Free Web NovelChapter 142: House of secrets (1)
"You are dead and I am just imagining things. You have died long ago." Regina kept her eyes closed trying to convince herself that the thing she was seeing did not exist. The last few days had been a nightmare for her but today she was determined for it to return to normal. Regina opened her eyes hoping what appeared to be her great grandmother would disappear but to her dismay, the woman sat in front of her.
"You have got to be kidding me," Regina muttered. For some reason, the ghost of her great grandmother had been following her around, hiding in the shadows or the corridors Regina passed. She disappeared in the early hours of the morning but then showed up when Regina decided to have tea in the garden. "What is it that you want from me? I have never even met you, great grandmother. Go harass your child."
Esmeralda Hamilton smiled enjoying the time with her great-granddaughter she never got to meet. She showed up in front of her great-grandson to meet him too but he couldn’t see her as Regina did. Her soul had been wandering around the home for a long time and now there was finally someone noticing her.
"People are going to think I am crazy if I keep talking to you out loud. Minnie and my mother are already making my life miserable and now you are haunting me. When can I get a break?"
"Do you miss her?" Esmeralda asked out of the blue. What made her like Regina was the love they both shared for Aurora, unlike others. free𝑤ebnovel.com
"Are you speaking about Aurora?"
"Yes, do you miss her?"
"Yes. Why wouldn’t I miss my sibling?" Regina replied looking out to the garden Aurora loved to pull her in to play. Regina didn’t share the same love Aurora had for the garden and would sit back to watch her sister play. "I hope she is doing well."
"She’s not blood related to you. Why do you still call her your sister?" Esmeralda started to test Aurora. She had been watching Regina the most and knew she was different from everyone else. She was hoping her great-granddaughter would be the one to make everything right.
"Haven’t you been stalking me? Blood means nothing in this family. The one person I was closest to turned out to be the one not related to me but I would do anything for her. She is the only person to make me feel sane in this world and I knew we had to look out for each other. I’m sorry to say this great grandmother but your daughter is evil and her ways are affecting all of us," Regina said.
Her brother and father were following Minnie in wanting to use Aurora and they only cared about obtaining the family wealth. "The rumors about Minnie have humbled everyone here. One day they were at the top of the socialites and then they were being talked about. Minnie has already started using what she knows against her friends so they will soon stop talking about her. Interesting friends she has when they talk about each other so much."
"What do you think of yourself Regina?" Esmeralda asked only because Regina made it seem like there was nothing bad about herself.
"What do you mean? Are you looking for me to describe myself because you don’t know me that well? Fine. I view myself to be smart, educated, funny, sarcastic, and obviously beautiful. I’ll have to add in underestimated because of how everyone has been treating me these days. Not that I mind. It’ll make becoming the head of this home sweeter in the future." Regina hadn’t given up on this plan and all she was waiting for was for Minnie to give them the all-clear to go out socializing again.
There was still enough time and parties left for her to find a husband to help her raise her status. With the free time she had now, Regina had been narrowing down her options of who still had not found a wife and there were two men for her to seduce.
"Do you think you’re a good person?"
"No, and I won’t be one in the future with what I want. I am a loyal person and I hate to be backstabbed. The people here play dirty games and I’ll have to do the same in order to survive. I might one day become as vicious as Minnie is and to save myself from pretending, I can admit from this moment that I am not good. Mind your business please," Regina told one of the passing maids who stopped and stared because she saw Regina talking to herself. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"You should have brought a book and acted as if you were reading. I admire your honesty but I don’t think you are a bad person. You have the biggest heart out of the Hamiltons living here which means a lot considering we are all doomed to become greedy for something and lose ourselves," Esmeralda looked around at the place she once called home when she was still alive.
"What is it that you want from me? You didn’t just come here to get to know me," Regina was curious as to how her great grandmother even had the ability to show up in front of her when she was long dead. Was this some sort of unfinished business keeping her from leaving this world?
"When I was alive, I hated every second of living in this place. No one would ever believe it as I showed up every day with a smile on my face and pretended like I was never depressed. Furthermore, I felt like I wasn’t allowed to be depressed. I had everything I could ever want at my fingertips so how dare I act like I was depressed. My father called it an act for attention so he bought more things the girls my age wanted," Esmeralda smiled remembering her blurry past.
"Being depressed, getting married to a man I didn’t love, and then creating life in this world. My mind was overwhelmed and I desperately wanted to get out of this place. Out of nowhere, I met a friend who helped me start to overcome the depression I was going through. I invited her to stay for a while with me and because of it, she was trapped here for a long time. I should have known greedy men like my father and husband would like to use Aurora who could perform miracles."
It all started with Esmeralda’s wish to die and a woman showing up at her door. She never learned why her one wish stood out to Aurora but she was both happy and sad that it did. "I had high hopes when I knew I was going to die that Minnie would be Aurora’s friend and help her. My soul has been on this earth long after my death and I witness things I wished I hadn’t."
Up to this point, Regina still did not see what this had to do with her but she wasn’t going to turn down hearing about the past. "What kind of things?"
Esmeralda smiled now that she had Regina’s attention. "You are living in the house of secrets Regina. The Hamiltons are said to be rich for many generations just like the kings. The Hamiltons truly were rich until their wealth and life were stolen from them."
Regina was confused to hear their riches had once been stolen. "When was this? I saw an article talking about us possibly going broke."
"I said the Hamiltons had their wealth and life stolen away from them. A beautiful house isn’t it? Probably why it was chosen."
Regina wondered if there was something wrong with Esmeralda’s brain when she started to forget that she was Hamilton just like Regina and everyone else here. "I heard you for the first time and I am asking when did this happen? I’ve never heard we had our wealth stolen and were some of us killed for it?"
"Dear, I am trying to tell you that we have stolen this last name and this land. Pretending to be something we are not. You, me, Minnie, and all your other family members are not Hamiltons. Some of our relatives killed the real Hamiltons and stole their lives to fit in with this society. This house is filled with many secrets like I said."
"Wait a moment," Regina said in disbelief of the things she was being told. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that my last name was stolen?"
"Yes. Many things in this house have been stolen. My daughter has become so proud and protects a name that does not belong to her. If anyone were to find out the truth about who we are, they’ll hand us over to the king to be killed."
Regina was still trying to process the possibility that her relatives had killed the Hamiltons and stolen their lives. How could such a thing happen in the past? "I need a minute to gather my thoughts."
