Chapter 495 Shaw Or Neller?
“Cherise”
Mr. Tanner spoke with a furrowed brow during dinner. His voice was low and filled with concern, “Do you have something on your mind?”
Cherise quickly snapped back to reality. “No, nothing.”
“You’re telling me there’s nothing bothering you?”
Gwenn retorted with an eye-roll, her tone laced with annoyance. “You just reached for the food in my bowl, didn’t you?”
Cherise was taken aback.
She quickly realized she had indeed extended her fork into Gwenn’s bowl, even picking up a piece of vegetable from it.
She withdrew her hand at once, gave an embarrassed smile, and lowered her head to continue eating.
“Cherise, what did you do today?”
Mr. Tanner sighed softly and asked.
“Both your father and Damien are busy today. It’s just the three of us here at dinner tonight. If something’s troubling you, let me know.”
Cherise shook her head. “It’s… nothing.”
“What else could it be?”
Gwenn scoffed, eating with an icy demeanor. “You must be reluctant to change your name.”
Finishing her thought, she laughed lightly and looked at Mr. Tanner. “Grandpa, if she doesn’t want to change her name and return to her Tanner roots, then stop pushing her.”
“In Cherise’s eyes, the last name Shaw holds more weight than our renowned Tanner family.”
“Grandpa, why are you belittling yourself like this?”
Gwenn wished nothing more than for Cherise never to change her name, to never return to her Tanner roots.
In this way, no matter the truth, she would remain the only Miss Tanner in the family.
And she would not be sharing this title with anyone else!
“Silence!”
Mr. Tanner shot her an angry glare, then turned to Cherise. “Cherise, are you still considering changing your name?”
Cherise pursed her lips and looked earnestly at Mr. Tanner. “No.”
“Grandpa, I’ve made up my mind. I want to take my mother’s surname.”
“If the Tanner family wishes to announce my identity to the public and provide me with shelter, you may do it anytime. But please say I’ve taken my mother’s surname.”
Mr. Tanner was taken aback. He probably had not expected the once hesitant Cherise to have such a resolute response today.
He lightly tapped the table. “Taking your mother’s surname isn’t out of the question.
“Do you intend to take the surname Miles or Neller?”
Finishing, Mr. Tanner patted his head and chuckled in realization. “How foolish of me.”
“The name Miles was never hers to begin with. It was only after her marriage that she took her husband’s last name.”
“So, it should be Neller, right?”
Mr. Tanner mused. The name Cherise Neller is a bit of a mouthful. How about just Cherry Neller?”
Cherise replied, “I’d still prefer Cherise, Shaw.”
“I met with my mother today.”
“Mother…”
Recalling all that Charisa had done for her, warmth surged in Cherise’s heart.
She continued. “Today, she and my adoptive father acknowledged each other as siblings, and she changed her name to Charisa Shaw.”
“So, I’ll stick with my mother’s surname and call myself Cherise Shaw.”
Her words, each and every one of them, struck Mr. Tanner in heavy blows.
He could not have imagined the extent of Charisa’s love for Cherise.
To think… she changed her own name because her daughter had second thoughts about the name change!?
For a moment, Mr. Tanner was too stunned to speak.
Beside them, jealousy consumed Gwenn.
With a loud ‘smack’, she slammed her bowl on the table. “I’m done eating!”
And with that, she stormed upstairs.
The dining room was left with only Cherise and Mr. Tanner.
“That silly girl, Charisa.”
He sighed, shaking his head lightly. “If she didn’t want you to change your name, she could’ve just told me. I wouldn’t have persisted in the first place.”
