Chapter 61 - Dumb Child

Sitting on the sofa next to Masha, Gabriel was sipping on a glass of water as he listened to the teenage girl rant about how it was boring without him at school. She had no one left to tease, and thus, her days were quite dull.

To this, Gabriel reminded her that he wasn't the only student in their class, much less in the whole school. Moreover, she also had many friends scattered all over the place. It would do her good to bother other people once in a while.

For instance, Camille was there.

However, it appeared that no one else was as fun to harass as him. Was it a compliment, or was it an insult? Frankly, he didn't know and didn't want to know either.

"I was surprised to hear that you would come today," said Masha, a faint smile stretching her lips. "I was only joking when I told you to bring your a.s.s over."

"Oh? Were you now?"

"Well, I was half-joking. Truthfully, I didn't think you would risk arousing your stepmother's suspicion just to come to my brother's birthday party. Misha was missing you, true, but he would have survived even if you hadn't come."

"He would, but maybe I wouldn't. I'm afraid I would not hear the end of it if I missed his birthday, knowing how petty he can get," chuckled Gabriel, his eyes slightly curving into crescent moon-like shapes.

"You have a point," nodded Masha with a severe and stiff expression on her face.

She had long learned to never underestimate Misha's pettiness, and it seemed like Gabriel had also learned his lesson.

After suffering from Misha's nasty pranks, who wouldn't keep their guard up?

They became silent as both lifted their eyes, glancing at the subject of their conversation, who was trying to explain the rules of the Wood Block game to Tristan.

In the corner of the living room, the two children were directly sitting on the floor, facing each other. Unlike Tristan, Misha wore a disgruntled, unhappy expression on his face, but he still diligently played with the little boy, slowly pulling a wooden block from the tower under Tristan's watchful eyes.

Once the block was in Misha's hands, Tristan loudly clapped, seemingly asking to try. With a smug expression, Misha generously invited him to do so with a gesture of his hand.

After watching them for a short while, Gabriel opened his mouth again, saying to Masha:

"I have to admit that I was afraid your brother would throw a tantrum after meeting Tristan, saying that he didn't want an unknown little kid to spoil his birthday. Yet, it went strangely well."

"I told you that he is sensible. As long as you're not in the equation, that's it."

As an answer, Gabriel sneered before taking a sip of his drink.

The joyous background music covered their conversation, and Masha's parents were in the kitchen, so they weren't careful with their words.

Of course, the teenage boy didn't get rid of his amiable mask as the children could see him by simply turned their head, but his voice wasn't soft and gentle. It was colder than ice.

"There's one thing I don't understand, though," thoroughly said Masha, squinting her eyes as she pondered over her next words. "Angela implied that Misha had tried to murder you and that we wanted to cover it up, yet not only did she allow you to come, she also entrusted us with her youngest son. What's wrong with her brain?"

"Everything," scoffed Gabriel, a sly smile on his lips. "Don't forget, I'm an idiot as well as a goody-two-shoes in her mind. As such, she's not that much careful with her lies, thinking that I won't notice the discrepancy between her words and actions. She's as cunning as conceited, and that's going to be her downfall."

The teenager smirked slightly, adding:

"Well, I was also very wary of my wording when I asked her to give me your number, same when I asked to come to your brother's birthday. It's easy to mislead someone when they think of you as nothing more than a dumb child."

"…" Masha's shoulders slumped forward, and she grunted, "If you're dumb, then what am I? A dog? No, wait. In Angela's eyes, they're probably smarter than me."

"Do you have something against dogs?"

"No? I find them quite cute, actually."

"They sure are cuter than Jake and Angela."

"What are you saying? Shit is cuter than those two," snorted Masha. "You're insulting dogs. Apologize!"

Gabriel didn't answer aloud, but the mocking glint that flashed in his emerald eyes was enough to reveal his thought on the matter.

Blatantly ignoring her last sentence, the teenager slowly stood up, tilting his head toward the children. "We better join in the fun, or your brother is going to complain that I only came to spend time with you."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's not ignore the birthday boy. I'm afraid we can't afford the consequences," laughed Masha before leaping on her feet and walking to the boys.

With quiet footsteps, she sat on one side while Gabriel sat in front of her. They tacitly decided to sit between the two children on each side. This way, it would be easier to pacify them if a problem was to arise later.

They both knew Misha's bad temper, and it wouldn't be surprising if he were to get grumpy and scold Tristan for no reason. Although he was making an effort, they could tell the boy was displeased by the extra luggage Gabriel had brought with him.

When the teenagers sat beside the boys, Misha's gloomy mood disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place. It was so apparent that Masha and Gabriel felt somewhat helpless, and they couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Because of this, Misha became distracted and made an error, pulling out the wrong block. Soon, the small wooden block tower crumbled, and the blocks ended up scattered everywhere on the floor.

The teenagers suddenly felt like crying, but they had no tears to shed. For God's sake, it wasn't their fault!