Rules of Engagement novel Chapter 242

The four eyes of Blanche and Johnson were red. It was obvious that they had been worried for the whole night and hadn't slept well. Seeing Soren, Blanche grabbed his hand and asked, "Ren, how is Elsa now?"

"She just fell asleep again and is resting now. Dad, Mom, please have a seat." Soren asked Blanche and Johnson to sit down.

The old couple were not in the mood to sit down. They asked anxiously, "What happened? Who are Elsa's biological parents?"

Soren had generally told them about the matter yesterday. Blanche and Johnson knew that it was meaningless to hide the truth, so they asked directly.

Soren told the story again in a low voice, and then said, "Mr. Jason and his wife said firmly that Elsa was the child of Mr. Jason and a woman called Jenna Zeng. At that time, Elsa fainted when she heard this."

Blanche and Johnson looked at each other, and their faces were pale. They murmured, "Jenna Zeng? Jenna Zeng? Are you sure it's Jenna Zeng? It turned out that Elsa was the child of Jenna and Mr. Jason? What a coincidence? !"

"Yes, I'm sure." Both Blanche and Johnson were shocked when they heard the name of Jenna Zeng, as Elsa was. Soren knew that there might be something hidden, so he asked, "What happened? Father and Mother? What's wrong with this Jenna?"

With a long sigh, Blanche calmed down and began to describe it lightly.

"I believe that you and Elsa have already known the fact how Ada and I met Elsa. Yesterday on the phone, you told me very clearly that Elsa was indeed picked up by me and Elsa's father. At that time, Ada also wanted to adopt her. We even had a quarrel about who could have Elsa. After Ada took her home, Elsa's father and I were very disappointed. When we knew that Ada couldn't take Elsa home for some unknown reason, we were really grateful and took Elsa home. Then we announced to the public that we came to Linchuan City to have the disease cured and gave birth to Elsa. Elsa is very pitiful. We don't want her to know that she was abandoned by her biological parents, so we don't want her to know the truth. We just want her to live a good life. You must have known these things. But we and Elsa seldom talk about Jenna Zeng with others. Ren, you should know that Elsa doesn't eat meat at all. And she often has nightmares at night. Once she has nightmares, she will be awakened and say that she wants to drink water, right?"

Soren nodded. He knew clearly what kind of habits Elsa had. He loved her very much, so he had always been accommodating her and protecting her. He hoped that marriage could bring her the same meaning. She could try her best to find peace, have the right to act like a spoiled child, and get the warmest embrace.

Blanche continued, "When Elsa was a child, Elsa's father worked in a steel plant. I taught in a nearby school, and the family of three lived a happy family life. The accident happened that year. When Elsa's father was working, his leg was injured and he needed to have an operation. It happened to be Elsa's six year old birthday. We didn't want her to worry about her father in the hospital, so we sent her to Jenna's side and asked her to look after Elsa. Speaking of Jenna, no one knew who she was and where she came from, and she herself had never mentioned her background. But she has a standard accent of YC County. When she moved to our neighborhood with a little girl, everyone was full of sympathy for her. The child with her was one or two years younger than Elsa. When we got familiar with her, sometimes we would also give her the same food and snacks as Elsa had. Gradually, we began to contact with each other.

I really had no choice that day. I had to keep an eye on Elsa's father for the surgery. So I entrusted Jenna to take care of Elsa. At that time, the supplies were not abundant, so we could only eat meat on the festival. On Elsa's birthday, I promised her to cook barbecue with mushroom for her. When Elsa arrived at Jenna's house, she also knew that it was Elsa's birthday. She asked Elsa what she would like to eat, and Elsa told her about the barbecue with mushroom. I didn't know what happened that night. Coincidentally, everything happened together. A restaurant downstairs of the building where Jenna lived was on fire for some unknown reason. That building was an old building, filled with honey nest coal and flammable materials everywhere. At that time, the door was also wooden, and the fire soon spread to Jenna's house."

When Blanche said this, she couldn't help but sob as she recalled what had happened to Elsa. Johnson walked to his wife and comforted her silently with his shoulders.

Blanche cried for a while and said, "The fire was so big at that time. When Jenna ran out with her daughter in her arms, she found that Elsa didn't come out. After all, Elsa was still young. She was scared to death and delayed for a few seconds. By the time she wanted to run, the wooden door had been lit up and she had nowhere to run. She held her favorite doll in her hand and cried at the door. It was at that time that Jenna went back. When she held Elsa in her arms, the fire was so strong that it was impossible for her to rush out. At that time, Jenna had no choice but to throw all the clothes soaked in the bathtub beside her, including the clothes with water, onto Elsa's body. The bucket of wet clothes and water saved Elsa life. When the rescue team arrived, Elsa just fainted and inhaled a small amount of smoke and gas, becoming the survivor of the accident. However, because of the accident, Elsa had always been traumatized. She always felt sorry for Jenna. If it weren't for her, Jenna wouldn't have... When I arrived at the scene, Elsa had been saved. But in the following days, the innocent and lively Elsa became less talkative and cold. When she was free, she often read and wrote alone, and didn't like to play with other children. She was afraid of fire and flesh. She often had nightmares. Elsa's father and I used all our care and love to help her change a little. We also took her to see a psychologist. Only then did she gradually get out of the shadow of that incident... But in the end, she still doesn't eat meat. And she will be afraid when she sees fire."

Soren listened carefully. Indeed, he had never heard of it from Elsa, but he could understand her feelings. Maybe she could gradually forget it without mentioning it, and she was also trying to get out of the shadow of it. He recalled every detail of her since they knew each other. These features had been obvious. When he went to the army for training, she did everything for him, but when she saw him light up the fire to cook instant noodles, she turned her head. At that time, he thought she was embarrassed, but he didn't expect it to be of this reason. When she was at home, she was a little scared facing the fire in the kitchen.

And every time she was woken up by nightmares and asked for water loudly... That accident must have left too many shadows on her, so even if she had a nightmare, she would wake up from thirst. No one could say that Elsa was coward and timid. She had endured a lot, but she was still slowly changing. She tried to be strong and live a better life, without letting anyone worry about her.

Blanche wiped her tears and continued, "Elsa is really pitiful. She did nothing wrong, but she has shouldered a lot... Jenna was burned to death in front of her. Elsa had witnessed the whole process of her death, so she fainted in the fire, frightened and scared. When she was a child, every time she smelled the smell of meat, she would retreat in horror, because that night in the fire, there was the smell of burnt flesh everywhere, and there was also the smell of someone being burned... When I think of the scene at that time, I still feel terrified. Not to mention that Elsa has personally experienced such a scene."

"That is to say, it is very likely that Jenna knows that you have adopted Elsa, so she moved to your place deliberately in order to see more about her. And she sacrificed herself to save Elsa in an accident?" Soren said gently.

"Now I think it's very possible. Among all the children, she treated Elsa best, and she had always been trying her best to take care of Elsa. At that time, we didn't think too much, because we were also good to Tina Zeng. We thought that they were both children, so we didn't have much distinction between us. Now it seems that she really knows that her daughter has been adopted by us, so she deliberately takes care of Elsa. So the matter of saving Elsa... So, Ren, please don't blame Elsa for being so delicate, and don't blame her for her reaction when she knows this matter. She used to have a lot of mental pressure on this matter, but now she knows that Jenna is her mother, and her mother was burned to death in order to save her in front of her eyes. You can imagine that Elsa has endured too much pressure..." Blanche couldn't help crying again.

Soren also understood what she meant. He said gently, "Mom, I'll treat her well. Please rest assured."

Blanche nodded and said emotionally, "Tina Zeng was the little girl who was born later by Jenna Zeng. We don't know who Tina's father is. After the fire, Tina disappeared. Maybe she was adopted, or maybe she went somewhere. At that time, Elsa's father's leg was injured and Elsa had suffered a lot of psychological torture. I had been busy taking care of them, and I was too busy to pay attention to the whereabouts of that child. Later, we went to look for Tina. When we were prepared to adopt Tina, we couldn't find her anyway. Elsa also blamed herself for this. When Elsa entered the university, she accidentally found Tina. It turned out that she was picked up by her grandmother. She had been living with her grandmother all the time and went to the university with the help of the government. After seeing her, Elsa had been taking good care of Tina with all her heart. Even if Tina later developed a relationship with Johnny and married him, Elsa didn't complain at all. She just bore the pain alone. Elsa had been atoning for her childhood and taking care of Tina. Even if Tina always made unreasonable requests, she would try her best to help her. And she would never refuse Tina."