The Villain Mom Awakens — Going Viral by Parenting on a Reality Show-Chapter 21: Annie Misses Dad

"Rachel, you’re back?"

A look of delight crossed Chelsea Raines’s face.

Renee Jennings offered a faint smile and sat back down in her seat.

"Looks like everyone is full?" the tour guide asked. "I wonder, was everyone satisfied with the meal?"

"Not satisfied!" Jared Woods shouted. "There wasn’t enough of the tasty noodles! It wasn’t nearly enough to eat!" To distinguish between the noodles made by Naomi Kenway and Renee Jennings, he had added his own prefix based on his understanding.

The tour guide laughed. "It seems Naomi Kenway’s noodles are very popular!"

"Next up is our next activity. Come on, all the children can get a little red flower from me. Then, you’ll give this flower to the person you think is the ’God of Cookery’!"

The little guests collected their flowers from the tour guide. With an unspoken understanding, all the children except for Nathan Lynch started walking toward Naomi Kenway.

"Jared Woods!"

Chelsea Raines called out to him, her tone somewhat forceful.

’Should I listen to Mom and give my little red flower to Aunt Rachel?’ Remembering what his mother had said, Jared Woods hesitated.

"Jared Woods," Carina Sanders called out to him. She said seriously, "Our teacher told us that dishonest children’s noses grow long!"

Jared Woods trembled. He stopped looking at Chelsea Raines and followed his heart, handing the little red flower to Naomi Kenway.

The moment he handed over the flower, a rare doubt formed in his young mind. ’Could someone who cooks so well really be a bad person, like Mom said?’

Carina Sanders’s voice wasn’t quiet, and Nathan Lynch heard her clearly. His steps faltered for a moment and a conflicted look crossed his face, but in the end, he walked resolutely toward Renee Jennings.

"Mommy, don’t be sad. My little red flower is for you!"

"Thank you, Mona," Renee Jennings said as she took the flower.

Nathan Lynch began to chatter on about how delicious Renee Jennings’s noodles were, but he was soon cut off impatiently by her. "Mona, Mommy’s a little tired."

"Oh..." A hurt expression crossed Nathan Lynch’s face as he sat back down on his little stool.

When the final results were announced, Naomi Kenway had four little red flowers, and Renee Jennings had one. Naomi had beaten Renee by an overwhelming margin.

Even the tour guide seemed to find the result incredible. If he didn’t know for a fact that the production team hadn’t given Naomi Kenway any undue help, he would have suspected the noodles weren’t made by her at all.

What on earth had enabled a disaster in the kitchen to make such delicious noodles?

The tour guide asked this question directly. "Naomi, I remember you didn’t seem very skilled at cooking. What led to such a huge improvement?"

The other guests all looked over as well.

Naomi Kenway answered without a second thought, "Because my son loves knife-cut noodles."

"So you worked hard to make delicious knife-cut noodles for him?" The tour guide nodded, then smiled. "It seems Annie is your motivation to keep moving forward."

"Let’s give a round of applause to congratulate Naomi Kenway for receiving the most little red flowers and becoming our ’God of Cookery’!"

Renee Jennings clapped distractedly, her hateful gaze practically burning a hole through Naomi Kenway.

She watched as Naomi Kenway smiled faintly, accepting the praise and congratulations from those around her.

’But that kind of star treatment, with everyone fawning over her, should have been mine.’

’I was too careless this time, giving Naomi Kenway the chance to surpass me. I won’t let my guard down again. This is the last time Naomi will ever get the better of me.’

She vowed silently, a vicious glint flashing in her eyes.

"The mysterious prize for the winner is... a sumptuous breakfast!" The tour guide chuckled. "Congratulations, Naomi and Annie! You two won’t have to wake up early to fight for breakfast tomorrow. As for the other guests, you’ll have to continue tomorrow."

Naomi Kenway raised an eyebrow. ’A pretty good prize.’ She didn’t mind waking up early, but saving the time spent fighting for breakfast would give her more time for other things.

Naomi Kenway had received four little red flowers in total. She handed two of them to Ian Shaw, then held out her hand. "Come on, Annie. Let’s celebrate our victory together!"

"Together?"

"That’s right. If Annie hadn’t found the ingredients, Mommy wouldn’t have been able to make the knife-cut noodles."

Ian Shaw’s eyes flickered. He reached out his small hand and clasped Naomi Kenway’s larger one.

’Winning with Mom feels so good.’

[Is there something shady going on with this stupid show? Rachel has won first place in a cooking competition before, how could she possibly lose to Naomi Kenway? This has to be scripted, right? How can they be so unfair to our Rachel?]

[What do I do? My friend and I bet on who would win. One of us guessed Renee Jennings, the other guessed Ruby Preston, and we both lost...]

[How could it be unfair? This is a live broadcast, they can’t edit it. Can Renee Jennings’s crazy fans please be a little more rational?]

[Renee Jennings’s first-place prize in that cooking competition was probably just hype. For all we know, the food pictures on her Weibo are all staged and she didn’t even make them herself!]

[Actually, if you look closely, the food Renee Jennings made isn’t that different from what she posts on Weibo. At most, it’s the difference between an unedited photo and a polished one. Renee isn’t weak, it’s just that Naomi Kenway is too strong. Fam, who gets me? Naomi’s knife-cut noodles looked so delicious, right? I wanted to lick the screen!!]

...

*

After the gathering ended, Naomi Kenway walked home holding Ian Shaw’s hand. It was already eight o’clock at night, and Ian had yawned several times.

"Annie, just hang in there a little longer. We’ll be home soon."

Ian Shaw nodded. "Mommy, how much longer until we get home?"

"Are you feeling homesick?"

Ian Shaw nodded. "I miss Daddy. Daddy said he would take me to the amusement park this weekend!"

Naomi Kenway’s steps faltered. Ethan Shaw was, by all accounts, a competent and good father. Although he was always busy with work, he would squeeze out as much time as possible to spend with Ian Shaw. Her own past efforts as a parent truly paled in comparison.

"We’re staying here for three days and two nights, and tomorrow is the last day," Naomi Kenway comforted him. "You’ll be able to see Daddy very soon."

"What about Mommy?" Ian Shaw looked up, his large, grape-like eyes still sparkling in the night. "What about Mommy? Will you go to the amusement park with us too?"

’My relationship with Ethan is so strained, it would just be awkward if I went.’ "Since you’ve already made plans to go with Daddy, Annie, Mommy won’t tag along and get in the way."

"But... I want Mommy to go with us."

Ian Shaw began to wheedle. "Other kids get to go to the amusement park with both their mommy and daddy. Annie wants that too."

His last sentence instantly softened Naomi Kenway’s heart, and she could only agree for now.

Naomi Kenway realized that Ian Shaw’s childhood seemed to be missing a lot compared to other children, which left a bitter taste in her mouth. But her relationship with Ethan Shaw wasn’t something that could be fixed overnight...