Seeing how determined he was, Larissa relented. "Alright, you can sleep with him." Kevan lifted up the blanket and stood up from the sofa. "I'll take a shower first." "Wait a minute," Larissa called out. "Yes?" Kevan turned around, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "To be honest, you didn't have to deliberately rush over here to accompany Aster," Larissa said after some hesitation. "Don't misunderstand me. I just feel that you should spend more time with your own daughter."Although she wasn't fond of Bethany, that didn't prevent her from sympathizing with the child. In Bethany, Larissa was vaguely reminded of her past childhood. Like her, Bethany had grown up without parental love. The loneliness, sadness, and fear she experienced was unimaginable to others. Kevan had explained why he wasn't close to Bethany, but his explanation didn't convince Larissa. "At this young age, children need the patient guidance of their parents. Now that her mother is not around, and you
After her alarm clock rang, Larissa went to the next room to wake Aster up as usual. When she walked out of her bedroom, she was surprised to see both Aster and Kevan fully dressed, sitting side by side in the dining room. "Mommy, come and have breakfast! Uncle Kevan made it! It's really delicious!" Aster waved at her excitedly. Larissa walked over doubtfully. Kevan had made a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pasta. Larissa had bought the pasta a long time ago and placed it in one of the cabinets, completely forgetting about its existence. Kevan had cooked the pasta and mixed it up with some black pepper sauce. As the enticing aroma of food filled the air, Larissa couldn't help swallowing her saliva eagerly. She sat down across from Aster and picked up the cutlery on the table."Thank you for your hard work. You're unwell, and yet you went through the trouble of cooking breakfast for us," she said with an apologetic look at Kevan. "Just consider it paym
Kevan responded with a grunt and said to Larissa, "Well, we're off." Larissa knew that she couldn't stop Aster, so she let them off the hook. "Okay, drive safe," she cautioned with a nod. It was Aster's first time riding in Kevan's car. He sat obediently in the middle of the backseat, with his hands neatly folded on his knees. "Uncle Kevan, I'm feeling very happy," he said to Kevan.Hearing that, Kevan glanced at Aster through the rearview mirror. "Why is that?" Aster smiled widely "Because you're sending me to kindergarten!"After that, his smile faded and he asked cautiously, "By the way, Uncle Kevan … If my teacher asks about who you are, can I say that you're my daddy? " When Kevan heard Aster refer to him as his "Daddy", his chest tightened inexplicably. Instinctively, he gripped the steering wheel, nearly flooring the accelerator. Suppressing the overwhelming joy and heartache that welled up within him, Kevan replied in a calm voice, "Of course." Aster clen
When Larissa went to pick Aster up in the afternoon, she noticed that the other parents, especially the mothers, were looking at her with a different expression from before. Just as she was feeling puzzled about it, a parent who had chatted with her a few times earlier while waiting to pick up their children deliberately came up to Larissa. Raising her eyebrows, she said in a teasing manner, "Your husband is really handsome! No wonder you seemed so secretive about him and wouldn't let him show up at the kindergarten!" Taken aback, Larissa froze for a moment before realizing that the "husband" she was referring to was probably Kevan. "Are you still trying to feign ignorance?" The other parent nudged Larissa with her elbow and gave her a reproachful look. "I heard it myself, your son called him 'Daddy' this morning!" Aster … Larissa felt both angry and yet powerless at the same time. She had no energy left to argue, so Larissa simply gave her a faint smile and brushed her o
Larissa sighed deeply. Aster turned to look at her with concern and asked, "Mommy, what's wrong?" Pursing her lips, Larissa ran through what she was going to say in her head before voicing it to Aster, "Aster, will you be disappointed if I turned up alone to the Fun Family Sports Day tomorrow?" He seemed momentarily stunned, probably not expecting Larissa to bring up this topic. "Can't I get Uncle Kevan to come with us?" he asked. Larissa hardened her heart and emphasized firmly, "Uncle Kevan's not your dad. You can't rely on him for everything. It is not his responsibility or obligation to help you out all the time," The excitement in Aster's eyes died down immediately. Hanging his head, he replied in a low voice that was filled with disappointment, "Well, Mommy can come alone. I won't be unhappy about it." Seeing how sensible and understanding Aster was, Larissa felt both gratified and sorry for him at the same time. Holding Aster's hand tightly, her lips twitched a
Conversely, Kevan wasn't as optimistic as Aster. Nonetheless, he couldn't bear to dampen Aster's enthusiasm, so he said, "Alright, I'll give it a try." By the time they brought the things upstairs, Larissa had let the cats out. She had them both on her lap, caressing and teasing them affectionately. The two cats seemed to remember her. As soon as Larissa opened the cage, they eagerly rushed into her arms, meowing incessantly. Cookie was just as clingy as before, swishing his tail left and right as he rubbed his head against Larissa. On the other hand, Muffin wasn't as enthusiastic as Cookie. Stretching out a paw, Muffin rested it on Larissa's leg and stared intently at her with her sky-blue eyes without blinking. With a lump in her throat, Larissa almost cried as she hugged them tightly. Aster put down the cat food and ran over to Larissa. He squatted down beside her and watched the two cats lying comfortably in Larissa's lap with curiosity. "Mommy, can I touch th
She wasn't angry with Kevan. She didn't even resent Muffin for scratching Aster."Hey," she said, suddenly changing the subject. She asked seriously, "Have you considered taking your daughter to a psychologist?"Although Muffin had always been more mischievous than Cookie since she was little, she was not a cat that would scratch people for no reason—otherwise, Kevan wouldn't have brought her to Larissa.In Larissa's opinion, Muffin's strange behavior had been caused by Bethany's mistreatment.Larissa had noticed earlier that Muffin and Cookie's soft, beautiful, long fur was particularly sparse in certain parts of their bodies—it was clearly not due to shedding, but rather, someone had been plucking their fur. There was no one else she could think of except Bethany.Previously, when Bethany bullied classmates at school, Larissa attributed that behavior to her family spoiling her. However, she likely had an innate antisocial personality or a mental illness if she abused animals for
Kevan stayed quiet. He knew better than anyone how stubborn Larissa could be.On top of that, it was not the best time to pursue her—his intention was just to test the waters and gauge how open she was to the idea. As expected, she was still the same as before, unwilling to give him even the slightest chance. She probably trusted him even less than before—after all, he had hurt her in so many ways in the past.His amnesia could barely allow him to be around her; it couldn't bring her to let her guard down. Although he had dug his own grave in the situation, he didn't regret his choice. For her safety, nothing else mattered.The car soon pulled into the compound of Larissa's residence. Kevan got out of the car first to pick up Aster, who was still sleeping, from the backseat. Suspended in mid-air, Aster let out a groan of discomfort as he opened his heavy eyelids.In the dim light of the street lamps, he could barely make out Kevan's face."Daddy ..." He smiled sweetly, murmuring s