Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
For him, it didn\u2019t matter where they ate. Even the most fun\u00a0<\/p>\n
places didn\u2019t interest him much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he was going with his mom, that was different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Kev know about those kinds of restaurants?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The little guy nodded firmly and answered seriously, \u201cThe kids\u00a0<\/p>\n
at preschool told me about them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing this, Madeleine\u2019s heart inexplicably ached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought that she had probably rarely, or perhaps never,\u00a0<\/p>\n
taken her son to a place like that, forcing him to just listen to\u00a0<\/p>\n
other kids talk about it with an envious look on his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine felt a tightness in her chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
She sniffled. \u201cKev, if you like it, how about Mommy spends\u00a0<\/p>\n
more time with you from now on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine held out her pinky. \u201cLet\u2019s pinky promise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A smile touched Kevin\u2019s lips, and he immediately hooked his\u00a0<\/p>\n
little finger with hers. He loved this feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The feeling of making a promise with his mom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The car pulled up to the family\u2013friendly restaurant, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine glanced at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was three minutes before her meeting time with Roderick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was about to go in first when the driver said, \u201cHe\u2019s here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She rolled down the window and saw that Roderick\u2019s car had\u00a0<\/p>\n
indeed arrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRight on time, Mr. Livingston.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just as she said that, Madeleine noticed Roderick was holding\u00a0<\/p>\n
a bouquet of flowers as he got out of the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
A blue\u2013themed bouquet that complemented the color of her\u00a0<\/p>\n
clothes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, how did you know what color I\u2019d be wearing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat minds think alike.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick walked over with a smile, handed the flowers to\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine, and then leaned in to give her a kiss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s face immediately flushed, and she quickly turned\u00a0<\/p>\n
to look at her son behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s with this guy? Why does he have to kiss me every time\u00a0<\/p>\n
he gives me flowers?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned and saw that her son\u2019s expression was, as expected,\u00a0<\/p>\n
a little resentful\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine frowned slightly. Thinking about how her son already\u00a0<\/p>\n
had some emotional detachment, she irritably hit Roderick\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t think to get a gift for our son, did you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick said, pulling a small teddy bear from his other hand\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
like a magic trick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t big, just palm\u2013sized, and didn\u2019t look particularly special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKevin.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick waved him over, and the little guy walked up, looking\u00a0<\/p>\n
up at him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, Daddy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin took it and started playing with it, his head bowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From where Madeleine was standing, just as her son took the\u00a0<\/p>\n
bear, she caught a glimpse of the embroidered letters on the\u00a0<\/p>\n
back of its clothes\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wait a minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked down again at the wrapping paper on the flowers in\u00a0<\/p>\n
her hand, and her face fell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine leaned in, annoyed, speaking in a voice only Roderick\u00a0<\/p>\n
could hear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWas this bear a free gift with the flowers?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick answered with total confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So what if it was free? It\u2019s still a gift, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Remembering to grab a little bear for his son while buying a gift\u00a0<\/p>\n
for his wife was already pretty damn good, okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine put a hand to her forehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why did she suddenly feel a little sorry for her son?\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the little guy didn\u2019t seem to mind; he was just excited about\u00a0<\/p>\n
having a nice meal with his mom and dad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go, Kev. Mommy ordered a little cake for you, I know\u00a0<\/p>\n
you\u2019ll love it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks, Mommy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The family\u2013friendly restaurant was located in the revolving\u00a0<\/p>\n
restaurant on the top floor of a downtown building, the entire\u00a0<\/p>\n
space decorated like an enchanted fairytale forest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The entrance had twinkling star lights and a giant mushroom\u00a0<\/p>\n
archway, with waiters in mascot costumes handing out\u00a0<\/p>\n
balloons to the children.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine had found out before they came that the private\u00a0<\/p>\n
dining rooms here were themed after fairytales.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She remembered her son\u2019s favorite story was The Little Prince,\u00a0<\/p>\n
so she specifically booked that theme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The little guy\u2019s eyes went wide when he saw it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you like it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin nodded enthusiastically.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he remembered something and asked, \u201cMommy, can you\u00a0<\/p>\n
take a picture of me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine had even brought several cameras just for this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine was taking pictures of Kevin, and after watching for\u00a0<\/p>\n
a moment, Roderick unconsciously took out his phone and\u00a0<\/p>\n
snapped a photo too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two minutes later, Mr. Livingston, who hadn\u2019t posted on his\u00a0<\/p>\n
moments in ages, updated it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 186\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u3010This is enough.\u3011\u00a0<\/p>\n
The accompanying picture was carefully chosen. Madeleine\u00a0<\/p>\n
was holding a camera that blocked her face, and from the angle\u00a0<\/p>\n
of the shot, you could only see her graceful figure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other side was Kevin\u2019s bright, beaming smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Less than a minute after he posted, dozens of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Night Carved Paths Into Silence by Zyrel Ash 186 Chapter 186\u00a0 For him, it didn\u2019t matter where they ate. Even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-heart-surgeons-last-patient-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}