Castle | ✔️

Chapter Twenty Seven

 Few Hours Earlier

I opened the diary again to read it. Castle was still in bed, and I was taking a bubble bath in the tub. No one was going to disturb me right now, and the door was locked. Castle wouldn't wake up for another hour and I needed to do a pep talk before this evening. I had to convince Castle to go to the yacht with me.

I picked up reading where I left off. The next dog-eared page was four years later.

Aster's Journal

January 10th

Castle is such a lovely boy. My boy has dark hair and golden-brown eyes that look like glimmering imperial topaz. He's a gem indeed, my Castle. He's such a smart kid, even at four, I know Castle is special.

I named him Castle because it suits him. He's nothing less than a prince. Everyone in the house adores him. Dad is always buying him gifts and taking him out for walks. He is completely spoilt. I mean, who has a room filled with toys? He merely points at something and he gets it.

I think it's safe to say that things have changed for the better.

The madness has finally ended.

Dad has changed too. He's not doing those crazy rituals in the house, and I'm sure about this because I don't see bodies in the house anymore and that gives me hope.

I think meeting his grandson has made him undergo a change of heart.

* ~ *

While I was curious to read the rest of the pages, I noticed a thick amount of omitted pages in between. Whatever happened after these chapters had to be the turning point. I skipped directly to the next marked page by Theo.

Aster's Journal

17th Oct

I feel bad for these kids. They aren't too older than Castle. While my Castle is twelve, Devin and Dayana are ten.

I think the poor kids have an abusive alcoholic father, and the mother Lorna works in the mansion gardens to support the family. She's a sweet woman, and since the kids are young, I let them play with Castle.

You can tell by the way the kids eat hungrily at the table that they don't get enough food. Devin eats with both hands. Devin doesn't look ten either, more like six years old. The girl is healthier than the boy and it makes me sad for the children.

The kids don't go to school, so I have taken upon myself to put them in schools. I don't want them to grow up without proper education and I know for a fact that their mom can't afford it. It gives me immense pleasure to do good after all the bad that has followed my family. After all the blood that's on our hands, the fucked up ancestors.

I will not let history repeat itself.

It's time to change things around here.

Christopher is a loving husband, and it's wonderful to see how our son is growing up to look like him.

* ~ *

I sat there dumbfounded by the revelation in the journal.

Devin and Dayana were not related to the Montgomery family by blood. They weren't even Castle's real siblings. I wanted to solve this mystery desperately, so I leafed through the pages to get to the other marked passages.

I noticed how there was a time-skip now. Aster didn't write the journal daily. It was an occasional occurrence when she thought some moments were important enough to pen down.