I couldn't get much sleep that night as I kept tossing and turning in bed. My mind was preoccupied with what I would find in the journal that Theo had given me.

Early in the morning, when Castle was still asleep, I climbed out of bed and picked up the journal that I'd kept hidden. The maids wouldn't come to disturb me for at least another hour, and Castle was snoring softly. I knew he wouldn't wake up as long as I stayed beside him. If he found me gone from bed, he would wake up and cause a racket.

I'd gone for an early morning walk in the courtyard last week, making sure that Castle was sleeping, but thirty minutes later when I came back inside the mansion, he was screaming and running around throwing the doors open looking for me.

After that day, I knew not to sneak out. He constantly sought physical contact and finding the bedside empty made him very upset.

He draped his arm over my waist. I traced my fingers over his biceps as I opened the journal to read.

The journal was ancient since being passed down from generations, and the pages in the beginning were filled with entries by different ancestors of their family.

Mostly male.

I realized they were all written by the firstborn member of the family.

Did that mean Castle had written something here too?

Theo had specifically advised me to read the dog-eared pages because he said the other entries were irrelevant. Looking at the first few entries, I realized he wasn't joking when he said it bored the hell outta him. There wasn't anything interesting that the ancestors had written.

I skipped to the middle pages of the journal.

Aster Montgomery.

I tried to recall if I heard that name before.

Was this Castle's mother?

I started reading from the first page, but the pages were all detailing about school life, and college, and other not-so-important events in her life. I skimmed some more pages until I found the juicy parts. The page had a small red star scrawled on it with a pen.

I don't know long I've been in this bed, thinking about ending this madness that runs in my family.

My father wouldn't listen.

Innocent lives have been sacrificed; people have died for some sick rituals. I needed my dad to stop. I needed him to understand that this wasn't how I wanted life to go on.

Sometimes I wish I could just run away far from here. Sometimes I sit by the lake and stare into the water, wishing I had the guts to jump into it. The blue, serene water calms me down somehow. It feels like a soothing balm to my loneliness.

If I jumped into the lake, it would all end then, wouldn't it?

The pain and the sufferings would be gone.

But I was a coward and couldn't bring myself to commit suicide.

Dad wanted me to get married soon as I was turning twenty-five, but I didn't want to as I knew the man that my father had chosen to marry me.

Terrance Briggs was nice, sweet, intelligent, and kind. He made me smile, and his family was as influential as mine. I went on a few dates with Terrance, just to make my father happy. I liked Terrance, but that spark was missing.

He didn't make my insides turn to molten; he didn't make me laugh until I had tears in my eyes, and he wasn't as handsome as a movie star.

Christopher was all those things. And more.

It's too bad Christopher was born on the wrong side of the blanket.

The wrong side of the town.

He was a stable boy on the Montgomery estate.

The sounds of loud thumping of footsteps made me shut the journal quickly and hide it beneath my pillow. A soft knock on the door broke into the silence.

"Come inside."

Penelope stepped inside the room. She bowed, her eyes never straying to Castle's half-naked form on the bed or his hand holding me, crushing me possessively against him. I bet she was used to walking into far more compromising situations of her other Masters, so she wasn't bothered with a married couple still in bed.

"Good Morning, Ms. Millicent. Master Devin has asked for you and Master Castle to be ready in twenty-minutes. He said you were going with him to the head office."

I sighed. I'd completely forgotten about the board meeting he wanted me to join.

I gave her a nod. "Tell him we'll be ready. Also, please send in the breakfast."

She bowed once again and left.

I wasn't interested in going for this stupid board meeting. I'd rather be cooped up in this bedroom and read the journal. There were so many secrets still waiting to be uncovered, so many lies that the family had spewed. I needed every bit of information. Knowledge is power after all, and I was going to dig deeper and find out what was going on, starting from the family history.

I turned to Castle and kissed his collar-bone. "Time to wake up, baby."

He squeezed my body towards him, mumbling something in his sleep.

I traced the back of his face with my fingers. "Castle, baby, we need to get ready."

* * *

Devin drove us to their office in his black BMW. Castle rode shotgun, and I sat in the backseat.

The trees rolled past us. I watched as the iron gates slowly shut and the mansion turned smaller as the car moved farther away. It was the second time I was allowed to be outside the mansion. Throughout the entire fifteen minute drive, I kept imagining Devin stopping the car somewhere and throwing me out. Blame it on my trust issues over the family; I couldn't predict what would happen in the very next second.

Despite everything, he chatted with me like we were old friends, as if I hadn't been forced into marrying into his family. Let's not forget the time he'd broken my legs or when he'd threatened me with a hunting rifle.

He was such an amazing brother-in-law.

My ass.

I smiled while he talked to me about the company. I'd chosen a simple beige blouse over a pair of skinny slacks, matching them with cream-colored pumps and a Chanel bag. My ears were adorned with a pair of diamond earrings that Theo had given me as a wedding gift that had belonged to his mother, and I should have them. I'd been too emotional to say anything. Being given his mom's jewelry meant Theo had completely accepted me into his family.

I'd kept my attire casual and formal, looking every bit like the wife of a wealthy businessman. I didn't want Castle to be shamed for my upbringing; I would never do that to him. So even though this new wealthy Millie wasn't part of who I used to be, I was ready to do what I needed to in order to belong to his world.

Castle was dressed immaculately in a white button-down shirt and khaki slacks that were snug over his delicious thighs and his ass looked perfect in it. I didn't think I would ever stop lusting over my husband. Sensing that I had my eyes on him, he glanced at me from the front passenger seat and gave me that killer smile.

The car rolled to a stop in front of a tall building. I was just admiring the glassy design of it when the door opened. I stepped outside. Devin tossed the keys to the valet and placed a hand on my back as he led me inside the building.

"Good Morning, Mr. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery." A beautiful brunette greeted us at the reception. "It's so nice to see you here today. I'm so glad you could grace us with your presence and—

"Piper," Devin cut in between, "Tone down the ass-kissing. We're going to the fifth floor of the board meeting. See that no one interrupts us. Hold all my calls. You know the drill."

"Yes, sir." She was still smiling, no traces of embarrassment whatsoever.

I guess she was used to Devin's barrage of insults. The man could charm your pants off and still threaten to kill you. He was ruthless in every sense, and if Devin didn't want Castle to wake up, it meant that Castle had him under control until he lost his memories and things went haywire.

We rode in the elevator together. Several employees smiled and greeted me politely as we made our way towards the board meeting room.

Devin leaned towards me and whispered, "Keep Castle in line, you know how to do that."

"You don't have to worry. He won't be upset as long as I'm with him." I assured him.

I was close behind Devin as he opened the door of the boardroom for me. The members all stood up and gave me a polite smile. I made my way towards one of the empty leather chairs in the corner since I'd assumed I would take notes today, but Devin waved me towards the second seat near the head chair.

"Gentlemen, please meet the new co-chairperson of Montgomery Enterprise, my sister-in-law, Millicent Montgomery." 

* * *

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