Chapter 489 A Gift
When she held my hands tightly, I felt uneasy again. Turning around, I caught a glimpse of Michael’s curious frown. I guessed that he too was equally surprised at how Alicia had gone overboard with her warmth.
“Mrs. Campbell, since you’re here to chat with my mom, I won’t get in the way. Please carry on.”
For some inexplicable reason, Alicia filled me with complex emotions which I didn’t understand.
“Not at all, not at all. Anna, I like you very much the first time I saw you. Wouldn’t it be great if I had a daughter just like you?”
Maintaining her tight grip on my hand, Alicia’s gaze was visibly different when she uttered the last sentence.
Already feeling awkward, I was stumped upon hearing her words. After all, I didn’t know what to say when she made it sound like I was her daughter.
Meanwhile, Josephine knitted her brows as she was equally puzzled by how Alicia was treating me. Nevertheless, she hid her emotions well.
“Mrs. Campbell, you have an excellent sense of humor. Everyone knows that you have a beautiful daughter whom your husband puts on a pedestal. Compared to her, Anna is just an ordinary girl.”
Sensing my awkwardness, Josephine came over to defuse the situation.
Realizing that she was being too overt with her emotions, Alicia let go of my hands. Even then, she still maintained her gaze on me.
As if something suddenly occurred to her, she quickly took off her bracelet and put in on my hand.
“Since this is our first meeting, I didn’t manage to prepare anything for you. Hence, I hope you won’t mind this bracelet as a gift.”
Stunned by her words and actions, I had no idea what was going on.
By the time I regained my senses, I quickly took the bracelet off.
“Mrs. Campbell, what are you doing? Why are you giving me a gift? There’s no way I can accept such an expensive bracelet.”
At that moment, I was truly baffled by Alicia’s warmth. Usually, such gifts would only be given by family. Therefore, her actions felt very strange to me.
After stuffing the bracelet back into her hand, I began to panic. At the same time, I could see that both Michael and Josephine were equally bewildered by the turn of events.
“It’s just a bracelet and not expensive at all. Please, just put it on.”
Even though I clearly declined the gift, Alicia was adamant that I accept it and tried to wear it for me again.
Although it would be impolite of me to refuse the well-intentioned gift, I still felt weird receiving it.
Consequently, I wondered if we were somehow related considering how generous she was to me.
“Mrs. Campbell, I can’t accept such an expensive gift.”
Considering her illustrious status, it was a given that the jewelry she wore would be extremely valuable. As a result, I just couldn’t accept the gift.
Finally, Josephine interceded in the matter. “Anna, since Mrs. Campbell is fond of you, go ahead and accept the bracelet.”
I was aware that to do otherwise would be disrespectful. Therefore, I had no choice but to accept the gift upon my mother-in-law’s advice in spite of my own conflicted emotions.
“Thank you, Mrs. Campbell.”
After thanking her, I averted my gaze to hide my awkwardness. Even then, Alicia continued to gleefully focus her attention on me.
Consequently, her incessant outpouring of affection continued to unsettle and puzzle me at the same time.
By then, Alicia’s unusual behavior had caused the atmosphere in the living hall to grow awkward. After I gave Michael a look, he responded at once, “Mom, Mrs. Campbell, I promised to take Anna shopping today. Hence, we’ll be taking our leave. See you both around.”
Just as he spoke, Michael walked in front of me and led me out of the living hall.
As we made our way out, I could still feel Alicia’s gaze locked on my silhouette.
After getting into Michael’s car, I heaved a long sigh of relief before turning to face him.
“Don’t you think that Mrs. Campbell is being excessively familiar with me?”
After voicing my concerns, I felt agitated as I stared at the bracelet on my wrist.
“Anyone who isn’t blind can see that. We just don’t know the reason why. Mrs. Campbell is a famous socialite. Although she doesn’t hail from Avenport, she is one of our business partners and used to be close to my mom.”
When I saw Michael frown at my question, it was obvious to me that he was just as confused as I was.
“By the way, I forgot to tell you two days ago that Mrs. Campbell’s car was the one I crashed into. Also, I didn’t expect to see her again at home.”
Considering how close both events were, I felt as if it was more than just a coincidence.
“You hit Mrs. Campbell’s car? This is really too much of a coincidence.”
A look of surprise flashed across Michael’s face before he chuckled wryly.
Not knowing what was going through Alicia’s mind made me feel uneasy. Considering that we barely knew each other, I was naturally suspicious of her motives.
Even during shopping, I hardly enjoyed myself as my mind was filled with Alicia’s image. On top of that, the bracelet she gave me served to distract me further.
As the one who understood me the most, Michael knew what was troubling me the moment he saw my knitted brows.
“Are you still thinking about Mrs. Campbell? Don’t dwell on it too much, as you’ll never get your answer. As time goes by, the answer will naturally come to you,” Michael replied thoughtfully after giving me a glance.
All this while, he had seldom said anything thoughtful to me. Therefore, I could sense that something had dawned upon him, but he just wasn’t sure of it.
“Mmm-hmm, I’ll stop thinking about it. After all, there’s no point doing so since she has nothing to do with me.”
When we were done shopping, I hardly bought anything. After that, we had dinner at a restaurant before heading home.
Much to our surprise, Mrs. Campbell was still there when we returned. I had assumed that she would have left a long time ago after chatting.
