“You know, it’s not because I have the memories of my previous lives that I know everything,” Jake sneered at Masha. “Much of what I know about your death came from the newspapers, which deemed it a suicide; whether that was the case or not, who knows. But well, I can at least tell you that my family wasn’t behind your death.”
Again, Jake and Masha stared at each other, unknown words lingering between them. Meanwhile, Gabriel eyed Misha, who had grown paler at the mention of his sister’s death. The sight of Masha’s lifeless body still haunted him even to this day, and the mere mention of it tended to throw him into a waking nightmare. It couldn’t be helped: stumbling upon her corpse had broken him, and the shattered pieces of his heart could never be glued back together. There would always be cracks.
“You know—” Stephan started but was interrupted mid-sentence when Gabriel elbowed his side, making him wince slightly. He opened his mouth to complain but shut it as fast after seeing Gabriel’s murderous gaze. Fine. He wouldn’t say it.
Stephan inwardly sighed. What about the promise of telling Misha everything? The teenager hadn’t connected the dots yet and hadn’t asked Jake about it, but the day would come. Staying silent wouldn’t end well, and Gabriel had to know it.
When Misha was eavesdropping, Jake had said: “If only I had noticed her sooner in the first timeline, Masha wouldn’t have had to die the way she did.” If one read between the lines, it implied that Camille was somehow involved in Masha’s death. Only, it could mean that Camille had broken Masha’s heart in the worst possible way, driving her to kill herself, or it could also mean that she had orchestrated her murder. It was hard to say with certainty which one it was, though most people in the room were in favor of the latter.
But strangely enough, no one brought it up, as if afraid of discovering what kind of human trash Camille was. Or perhaps, no one dared to say it before the teenager and twist the knife. Whatever was the case, everyone stayed silent.
‘I guess we all share Gabriel’s bad habit in the end,’ Stephan snorted inwardly. ‘We’re gonna get killed when Misha learns about it, though. I wonder if we’ll be left with intact corpses…. Anyhow, better change the subject for now.’
“Alright, so what about me?” Stephan raised his hand. “From what I understand, I ended in jail for rape and shit. I admit I’m pretty loose regarding my sexual relationships, but I would never force someone.”
A sigh was his answer. Jake pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously not wanting to discuss that matter. Thinking about it was making his temples throb in pain. But, well, it was still better than to dwell on Masha’s death.
“Why do you even ask? You probably already guessed that you were framed even before reading the diaries.”
“Well, yeah! But you just wrote that I was framed in your diaries and didn’t elaborate on it. So? How did it happen?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ktja…” Ajxf’r nblmf agjlifv, j mbwqifz ibbx oijrtlcu jmgbrr tlr ojmf. Pa kjr tjgv ab afii lo la kjr uelia bg rbwfatlcu firf. “Kb wjxf j ibcu rabgs rtbga, Ccufij rfca qfbqif ab sbe, jcv rlcmf sbeg mglafglj obg sbeg qjgacfgr tjr jikjsr yffc delaf ibk jr ibcu jr sbe mbeiv tjnf j ubbv alwf….”
“I’m quite the easy target, huh?” Stephan chuckled, not embarrassed in the slightest. “I just wonder where Angela managed to find such people. Perhaps someone introduced them to her?”
“Look, I had no idea you’d be stupid enough to fall into the trap. I thought you’d be on guard after your father’s death, but you let your dick think for you! What kind of fool sleeps around knowing his father’s murderer is out for their head?!”
Stephan burst out laughing while Jake waved his hands in exasperation, a helpless look on his face. Back then, he had felt utterly dumbfounded after learning Stephan lost the trial and was thrown behind bars. To add insult to the injury, he had introduced the ugliest people he knew that were up to the job to Angela, aware that letting her choose her own people would end badly. He had a hunch she’d have picked up the ones with every STD possible or the weirdest fetishes.
But back to the point. How Stephan managed to get it up with the people he sent was a wonder, a mystery Jake could never figure out. What was the point of racking his brain when Stephan was hell-bent on digging his own grave? What a pig teammate.
“Speaking of, what did Harold find that pushed Matthew to kill him?” Gabriel asked, pretending he hadn’t heard about the rest. “Our father is an asshole, but he’s still quite close to Harold. Probably one of the few he thinks of as a friend.”
“I’m not sure about that, sorry. All I know is that the day before Harold barged in, Matthew had a meeting with some unknown people at the company. I think Harold overheard their conversation, but only God knows what they talked about.”
“You didn’t learn about it in the second timeline?”
Silence.
“I see. So, Stephan couldn’t protect his father after my death? I guess he is one of the many victims you wrote about.”
Jake pursed his lips. He didn’t have memories of his previous lives in the second timeline; he was still a fool that couldn’t do anything right, and he lost so much until he met his wife. Ultimately, all he did was run away from his family to live with his, just as he had done in his first life. It wasn’t like he had anything left to protect in that household.
“Was I framed again?” Stephan asked in a playful tone, snapping Jake out of his thoughts. After reading the diaries, Stephan already knew the answer, but neither Gabriel nor Jake pointed it out.
“No, you weren’t. You were—” Jake abruptly paused to glance askance at Misha. He hesitated a second before continuing, “Well, you were too busy helping out Misha and Masha. You barely had the time to sleep around.”
“Holy crap, I can’t imagine a Stephan who keeps it in his pants,” Masha snickered. “It’s harder to believe than time traveling or previous lives.”
“Sweetie, what kind of depraved image do you have of me?”
“Do you sincerely want an answer to that?”
“No, not really….”
Soft laughs echoed in the room, though not for long. The atmosphere grew tense once again when Gabriel raised one of the topics Jake wanted to avoid the most. It was about time to tackle it, whether he liked it or not.
“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but we’ll have to sooner or later. The diaries didn’t go into detail about what he did or just what kind of monster he had become. Still, I could tell he made your life a living hell for years. Although I hope things won’t develop badly, it’s better to know what could go wrong in advance in case something does happen.”
“It’s not necessarily true,” Jake shook his head. “If you interact with a kid with the preconception they will become this or that later, it’ll show in your behavior. And more often than not, children tend to grow up to live up to your fears. For instance, if you see them as troublemakers, they will slowly start to behave as such and cause trouble. Whether they were at first doesn’t matter. Adults’ perceptions influence children more than you can think, especially when it comes from the adults they idolize.”
“So, you won’t talk about it.”
“No, I won’t. It’s not necessary. Talking about it will only serve to create a rift between you. Treat him the same way you have always done, and as for me, I’ll keep an eye on him and handle whatever happens. Anyway, I’m already the cold, unfriendly older brother, so let it stay that way.”
“Even though you’ve been treating him coldly, he still looks up to you very much. It wouldn’t be exaggerated to say that he loves both of his brothers equally.”
“Well, I can’t accept that love. I just can’t, Gabriel.”
“Just what did he do to you?”
“Nothing worth mentioning.”
“You—”
“What are you talking about?” Misha interrupted, confused. “I may be wrong, but you seem to be talking about Tristan…?”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Jake shook his head. “That kid is growing up well this time. I’m sure he’ll become a fine young man with you two by his side.”
Misha blinked, the words sinking in slowly. Tristan, that cute, little cinnamon roll, grew up into a monster in Jake’s previous lives…? It was hard to believe. No, he couldn’t believe it. However, what did he know? He knew nothing of Gabriel’s brothers in the first timeline, unaware they even existed. Gabriel might have mentioned them once, but he had forgotten them just as soon. Whatever happened to Jake in his previous lives, no one really knew. And until now, no one had ever cared.
________________________
Edited by Clozed! ♥
Author has something to say: Sorry for skipping last week’s chapter!!! I made an announcement on my discord, but there were tornados and violent storms in my area that left me without electricity for 6 days (from Saturday to Friday!). It’s a little hard to turn on the computer without electricity…! X’D
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Thanks for reading! ♥
Aha! Jake chose people he thought were not attractive enough to trap Stephan, but they (plural!) succeeded, so now he thinks that the guy trying to seduce him is fine with anyone.