CHAPTER FOUR
1582 Words
“No one had lived in the east wing for years was a lie that Damain told me and I won't take that”. Aria said.
“I saw a shadow of a woman in that east wing. When I spoke to her, she stopped, then faded away.
“Is there a ghost in this mansion or what?”
Maybe I should believe him this time around and let peace rain”.
Then, she slept off, and in the morning, when she came down, she saw Evelyn in the kitchen. She was preparing some tea.
“Good morning, Evelyn,” Aria said as she got closer to her. She yawned, and Evelyn responded: “You didn't sleep well or you didn't sleep at all at night?”
Aria faked a smile and responded, “Maybe I have a lot in my head.”?
Evelyn looked at her and smiled, then the last statement nearly made her break down.
She had decided to forget everything about the east wing and focus on the contract.
“What you saw last night was real”! Evelyn said, smiling but with a firm voice.
The statement hit Aria like a bomb. Fear gripped her that she nearly collapsed.
She managed to speak and asked Evelyn if she knew anything about what had been happening to her lately and the ghost in the east wing.
Evelyn sighed and then replied with a firm tone. Although she was smiling but her expression was portraying something else.
“There is no ghost in this house”!
Aria quickly asks: “What about….” Evelyn interrupted, “The creature you saw in the east wing?”
Aria was looking in surprise and quickly asked, “How did you know?”
“Well, I have been in this mansion for years now. So, I should be able to tell if there is a ghost or not”.
There is a hidden secret in this mansion, and it is the only way.”…Evelyn paused and looked at Aria eye to eye. Aria quickly brought the discussion back on again ....” It is the only way to do what? Please, don't stop talking?” Aria begged!
Before Evelyn could say anything more, footsteps were approaching. She kept silent and continued what she was doing.
She said quietly but loud enough for Aria to hear her. “It could be Damain…” she said.
Damain entered and looked at both of them.
He didn't say anything other than: “Get the car ready”.
Evelyn didn't respond either. She just nodded and left.
Aria looked at Damian directly in the eyes, and Damian looked too, without saying anything for a while.
“Why do you hate it whenever I ask you any question?” Aria broke the silence in a calm voice.
“Simple! Not all questions bring solutions when they are answered”. So, keep your questions, especially if it is related to the east wing”. I am warning you.”
He walked towards her as if he wanted to tell her something. He then walked away.
In the afternoon, Aria was sitting in the garden. She was looking at the mansion as if she was surveying something, then, the west wing.
Her mood changed and she couldn't take her eyes off the east wing. She said to herself, “Why is this part of this building treated like an abandoned area?”
“I guess you are having a nice time here”. Evelyn said as she approached her with a tray of lemonade
Aria looked back slowly, and she nodded. “Yes," she said, “in fact, all parts of this mansion are enough to give one comfort of life, except”, she turned her head towards the east wing.
Evelyn smiles faintly. She sat beside Aria, and they both shared eye contact. “My dear, at times in life, some places are so beautiful that one can call heaven, but the memory they carry can be more hurtful than hellfire,” She said
“Is it that bad, Evelyn? Aria asked. “Why is it that everyone kept the secret and refused to tell me?” Does telling me make the secret not secret again?”
“Time,” Evelyn said in a quiet tone. “Wait for the right time, my dear.”
“I think this is the right time because I keep having a feeling that I might have a connection to this secret in one way or the other”
“My curiosity has never been high like this before,” Aria said, showing how unsatisfied she is with Evelyn's response.
But what could she do because it seems like no one is ready to tell her what happened in that room?
At night, she couldn't sleep because she was lost in deep thought. Then, she stood up with high determination. “I wouldn't stop tonight, and nothing will stop me either, “ she said softly.
She took a candle and walked towards the east wing. She got there and held the doorknob. Then, she developed fear again. She was thinking that if she opened the door, something bad might happen to her or to Damain.
Then, she turned the knob but it wasn't opening.
She decided to turn back when she heard a sound as if someone had opened the door from behind.
She quickly turned back and saw that the door was half open.
She was thinking of running away, but she summoned the courage to go further. She pushed the door open carefully and entered the room.
The room looked like a building that had burned but was quickly rescued. She walked in, but the room smelled of smoke. There were broken glasses, half-burnt books, and paintings, and she was picking them up to check.
A painting caught her attention, and she was surprised at what she saw.
It was a frame that contained Damian and a woman's picture. They both appeared happy because they were smiling at each other.
“I have never seen Damain smile before,” she said softly in a concerned voice. “He is so handsome in this picture with this smile”.
Tears already filled her eyes. She wanted to know what took the joy away from him. Why does he detest this room, and who is the woman?
She rubbed the picture because some parts were burnt. She saw a writing below the woman's picture, Lila. She pronounced the name in surprise,” Lila?”
“So, this is the woman who took the good part of my boss away”. Tears were dripping down in her eyes down her face.
She asked the picture as if a picture could talk. “What happened to you, Lila”?
“What are you doing here, Aria”? Evelyn said in a low but frustrated voice. Aria quickly turned back, and Evelyn came in…” Why are you so stubborn like this?” She, Evelyn added.
“I…I…Aria said, stammering. I am sorry, but look at this…
Evelyn took the picture from her aggressively. This is the first time she saw Evelyn in that mood. “If Mr. Stone finds out…. Aria shouted. This time, she is already crying. “Let him meet me here…” “I am his wife and…she quickly stopped, remembered she was not really a legit wife but a contract one.
She continued…I deserved to know my husband's past.” You all call her the past, but no one was treating her like one”.
“Why is this room special?”...
“Because she died here,” Evelyn said softly, and this time with tears in her eyes. She quickly cleans her eyes with her cloth.
Aria was shocked.
“She died in this room….in the fire. That day was the saddest day of Mr Stone's life.”
Evelyn couldn't control the tears again. This time, she let it flow.
“Since that day, Mr. Stone's heart to live and to love had gone with her.”
Aria was crying seriously with the news she just heard, and Evelyn gradually walked to her and said, “Despite that I don't want you to come here, I was the reason why you're here. Please, don't tell Mr. Stone I brought you here.”
Aria managed to wipe her tears.”You were the reason why I am here?”
Evelyn nodded. “How…I…I…she cried. She managed to control herself, and she continued: “I…I came here by myself.”
“There is an action behind a reaction,” but please, leave before Mr. Stone finds you here,” Evelyn said, and she left the room.
Later at night! Aria was in her room crying quietly. She was thinking of everything she had seen and what Evelyn told her.
“We shouldn't blame people for their actions at times,” she said to herself.
I can now see why the whole mansion that is full of gold and all luxuries seems to be a place like a cemetery.
Does it mean all I have been experiencing was from Evelyn? The shadow, the write-up in the mirror and many more.
How did she manage to do all those?
It means there are more secrets about this mansion that I need to know,” she sighed!
- Writer
