An hour later, the car stopped at the entrance of the residential complex. Sonia Quincy took a deep breath and forced a somewhat stiff smile as she got out of the car.
"Brother!"
"Felix!"
Mrs. Preston and Lynn Preston saw Felix Preston get out of the car and came forward together to greet him.
"Mom, Lynn," Felix Preston said with a gentle smile, his gaze then shifting to Sonia Quincy, who was on the other side.
Only then did Mrs. Preston and Lynn Preston realize Sonia Quincy had come along. The mother-daughter duo froze, the surprise and wariness in their eyes unconcealed.
Sonia Quincy met their gazes and instantly understood that Felix Preston hadn't told them she would be coming back as well.
A strange feeling surfaced within her, but she quickly pushed it down.
Carrying the gift she'd bought the day before, she walked over with Felix Preston and took the initiative to greet them.
"Mom, Lynn."
Mom…
Hearing her use that word, Mrs. Preston froze. 'Sonia Quincy is actually calling me Mom?!' she thought. 'Has hell frozen over?'
Ever since Sonia Quincy married Felix Preston, she had never called her 'Mom'… No, wait, she had, once. Just once, when she received the traditional gift money for doing so.
After that single utterance, Sonia Quincy had either addressed her distantly as "Mrs. Preston" or insulted her by calling her an "old widow" or an "old hag."
For Sonia Quincy to call her "Mom" so respectfully, with no apparent ulterior motive, was a first.
Mrs. Preston was so shocked she forgot to respond.
Sonia Quincy knew why Mrs. Preston was reacting this way, but she asked anyway, "Mom, is something wrong?"
"…Huh?" Mrs. Preston snapped out of it and looked up into Sonia Quincy's clear eyes. She shook her head. "Nothing, it's nothing…"
Sonia Quincy smiled and held the gift out to Mrs. Preston. "Mom, this is a gift Felix and I bought for you and Lynn. It's nothing extravagant, but please accept it."
Still in a daze, Mrs. Preston nudged Lynn Preston beside her. "Lynn, hurry and take the gift from your sister-in-law."
Lynn Preston didn't move. Instead, she sneered. "Sonia Quincy, what scheme are you pulling now? Didn't you say you were getting an abortion and divorcing my brother? So what are you doing here?"
"…" Saddled with the role of the villainess, Sonia Quincy had no standing to refute such accusations.
She pursed her lips and drew a frustrated breath. Just as she opened her mouth to try and explain, she saw Mrs. Preston give Lynn Preston's arm a sharp tug.
"Lynn, we're still outside. Don't run your mouth. Now take what your sister-in-law is offering."
"'Sister-in-law?' Has she ever acted like one? What kind of sister-in-law behaves the way she does… She's just a bad person!"
Lynn Preston had a fiery temper. Unlike her mother, she wasn't concerned with keeping up appearances. She was blunt—if she was unhappy, she'd let you have it on the spot, no matter the time or place.
"Sonia Quincy, our family has already hit rock bottom, so if you're plotting something, just spit it out. Don't put on this phony, sentimental act for me. After all, you said it yourself—the Preston Family is just a sinking ship now, and being around us is beneath you!"
"…I'm sorry."
Lynn Preston had hurled a torrent of ugly words at her, but Sonia Quincy's only response was a simple apology. She didn't plant her hands on her hips for a vicious screaming match with Lynn, as she usually would, nor did she show the slightest hint of resentment or frustration.
Her head was bowed, her expression solemn, and her "I'm sorry" sounded completely sincere.
"…What new game is this?" Lynn Preston was completely thrown. "What happened? Dropped the raging shrew act to play the poor, pitiful damsel now?"
"Lynn!"
Felix Preston finally spoke up to stop her. He had been observing Sonia Quincy's reactions from the moment she stepped out of the car. And just like the past few days, he couldn't find a single flaw in her performance.
Her reactions, her gaze, her expression—everything was natural. It was as if she were genuinely repentant.
"Your sister-in-law has changed. You don't need to be at odds with her anymore." Even as he spoke, Felix Preston's gaze remained fixed on Sonia Quincy from the corner of his eye.
Sonia Quincy nodded, taking his cue. "He's right. I was the one who was wrong before. From now on, I'm going to fix all my terrible habits. I'm not going to divorce Felix, and I'm not going to abort this child. I'm going to give birth to him and raise him right, together with Felix."
"…"
Mrs. Preston and Lynn Preston were both struck dumb.
'What did Sonia Quincy just say? Can words like that really come out of her mouth?'
The mother and daughter were in complete disbelief.
Mrs. Preston's eyes widened in disbelief. It took her a moment before she managed to ask in a trembling voice, "Are… are you telling the truth? You're not divorcing Felix, and you're not aborting the baby?"
"It's true." Sonia Quincy looked Mrs. Preston straight in the eye, her gaze filled with sincerity. "This child is our family's only hope during this difficult time. Of course I'm going to have this baby."
"…Sonia Quincy, have you lost your mind?" Having fought with Sonia for months, Lynn Preston's first reaction to hearing these words was that she must have taken the wrong medication and fried her brain.
"Lynn!" Mrs. Preston touched Lynn's arm and shot her a stern look. "Don't speak to your sister-in-law that way."
"Mom…" Lynn was baffled and utterly floored.
Mrs. Preston paid her no further mind. Composing her expression, she stepped forward and took the bags from Sonia Quincy's hands herself. "Sonia Quincy, thank you. Thank you for being willing to have this child. Let's go home. I've made you all a nice meal."
Sonia Quincy smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Mom."
Felix Preston, who had been watching Sonia Quincy this whole time, was the first to move. "Let's go," he said.
Mrs. Preston's apartment was located in the complex's central courtyard, just a three-minute walk from the main gate to the entrance of her building.
The four of them rode the elevator up. The moment they were through the door, Sonia Quincy made a beeline for the restroom.
She had been so nervous about meeting Mrs. Preston all morning that she'd forgotten to use the restroom before leaving and had been holding it in the whole ride over.
SLAM!
When they heard the bathroom door shut, Mrs. Preston and Lynn Preston both turned questioning looks on Felix Preston.
Felix Preston glanced toward the bathroom and shook his head. "She… just suddenly changed. I don't know why."
"She's not plotting something, is she?" Lynn Preston lowered her voice. "When our family was well-off, she refused to live peacefully with you, but now that we've fallen on hard times, she has a sudden change of heart? It doesn't make any sense. She has to be faking it."
Felix Preston's handsome brow furrowed slightly, a cryptic smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "At first, I suspected she was putting on an act, too. But after observing her these past few days, I haven't been able to find a single flaw. She's never been good at deception. If this were all an act, I doubt she could pull it off so flawlessly."
"No flaws? So she's actually, truly sorry?" Lynn Preston glanced toward the bathroom, not even believing the words as she said them.
Felix Preston shook his head again. "I don't know. I can't read her."
"I don't care if it's an act or not," Mrs. Preston interjected. "As long as she's willing to give birth to a Preston heir, I'll be grateful." She didn't want to get caught up in the details. For her, Sonia Quincy's willingness to keep the baby was a blessing she would thank the heavens for.
Felix Preston hummed in acknowledgment, then went to the kitchen to wash his hands and started helping to bring out the food.
Sonia Quincy emerged from the restroom just as it was time to eat. Knowing the Preston family still didn't trust her, she kept quiet during the meal, focusing only on her food.
"Try some of this beef. I went to the market to get it first thing this morning; it's very fresh."
Even though Sonia Quincy had always looked down on her cooking, Mrs. Preston took the initiative to place a piece of beef in her bowl. Sonia had said she would change, and while Mrs. Preston didn't know if she could believe her, for the baby's sake, she was willing to give her another chance.