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I briefly spoke with Castle’s old secretary, a nice young lady named Julia, who was sweet and welcoming. In the back of my mind, I wondered if he ever had a fling with her. She was cute enough that I would have to worry, but I let the thought slide. If he ever had something with her, it was in the past. He wasn’t the same man anymore.
Julia talked a lot about Castle, and how he would take her out on lunches if they were stuck in a long outdoor meeting. She said he was a caring boss. I tried to look for some hidden meaning but couldn’t find one.
Mentally, I kicked myself for being jealous.
I needed a new strategy to get Castle to remember his past. The chances of the boating accident recreation working were unlikely, even though Theo was quite adamant about us trying it.
Castle was playing late-night arcade games with Theo and Chandler in the gaming room on the fourth floor. It was Theo’s idea to keep him busy while I read some of the family journal.
I sat down on the chaise and opened it from where I’d left off.
Aster Montgomery’s Journal.
I know Christopher is the one for me. I have seen how his eyes followed me around when I went for a horse ride.
I’m going to be engaged to Terrance in two months, but I just can’t seem to feel anything for my fiancé. I know I should be honest with him, but Terrance hardly has time for me. He’s busy with work and making preparations for the wedding. He doesn’t look at me the way Christopher does.
And I know for a fact that if I married Terrance, I’d just be another wife of a wealthy man tucked away in the corner, taking care of his children while he did whatever he wanted outside of the house.
I don’t want that life!
I don’t want to marry Terrance!
I closed the journal for a moment, wondering who exactly was Aster.
Have I heard that name before? Is this the entry Theo wanted me to read?
I opened the journal again and started reading it.
Christopher and I spent a lot of time together, whether it was for horse riding or just reading books together. I’m always with him.
His smile makes my heart melt. I love him with all my heart and I know he loves me, too.
June 3rd
Tonight I sneaked out of my room and went to the other wing. It was pretty late. Christopher lives in the servant’s quarters of the mansion. His room was bare save for one bed and a table that held a nightstand.
He didn’t have much, but he could give me what I wanted.
And that was love.
I visited him often in the servant’s rooms.
I turned the pages because it droned on and on about how Christopher looked, even his outfits were mentioned, along with every visit and their talks about the weather. I wasn’t interested in learning about the weather.
I needed the juicy bits of their past. Turns out Theo thought the same too; the pages with repetitive passages about Christopher’s physical description weren’t dog-eared.
It was pretty clear Aster had like a massive crush on Christopher. I bet he was hot back in the day.
I stopped flipping pages when I found the page marked for reading.
June 10th
We are exchanging kisses in secret. It is thrilling yet amazing. I like how my heart keeps fluttering with him around.
Today when my family had gone out, we made love.
I snuggled up in his arms and told Chris that my family, especially my father, would never agree to our marriage.