Maya circled the main house but Kyle and Juan were nowhere to be seen. She then headed towards the pavilion.
“Uncle Evan.”
To prevent him from knowing that she was his daughter and be separated from her mother, Maya greeted him after some thinking.
Her voice had pulled him back to reality. Looking over his shoulders, he asked, “Yes?”
“Where are Kyle and Juan?”
“They’re both at the Hillside Villa. Do you want to play with them?”
Maya nodded fervently.
Interestingly, Evan did not find this chubby little girl annoying. He curled his lips and smiled. “Should I bring you to the villa to find them?”
She nodded first before shaking her head when a thought dawned on her.
“You don’t want to go?”
“I want to be with Mommy.” She then turned her gaze to the roses. “Uncle Evan, can these flowers be made into a wreath?”
Arranging flowers into a wreath.
The gleam in Evan’s eyes shimmered. It had been a while since he last made one.
Evan was lost in a daze for a split second as he looked at Maya’s blinking eyes. The hoyden must have been as cute as Maya when she was young.
She was twelve when I met her…
The thoughts flashed before his eyes once again. Evan then reached out to hold Maya’s hand. “I’ll make a wreath for you to wear on your head, okay?”
“Is it pretty?” Her clear eyes blinked in anticipation.
“Yes. It’s very pretty,” Evan answered in all seriousness.
“Okay!”
Maya nodded gleefully. She picked her favorite flowers from the rose arbor while holding Evan’s hand. He then started weaving the wreath patiently.
She watched in adoration the making of a pretty wreath. Her eyes gleamed as the wreath was miraculously made from scratch.
“Wow. Uncle Evan, you’re amazing! This is so pretty! Thank you.”
The smile on his face was from the bottom of his heart. He then carefully placed the wreath on Maya’s head.
Maya touched her wreath gently with her chubby fingers. “Uncle Evan, I’m going to show this to Mommy!”
She walked gingerly to the rear house, afraid that she would drop the wreath accidentally. It was as precious as a crown.
Upon setting foot into the rear house, Maya exclaimed, “Mommy, Mommy, look at my wreath! Isn’t it pretty?”
As she walked out of the kitchen and saw the wreath on Maya’s head, Nicole grinned brightly.
“It’s really pretty.”
Maya went to her and whispered delightfully, “Daddy made this for me.”
Evan did it for her? I never knew that he could make a wreath.
Nicole was surprised.
Once upon a time, there was that someone who could make pretty wreaths too.
Looking at how happy Maya was, Nina was dejected.
Daddy is nice to Kyle and Juan. He even made a wreath for Maya now. But when it comes to me… It seems like I’m the most unlikeable amongst all of my siblings.
Disheartened, she hung her head low and went to her room.
Nicole saw her lonely figure when she turned around. She felt uneasy and instructed Maya to bring the wreath and play with Nina.
Walking to their bedroom, she gave the wreath to Nina. “Let’s play together.”
She thought of how Evan treated her upon seeing the wreath. Irritated, she threw the wreath onto the floor.
“I won’t play with the things he made for you.”
Maya brimmed with tears as she witnessed this. It was the first present her father gave her. She quickly bent over and picked it up. “Nina, that’s too much!”
After snorting scornfully, she stomped out of the room, bumping into Nicole who was walking in.
“What happened, Maya?”
“N-Nina threw my wreath onto the ground.”
Nicole furrowed her brows.
She was bewildered by how much Nina hated Evan— it was to the extent that she would get agitated at the sight of the wreath he made.
Are they each other’s nemesis?
In an attempt to resolve this problem, Nicole walked to Nina’s side, ready to talk to her. However, the latter was extremely reluctant to talk about Evan and used the excuse of being hungry to chase Nicole away.
