This Time Hi Be the Villain’s Favorite Daughter novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148 Can I Have Your Dad?

Maya’s neck felt cold. Toby’s hands were freezing. She shivered.

She pressed her palms together and leaned in, eyes wide, pulling the most cartoonishly adoring face she could manage.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll go to bed early and be a perfect student!” The words tumbled out at top speed. “Please, Toby, I love you so much, please don’t tell Mom!”

Toby pressed his palm against her forehead and pushed her back.

He studied her face carefully. He’d heard what he wanted to hear, and for once, he didn’t give the two kids a hard time.

“Let’s go.”

Back at Toby’s place, Maya changed out of her clothes and bolted for the shower, then bed.

She was beyond exhausted.

But she’d barely been lying down for five minutes when Alfred appeared in her doorway, freshly showered, wearing pajamas, holding his phone. Staring at her in silence.

“What?”

She looked at him, confused. It was the middle of the night, and he was still awake.

“Gaming.”

Alfred’s dark eyes locked onto her.

Maya could’ve sworn she detected a sliver of excitement buried under that flat monotone.

Gaming. Gaming. Gaming.

And from his phone’s mic, a teammate was yelling, “Who sleeps at this hour? Get up, let’s keep going!” Maya wanted to scream. Alfred had turned into a gaming addict overnight. She snatched the phone out of his hand and discovered that the voice belonged to the same friend they’d been playing with online recently.

“We’re going to bed!” Maya announced into the mic. “We have school tomorrow!”

She was genuinely baffled. Alfred had been running around with her all day. Wasn’t he tired? Where did all this energy come from?

Maybe it was some kind of conservation of energy thing. He’d been in standby mode for so long that once someone cracked open the door to a new world, all that stored-up power came flooding out.

“Wait, hold on. Are you two elementary schoolers? Who goes to bed this early?”

A bright, clear voice came through the speaker.

Maya said yes.

The guy flipped instantly, suddenly righteous. “Kids need their sleep! What are you doing playing games? Study hard! Be good! Turn off the phone and go to bed!”

Alfred got kicked out of the party.

He stood there holding his phone, looking faintly crushed.

Now she was quieter. The carelessness was gone. She almost seemed meek.

Maya gave her a passing glance and was about to look away when their eyes met head-on.

A second later, to Maya’s alarm, Kaia walked right up to her.

“Can I talk to you, Maya?”

Maya looked around. No one was paying attention. She set her bag down and nodded. “Sure. Right here. What’s up?”

Kaia’s hands twisted together anxiously. She didn’t want to do this here. If the other kids found out her identity was fake, would they still like her the way they used to?

She wasn’t sure. Instinct told her to eliminate that risk. Her voice turned pleading. “Can we go somewhere else? Please?”

Nice try.

Maya dropped face-first onto her desk. Naptime.

Kaia looked like she was about to cry.

Realizing she had zero leverage, Kaia pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. “Maya, can you…”

Maya kept her head down but her ears up, curious what Kaia was going to say.

She didn’t expect what came next. “Can I have your dad?”