Chapter 7 Stop Pretending Here

"Kill me if you dare."

She deeply hated being shut in, as in prison, which only made her feel suffocated and despaired.

Gilbert gave her an icy look. He suddenly got up, lifted her injured ankle, and immediately took a medication bottle out of his pocket.

Realizing what he was about to do, Kisa jerked her foot back as hard as she could and sneered, "Stop pretending here."

"Kisa Berker!" Gilbert gritted his teeth and spelled out her name, so furious that veins popped up on his forehead.

Kisa stared at him with a mocking face. "Aren't you just afraid that I will die of pain and you won't have the chance to torture me anymore? I'm not going to give you the chance."

"Well. Very well." Gilbert nodded with a sneer. He threw the medicine bottle at her. "You want to die, right? Then you can go to hell."

The door was slammed shut once again. Kisa looked at the mess on the floor with irony and sadness inside her. 'Since he hates me so much, he should have just let me rot here. His hypocrisy is really ridiculous.'

At night, Kisa kicked the door as hard as she could and kept shouting. She wanted to make Gilbert lose his sleep and feel annoyed so that he would finally let her go. With this idea in mind, she kicked even harder and shouted even louder.

Meanwhile, in the children's room, Andrew frowned as he said, "Daddy seems to treat that woman differently. Maybe she has something to do with Mommy. I'm going to ask her tomorrow."

Hearing the ghost-like cry, Ada hugged her brother's arm in fear. "But they say that woman is crazy. Could she really be related to Mommy?"

"We will find out tomorrow," Andrew said.

Early in the next morning, the family butler held the two kids' hands and talked to Gilbert cautiously, "Sir, they both refuse to go to kindergarten."

Gilbert kneaded his forehead; he had a sleepless night because that crazy woman had screamed almost all night. He looked patiently at his two kids. "Why?"

Ada fiddled with her little fingers and said in a kiddish voice, "Kindergarten makes the same game every day. It's not fun at all. I'm not going."

As Gilbert looked at Andrew, Andrew looked up and said coolly, "I can do all those assignments in kindergarten before the teacher even talks about them. Why do I need to go to kindergarten? It's childish."

Gilbert put his hand to his forehead, having a headache. He could have everything going his way but could do nothing about his two kids. He fought back the irritation and said nicely, "No matter how easy the kindergarten homework or how boring the games are, you two are only five years old. So you have to attend kindergarten."

"I'm not going." Ada frowned.

The stubborn look on her face resembled that of that woman. The thought of that woman's stubbornness last night made Gilbert's face turn gloomy.

That was when a maid came over with breakfast, and the family butler hurriedly said, "Sir, it is better not to be angry with them. Breakfast is ready. Don't you have to rush to the office later? Don't let this trivial thing affect your work."

Gilbert took a deep breath, seemingly fighting back his anger. He then picked two sandwiches and a glass of milk and instructed the maid to send them to the garret.

Andrew's eyes darted around, and then he hurried up to Gilbert. "Daddy, Ada is still upset about being bullied yesterday. Please allow us to stay home today."

When Gilbert heard this, he subconsciously looked at Ada and saw her pouted mouth and reddened eyes.

"They always say I don't have a mommy. I'm not going to kindergarten," Ada said.

Gilbert was angry at first, but when he saw Ada's aggrieved look, he felt sorry for her. Letting out a resigned sigh, he said, "Okay. Stay at home and don't go anywhere else. I will be back early today."

"Yeah."

"Thank you, Daddy. Daddy is the best."

Ada broke into a smile while Andrew's eyes darted around, as if he was thinking of something.

Once Gilbert was out the door, Andrew excused the family butler and took Ada to the garret. Ada was full of curiosity. "Andrew, why did Daddy keep that lady in the garret?"

Andrew shook his head, but he felt Kisa must have some unusual relationship with their father. He began to suspect that she might be related to their mother. Andrew got excited at the thought of this.

The garret was seldom used. Ada twisted the doorknob, but it would not turn.

"Andrew, the door is locked. We can't get in."

"No worries. I have got a way in," Andrew said. He slid open a cover above the lock hole, and a combination lock came into view.

Ada was surprised. "How do you know this door has a combination lock?" But then, she was disappointed again. "But we don't know the combination."

Andrew cocked his head and thought for a while. "I will try. If not, ask George."

"I don't think George would know either."

Ada had just finished speaking when she heard a click; the combination lock had been opened. She looked at Andrew with a surprised and adoring face. "How did you know the password? Impressive."

"I just made a guess."

The code Andrew had just used was 940207. At first, he did not know that this was the code for the door, only that he had seen this string of numbers in his father's notebook. He thought this string of numbers should be very special, so he just tried it, not expecting that it could open the door.

The garret was dark, and Gilbert had asked someone to board up the window last night. Ada was scared and clung to Andrew's arm. "What should we do if that crazy lady hits us?"

"Don't be afraid. I will protect you."

"Who is it?"

Just then, a low trembling bellow scared the two kids. Andrew brazened it out and fumbled in the dark for the light switch on the wall. He reached for the switch, turned it on, and the garret was instantly lit up like daylight.

Kisa subconsciously covered her eyes with a hand, waiting for her eyes to adapt before slowly moving it away. She then saw two kids standing not far away. A look of pleasant surprise flashed in Andrew's eyes when he saw what Kisa looked like.