Chapter 55 - Let's break up

As Masha brought the phone closer to her ear, she glanced over her shoulder at her little brother. The boy was sulking in the corner of the living room, giving off the impression that he had just received a big slap in the face.

Although the child appeared to have m.a.t.u.r.ed lately, he still threw silly tantrums whenever it concerned Gabriel. The mere existence of the teenage boy seemed to draw out all the childishness hidden inside his heart.

"What the hell did you say to my brother? He's shooting daggers at me," whispered Masha, feeling quite wronged.

In all honesty, she didn't want to become the next target of her brother's nasty pranks. Gabriel wasn't the only one who had been traumatized by the worm-flavored cupcake.

"…" There was a short silence before the teenager answered her question in an icy yet somewhat helpless tone, "Just that I didn't have much time and had to talk to you. But it felt like he didn't want to pass the phone to you, so I added that it was important and would answer his questions another day."

Gabriel paused for a second before resuming with a slight chuckle, "Coaxing your brother is getting harder by the day."

"He's actually quite sensible. When it's not about you."

"I've noticed that."

As an answer, Masha coughed twice, then changed the topic, "So, what's going on? I mean, it took you a few weeks to contact me. I was worried sick, you know?"

"Sorry, Angela locked me up in her villa, and Jake kept an eye on me, watching over my every move. With my outburst at the hospital, I now have to be very careful. Well, if I don't want to arouse their suspicion. So until today, I didn't find an opportunity to call you. To make matters worse, I also don't have my cellphone with me, making it quite difficult to call someone without them knowing it, with the landline phone in the living room and all."

"Of course, you don't have your cellphone! Why would she give it back to you?" sneered Masha, disdain distorting her beautiful face. "I bet she didn't even tell you that you own one."

"You nailed it. And Jake makes sure not to use his in front of me, making it so that I don't even have the chance to ask about it. Still, that's not the main problem. I think I won't be able to go to school for the moment being. It looks like Angela is planning on forcing me to home school for the next few months, using the excuse of doing it for my own good."

"What!?"

With a light scoff, Gabriel explained, "After all, I need plenty of rest as well as to get used to having no memories. According to her and the doctor, which she probably bribed, it would be extremely stressful for me to be thrown in a class with a bunch of strangers who know me very well while I don't even know their name, much less their face."

"You must be kidding me! How much more shameless can she get!"

"Knowing her, she can get much worse. You know very well that she has no morals. For her, the ends justify the means, and the ends she wants are not proper, to begin with."

There was a second of silence as the words sank in. Masha's mood turned bleaker until Gabriel opened his mouth's again, saying:

"But I do have some good news. If everything goes well, I will have a bit more freedom now that Jake went back home to attend school. And Angela can't stay with me for 24 hours a day as she still has work to do. Although I have to take care of Tristan, he is still a young child, so he is easy to fool. All in all, I should be able to contact you more often from now on."

"That's a start. But still, I won't be able to see you for a long time. It's quite depressing." Masha bit her lips before taking in a deep breath and adding, "Should we break up? It will give you more freedom if you're not with me anymore. Like it or not, Angela will be over the moon if that happens, and as a result, she will probably relax her vigilance a little, making it easier for you to investigate."

"Did I hear wrong, or did you suggest that we break up?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Who threatened me into this relationship again?"

"…" Masha coughed, and with an awkward laugh, she innocently asked, "What are you talking about? Who in their right mind would dare to threaten you?"

"I wonder."

A gentle smile bloomed on her face, and Masha whispered in a soft voice, "But if the relationship we presently have is holding you up, we might as well destroy it."

"Who said it is holding me up? Let's not make that woman too happy. I will find a solution as always, so don't worry. I'm fine. Sorry, I have to go. When I have the chance, I will call back."

"Wait! I maybe kind of stole my parents' cellphone. So, you can call that number instead of the landline number. This way, it will be easier to reach me. You remember the number, right?"

"Yes. That phone number is hard to forget. It is mostly made up of the same digit."

Eventually, Masha said goodbye and hung up, even though she didn't want to.

Afterward, she stared at the phone for a very long time until her back started to felt itchy. She slowly turned her head only to come face to face with her little brother, whose eyes were still shooting daggers at her.

"…"

Masha had forgotten him.

"Why didn't you pass the phone to me before hanging up? I had a few things to say to Gabriel," grunted the boy with a sullen face.

"I'm sorry. Gabriel was in a hurry, so I had to hang up."

"Is that so. And what was that, about breaking up? Aren't you two in love with each other?"

"Did you eavesdrop?"

"No, I didn't. I just didn't leave the living room. It's you who talked without a care about your surrounding."

"I thought you were busy sulking."

"Sulking doesn't mean that your ears stop working," replied the boy with a pout, crossing his arms before his small c.h.e.s.t.

Of course, Misha had only heard one side of the conversation, so he didn't understand everything, but there were still a few obvious things that he could deduce from his sister's words.

"So? The breakup? What's that?"

"Well," sighed Masha, rubbing her neck as she thought of how to explain herself. "You know, Gabriel's family situation is quite complicated. I do love him very much, but his parents don't approve of our relationship, and right now, his stepmother is making things difficult for him because of it, amongst other things. So we should break up, or at least pretend that we have."

"Who cares about what his parents think! If you love each other, what's the problem with you two being together! You can do whatever you want! It's not like you're doing something bad," grunted Misha, feeling quite indignant on his sister's behalf.

Masha smiled helplessly before ruffling her brother's fluffy hair. "It would be great if things were that simple."

"Then make them simple!" snorted Misha, proudly raising his chin as if he had said something revolutionary, which made his sister burst out laughing.

***

Gabriel stared at the phone for a few seconds before leaving the living room and rummaging throughout the house to find Tristan. Talking with Masha took longer than expected, and he had made the child wait for too long already.

But what could he do? He missed Masha very much, and although he didn't like to blabber, he still wanted to chitchat with the teenage girl for a while longer. In the end, he had to force himself to hang up.

Honestly, Gabriel would have loved to talk with Misha too. Both siblings wore their hearts on their sleeves, and it was relaxing to talk with them. He didn't have to decipher the hidden meaning behind their every word, and even if the boy did lie to him a few times, he wasn't a very good liar.

Unlike with Masha and Misha, discussing with his stepmother and Jake was exhausting. And when he was alone with Tristan, he still had to watch his words because the little boy would happily tell his mother everything they did or said during the day.

After being separated from Masha and her family, Gabriel realized how comfortable it was to spend his time with them. Now that he was back to living with his two-faced stepmother, cold-blooded father, and selfish half-brother, he couldn't help but miss those days.

"Looks like I've become greedy," silently laughed the teenager to himself before kneeling on the floor and looking under the bed where Tristan was hiding.

"Ha! You found me!" giggled the child with a bright, innocent smile. "Again!"

"Sure. I will count in the corridor, so go and hide quickly," gently smiled Gabriel as he watched the boy storms off. "And don't step out of the house!"

Well, for now, all he could do was babysitting his little brother. He pushed the problems at hand aside, thinking that he would ponder over them tonight while lying in his bed.

He knew he wouldn't sleep well, anyways.

_____________

Author's note:

MC: What!? Our author is not dead!? O_O

ML: Surprisingly, she isn't.

Author: Haha.