Veronica stepped out of the car onto the cobblestone pavement and gasped at the sight she saw. The mansion looked as if time had stopped here. It seemed to be frozen in time while the rest of the world moved. Everything was still the same, from the large field in front of the house, which spanned a large expanse of land, to the bricks that made up the walls of the mansion. She was sure that if she looked closely, she would see that even the light bulbs were still the same. Tears welled up on her eyes, and she quickly wiped them off. “You have quite a beautiful mansion right there, ma’am.” The driver who dropped her off said: "This is your home, right?” Veronica nodded and sniffed. “It is. My kid sister has been the one managing the place all this while; I did not even” “Ahh... You’ve not been around since. Well, I must tell you, this mansion is one of the few historical structures still standing. The rest have either been turned down to be redeveloped into something more moder

Their lawyer thought it was a terrific plan. It's too good to be true. He spent about an hour purring through the contract and then another hour going over it all over again, then he said, “Let me get back to you on this.” And Rhys knew they were up to something. No one made deals like that in this city—no sane businessman at least—and Rhys was still deciding if Jake was sane or not. Well, at least, he and Sophie had been having a good time these past few days while waiting for their lawyer. Sophie seemed to have forgotten all about her uncle and her aunt, or she just probably locked that part of her life away somewhere to be unlocked only when they got back. It suited Rhys just as much; he was trying to forget too, and all their outings were doing that. He was happy, Sophie was happy, and that was that. If they knew what waited for them at home—for Sophie in particular—then they would have been a tad bit more anxious to return. But they had no idea, and maybe it was for the best

Eliana was tired. It had not been more than three days since her sister arrived, and she already wanted her gone. The whole town knew now that she was in town, and Adrian was even more agitated as the day went by. Not that she cared much for that one. But he was always getting excited. Every new day that passed that Veronica would visit his room was not exactly helping her case. Especially since every day he got excited, he was getting mild heart attacks. Actually, it did not matter to Eliana if he died; she just wanted him to suffer for a long time before death finally came for him. The villagers, too, were not helping. Many of them were showing up at her doorstep looking for juicy gossip to take back to town. They all wanted to know why Veronica was back so suddenly, where she had been, and if her move here was temporary or permanent. Eliana did not like this, especially because when the news spread in town, it was a different version from what she gave them here at the house. An

“Now that I have gotten you guys on board, I will start renovations.” Jake told them as they stood outside the restaurant, ready to leave. They had spent the last two hours together exchanging ideas on how the entire company thing should go. Jake was delighted to have Sophie as his partner; he could already see how everything would go. Smooth as the surface of a mirror, and he looked forward to doing business with them both. “It’ll take some time before we are done.” He continued. “Maybe six months. Maybe more. The construction company I hired says it’ll take less, just to be on the safe side. You know? Things happen.” Sophie and Rhys both nodded. “Please, if there’s anything we need to do during that time, don’t hesitate to let us know.” Rhys commented. Jake waved his hand dismissively. “Your land and your services are already enough for me. I can take care of the rest myself.” Then, just to make them happy, he added. “But, as you said, If I need anything in the future, I’ll l

The ride on the train was longer than Rhys and Sophie expected, but this was a good thing for them. If the ride could go on for longer, they would have been happy. For some reason, they both felt reluctant to return to her aunt’s house. Spending those few days in the city reminded them both of the life and happiness they were giving up to be here. Why did they need to come back anyway? It was very obvious that they were happier away from this place. Closure. It was what brought Sophie back home. The need to heal. The urge to let go of the past and move on with her life. Rhys—this man whom she was beginning to love even more than life—to finally let herself be happy and free. She took out her aunt’s journal and began to read. They still had about an hour before the train would make its final stop in the town. She opened the book to the page on which she had stopped and began to visualise the images in her head. Eliana, her aunt, was infatuated by the boy, Adrian. From the first p