Chapter 89


    Chapter 89: Art Lessons


    Moana


    As I walked around the room and helped the children with their art, I suddenly heard the sound of the


    floorboards creaking in the doorway. Thinking that it was Sophiaing to check on how everything


    was going, I looked up with a smile.


    That smile quickly faded, however, when I realized it wasn’t Sophia, but was in fact Edrick who was


    standing there. He had an indiscernible expression on his face and stood as still as a statue in the


    doorway with his hands in his pockets, his eyes locked on mine for several long, palpable moments.


    Was I seeing things, or had the cold Alpha billionaire finally realized the fault in breaking his promise to


    his daughter?


    But before I could even process the fact that he apparently seemed to have changed his mind for


    whatever reason, E snapped her head up and gasped loudly.


    “Daddy!” she eximed, jumping up out of her chair and running up to him. “You came!”


    Edrick put on a smile and scooped E up, hugging her tightly and nting a kiss on her cheek while


    the other children also threw down their paint brushes and ran up to him. “Mr. Morgan!” they shouted


    excitedly, jumping up and down on their toes as they swarmed around him. Much to my surprise, Edrick


    set E down and then proceeded to greet each and every child… By name, no less.


    “Hello, ra,” he said, pinching the little girl’s cheek. “Hello, Matthew. Nice shirt you’ve got on today.


    Joshua…”


    While all of this went on, I just stood there in a state of abject shock with wide eyes and an open mouth.


    It seemed that the Alpha billionaire changed his mind after all and wound up keeping his promise to his


    daughter; that didn’t mean that I wasn’t still furious with him, not only for initially breaking his promise


    but also for reeking of women’s perfume and being passed out drunkenly on the couch, but my attitude


    softened toward him a little bit as I watched him being so kind with the children.


    Finally, Edrick stood and looked straight at me. “Am I interrupting an art lesson?” he asked.


    “Um… Well—” I stuttered, still taken off guard.


    N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner.


    Before I could get my words out, thankfully E stepped in. “We’re painting flowers, daddy,” she said,


    grabbing his hand and leading him over to her work station while the other children returned to their


    paintings.


    “Oooh.” Edrick stuck his hands in his pockets as he peered down at his daughter’s canvas, which


    contained anything but a flower at this point. “That’s very good, E,” he said.


    E grinned. “Are you gonna paint with us?”


    “Oh, honey, I don’t know…”


    “Pleeease?” E begged, sping her hands together.


    Edrick finally shrugged and nodded, letting out a sigh. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll paint with you.”


    Even though I was supposed to be mad at Edrick right now, the fact that he agreed to join the lesson


    made my attitude toward him soften even more. Without a word, I walked over to the supply cab


    and grabbed a spare apron for him to wear, then handed it to him along with a small canvas and a


    paintbrush. “There are paints on the tables,” I said, gesturing around.


    Edrick silently took the apron and hesitantly put it on, then made his way over to one of the tables and


    sat down. He lookedicallyrge in the chair that was meant for a child, causing the other children


    to giggle and point. But, much to my surprise, he only smiled and began to spread paint on his canvas.


    Soon, we had all returned to our lesson. The children seemed to be having even more fun now with the


    Alpha billionaire, who painted rather sloppily and wound up sttering quite a bit of paint on his


    sleeves. The children pointed and poked fun at him, but he didn’t seem to mind the paint getting on his


    nice white shirt and onlyughed along with them, poking fun at himself as well.


    The lesson went on for much longer than expected because of this, but I didn’t mind. Soon, I’d almost


    entirely forgotten about the perfume and our subsequent argument and only found myself smiling and


    laughing along with Edrick and the children. The Alpha billionaire was a surprisingly bad artist, and


    almost seemed as though he’d never even picked up a paintbrush before in his entire life. Watching


    him struggle was endearing, and at one point I watched with a tear in my eye as one of the children


    walked up to him and put her little hand around his while he painted, guiding his hand along the


    canvas.


    Finally, however, the lesson had toe to an end. I pped my hands to get the children’s — and


    Edrick’s — attention, then instructed them to get up and walk around to look at everyone else’s artwork.


    “Remember, no touching,” I said, watching as the children milled around and looked at their peers’


    artwork. Edrick stood as well and joined them; he almost looked like a big kid on his own, wandering


    around with his hands sped behind his back. It admittedly made me smile a bit, and I didn’t even


    mind that he seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me.


    Finally, the group stopped at Edrick’s stationst. There was a long silence as the children stared down


    at his artwork, which was a sloppy mess that didn’t even remotely resemble a flower.


    Just then, ra pointed her stubby little finger and giggled. “Mr. Morgan,” she said, “don’t you know


    what a flower looks like?”


    “Yeah,” Joshua added, “that looks like a… hm…”


    “It looks like a hot dog! With hair!” E yelled, causing the children to erupt in a chorus of giggles. I


    finally walked over and looked down at the painting; it did, in fact, look like a hot dog with hair. The


    ‘stem’ of the flower was thick and red, and the ‘petals’ were just big brown swirls that resembled a mop


    of curly hair. If he’d added a bun and a smiley face, and maybe some arms and legs, it easily could


    have been a children’s cartoon character.


    Stifling augh, I opened my mouth to tell the children to be nice… But before I could, the Alpha


    billionaire threw his head back andughed loudly, pping his paint-covered hand on his apron. His


    laughter caused the children tough even more, and even brought a smile to my face; I wasn’t sure if I


    was smiling more because it was funny, however, or if I was smiling because it made me happy to see


    the cold werewolf CEO so full of joy.


    “I guess you’re right, now that I look at it,” he said finally, wiping away the tears that formed in his eyes


    fromughing so hard. “I guess I’m not an artist, am I?”


    Edrick then turned to look at me. His steely gray eyes, which had just been full of mirth, softened as we


    looked at each other. I could sense an apologetic air about his expression, and it made my heart flutter


    a bit.


    “Well,” I said finally, clearing my throat, “everyone can be an artist with plenty of practice.”


    Edrick nodded. “Maybe my skills will get better with more of your lessons, Miss Moana,” he said.