Although Nicole had resolved to remake the spaghetti, Maya refused to give her another chance. Maya continued wailing, demanding that Evan come over and make her spaghetti right now.
“Maya, why don’t Mommy make you something else? What else do you want to eat?”
“I don’t want anything else! I want Daddy’s spaghetti!” Maya wailed. Her tears spilled down her cheeks like strings of ginormous pearls.
Nicole felt both sorry and helpless.
Evan had been quite clear on the fact that he would never tell anyone his spaghetti’s secret recipe. There was no way Nicole could ask him to come over and make dinner for Maya now.
She turned to her screaming daughter. “Maya, don’t cry anymore! Mommy will make it taste exactly like Daddy’s spaghetti, alright?”
“No! I want Daddy to make it for me!”
Just as Nicole was panicking, there was a loud knock on the front door.
Nina ran to open the door. The next second, Juan and Kyle shot through the doors and dashed into the kitchen.
“Mommy!”
“Mommy!”
The two boys were very close to Nicole. They ran over to her and wrapped their arms around her legs.
Nicole wondered why the boys were here. Just as she opened her mouth to ask them, the door swung open again. A huge figure appeared in the doorway.
It was Evan.
“Mr. Seet!” Nicole yelped, surprised. “What brings you here?”
“Am I not welcome here?”
“No, not at all.”
Evan had just did her family’s business a huge favor this afternoon. How could she tell him that he wasn’t welcome at her place now?
“Mommy, we missed you! That’s why we made Daddy bring us here.”
As soon as Juan finished speaking, Kyle jumped in and exclaimed, “Yes! Daddy didn’t ask us to come here or anything like that.”
As he spoke, Kyle gave his father the side-eye.
“…”
Nicole understood immediately that Evan was the one who had made them come over. He had even coached the boys on how to explain the situation to her.
Anyway, Evan had come at just the right time.
Nicole glanced at Maya. Maya took one look at Evan and burst into tears again.
“What’s wrong?” Evan asked, concerned.
Nicole replied, “She wants to eat your spaghetti. I’ve already made her spaghetti, but she doesn’t want to eat mine.”
Evan walked over to Maya and caressed her hair gently. “Don’t cry anymore! Uncle Evan will make spaghetti for you, alright?”
Maya nodded her head frantically, tears still streaming down her face.
Evan wiped her tears away. From then on, she became a little shadow that followed Evan wherever he went.
Kyle and Juan were very confused about what was going on with Maya. Why was she suddenly so close to Daddy?
Nina crossed her arms and sighed. “She yearns for a dad too much. Every time she sees the other children being dropped off at school by their fathers, she stares at them with her huge, unblinking eyes.”
Hearing Maya’s words, Nicole’s heart ached.
Maya yearned for a father’s love.
But Nicole felt very conflicted. Should she let everyone know that Nina and Maya were actually Evan’s biological daughters?
She called Nina to her bedroom. After shutting the door behind them, Nicole asked her what she thought about the matter.
When she heard her mother’s suggestion, Nina objected immediately.
“Mommy, if you tell everyone, he’s going to take us away, just like he did with Juan! We might not be able to see you again in the future! I want to stay with you, Mommy. Please don’t tell everyone, I don’t want him to take us away!”
“…”
Nicole enveloped Maya in an embrace.
Oh, what to do now!
There was only one option left for Nicole, and that was to pray that Evan would lavish more care on Maya out of the kindness of his heart.
In the kitchen, Evan had finished cooking. He set the plate of spaghetti down before Maya, who started wolfing it down.
Seeing the girl eat like there was no tomorrow, a slight smile appeared on Evan’s cold face.
“Can you tell Uncle Evan what’s the difference between my spaghetti and the one your Mommy made?”
Evan had tasted a bit of Nicole’s spaghetti. It didn’t taste bad at all—actually, it even tasted better than what he usually made.
After pondering on this question for a while, Maya chirped, “I want the one you made, Uncle Evan.”
Evan coaxed, “The one your Mommy made tastes much better! You should give it a chance.”
As he spoke, he moved Nicole’s plate of spaghetti in front of Maya.
Maya looked at it in consternation before insisting, “I want the one made by you!”
Evan smiled. “So you don’t actually prefer my cooking over your mother’s! You just like me better, don’t you?”
