child like a treasure?
Quinley’s mind was just as chaotic. The child looked to be about five years old.
She couldn't help thinking of someone.