Chapter 390



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It seemed she could still feel the warmth of soft lips on her cheek.

Tanya touched her cheek, looked at the small, shy Mia in front of her. Suddenly, a feeling welled up in her: would she also feel that way if her child kissed her?

She was speechless for a while.

Seeing him freeze, Mia became frightened. Her eyes reddened and she hurried to ask, “Are you angry, Miss Turner?”

Tanya didn’t know if she should be angry or not.

In fact, she even felt that her decision to teach Mia to dance was a mistake in itself.

The child she had with Joel was gone.

Yet here she was, teaching Joel’s daughter to dance. In fact, when he kissed her, he didn’t even push her away. It was as if he had already accepted her.

How could she do that?

Tanya was helping Mia stretch her legs, but suddenly she stood up. She wanted to say coldly, ‘Don’t kiss me again in the future.’

But when she looked at Mia’s round eyes and pointed little face, she just couldn’t bring herself to say it. In fact, the words on the tip of his tongue even changed. He said, “No, I’m not.”

Mia nodded. “So, are you happy?”

Tanya wanted to say no, but seeing the hopeful look in Mia’s eyes, she impulsively replied, “Yes.”

Her answer instantly made Mia’s eyes light up.

She said shyly, “My mother says I can’t kiss you so lightly, Miss Turner. Besides, she would feel sad if I had physical contact with her, so I thought you would feel that way too. I only kissed you because I heard her say she wanted a kiss. She’s really not mad at me?”

Her mother wouldn’t allow him to touch her?

Tanya was dumbfounded.

She didn’t know how other mothers behaved, but if it was her daughter, she couldn’t get enough of kissing her. Besides, whenever she went out, she saw a lot of children behaving very intimately with their mothers.

She didn’t expect such a little girl like Mia to be so pitiful.

With that thought in mind, she said, “It’s true, I’m very pleased. Miss Turner likes to keep in touch with the children.”

“That’s great!”

Mia stood up and held Tanya’s hand. She pulled her head down and then kissed her on the cheek again. She said, “I’ll make you happy every day from now on, Ms. Turner!”

He pursed his lips and flashed her a shy smile.

Tanya simply didn’t dare say any words of rejection in front of such a well-behaved and adorable little girl!

She ruffled Mia’s hair and asked, “Doesn’t it hurt when you stretch?”

Mia nodded immediately. “It does hurt!”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?” asked Tanya curiously.

After she decided to take Mia on as a student, she had added an hour of class for her after the garden every day. Since there was no suitable place in the kindergarten, he had taken her home.

Fine beads of sweat had formed on Mia’s forehead as she danced, but she had not complained of being tired.

After dancing, Tanya had even told her to stretch her legs.

One should always stretch well after exercise. Besides, Mia was already five years old. To be honest, it was already a bit late for a dancer because the body would no longer be flexible enough. That’s why Tanya had also taught her some difficult moves, like leaning backwards.

Despite that, Mia hadn’t made a single sound from start to finish.

Just when she wondered if it was because the girl’s pain receptors were less sensitive than others’, Mia replied, “I can’t complain about it hurting.”

Tanya was taken aback. “Why?”

When she was a child, she always screamed at even the slightest pain when she practiced. This way, the teacher would take pity on her.

Mia replied, “Because daddy will be unhappy if I am in pain. If daddy is unhappy, mommy will be unhappy too.”

Unhappy?

Tanya frowned. Suddenly, she began to feel sorry for the girl.

Although she lived in a well-to-do family and had both her parents with her, she led too frustrating a life. While other five-year-olds from normal families were carefree, she didn’t even have the right to complain when she suffered!

Suddenly, Tanya became a little angry with Joel.

How could he treat a child like that?

It didn’t matter, children were the angels of the world, they were the most innocent!

Tanya said to Mia, “Mia, in the future you will be able to speak freely without holding back at Miss Turner’s house. If you are tired from training, you can say so. If you are sore from stretching, you can also shout. If you are thirsty or hungry, you can also tell me. I’ll set it all up for you.”

Mia’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Mia hesitated for a while. Then, she ducked her head and asked somewhat embarrassed, “So…. Can you make me a cake?”

Make her a cake?

Tanya found the request strange, but agreed. “You must be hungry after practicing for so long. All right, let’s go downstairs.”

Tanya used to be very bad at housework, but when she went abroad and lived alone, she had to cook for herself, so her cooking skills had improved over the years.

Baking a cake was no problem for her.

Some time later, she came out of the kitchen with a simple cupcake in her hands. She was a little embarrassed as she said, “I can only bake simple things like this, Mia. You don’t mind, do you?”

Mia immediately shook her head. “Of course not, Miss Turner!”

Tanya smiled and said, “You can eat now.”

Mia picked up her fork. She was about to eat when she suddenly said, “I’ll give you half, Miss Turner.”

“No, that’s okay.”

A smiling Tanya went back into the kitchen and then came out with another muffin. “I’ve made a few. Come, let’s eat.”

Mia stared at the cupcake. Suddenly, she clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and seemed to think of something. Only then did she start eating the muffin.

Tanya watched her, amused. The girl had the sense to say a prayer before eating.

The two ate their respective muffins with gusto.

When Tanya saw the girl’s cheeks puffy from eating so much, she felt a sense of accomplishment come over her, especially when Mia finished more than one cupcake from the batch she had baked.

She ate so much that even her belly had swollen.

When they finished eating, he went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Then, he said to Mia, “In the future, you can come here to practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The rest of the time you can play. You’re still young, so you shouldn’t limit yourself.”

Mia pursed her lips and smiled at him as she nodded. “Okay, Miss Turner.”

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Tanya knew it must be Joel coming to pick up Mia.

She looked at the clock in surprise: sure enough, it was already seven o’clock. She hadn’t expected time to pass so quickly. Reluctantly, she helped Mia carry her backpack and headed for the door.

When she opened the door, Joel was already outside.

Tanya didn’t look at him. Instead, she waved to Mia and said, “See you tomorrow in the garden, Mia~.”

“Okie-Dokie. See you tomorrow, Miss Turner~.”

Mia took Joel’s hand after speaking. Just as he was about to leave, he looked at Tanya again and said, “Thank you for today’s birthday cake, Miss Turner. It was really delicious.”

Birthday cake?

Tanya was taken aback. Then, she heard Joel say, “It’s Mia’s birthday today.”

Birthday…

Tanya felt as if a bomb had suddenly exploded in her head.

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