Chapter284
He owed it to them working together.
With that, Todd started eating with measured, tiny bites.
Watching the kids tuck into the noodles, Ivan felt an unexpected sense of achievement.
So, this was what it felt like to watch others enjoy something you made.
He took a bite himself, and his face instantly froze.
The flavor wasn't even a tenth as good as the meals prepared by the Winston family's chef.
Yet, the kids manage to eat it without batting an eye.
He pursed his lips and asked, "Angela, Todd, how do you like the spaghetti?"
Angela's face lit up with a radiant smile.
Todd said in a soft voice, "This is pretty good for your first try. Thank you, Mr. Ivan."
A smile curled the corners of Ivan's usually indifferent lips. He looked down and finished the unsavory spaghetti with clean bites.
After the meal, he took the three empty bowls to the kitchen to wash and sterilize them.
Meanwhile, Todd took Angela upstairs to the bathroom for a bath.
When Ivan finished his chores and returned, he found Angela sitting on the living room sofa, with Todd gently drying her hair.
"Let me do that." Ivan took over, carefully drying the little girl's hair.
Angela leaned back against the sofa. She would occasionally look up at Ivan, her gaze shining with adoration.
Todd sat on the opposite couch with a book resting on his knees.
It was a fairy tale book. Todd flipped a few pages and casually asked, "Angie, we finished 'Snow White' yesterday. What story would you like to hear today?"
Angela reached out and took the book. Turning to another page, she pushed the book into Ivan's lap.
Ivan looked surprised. "Do you want me to read you a story?"
Angela nodded vigorously and let out an emphatic sound.
Ivan picked up the book, a well-known fairy tale, "A Cinderella Story."
He settled down on the couch, and his beautiful, thin lips parted to let out a voice as resonant as a cello filling the living room.
"Once upon a time, there was a kind-hearted young girl named Cinderella."
Angela loved story time. She had been sitting upright on the sofa, but as the story began, she couldn't help but lie down, resting her head on Ivan's lap and looking up at his face, her eyes sparkling like shining jewels.
Todd was lounging on the opposite couch, unwittingly drawn into the narrative world that Ivan was crafting.
He wasn't one to enjoy story time, let alone fairy tales, yet now he had no choice but to follow Cinderella into an enchanted realm.
"Cinderella, in her sparkling glass slippers, attended the prince's ball, dazzling as the prettiest girl there. The prince invited her to dance, and there they were, whirling around the dance floor."
Ivan's voice seemed to have casted a spell that gently closed the little girl's eyelids.
She nestled against his thigh, sound asleep, with a sweet smile curling at the corners of her mouth, as if she was deep in a lovely dream.
Ivan set the storybook aside and glanced up, only to find Todd across from him also dozing off.
The kid was normally guarded, always wearing a shielded expression. Ivan hadn't expected Todd to fall asleep under these circumstances.
It seemed like Todd might start to accept his presence in their lives.
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