“Please don’t mind me for intruding, then,” Neil agreed immediately after hearing this. Then, he glanced at Ava and smiled before driving away. After Neil drove away, Raegan naturally called Ava upstairs.
Ava did not refuse and followed Raegan back to the apartment.
Raegan then went directly to the kitchen after entering the door. It seemed like she was ina good mood and was about to prepare to wash the vegetables to cook.
Ava followed her into the kitchen and looked at the portion Raegan prepared. Then, she could not help but laugh sarcastically.
Raegan stopped in her tracks in confusion. “Ava, what’s wrong?”
Ava looked at Raegan’s smiling face but could not help frowning.
“You already knew that the doctor and I would be here for dinner tonight, didn’t you?”
After Ava asked that, Raegan suddenly stopped cutting the vegetables and the sharp edge of the knife accidentally slid across her finger. Bright red blood instantly flowed from the wound.
Hiss! Raegan reflexively made a muffled sound. Upon seeing this scene, Ava suddenly blamed herself for asking this question at this time. Her heart ached when she saw Raegan’s wounded and bleeding finger.
“Where’s the first aid kit?” Ava asked hurriedly, knowing that they usually kept a small first aid kit at home.
Raegan did not care about this small wound, but she felt very happy to see Ava being so concerned about her.
“Ava, it doesn’t matter. It’s such a small wound. I don’t need the first aid kit,” Raegan said nonchalantly and washed the wound with clean water.
After seeing that Raegan was not taking it seriously, Ava hurriedly turned around and looked around the living room. Soon, she found a small first aid kit. After taking some alcohol cotton swabs and an adhesive bandage from it, she went back to the kitchen.
Before Raegan could speak, Ava placed the alcohol swab close to Raegan’s injured finger. Then, she grabbed Raegan’s hand with one hand and carefully dabbed the alcohol swab on Raegan’s bleeding finger.
In that instant, Raegan did not feel the slightest pain and only an unusual warmth in her heart. Despite the reluctance written on Ava’s face, Raegan could sense the genuine concern she felt for her.
Ava carefully sterilized Raegan’s wound, before putting on an adhesive bandage on it. Finally, she rolled up her sleeves and walked to the kitchen counter.
“I know how to make this too. Go sit over there.” As Ava said that, she picked up the kitchen knife and started preparing dinner herself.
Raegan stood in front of the counter, watching Ava’s skillful chopping. When she saw Ava washing and preparing the vegetable so skillfully, her eyes turned red.
“If I had been by your side to take care of you, you wouldn’t have had to learn how to take care of yourself at such a young age.”
Raegan sighed in pain.
After hearing this, Ava continued to cut the vegetables calmly. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this. It’s very important to be able to take care of myself. No one can accompany me forever.”
This answer from Ava made Raegan blame herself. “But I shouldn’t have left you alone when you were young and needed your parents’ care the most.”
Slam!
Ava slapped the kitchen knife on the counter. “It’s all in the past now. Don’t mention it again.”
She continued calmly, “What’s more, it’s too late to regret it now. Time will not go backward. You can only move forward in life.”
From what Ava said, it was clear that she had already seen through life, but Raegan felt even more distressed hearing that.
The damage she caused when she left her child when she was at a carefree age with no worries had caused irreparable damage to the child that could not be fixed for a lifetime.
Raegan was afraid that if she said anything more, she would trigger Ava again. Hence, she stopped talking.
Ava did not speak again. She just lowered her head and sorted out the ingredients silently.
Not long after, Neil arrived.
The way he entered the door was very natural. He was talking and laughing as if he belonged to this family. “I wanted to chat with my old friends today, but I didn’t think that Tom would suddenly have an important guest to see, so he left me there.”
Ava heard Neil’s voice in the kitchen. She looked up and brought the freshly made dishes to the table.
Only then did Neil notice that the person busying away in the kitchen was Ava. He stopped in his tracks and was slightly stunned.
Seeing Neil ina daze, Raegan quickly walked to his side and said in a low voice, “Tonight’s dishes were all made by Ava.”
When Neil heard this, a look of delight and surprise appeared on his face. However, he soon furrowed his brows.
“I wonder when my daughter started learning how to cook?”
He sighed regretfully and turned to face Raegan. 2 ‘It feels like our daughter has always been preoccupied. I wonder if it’s because of our future son-in-law.”
“It must be. Ava has lost a lot of weight taking care of Dan these days. What I don’t understand is Dan’s parents. That girl named Naya is very hateful and even spent money to instigate someone to tamper with Ava’s car, but for some reason, someone else became her scapegoat.”
The more Raegan spoke about the incident, the angrier she became. When she thought about how Naya’s original target was Ava, she was fuming. “That Naya person is vicious and merciless. She looks soft and weak on the surface, but her heart is malicious. I’ll never let her go unpunished like this.”
“I read about this incident on the internet, but I didn’t know at the time that the person who was almost harmed was our daughter.”
Neil’s expression also looked increasingly serious. “What’s the origin of this Naya person? How could someone be willing to take the blame for her?”
“It’s probably because of money. They still can’t get to the bottom of this yet.” As soon as Raegan finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of Ava coming out of the kitchen. Then, Raegan quickly took two steps back and drew some distance from Neil.
Ava noticed this, but she just smiled faintly. “Food is ready. We can eat now.”
Neil hurriedly responded with a smile, “I heard that you’re the one who made the dishes, Miss Long, so I really want to try them.”
Ava did not answer Neil.
After the three of them walked to the dining room and sat down together, Neil picked up his fork and tried some food. A delicious taste started dancing on his taste buds. This joyful feeling could not be described by words.
“This is really the best dish I’ve ever eaten.” Neil could not control his excitement and praised passionately.
Ava smiled when she heard this. Then, she parted her lips indifferently, “Dr. Long, with your status, you must have tasted countless delicacies before. Why do you have such a high evaluation of an ordinary home-cooked meal like this? What’s more, the dishes I cook are not half as good as my mother’s.”
Upon hearing Ava’s words, Neil immediately denied it. “How could they be the same? No matter how good those delicacies are, they can’t compare to these because my precious—”
Neil almost blurted out the words ‘precious daughter’ but stopped himself because of a look from Raegan.
He stopped quickly and coughed twice to smooth things over. “I mean, this is a home-cooked dish that you made by yourself, Miss Long. It’s rare for me to have a chance to taste it. So, of course, I think it’s unique and also extraordinarily delicious.”
“I don’t think that’s the reason.” Ava suddenly refuted what Neil said. She slowly put down the fork in her hand and raised her eyes to look at Neil, who was suddenly stunned.
“Actually, you meant to say because it was made by your precious daughter, right?”
Ava’s answer shocked Raegan and Neil.
“Am I right?” Ava spoke again, looking at the two dazed people in front of her.
Raegan was quick to come back to her senses and quickly put down the fork in her hand. “Ava, this”
“Back then, you two colluded to deceive me. You left me alone next to the stall selling churros and never returned. Today, both of you are still working together to deceive me again.”
Ava said with a sarcastic bitter smile on the corners of her lips.
“Do you really think of me as your daughter?” When Ava asked this, her eyes were full of disappointment.
Raegan and Neil stood up nervously. “Ava, we didn’t mean to lie to you. It’s because ”
“Because you’re afraid that if I know he’s my irresponsible father from back then, I’ll reject and refuse to acknowledge him, right?”
Ava interrupted Raegan and asked coldly. Then, she laughed.
“Don’t worry, I won’t reject him. It’s a rare chance for Dr. Long to examine Dan, and that’s all I want. But other than that, there’s no relationship between us.”
After decisively saying that, Ava turned around and left.
She picked up her bag and walked toward the door.
“Ava!”
“Ava!”
Neil and Raegan quickly chased after Ava at the same time.
“Ava, I didn’t mean to lie to you. Really! When I first met you on the street, I didn’t know that you were my daughter. I was really happy to see you again, but I didn’t dare to face you…”
Neil’s voice became softer and softer the more he spoke.
“Ava, I don’t dare to ask for your forgiveness at all. As long as I can sit and have a meal with you and chat with you, I’ll be satisfied.”
Neil looked at Ava’s back, and his eyes turned red unconsciously.
After listening to Neil’s words, Ava could not help clenching her fists.
She took a deep breath and slowly turned to face Neil and Raegan, who were both clearly disheartened. “Actually, when we ate together last night, I already knew the truth but I told myself to pretend not to. You’ re that irresponsible father whom I don’t want to face but you’re also the neurologist who can help Dan. I’m really conflicted. Can you understand this feeling?”
After she said that, Ava turned around and strode away.
Raegan and Neil kept calling Ava’s name to stop her, but they also knew that Ava would not look back.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.