Chapter 3433:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

The ceremony moved on to Savannah and Neville.

Through the swell of emotion, Savannah kept herself steady and dignified.

“Mom, please enjoy a cup of tea.”

“Alright.” She accepted the tea from the newlyweds and then handed each of them an envelope.

No one expected what came next.

Turning toward him, Elissa spoke with quiet sincerity. “Dad, please have some tea.”

The moment Neville heard that word, his restraint gave way entirely. His eyes went wide, and tears spilled freely as he began to cry.

𝖬𝗼𝘀𝘵 𝘳𝗲a𝗱 𝘁𝗁𝗂s 𝘄е𝘦𝗸 𝗼ո 𝗴a𝗹𝗇𝗼𝘃𝖾𝗹𝘴.𝗰o𝗺

Shock washed over Savannah.

With his face buried in his hands, Neville wept without holding back. Confusion followed — what had triggered such a reaction? Still caught in the moment, he could not calm himself enough to accept the tea.

Savannah smiled in quiet amusement. To anyone watching without context, it would have seemed as though Elissa were his biological daughter, while she herself stood there like a detached bystander who couldn’t care less.

“Hey!” Savannah tugged lightly at Neville’s arm, smiling as she spoke in a low voice. “What is going on here?”

“I, I —” Neville sobbed, shaking his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean — I just…”

He turned toward Elissa and forced a smile through his tears. “It just suddenly felt so real — our little girl is truly leaving us behind to begin a new chapter in her life.”

The words caught Savannah off guard, and as they settled in, her heart softened as well. He was right.

“Elissa.” With reddened eyes, Neville struggled to steady his breathing as he faced her. “A few years ago, you left Ontmond for Srixby with Robin. I thought — I thought —” Emotion robbed him of his voice for a moment, and he forced himself to press on. “I thought I had failed you as a father and pushed you to leave. After that, you never came back home for so many years. I was given the chance to be your father, yet I never felt I did it well enough.”

“No. None of this was your fault.” Elissa shook her head firmly, tears gathering in her own eyes. “I was young, and I made bad choices.” Her biological father had rarely shown her warmth, and Neville, as a stepfather, had always found careful ways to reach her. He had already given far more than anyone could have asked of him.

Sincerity filled her voice as she continued. “You are a good father. I mean that from my heart.”

“Alright.” Tears slid down his face as Neville nodded. “I have faith in you.”

For a long time now, she had already accepted him as her father — but they had never truly spoken about it. Respect and care had always guided the way she treated him, and in that moment, seeing the light in her eyes, he finally trusted without any doubt that she truly regarded him as her own.

With trembling hands, Neville accepted the tea from his daughter and drank it in a single gulp. Then he drew out a thick envelope. “I hope your days are filled with happiness and joy from now on.”

Tears still clung to her lashes as Elissa smiled back. “Thank you, Dad. I promise I will live happily.”

Emotion filled Savannah’s eyes, and she wiped them gently, moved by the tender scene unfolding before her.

A moment later, she turned and waved Locke over. “Come here! We have something for you two little ones as well!”

“Yeah, sure!” Locke shouted with excitement.

Gradually, the mood lifted, and laughter and warmth returned to the hall.

.

.

.