Chapter Ten

The necklace was very beautiful. The moon shape pendant was made of crystal and I suspected it was the moonstone. The outer shell was white but I could see a patch of blue filling inside of it. There were also some tiny engravings on it. It was quite beautiful.



I returned my gaze to the bookcase where it had fallen from. There was a lot of dust on it earlier which meant it had been there for quite some time. I wondered where Grans got it from.



I didn't exactly fancy jewelry and I rarely put on any ornaments. But, I found myself liking this piece of necklace.



So when I took the stairs down the attic to the lobby, it came down along with me.



No one was in sight when I went down. They had probably gone to take a bath. So, I also went to my room.



I locked the door behind me before walking to the bedside table where I dropped the book I picked from the bookcase. Then, I undid the locks of the necklace.



I walked to the mirror and stood in front of it to put on the necklace. It looked even better staring at me in the mirror. As I strung it around my neck, I looked in the mirror. It was tiny around my neck and it looked good on me.



I reached out to rub a finger on the pendant. The necklace was beautiful, surely. But, I had no idea why I liked it so much.



But anyway, wasn't it just a necklace? It could have been something Grans bought when she was younger. Or, she might have bought it from a pawn shop. It was just a piece of old junk. No one would blame me if I inherited it.



Afterward, I took a quick shower and put on another pair of casual clothes. Then, I returned to the rest of the living room.



Mom already warmed the rest of the food from breakfast and arranged the table. Jasper was right on her heels with water in the water jug. Then, the two of them settled down in their seats.



I also took my seat as mom scooped out food onto our plates. We waited for her to settle down before picking our cutleries and we began to eat.



There were not many conversations between us as we ate. It was quiet and peaceful.



After everyone had polished off the food on their plates, I stood up from my seat. Then, I leaned over and began to arrange the plates on top of one another.



Just then, I heard mom mutter as she looked at me. "Nice necklace. Where did you get it from?"



My gaze immediately veered to the necklace on my neck. It had popped out of my T-shirt when I leaned forward and the pendant was right outside.



I immediately reached out a hand to hold it and looked at mom. Then, I replied, "I found it in the attic earlier. Don't you think it's very beautiful?"



"Oh." Mom mouthed quietly as she nodded in understanding. Then, she replied, "Indeed. It's nice."



I smiled and returned my attention to what I was doing. I felt a gaze on me or rather a heated gaze on the necklace on my neck. So I turned to look in that direction.



It was Dad. His gaze was on the necklace and his brows were furrowed. He seemed to be thinking about something.



I wanted to ask him what was wrong. But before I could talk, he murmured, "I must have remembered wrongly. It isn't the one."



My eyebrows shot up and I wanted to ask him what he meant by that. But, he immediately stood up from his seat and yawned. Then, he stretched his arms a little before looking at us.



"I'm going off to take a nap." He said.



Mom also stood up when she heard this. She smiled at him. "I'll be there in a minute."



Dad nodded at her and he turned around to leave. In a matter of seconds, he was out of the dining room.



I sighed and picked up the plates now. Then, I carried them to the kitchen sink. As I placed them in the sink, I was about to shout out to Jasper to come to wash them since it was his turn.



But then, I remembered we made a deal two days before. So I gave a small, frustrated sigh before turning to the plates to wash them.



I was soon done washing. It was evening already. When I walked out of the kitchen, I found Jasper playing a mobile game and John was lying on his stomach beside the sofa. He seemed to be playing LEGO.



Dad and Mom were nowhere in sight. It quite told what the words 'I'll be there soon meant' when she said them.



Jasper looked up from what he was doing when he saw me standing there. It was only for a moment though and he soon flicked his gaze back towards the screen.



"Fuck." He cursed under his breath as his fingers danced on the keypad in his hands. It seemed he had been distracted and was losing.



A smile immediately appear on my face seeing how panicked he was. He also seemed to be chatting with his teammates during the game as he had his earphones on and was talking loudly.



I initially wanted to speak. But upon seeing this, I simply kept quiet.



I walked away from the living room and took the stairs back to my room. As I entered, the book on the desk attracted my attention. I remembered that I was intending to read it today.



It was still not late as it was only evening. And, I would be free for the rest of the day anyway. I looked towards the garden right outside my window and the view there instantly made me beam.



The sun was already setting. Its red glow danced over the horizon and cast a shadow on the garden. It was a beautiful sight to see.



Dad and I had cleared out the garden early that morning with Jasper helping quite a few times. I showed him the day before and as expected, none of them had noticed it since it was not that wide and only right behind my window.



It was now clean and neat. We had pulled out all the flowers since they were all rotten and shriveled since no one was there to maintain them. So now, it was all bare and there was only the swing in the middle.



And with that, I found myself running back down the stairs to the kitchen. I made a cup of malted milk and returned upstairs to pick up the book.



With a good book to read and a cup of malted milk to spice it up, what more could one wish for?



As I walked into the garden, I felt the sudden temperature change. Unlike the stuffy house, it was cool outside. The breeze blew from time to time sending a cool sensation over my body and down my spine.



It felt relaxing.



I took a seat on the swing and placed the cup beside me. I looked at the book in my hand for a moment before turning the first page.