The Unholy Bride: In God's Name, I Kill

Chapter 3: The Steel's Secret

"Good morning, Mary," greeted by Catherine upon my entrance into the dining room.

She was having breakfast with Enzo and Scarlette, since Roman had left early for work—a fact I was secretly relieved about, because it meant I didn't wake up with his heavy arms draped around me.

"Good morning, everyone," I greeted them all as I took the seat beside Scarlette, who was chugging her face on her bowl of cereal.

"Do you want a coffee?" Catherine asked, and I just simply nodded my head because I was still a little groggy. "Let me make one for yo-"

"No," I cut her off. "I'll just ask a maid."

My sister-in-law furrowed her brows and tilted her head slightly. "Maid? We don't have maids, Mary."

It was my turn to furrow my brows. "We don't have maids? Why?"

Catherine chuckled. "We don't need maids, Mary, and we lived in the States for ten years, so maids will be useless here."

After Catherine told me the explanation, she left to make me the coffee she promised, while I picked my fingernails underneath the table and stared at the spilled milk on it.

It was suspicious because from what Roman had told me before, this mansion was passed down to them from their great-great-great grandfather. He also had mentioned a lot of times before that they value it more than any amount of money they possess.

They value it... and sure they have the money to hire housekeepers, but they chose not to and let this millions of worth mansion to rot in the middle of this fucking forest.

I've asked Roman countless times before to take me here, but he refused every single time because I wasn't yet his wife. In short, they won't allow someone who wasn't a part of the family because they were hiding and protecting something, but what was it?

"Scarlette, you made a mess," Catherine groaned after she placed my coffee on the table and noticed the scattered cereals and spilled milk.

"Sowy, Tata," her niece mumbled.

"Enzo, babe, can you clean her up?" she asked her husband, who quickly stood up to take the child.

Catherine started to clean the mess on the table, so I helped her, until she completely asked me to finish it because she was running late for work and still needed to take her niece to school.

After I cleared the table and washed the dirty dishes, I stood on the porch to watch them leave for the day.

"Bye, Mary!" Catherine yelled, waving her hand outside the window of her husband's car.

I waved back and flashed a smile. "Take care!"

Enzo honked the car one more thing before they accelerated away and I was left standing alone, but not for so long because I sprinted my way inside the mansion to look for an answer or even just a clue to my question.

What secret is my husband's family hiding?

I didn't know where to start because this mansion was so massive that it wasn't impossible for me to get lost, so I just let my feet take me wherever it goes.

Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my fingers around the handle of the library's arched wooden door and flung it open—creating a tornado of dust from the unkept books. I coughed and fanned my hands in front of my face to sweep the dust away, until I could vividly see what was hiding behind the door.

Just like the mansion from the view outside, this library seemed to be untouched by time. The grand crystal diamond overhead was dimly lit and flickering. The shelves on each corner were towering and seemed endless, compacted with rows and rows of old books with their spines cracked and faded from years of neglect.