3

I never thought death could visit so soon, Grandfather may have stricken in age but he wasn’t ready. Tears rolled down my face in rhythm with the rain drops on my window.

I shouldn’t have stepped out, I shouldn’t have left the house. I never even got the chance to say Goodbye.

I can feel my heart aching, the same way it did when my parents died. I clunked to Grandfather as cried my heart out.

One more hour and the tears barely fell anymore, I could hear my stomach grumbling, now wasn’t the time to eat but when I imagine the look on Grandfather’s face, when he finds out that I skipped my meals.

How could I eat here when he was poisoned by the food here.

I stepped out of my room down the stairs, to get a cup of water, I could hear the faint sound of a grunt until I arrived at an open door.

Alfred sat on the bed with a first aid box beside him, I had completely forgotten that he was shit earlier.

“Can I come in” I asked.

He raised his head to me and nodded.

“I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life. So thank you”

He let out a soft smile, something I thought a face like his would never bring forth, so as not to disfigure his dazzling feature. But his smile was just as beautiful as he was.

I moved closer to him, the bullet had grazed past his shoulder, he could barely reach it because of his muscles.

“Let me” I say reaching for the spirit, I dipped the cotton wool into it and pressed it against the injury.

I could hear a low grunt from him, he is trying hard not to make any sound.

“You can scream if you want to” I teased him but he didn’t say a word.

I reached for the needle and stitched him up, all thanks to the medical program I had signed up some summers ago.

Once I was done, I wrapped his injury in a band-aid.

“Thank you” he says as he wears his shirt.

I take a seat on the bed, it’s soft just like mine, able to sink you into its comfort.

“Why?” I asked.

“What?” He inquired.

“Why did you save me?”

“It’s my job”

We sat there quietly, my eyes pinned on the brown couch in front of me.

Two lives would have been lost today, mine and my Grandfather, somehow I was able to escape it because of Alfred.

But Grandfather wasn’t so lucky.

“Thank you again for everything” I say, this time referring to when he held me tightly in his arms. I slowly turn towards him to find his eyes on me, close enough to notice his thick long lashes.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you” I whispered.

He slowly blinks revealing those delicate blue eyes, and I couldn’t stare away.

***

It’s the dawn of the next day, preparation for Grandfather’s burial had already begun.

I am in study reliving the last moment we spoke when a figure walked in.

He was the same man I saw with my Grandfather.

“Hello Miss Liliac, my name is Mr Maverick. I was your Grandfather’s lawyer”

“Hello, nice to meet you” I reached in a handshake.

“What brings you here?” I asked as we both took our seat.

“Before your Grandfather died, he had written his will. I have invited the whole family for the reading of the will. They will be here in a couple of minutes” he stated.

Standing outside the door was Alfred, he had his arms behind his back. He hadn’t left my side from the minute Mr Maverick walked in.

“Is it true that he was poisoned?” I diverted the question, I didn’t care about the will.

Beck had told me that it was poison that killed my Grandfather, I wanted to be sure.

If that were true then I wasn’t safe in this house,

“Yes, he was killed by a poison that takes longer to effect, he needed to have more than one drop each day for months until the poison finally took over and killed him.

I had Beck investigate the cooks and someone was missing that day, the woman who had served him the tea.”

“She did it”

“I would believe so” he concur.

“Find her and bring her to me” I ordered and he nodded.

The sound of two cars pulling into the estate cut us off, I stepped out of the study with Maverick behind me.

Waltzing in like he owned the place was, Mr Wyatt Roman, Son of Roman Squarez, my uncle.

He wore a white suit, a black hat and some fancy shoes, he didn’t look like he was mourning his father at all.

Beside him was a woman in a bright red dress matching her red lipstick, the thin part of her lips curved into a smirk once she set her eyes on me.

Following behind them was Marcel, their son and my cousin, he wore a shiny silver suit and black vintage shoes, the watch on his wrist screaming luxury.

He was splitting image of his father.

He pulled down his sun glasses to catch a glimpse of me before heading for the mini bar to get a drink.

The last time I saw them was after my Parent’s funeral, they were banished by Grandfather to ever step their foot in this house.

Now that he was gone, they couldn’t care less as they bounced in here with smiles on their faces.

I walked down to my Uncle, “Welcome Uncle Wyatt”

He didn’t so much as bat an eye at me, rather he walked towards the couch and slouched in it.

His wife followed brushing against my shoulder, I almost lost my balance if it wasn’t for Alfred who held me by the waist.

“I’m okay” I said to him and fixed my shirt.

Marcel walked past me then paused and turned towards me, “it’s good to see again Cousin, you haven’t changed a bit” that was meant to be an insult from him but I waved it away.

“Maverick, get this done with. I can still feel the presence of that filthy old man in here. I don’t want to catch a ghost” Uncle Wyatt murmured.

I had almost forgotten how insensitive he was and how much he hated his father, the feeling was mutual.

Growing up, he tried so much to meet up with my Father’s accomplishments but he couldn’t.

My father easily became the favorite child and he became an outcast. From there he developed his careless attitude, he became as he grew older and Grandfather hated him even more.

Maverick sat before us, I took a seat at the dinning table while Alfred stood beside me, the feeling of knowing that he was close by made me feel warm.

“I will start by reading the letter Mr Roman had written…”

“Skip that, read the fucking will” Uncle Wyatt interrupted him.

Maverick raised his head to me and I nodded, if reading the will was going to get them out of here quicker then I was up for it, I could read the letter later in my room.

“…my estate and the company, with my international assets in the US and Germany, I leave to my Granddaughter, Liliac.”

“What?” Uncle Wyatt bolted to his feet in shock.