UNVEILING THE SECRET (Pt 2)

Her fingers wandered in search of the light switch which she eventually found beside the door post. After flipping the three switches, the light in the room turned on revealing an empty room filled with portraits, paintings, and pictures hanging on the wall. There was also a vanity table with beautiful boxes on it.

On the vanity table, a word was written boldly; AYLA.

In the frames on the wall, there was a beautiful young woman with brunette hair and hazel eyes just like hers. She had a beautiful smile that made her look innocent. In another frame, the woman was pecking Cole's cheek. It seemed they were lovers.

Ashley was confused, wasn't Aria his fiancée? She knew that woman was either his wife, lover, or sister. In another picture, she was in his arms, it looked like a photo shoot, and written on it was; AYLA & SIAN. It was obvious she was his lover, but…what about Aria, where did she fall in?

She walked up to the vanity table where there were white flowers placed there, like a remembrance. That's when Ashley knew she was deceased. Some flowers had withered and some were fresh.

There was a silver box embellished with diamond stones that formed a word, Ayla. There was something written on the box; "Position your thumb here to open."

She placed her thumb on the provided space and the box opened, revealing a letter in it, it read.

"Dear Sian,

I know you're worried about my health, you feel at fault for what happened but I just want you to know, you're not. I know you may have gone slightly overboard that night, but you need to know, that there's nothing you do that can hurt me even if it's by mistake. It happened for the best. I just want to assure you that I won't leave you. We are #SILA# forever."

Ashley was reading the letter when she felt a threatening aura behind her.

She slowly turned to see Cole watching her with bloodshot eyes, it was like he was going to destroy her right there, right now.

"Um..C-cole..I-i" she stammered.

"Why are you here?" he said angrily.

She was so scared that she couldn't say a meaningful word.

"I-I m s-sorry" she managed to say.

"What brought you here?" he said already fuming and enraged, his eyes were red and scary.

She could see that he was trying hard to restrain himself and not even a single word could leave her mouth. Sweats formed on her forehead and her face was burning in fear and shame. She attempted to just let out a word, at least a sorry.

"S-s…."

"Get out!" he yelled. "I said get the hell out!!!"

She had never seen Cole so furious. He was usually stony but now he was fuming and boiling in nothing else but rage.

She couldn't do anything else, she slowly walked out of the room shutting the door after her.

She was about to leave for her room when she saw Aria observing her with a mocking smile.

"Oops sorry," she said before letting out a chuckle.

Aria couldn't take the embarrassment and humiliation, she took to her heels with her face in her palms. Still sprinting towards her room she kept wiping her tears off with her fisted palms. She wasn't crying because of Aria's words but because Cole had never yelled at her in that way.

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Janet opened her eyes to find herself back in her bed with a changed dress. To her surprise, Tegan was in the bed. Out of shock, she jumped off the bed and her sudden response also startled him.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned in fright and anger.

"Babe chill, it's not what you think," he said casually.

She soon found out her cloth was changed. The angry expression on her face was enough for Tegan to shudder.

"Calm down, I didn't change it, It was a maid," he said trying to evade her wrath.

Janet couldn't stand his nuisance and walked out of the room. She searched for Janice and Elana but found neither of them.

"Where are my family?" she asked a housekeeper.

"Master Fox asked a driver to take them shopping," he said.

Janet felt weird. She didn't want them to get too comfortable with riches as she knew they were not going to stay here for too long.

She went back to the room to meet Tegan shirtless. Out of embarrassment, she placed her palm over her eyes, even though she had already seen him shirtless countless times.

"Geez, Why can't you do that in your room?" she complained.

"What?" he said flirtatiously. "Is it too attractive for you?"

"If you're trying to feel superior, you shouldn't. I've dated guys more attractive than you" she lied.

Tegan's smile turns into a frown.

"Better than me?" he asked with a pint of gloom.

"Sure," she said.

"Why are you being too kind to my family?"

"Too kind?" he gave a chuckle. "I just want to treat them as my own"

"Then please don't," she said almost instantly. "I don't want them getting too attached to you or this house"

Tegan's expression becomes a bit discouraged.

"I have to go back to the Hendrix Villa and I won't let them stay," she said.

"Oh…Why?" Tegan asked.

"I just don't want your help to be more than a turn," she said. "You did me a favor and I appreciate you for that, let it just stay a favor," she said.

"Oh…okay," he said with a sigh.

**********************************************

Ashley was crouched up in a corner bawling her eyes out. She heard the door open and looked to see who it was; It was Catherine.

Catherine appeared rather glum or passionate. She walked up to the crying Ashley.

Ashley was surprised at Catherine's arrival. What was she scheming now?

"That girl you saw there is Ayla, she was everything to Cole." She said with a sigh.

Ashley looked up with red weepy eyes. She was interested in knowing more about this girl.

"What about Aria? Wasn't she his fiancée?" Ashley asked.

"It's complicated" she sighed.

"When Master's parents passed away, he was left all alone except for Austin and me who took care of him. During his childhood, Austin decided to adopt Ayla as Master's playmate but Ayla wanted her best friend, Aria to come with her which we approved. When no one could bond with the Master, Miss Ayla did. She was the only person he allowed to be close to him. They eventually grew up into lovers and he wanted to get wedded to her but on the night before their engagement..." she broke down into tears.

Ashley was sad, just hearing about Ayla she knew she must have been a very amazing girl to catch his eyes.

"What happened?" Ashley said emotionally.

"You must have heard about Master's bloodlust" Catherine began.

"Bloodlust?" Ashley said in confusion.

"It was caused by a disease," she said. "Master had a disease from birth, it put him in serious pain and almost killed him countless times. His parents went from doctors to doctors still they couldn't tell us the reason for his sickness. They eventually went to a witch doctor and he specified a method for it; Master had to take the blood of young women every two days, if he didn't he would fall under the control of his bloodlust" she said.

"How?" Ashley asked.

"Master yearns for blood every two days but whenever he stays away from it for too long, he can go to any lengths to get it. He could kill countless women just to satisfy his lust" she said.

It sounded like she was telling a scary story which terrified Ashley to the root.

"But he has never taken my blood," Ashley said.

"You know why?" Catherine asked making Ashley nod "No". "It's because you have similar features and qualities to Ayla"

"How?" Ashley asked.

"You have her eyes, her hair, her charm, and most of all her personality. Master wouldn't want to make the same mistake he made." She finished.

"What mistake did he make?" Ashley asked.

"His bloodlust took over him and he sucked her blood till she had none left," Catherine said sadly.

Ashley placed her hands over her mouth in horror.