Ouch, that hurts!
Tears welled up in Maya’s eyes as she forced herself to endure the pain. Three seconds later, however, she burst into a loud wail and started crying.
Nicole quickly dashed over. Picking Maya up and dusting the mud off her face, she asked worriedly, “Maya, are you hurt? Do you feel any pain?”
Plaintively, Maya pointed at her flabby arm and her thick calves before gesturing at her chubby cheeks. “Mommy, am I going to be disfigured?”
Nina squatted down and looked carefully at the wound on her face. “No! You don’t have to worry with me around. If you do become disfigured, I’ll be able to draw an even prettier face on you.”
Hearing this, Maya felt reassured. She wiped away her tears and turned abruptly to Nina. In a serious voice, she insisted, “I’m pretty even now.”
“You are! Maya’s the prettiest girl on earth.”
After being consoled by Nicole for a while, Maya finally broke into a smile.
Looking at the flowers in the garden, Nina exclaimed with sparkling eyes, “I say! These are the prettiest flower beds I’ve ever seen.”
Turning to look at Nicole, she said, “Mommy, can I pluck one flower to wear in my hair?”
Nicole thought for a while before answering, “Yes, but just one, alright? Don’t go overboard.”
“Yes, Mommy.”
Nina walked over to the flower beds and looked down at the colorful blooms for a long time. In the end, she stretched out her hand and reached for a lovely pink flower.
Just as she was about to close her fingers around its stem, a loud holler sounded behind her and scared her half to death. “No plucking of flowers is allowed!”
Turning around, she found herself gazing into Evan’s eyes. His face was full of cold fury.
Nina had never seen Evan look so angry before. Like a frightened bird, she swung her head around to look at Nicole for help.
Nicole hadn’t expected this angry reaction from Evan. She ran over to explain, “Mr. Seet, Nina really likes flowers. Since there are so many of them in this garden, could you just let her have one?”
Huffily, Evan replied, “No.”
The garden was full of flowers. Couldn’t he just let the girl have one?
A look of annoyance flashed across Nicole’s face. Evan was very fond of this place, and it appeared as though he treasured every blade of grass and every stalk of flower in here too.
Too lazy to argue with him, she walked over to Nina and detached the flower from its stem before handing it to her.
“Here you go, Nina.”
“Nicole Lane!” Evan roared, gritting his teeth in rage.
However, Nicole turned to look at him, her eyes bold. “Mr. Seet, this garden now belongs to Juan. Since Juan has allowed us to live here with him, you have no business telling us whether we should pluck this flower or not.”
“…”
She hadn’t even moved in yet, and she was already going against him.
If they really moved in here, the kids would probably turn this whole place upside down.
Evan looked at Nicole coldly and tried to keep his temper in check. “If you don’t want to live here, there are other places…”
Nicole interrupted him gaily, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m moving in here.”
“…”
Another surge of anger coursed through Evan’s veins. This woman was just trying to get on his nerves.
Sensing the tense atmosphere and the animosity between their parents, the children fell silent with anxiety.
A moment later, Nicole looked up at Evan and said sincerely, “Mr. Seet, I’m really sorry. However, I have very strong feelings towards this place, and I’d very much like to live here.”
Feelings?
It’s your first time here, and you’ve already developed feelings for this place?
What sort of nonsense was this?
“Do you really plan on living here?”
Nicole’s eyes trembled slightly. With her hands balled into fists, she nodded firmly at him.
Shooting her a look of contempt, Evan angrily ordered Juan and Kyle to leave with him.
The two boys looked at him with doubtful expressions. If they left with their father now, wouldn’t their Mommy be very sad?
Besides, today was Mommy’s special visit to Rose Garden.
“Daddy, I don’t want to go back yet.”
“Daddy, we’ve just arrived. We haven’t played enough yet.”
Evan looked at the both of them, his eyes narrowing. Was Nicole insisting on living in Rose Garden because she knew the kids liked this place? In the future, was she going to use this to coax Juan and Kyle to live with her?
