Her attention was focused on Kevan from the start. Perhaps they may have met here coincidentally, but Dylan definitely brought Kevan here on purpose. She could not yet tell if he was deliberately trying to piss her off.Kevan kept studying her. She seemed very upset by his presence here and did not seem to want to see him. The beautiful smile on her face vanished the moment she saw them. Even though he already knew of her aversion and dislike of him, he still felt terrible whenever she displayed her feelings so clearly."Hi." He took the initiative to speak. "We've met before, do you remember?"Larissa, of course, remembered. How could she not? Grunting her acknowledgment, Larissa nodded lightly, refusing to say anything beyond what was necessary.Dylan was shocked. "You've met? When?" Kevan dared to not tell him?! That was too much!"A few days ago, I guess." Kevan's words were measured, his gaze remaining fixed on Larissa. "This lady seemed to be a little ill, and she collapsed.

Larissa had not even begun to reject the offer when Dylan scooped Aster into his arms, turning around and speeding away with haste. He ignored every shout of Larissa's. With the way he acted, one would think he was a child trafficker or something.Though Larissa was annoyed, she could not do anything to Dylan. Spitting curses internally, she ran after him. Kevan matched his pace to hers.Larissa did not want to talk to him, and Kevan had to do his best to pretend that they were not familiar with each other. They remained silent, and only the sound of footsteps could be heard.…Dylan drove them to a private dining restaurant that was not far from where they were. Unlike other widespread restaurants in which anyone could dine, this was a restaurant with a strict member-only system. Moreover, even if one was a member, one had to make a booking at least a day before the day of dining and decide the course with the chef.Dylan had clearly made a booking early on. He gave his name, and

"Uncle Kevan, do you have Superman figurines?" His gaze was practically sparkling even as he looked at Kevan.Having made a mistake earlier, Kevan was much more careful now. "Sorry." He smiled helplessly. "Uncle Kevan forgot what Superman looks like."Larissa's heart sank some, and she felt inexplicably sad.After that, Dylan answered all of Aster's questions for Kevan. "Superman figurines? Of course, he has them!""Batman? Yup!""Spiderman? He has several!"…Aster's smile grew wider and wider, and his eyes were sparkling like diamonds now.Finally, he asked, "Uncle Kevan, can I go play at your house?"Kevan could answer this question with no problem. "Of course, whenever you like."…The prearranged dishes began to arrive at the table half an hour later. They were light, and many of them had a sweeter taste, which was more suitable for a child's palate.Larissa could smell a "scheme" in all this. She remembered that Dylan and Kevan, who were Northerners, preferred highly

Larissa did not expect him to ask that, so she was a little panicked. Avoiding his gaze, she tried to dodge the question. "Well, I'm just asking, that's all."Dylan was really affected by her strange reaction. He suddenly had a ridiculous thought. "You can't possibly not know who Aster's dad is, right?!"Seeing that he had hit the nail on the head, Larissa was so scared that she was at a loss. She quickly dashed up to clap her hand over his mouth. "Don't fucking say shit like that!""Mommy, Uncle Dylan, what are you doing?" Aster's sweet voice sounded from a distance not far away.Jolting hard, Larissa turned to look.Aster and Kevan were standing side by side at the foot of the stairs about six and a half feet away from them. Their similar eyes showed the same amount of confusion.Larissa let go of Dylan at once. Smiling sheepishly, she explained, "Uncle Dylan said a bad word. I'm criticizing him for that."Aster thought it was true—whenever Wendy accidentally said bad words at

His phone number had never changed all these years, so it was not difficult for her if she wanted to find it. Besides, Aster's phone had a copy of his phone number too."Larissa requested to chat with me on WhatsApp!" Dylan's voice unconsciously grew louder, and there was excitement and delight in his tone.Although he had gotten Larissa's phone number from Aster early on, he had not dared to reach out to her due to his fear of his secret communication with Aster getting exposed as well as his fear of Aster getting a scolding from his mother. He did not expect her to reach out voluntarily to him, but he could guess at her motives for doing so.Before he could accept the request, Kevan snatched his phone from him and accepted on his behalf. Larissa must have been waiting on the other side because she sent a text at once. "Aster is my best friend's son! My question to you has nothing to do with Aster, so don't think too much into it! And don't you dare spew any nonsense to anyone, ESP

It was not that Larissa thought that Mrs. Potts was abusing Aster by not letting him eat. Although she was not entirely clear about Mrs. Potts' character, she knew a thing or two after having spent time together for a while. Besides, Mrs. Potts was recommended by Dylan, so there should not be any problems with her character …But precisely because she was recommended by Dylan, Larissa could not help but wonder and suspect if she was in cahoots with Dylan behind her back.Larissa did not directly ask Mrs. Potts about this, but she waited until she was gone before calling Aster to her. She maintained an affable nature when she was with Aster."Have you eaten?" she asked.Aster nodded and said brightly, "Yup! I have."Larissa continued to ask, "What did you eat?"Aster replied without hesitation, "Scrambled eggs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and mushroom soup." These were all his favorites.However, the kitchen did not have a single trace of these foods. The first three could b

Seeing that her face was still one of displeasure, Aster carefully took two steps forward and held her hand. "Mommy, I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please don't be angry anymore, please?" He wiped his tears with the back of his hand, not daring to even let out a sniffle.Coming back to herself, Larissa saw his timid look and pulled him into her arms with some amount of heartache."Okay," she promised him. "But you cannot lie to me again—no matter who tells you to do it. Do you understand?""Yes!" Aster nodded several times.That night, Larissa dismissed Mrs. Potts, who asked nervously, "Was there something I did that you weren't satisfied with?"Larissa smiled and said, "No. It's that Aster is fully recovered, and you no longer need to take care of him anymore. I was happy to have you on board. The remainder of your salary will be transferred to your account tomorrow. If I still need you in the future, I will surely contact you again."She knew very well that Mrs. Potts was working unde

Larissa got a call from Aster's homeroom teacher during work once again. She hurriedly made her way to the kindergarten and found Aster in the teacher's office. He stood next to the homeroom teacher's seat with his head down, his eyes red even as his teeth bit down hard into his lower lip. The look on his face was one of stubbornness.Well, he did not look ill.Larissa released a little sigh of relief.The homeroom teacher stood up immediately upon seeing her."Ma'am—"Aster turned to look at her, and his eyes were a little watery. His stubbornness gradually faded into unhappiness. Her heart aching, Larissa hastened forward to bring him into her arms."Ms. Gilmore." She turned to look at the homeroom teacher. "What happened?"In the phone call, Ella Gilmore had only said that "something had happened," and that Larissa should "come over to the Academy quickly," but she did not say what happened exactly. Looking at Aster, Ella sighed softly. "Aster pushed Bethany, causing her to f

Ella picked up where he left off. "Originally, we had another teacher accompanying the students who were in charge of specific tasks, but that teacher is on sick leave today. I was bringing the other kids to the next room to have their naps, so I could not take care of things here. That is why I did not see what happened exactly in person, and only have their words with regard to the event. To be honest, I'm the one at fault as I did not fulfill my responsibilities properly." She was very critical of herself.Larissa did not blame her though. Honestly, if Bethany had not decided to put up an act and cause trouble, nothing would have happened."How did Bethany's guardians respond to this?" Larissa asked."Well, her grandma didn't say anything and just took her away. But if her mother is aware of this incident … I'm sure she will come to our class and cause some trouble. You must be prepared." Ella looked scared, making it clear that this was not the first time it had happened."Alri

Kevan, too, received a call from Violet at work and found out about the matter between the two kids. Unlike Violet's hesitation, he did not need to think too deeply into things to know that this altercation was caused by Bethany.Although he had not met Bethany all that much during these past few years, he knew her better than Violet, who spent a lot of her time with the kid. At Violet's request and urging, he rushed to the hospital and saw Bethany wailing non-stop on the hospital bed. Her right arm was bound in bandages, likely the "scalded by hot water" wound that Violet was talking about.Violet and the nanny specifically hired to take care of Bethany were in the ward. However, no amount of soothing from them could calm her down. Kevan entered and lightly said, "Enough." and Bethany stopped at once. She stared at him with wide eyes, and she curled up into herself, trembling incessantly.She was afraid of him.Even if Kevan did not know why, he was very satisfied with her reactio