Chapter 145 What Is Given
Chapter 145 What Is Given
For a while after that, nobody rushed the conversation.
That was the strange beauty of real family meetings.
The important moment happened quietly.
then life continued around it.
Tea was poured again.
Mrs. Chen insisted everyone eat before the food got cold.
Aunt Lydia kept pretending not to stare at Richard’s watch.
Leo somehow convinced Catherine to hold a toy dinosaur during serious adult discussion “for emotional support.”
And slowly, the room loosened.
Not completely.
But enough.
Elena sat beside Alexander on the longer couch while conversation drifted between the older adults.
Her shoulder brushed his occasionally.
Small contact.
Steadying.
Marcus leaned back in his chair listening while Richard spoke about the company for the first time that evening.
Not bragging.
Not performing success.
Just answering questions honestly.
“We’re restructuring some international divisions,” Richard said calmly. “Victoria handles most of the operational side now.”
Victoria, sitting nearby, didn’t even look up from her tea.
“That sounds much more glamorous than the reality.”
“What’s the reality?” Aunt Miriam asked politely.
“Meetings,” Victoria replied flatly. “Endless meetings with people who could’ve sent emails.”
Alexander muttered, “She’s becoming sentimental in her old age.”
Victoria looked at him with immediate suspicion.
“Careful.”
Mrs. Chen smiled softly watching them.
“You two are close now.”
The sentence settled gently into the room.
Because once—
they hadn’t been.
Elena remembered those early months vividly.
The distance.
The tension.
Alexander carrying years of anger like armor.
Victoria hiding hurt behind professionalism sharp enough to cut through walls.
And Richard—
God.
Richard had barely known how to sit in the same room with his own children without turning everything into business.
Now Victoria rolled her eyes at Alexander over tea while Catherine argued with Leo about whether dinosaurs deserved birthday parties.
People changed slowly.
But they did change.
Marcus noticed it too.
Elena could tell.
He studied the Thorne family carefully throughout the evening.
Not dazzled by wealth.
Not impressed by polished manners.
Watching for something else.
Character.
Mrs. Chen suddenly stood from her chair.
“I forgot the second tray in the kitchen.”
“I’ll help,” Elena said immediately.
Mrs. Chen gave her a look that clearly meant good.
The kitchen felt warmer than the living room.
Steam rising from the pots.
Plates stacked beside the sink.
The familiar scent of ginger and garlic lingering in the air.
Mrs. Chen handed Elena more bowls quietly before speaking.
“He loves you very much.”
Straight to the point.
Classic Mrs. Chen.
Elena focused carefully on arranging spoons.
“I know.”
“You doubted it before.”
That made Elena pause.
Because it was true.
Mrs. Chen continued gently:
“You spent so long surviving alone that being loved properly still surprises you.”
Elena leaned against the counter slightly.
The kitchen noise softened around them.
“I think part of me kept waiting for things to disappear,” she admitted quietly.
Mrs. Chen nodded like she already knew that too.
“When Leo was born,” she said softly, “you looked terrified every day.”
Elena laughed faintly under her breath.
“I was terrified every day.”
“You still went to work.” Mrs. Chen rinsed another plate carefully. “Still came home. Still fed him before yourself.”
The memory hit sharply.
Cold mornings.
Bus rides.
Bills stacked on the table.
Holding Leo against her chest at night while wondering how long exhaustion could physically last.
Mrs. Chen glanced toward the living room doorway.
“Now look at him.”
Elena looked too.
Leo sat across Catherine’s lap explaining dinosaur migration again while Richard listened with visible confusion and absolute patience.
Alexander sat beside Victoria looking more relaxed than he used to.
Like life no longer felt like something constantly bracing for impact.
Home.
The word settled quietly inside her chest.
Mrs. Chen touched her arm lightly.
“You built this,” she said softly.
Elena swallowed once.
Because no one had ever really said that to her before.
Not clearly.
Not kindly.
\---
When they returned to the living room, the conversation had shifted again.
Now toward practical wedding discussions.
Which apparently meant chaos.
“I think smaller is better,” Elena was saying carefully.
Aunt Lydia immediately gasped like personally betrayed.
“Small?”
Victoria muttered into her tea, “Here we go.”
Catherine smiled faintly.
“Elena means intimate.”
“She means less expensive,” Aunt Lydia corrected.
Richard finally spoke.
“The wedding cost is not Elena’s concern.”
Marcus looked mildly alarmed already.
“No need for anything extravagant.”
Alexander leaned forward slightly.
“We’re not planning a circus.”
“That’s disappointing,” Leo announced.
Nobody knew when he started eating a second dessert.
Catherine glanced down at him.
“You wanted dinosaurs at the wedding.”
“That still feels achievable.”
Elena pressed her fingers briefly against her forehead.
“Why are you like this?”
“Creative vision.”
Alexander muttered, “Definitely your child.”
The room laughed softly again.
Then Marcus looked toward Elena quietly.
“What do you want?”
That silenced things properly.
Not awkwardly.
Just honestly.
Elena blinked once.
Because nobody asked her that enough growing up.
Not really.
What do you want?
Not what’s practical.
Not what’s expected.
Not what people can afford.
Just—
what do you want?
Elena looked down briefly at her hands.
Then at Alexander beside her.
He didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t answer for her.
Just waited.
Finally she said quietly:
“I want it to feel real.”
No giant performance.
No dramatic ballroom.
No magazine-perfect fantasy.
Just real.
Alexander’s expression softened immediately.
Catherine smiled first.
Then Richard.
Even Marcus looked relieved somehow.
“That,” Catherine said gently, “sounds reasonable.”
Victoria nodded once.
“Good. Because giant weddings are logistical nightmares.”
Aunt Lydia still looked personally disappointed by the lack of royal spectacle.
Mrs. Chen reached over and patted Elena’s knee lightly.
“Real lasts longer anyway.”
That settled something in the room.
Not just about the wedding.
About all of it.
Dinner stretched late into the evening after that.
Stories surfaced gradually.
Catherine embarrassing Alexander with childhood memories.
Victoria correcting details ruthlessly.
Marcus actually laughing once when Leo declared Richard “looks like a principal.”
Richard accepted the insult with remarkable dignity.
By the time plates emptied and tea cooled again, the atmosphere had changed completely.
Not strangers anymore.
Not formal visitors.
Families. Messy. Different. Trying. Real.
Eventually the evening began winding down naturally.
Coats gathered.
Containers packed with leftover food despite Catherine insisting they had staff at home.
Mrs. Chen hugged Elena tightly before she left.
“Don’t disappear after marriage,” she warned.
“I’m not moving countries.”
“Still.”
Elena smiled softly. “I won’t.”
At the doorway, Marcus stopped Alexander quietly before everyone fully stepped outside.
Not hostile.
Not dramatic.
Just private enough to matter.
Elena noticed immediately from across the room.
So did Catherine.
Neither interrupted.
Marcus looked at Alexander for a long moment before speaking.
“You already know she’s stubborn.”
Alexander nodded immediately. “Very.”
“That wasn’t criticism.”
“I know.”
Marcus folded his arms slowly.
“She acts strong even when she’s exhausted.”
Alexander’s expression shifted faintly.
Because he knew that too.
Marcus continued carefully:
“She won’t ask for help quickly.”
“No,” Alexander agreed softly.
A pause lingered.
Then Marcus finally said the thing sitting underneath everything else.
“She carried too much alone already.”
Not accusation.
Not warning.
Just truth handed carefully from one man to another.
Alexander answered quietly:
“She won’t carry it alone again.”
That hit Marcus harder than he expected.
You could see it briefly in his face.
Then he nodded once.
Small. Real. Enough.
And somehow—
that felt more meaningful than dramatic approval ever would have.