Read with BonusRead with Bonus

CHAPTER 3

AVA CLARKE

"Come on, let's play, I'll show you my room, Ava!", I'm surprised by Elara's new reaction, and I look at her father to see him smiling at me.

I get up from the chair and am about to take her hand, but the girl quickly pulls away before I have a chance to touch her, and I frown.

"She still needs to meet you, Ava.", I hear Lucius' voice, and I nod, starting to follow the girl to her room.

I thought I couldn't be on this side of the house, my eyes fixed on a door at the end of the corridor, and I stopped walking.

"What's behind that door, Elara?", I ask curiously, and I see that the girl is looking at me with a serious expression.

"That door is forbidden to people like you, don't you dare break Daddy's only rule.", she says, and I look at the mysterious door again.

What did she mean when she said people like me?

Why does she think I'm different?

I'm about to enter the room with the girl when I see her uncle approaching, and it makes me roll my eyes.

"Uncle, Damien! Do you want to play with us?", the girl asks, and I watch as the man's eyes fix on me, and I feel irritation overwhelm me when I see a smile on his lips.

"I'd love to play with your new nanny, but I have to go to university now, love. I'll see you tonight.", I see him kiss the cheek of the girl, who is smiling now.

I stop breathing when he gets up and walks over to me. Furthermore, I turn my head to the side and smell his perfume again.

"I'll see you at night too, little mouse...", he whispers when he realizes that calling me that irritates me so much.

I stay silent, watching him go, and when I look at the girl, she's no longer smiling.

When I entered Elara's room, I was very surprised to see many porcelain dolls that looked very real.

I close the door and see the pink walls of the girl's room. She sits on a rug while I continue to observe her collection of dolls that look very real.

"They're very pretty, you've got quite a collection here...", I murmur, smiling when I see her stand up and pick up a long-haired doll.

"This is you.", she says, showing me the doll, and I realize that she does look a lot like me.

"Oh, that's very sweet, and...", I stop talking, my eyes widening as I see her throw the doll down hard.

"Why did you do that, Elara?", I bent down to pick up the doll, seeing the girl staring at me with her arms crossed around her body.

"Because I don't like you, you're just like all the other nannies who were here before...", she says, and I realize that she wants to cry.

"Explain it to me..."

"You seem like a nice girl, and you'll be nice to me at first, but then you'll be mean to me because you'll be in love with my dad like all the other nannies.", she says, and I'm completely confused at this point.

"Have all the other nannies fallen in love with your father?", I ask in surprise and see her nod.

Lucius is a very handsome and single man, but I'm surprised that so many women have fallen for him like that, and she thinks it will be the same with me.

"I'll never treat you badly, Elara. And I don't intend to date your father. Let's change the subject so you don't get sad. Do you want to play?"

"Yes, I want to play in the cemetery."

I arched an eyebrow, still staring at the girl in front of me.

"You want to play in the cemetery? Are you sure you don't want to play somewhere else?"

What kind of rich girl likes to play in a cemetery full of the bones of long-dead people?

I can see that Elara is a very unusual child.

"Okay, let's play in the cemetery then.", I say, and she smiles awkwardly at me before running out of the room, and I sigh.

I go downstairs again to see the girl leaving the mansion, but I look into the living room when I see a beautiful melody being played.

I come closer to see Lucius playing the piano, and I blink my eyes as if I'm completely hypnotized by the music he keeps playing.

I close my eyes, it seems to be a slow song, and he seems to have a sad expression on his face, and I can't understand it because he seems to have a happy life here.

The melody of the piano notes makes my body relax, and seconds later I'm remembering my parents and everything that happened to them.

I open my eyes to see that Lucius is watching me at this moment as he continues to play. I blink my eyes quickly, watching him finish playing.

"The music sounds melancholy, sorry, I was going to play with Elara and I saw you playing."

"I like playing that kind of song, can you play the piano, Ava?", he asks, still sitting behind the piano, and I nod quickly.

"Well, a long time ago, the girls from the most important families had to learn to play the piano and other instruments because they had to charm their future husbands with their gifts."

"Have you also had to do that to win a girl over before?", I ask, smiling to see a smile on his lips.

"You stopped to watch me when I was playing, so I guess my gifts work perfectly, Ava.", he says, and I feel embarrassed because of what I've said.

I'm still staring at him when I hear Elara calling me out of the house. I open the front door and leave the mansion quickly.

Furthermore, I think I'm beginning to understand what Elara said about her father with the other women, he has a natural power to leave anyone completely enchanted with a few words, and I've never met such a person before.

I feel the morning chill blowing against my room as I follow Elara to the cemetery gates. It's very cold out here, and I look at the girl who is still wearing a dress, and I don't understand why she isn't shivering at the moment.

"Elara, aren't you cold?", I ask, and she nods and runs into the cemetery as I open the gates.

My eyes settle on this place, and I realize that there are many gravestones here with many dead people, and I see that they are all members of the Fell family.

I walk slowly over to see that Elara is standing in front of a large tombstone with a statue of a very beautiful angel. The girl continues to stare at the tomb as if it were something very important.

Aurora Fell.

"That's my mother, she died when I was born...", the girl whispers with a sad expression, and I am completely surprised by this detail.

I looked more closely at the tombstone. I didn't know or imagine that her mother was dead. Furthermore, I thought Lucius was only divorced from his wife.

"I'm sorry, Elara.", I say with a serious expression when I see that she wants to cry.

A normal child would cry and run into my arms in a situation like this, but Elara isn't like other children.

I see her walking and drying her face as if she's crying in hiding. I want to tell her that everything will be fine because I know what it's like to lose a mother, but I know that she still doesn't trust me completely like this, and I need to be patient for that to happen.

"Do you want to go back? It's too cold out here, and you might get sick...", I say, and she nods.

"I don't get sick...", she whispers, looking at me, and I smile and nod.

"Well then, your immune system works very well!"

We sit in silence for a few moments, and then she says she wants to play hide and seek, and I quickly agree because I know it will make her feel better.

I have my eyes closed, and I am counting to ten as she runs through the cemetery to hide from me.

I open my eyes and start running through the cemetery to find the girl. I smile when I see the lace of her dress behind a very large tombstone.

"I found you, so I won!", I say, smiling, but I stop smiling when I see that she's not here.

I turn around and scream when I see the girl behind me looking at me with bright green eyes.

"No, I found you, Ava!", she says, smiling, and I take a deep breath, feeling my heart beating fast inside my chest.

"Jesus, you all need to stop doing that, or I'm going to die!", I say, seeing that she's looking at me in confusion.

"Let's go back indoors, it's too cold out here, and it must be almost lunchtime."

Today was a long day. I played a lot with Elara and I tried very hard to get closer to her, but the girl always pulled away, and I saw that I had a long job ahead of me before she could trust me.

I'm still a stranger to her.

Now she's asleep, and I'm coming downstairs, and I see Lucius sitting on the sofa reading a book. I turn away, but before I get back to my room, I hear his voice.

"You're not interrupting me, Ava. Please join me...", I turn and nod, heading down the stairs.

I sit down next to him, feeling nervous for some reason I don't know yet. He looks at me, and I stare into the green pupils of his eyes.

"Do you like stories, Ava?", he whispers, and I blink my eyes before answering his question.

"Yes, I've loved books ever since I was a child.", I say, and he smiles before pointing to the collection of books he has around the large fireplace in the living room.

"Well, then you can make yourself at home and read any book you want. I have more books in my room, and I'll put them all here tomorrow."

"Thank you, that's very kind...", I look at the flames of the fire inside the fireplace, and I feel that he's looking at me right now again.

"How was your day with Elara?"

"We made a lot of progress together today, today was our first day together, but I know we'll have a good relationship when she gets to know me better.", I say, seeing that he's smiling.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter