Sweet Subterfuge

Kevan snorted with disdain.
“His pitiful situation is caused by his dad. I wouldn’t be difficult at all to find him a stepmother. Instead, he wants someone else’s wife!”
Larissa chuckled at his words.
The sense of pity she felt for Freddy disappeared instantly.
Kevan’s reasoning made sense. The situation was easy to resolve.
As long as Allen found a wife to many, Freddy would have a complete family again.
No matter how much she pitied Freddy, she couldn’t fulfill his wish.
Compared to other children, her own son took priority.
Finally, the cake was ready.
When they opened the oven, a sweet and enticing aroma walted out.
Larissa cut off the edges of the cake into a plate and asked Aster to share them with other children.

She assumed that he would give some to Freddy first, but he went straight to another table.
After the plate was empty, only then did he return.
Larissa was a little angry.
She hoped that Aster would become lively and mischievous, but she didn’t want him to be sellish.
She pulled him aside and asked, “Why didn’t you share the cake with Freddy?”
Aster replied honestly, “I don’t like him, so I don’t want to share with him.”
Aster and Freddy were good friends previously, but their friendship had soured since that incident in the car.
It hadn’t improved until now.
Larissa understood Aster’s leelings to some extent.
As an adult, she hoped he could be considerate of others a
and see the bigger picture.
“If you exclude him and only share with other kids, you will make him sad. Think about it, II everyone in class ganged up and refused to
play with you, wouldn’t you feel sad too?” She tried to reason with Aster.
In the past Aster would have admitted his mistake.
He would have apologized to Freddy with some cake under her guidance.
But this time, he stood his ground and argued in delense of himself. “It’s not that I dislike him without reason. It’s because he made a
mistake and hurt me. That’s why I don’t like him. Daddy told me that as long as it is not illegal, I can do whatever I want.
“So, I don’t want to do what I don’t feel like doing. Since I don’t want to share the cake with him, I absolutely won’t. I don’t care how he
feels. He didn’t care about my feelings previously.”
Larissa had never thought that her obedient son would rebel against her before reaching adolescence.