Both Nicole and Evan were surprised to hear Mayaâs words.
Quietly, the latter turned Nicole. âMaya is ranked first among her schoolâs public speakers?â
Nicole had a similar look of disbelief on her face. Nina had been saying that Maya could not express herself well since young. She was surprised to hear that her daughter had become the best public speaker in her school.
The womanâs heart soared in delight. âMayaâs a smart kid too.â
Just as her words left her mouth, Nina responded, âStop bluffing. Weâre in the same grade. How can I not know that youâre ranked first?â
âHahaha! I dream of becoming the first. Iâve never told anyone about it, so how could you have known?â
âYou⦠Maya, youâre getting more and more shameless.â
Tilting her chin higher, Maya grinned. âOf course. Look who our daddy is. Look who our uncle is. Look who our brother is. I learn from them.â
Evan was at a loss for words.
At the same time, Nicole cleared her throat. So Evan, Davin, and Juan are shameless people to Maya. Nicole was sure that the brother Maya was talking about was Juan, not Kyle.
When she turned to look at Evan, she saw his sullen expression.
âDonât take the words of a kid to heart. Maya is just joking.â
In the beginning, Evan had been worried about Ninaâs state. Hence, he was relieved to hear Ninaâs response. He felt it was a good idea for Maya to talk to Nina; it was better than the girl wallowing in her sorrow alone.
He glimpsed at Nicole and replied, âI wonât take the words of a child to heart. Mayaâs doing the right thing.â
The latter nodded. âYes. Nina tends to make things difficult for herself. Maya should be with her. She really is doing the right thing. Sheâs such a sensible kid.â
Evan hummed in agreement. Sensing that Maya was enough of a company for Nina, he turned to retreat to his bedroom. Nicole followed after him. After closing the door, they started talking about how they should educate Nina on todayâs incident.
Nicole was the first to speak. âItâs also our fault for Ninaâs mistake this time. We didnât teach her well enough, and thatâs why she used the wrong method. Iâll have a talk with her.â
âSheâs too aggressive. Thatâs why sheâll do anything to be better than the others. Weâll have to talk to her about this. Right. Her earlier makeup teacher said Nina can do her own research now, but I donât think sheâs great at the ingredients section yet. So, Iâm thinking of getting someone capable to continue teaching her.â
âYou want her to learn more?â
âYes. Sheâs still young â itâs good for her to learn more things. Itâs better than her having the time to come in contact with all those nonsense.â
âDo you have someone in mind?â
âIâll ask John to keep an eye out for anyone who can teach her. You should watch out for her moods.â
âOf course.â
After they were done discussing Ninaâs matter, someone abruptly knocked on the door. It was the butler; he was here to tell them dinner was served.
When the two entered the dining room, they saw Maya taking a plate of food.
âMaya, what are you doing?â
âIâm giving this to Nina. She doesnât want to come down for dinner.â
At that, the young girl brought the plate upstairs and knocked on Ninaâs door.
âNina, open up. Itâs time for dinner.â
âIâm not hungry. I donât want to eat anything.â
âThe foodâs really sumptuous today. They have your favorite crawfish for dinner today.â
When Maya realized that Nina was not going to open the door, she brought the plate back to the dining room and put it on the table. âDaddy, Mommy, Nina doesnât want to eat.â
âIgnore her then. Weâll eat by ourselves. Sheâll come to her senses when sheâs hungry.â With that said, Evan began digging into the food.
âMommy, letâs eat. Nina will be fine even if she skips a meal or two. Youâre not recovered yet, so you should eat more,â Maya said as she took more food to put on her motherâs plate.
However, Nicole was distracted. She wondered if Nina would hold a grudge against Evan. If the girl were to come to her senses about the incident, she would realize that the one at fault was herself.