189 Can You Address Me As, Dad?

Monica’s eyes darted from Ella to Nana Esther and back to Ella. She was rendered speechless by Ella’s weird behavior. Being a nurse for almost two decades, she could tell when a person starts losing their sense and to her, Nana Esther’s grandson’s wife was at the early stage of insanity.

“Young ma’am, I can’t possibly be joking around with my job. Mr. Rex wants you to get his tea, right away.”

Even though Monica was smiling politely while speaking, her tone held a bit of sarcasm and this did not go unnoticed by the attention to detail Nana Esther.

“Monica,” Nana Esther flashed her an angry stare, “what my granddaughter said was a rhetorical statement. I thought you had a mature brain to decipher that. If you don’t have anything else to say, can you get out of my kitchen?”

“Ah! I’m sorry Nana and sorry young...” Nana Esther’s chilly stares and flared nostrils made Monica swallow her remaining statement. She courtesied politely and left the kitchen in a hurry.

“Pumpkin, left hurry up and take Rex his special tea. He must be coughing and will need the tea urgently.”

Nana Esther quickly walked towards the fridge, opened it, and brought out a white transparent bottle, containing a crystal violet substance. She poured some hot water into a teacup and added three spoons full of the crystal violet substance into the steaming tea cup. Then she stirred the mixture, placed the tea cup on a fancy tray, and carried it to a highly mesmerize Ella.

“Here, darling, there is no time to waste. Rex does not like being kept waiting.”

Ella collected the tray from Nana with trembling hands while stating her fears.

.....

“Miatisa, e... everyone i...is t...there! Oh!” Ella stuttered as cold sweat beaded her forehead. Her palms were so sweaty that she feared the tray would slip out of them any second.

“Calm down my baby, like I always tell you, your Nana has got your back.”

Nana Esther gently guided her toward the kitchen door while cheering her on with soothing words.

“I will be by your side the whole time you are inside that room. No one would dare bully or intimidate you in my presence. If you are worried for a second, just look into my eyes or look into your husband, okay?”

“Okay!”

Ella tightened her grip on the tray to prevent it from sliding off her wet palms. As expected, Nana Esther’s words and presence were giving her an unfathomable boldness as the fear inside of her gradually disappeared like a spoon of salt in a bowl of water.

“Do you know that Rex and I always talk about you?” Nana Esther tried to distract Ella from her thoughts.

“Really? What exactly do you discuss about me?”

“This!” Nana Esther quickly touched Ella’s tummy and withdrew her hands almost immediately. “He always prayed for a miracle like this for you and your husband.”

“Wow!”

“Go this way!”

Nana Esther pointed towards the right side of a well-illuminated corridor when Ella was about to mistakingly take the left side.

“Okay!”

Ella could feel her heartbeat thumping erratically as they approached a dead end; which had an immaculate white door.

“We are here!” Nana Esther whispered from behind Ella. “Tap on the door!”

Ella swallowed the saliva in her mouth over and over again until her mouth felt dry. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, before raising her hand to the door.

Knock!

Knock!

Ella held her breath as she waited for a response; which came almost immediately as though they had been waiting forever.

“Come in!” The same voice repeated its instructions with a hint of impatience.

“Go in, my love,” Nana Esther cooed from behind Ella.

“Okay!”

Ella raised a shaky hand to the door nub and twisted it. Then she gradually pushed the door open and cautiously stepped into the room, while Nana Esther shut the door behind her.

Although Nana Esther urged Ella to go forward, she purposely took a seat that was close to the door. She wanted to see how Ella would comport herself in the midst of undying love and fierce hatred.

As Ella walked into the clear view of everyone seated in the room, the first pair of scowling eyes she caught sight of was Marissa.

Ever since Monica left to deliver Rex’s message, Marissa’s eyes had not left the door. She kept staring at it, hoping that something catastrophic would befall whoever was going to come through the door.

The taught of sharing not only the same house but her husband’s sanctuary with her son’s evil wife felt like a million acupuncture needles jabbing at her heart, all at the same time.

The only single strand holding her back from screaming out her displeasure and nagging her husband until her demands were met, was a result of his almost depleted health.

Marissa knew that Rex was in his most volatile state and any unpleasant argument would cause him to fall back into his earlier vegetable state.

All the same, this did not stop Marissa from using her vicious glares to fight her sworn enemy.

Marissa’s glowering stare was a pure definition of the phrase, ‘if looks could kill.’

Due to Marissa’s glares, Ella almost lost her balance; as she didn’t take note of the elevated platform in front of her.

Fortunately, Rex’s soft and soothing tone cautioned her and Ella quickly broke away from Marissa’s vicious glare.

Ella refocused her childish but captivating stare only on Rex as though he was the only one in the room.

Even when Leon itched and made little sounds for Ella to look in his direction, she didn’t break eye contact with Rex. It felt as though Rex had cast a magical spell on his wife as she slowly walked towards him, ignoring every other pair of eyes that were fixated on her.

Leon had never felt his needs skyrocket the way they did, the moment Ella stepped into the room.

From her sky-blue summer outfit which concealed her alluring curves, to her captivating cascading red hair and her heavenly fragrance, Ella was like a fairy princess who had come to grant Rex’s dying wish.

If not for Leon’s family members who were all currently present in the room, he was tempted to swoop Ella off her feet and take her to a place, where the world only revolved around both of them.

“Good evening, Mr. Treshvire,” Ella greeted in her most softest and charming voice. She gently placed the tray before Rex and smiled.

“Good evening, my dear,” Rex reciprocated her warm smile. “You don’t have to address me as Mr. Treshvire anymore. From the moment you said yes to my son, I became your father and you became my daughter. So if it is not too much of a bother, can you address me as, dad?”

Ella nodded her head in reply while beaming with happiness at Rex’s kindness and acceptance.

“Thank you, dad!”

Marissa’s heavy breathing took a dangerous tempo as all the demons within her were screaming to be set loose on Ella.

Ella was within arm’s reach from her and all she wanted to do was badly scratch Ella’s face with her nails. However, her hands were interlocked in Rex’s hand and his grip was firm on her as if he could sense her evil interior motives.

“No! no crying is allowed in my presence.” Rex rebuked calmly.

Ella had been so overwhelmed by Rex’s kindness that she hadn’t noticed that she was already crying. She couldn’t remember the last time she addressed anyone as dad and it felt so good to finally use that word after seven years.

“I’m so sorry, dad!”

Ella quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

historical

“You don’t have to be s...”

Rex was still speaking when Marissa maliciously interrupted him. Her enormous hatred for Ella was eating deeply into her bones and she couldn’t take one more word from Ella.

“You better be sorry, you brainless fool! Are you supposed to bring your dramatic crocodile crying scene into my husband’s...”

“Marissa!” Rex boomed with all his might. “How dare...” He didn’t finish his statement when he suddenly felt breathless. He placed his hand on his chest and started gasping for air.

“Brother!” Maxwell sprang to his feet and ran to Rex’s rescue as Rex started coughing uncontrollably.

“Dad!” Yvonne also sprang to her feet and ran towards her dad while intentionally pushing Ella aside causing her to lose her balance and fall on her butt close to Marissa’s feet

“Yvonne!” Ivory and Leon both sprang to their feet and ran to Ella’s rescue.

However, Marissa who was closest to Ella and had been dying to lay her hands on Ella ever since their path crossed again, took advantage of the whole commotion. She freed her hand from Rex’s grip and pulled Ella forcefully by the hair.

“Do you see what you have done you, evil little witch!”

Marissa raised her hand to strike Ella’s face but froze when Nana Esther’s voice shrieked with so much agony.

“Enough!”