Chapter 152 - 151: His Brain Betrayed Him
Yvonne Lowell quickly composed herself, smiled, and said, "Alright, I’ll be waiting then."
The words had barely left her mouth when Adrian Lowell’s puppy-dog eyes lit up with a peculiar gleam. He shouted toward the living room, "Nina! You lost! Don’t forget the LEGO set you promised me!!"
Nina Jennings hurried into the dining room. "What the hell? What did she say that made you win? Are you setting me up?!"
"My sister said she likes sparklers, not the Gatling gun fireworks! I won, so you better not go back on your word!" Adrian Lowell said, standing behind Yvonne Lowell and watching Nina warily.
Yvonne Lowell awkwardly touched her nose. ’Ugh, don’t drag me into this. I don’t think I said I *disliked* them...’
Nina Jennings stared at the two siblings in disbelief. "Seriously? To screw me over, you two will really stop at nothing!"
Charles Lowell raised an eyebrow and teased, "What did you two bet on using Nola? Are the stakes so high you’re about to turn on each other?"
Nina Jennings stole a glance over at Yvonne. Seeing that she wasn’t paying attention to them, she explained,
"It’s like this, Uncle. We just made a bet on which firework Yvonne would like more. If it’s the Gatling gun, he has to finish the workbook Jackie gave him over winter break. If it’s the sparklers, I have to snag a rare, discontinued LEGO set from Jackie and give it to him."
A shrewd glint flashed in Grandpa Lowell’s eyes. "That’s not right. I don’t recall hearing Nola say she preferred the sparklers."
"Huh!? Grandpa, even if you favor the girls over the boys, you can’t just twist the facts like this!" Adrian Lowell whined, looking at him with a resentful expression.
"What facts am I twisting? It’s the truth! It’s not like the house doesn’t have security cameras. If you don’t believe me, go check them yourself." Grandpa Lowell said, calmly standing up after wrapping the last dumpling.
"I can vouch for her. Nola definitely didn’t say it."
"I didn’t hear it either."
"Yeah, don’t go blaming Nola."
"How boring. I thought it was something serious, but it’s just a misunderstanding."
With that, everyone started getting up one by one to prepare other things.
Adrian Lowell squatted on the floor, looking utterly dejected. ’The adult world is truly full of deceit and trickery! Why must I, who just came of age, feel such malice from society? This is more than I, Young Master Justin, can bear!!’
He reached out and tugged on the corner of Yvonne Lowell’s shirt. "Sis, the whole world has abandoned me. You’re the only one on my side. Tell her what you really said just now."
Yvonne Lowell calmly freed her shirt. "Adrian, I actually didn’t say I had a particular favorite."
’Wha—?! The person herself has come out to clarify?!’
’He could doubt anyone else, but he believed his sister’s words one hundred and ten percent. So this whole thing was just something he made up in his head?! His own brain betrayed him?!’
’Ah, life... it really is just ups and downs, downs, downs, downs, downs, downs...’
Seeing the large mushroom at her feet about to wither again, Yvonne Lowell quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Well, doesn’t that mean it’s a draw this time? So you didn’t lose, right?"
As she spoke, she frantically signaled to Nina Jennings with her eyes.
Nina Jennings got the hint and offered some comfort. "Exactly. Not many people can manage a draw with me, the great Ace of Gamblers. If you really want that LEGO set, we can just bet on something else next time."
Yvonne Lowell couldn’t help but twitch her lips. ’You really have a way with words, don’t you.’
"You said it! Then I’ll take you up on that bet next time!" Adrian Lowell shot up to his feet, his eyes fixed on her.
Nina Jennings raised an eyebrow. "I said it. I’ll be waiting."
"Good enough." Adrian Lowell started walking outside, muttering to himself,
"I’ll go see if they’ve finished clearing the snow. I wonder if the open space is big enough. Wouldn’t want to run out of room for the fireworks later."
’Well, what was she even worried about?!’
’There was no need for her to intervene at all. This pair of "geniuses" had their own encrypted way of thinking.’
...
Harrison Lowell’s nonchalant voice sounded from beside her. "Yo, Nana, what are you doing?"
Yvonne Lowell’s hands, busy building a snowman, paused. She looked up at the DV camera practically shoved in her face. "Are you blind?"
"Hey, hey, hey, can you show my camera some respect? You’re getting less and less cute." Harrison Lowell whined from behind the camera, looking at her resentfully.
The photographer for the family portrait wasn’t coming until tomorrow, so Harrison Lowell figured he’d be the cameraman for the day and record some ’precious moments.’
But the moment he started recording, he met his Waterloo.
"Oh." Yvonne Lowell looked away from him and went back to work on the two snowballs in front of her.
"Don’t be like that. Say hi to the camera! This is for posterity!" Harrison Lowell continued to pester her.
Tired of his pestering, Yvonne Lowell flashed a grin at the camera. "Hello, everyone. Except for Harrison Lowell."
After speaking, her face immediately went blank again as she continued building her snowman with a deadpan expression.
"Hmph. I’m not talking to you anymore, you clueless, stinky girl." Harrison Lowell pouted and got up to film someone else.
"Third Brother, turn around and film me!"
Adrian Lowell’s voice came from behind him. Harrison Lowell turned his head to look.
He saw Adrian holding up a snowball three times the size of his own head. Harrison Lowell’s eyes lit up, and he aimed the camera at him,
"This is great. My little bro knows what’s up, he knows how to coo..." *perate with my filming.*
Before he could finish his thought, the giant snowball came flying at him.
Harrison Lowell didn’t have time to react and was knocked flat on his butt on the ground.
This action seemed to be a signal, as everyone else started throwing their own snowballs at the fallen Harrison Lowell.
"Holy crap! Stop!"
"If you’ve got the guts, let me get up first!"
The onslaught was so fierce that Harrison Lowell couldn’t fend it off. He could only wave the DV camera in his hands back and forth, trying to ward off the horde of demons.
Just then, a heavenly voice rang in his ears. "Everyone, stop."
Harrison Lowell looked up and saw his own dear brother running toward him ’fearlessly,’ against the ’cannon fire.’ (As imagined by Harrison.)
[Off-screen BGM: you are my destiny～cool butterfly～]
Watching the hand about to reach him, Harrison Lowell felt a surge of emotion. ’My brother’s hand is so big and strong.’ With tears welling in his eyes, Harrison Lowell reached out his own hand.
But in the next second, the expected warmth never came.
Harrison Lowell only felt the weight in his hand disappear. He snapped his head up to see his brother snatch the DV camera from his hand and take a few steps back.
His brother even thoughtfully aimed the camera right at him and uttered what Harrison felt were the most bone-chilling words he had ever heard in his life,
"Alright, you can continue now."
At his command, Harrison Lowell once again felt the malice this family held for him.
In the end, Harrison Lowell lay on the ground, utterly dejected, staring blankly at the sky.
If you were to pull the camera back and look at the scene, you would discover that his entire body from the neck down was completely buried in a pile of snow.