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
Violet had long since guessed that Kevan would never marry Ruby. He only lost his memory, but his personality had never changed. Without the wonderful memories of the past, the basis of a relationship was lost. He would only treat Ruby the same way he treated female strangers. But she thought that he would at least try to get along with Ruby for Bethany's sake. To be honest though—the current circumstances were just what Violet hoped for.She did not like Ruby. She never did. Otherwise, she would not have prevented Ruby from marrying into the family all these years."Fine," Violet agreed. "But you're still Bethany's father, you should take some time to come and see her."She loved her granddaughter and did not want her to grow up in an environment where she did not have the love of her parents."I know," Kevan replied coldly.After leaving the hospital, he went straight to Larissa's home. He received information from Dylan that Larissa had already picked Aster up from the Academy.
It was probably due to their shared similar interests, but Kevan and Aster got along very well. After that night, Aster kept talking about "Uncle Kevan", and the frequency with which he spoke of him had well surpassed "Uncle Dylan" from before.He constantly bugged Larissa to invite "Uncle Kevan" over to their place, but she would naturally reject such demands.…Bethany changed schools—just like Kevan promised.Both teachers and the guardians of the students were very happy.No one cared where she had been transferred to, and the homeroom teacher never mentioned it.…Having a rare holiday, Larissa arrived at exactly 4:30 pm at the kindergarten. She planned to pick Aster up and take him to a nearby shopping mall to watch a movie in the cinema. However, when she got upstairs, she saw a huge crowd of parents and guardians choking up the corridor leading to the classroom. Those who were at the front of the crowd were beating the door with their hands; those at the back were plaste