"The manor remembers the blood, even if you forget the blade."
Bell's Bitter Bloom
Bell wasn't just any cousin—she was the shadow of Veronica.
As a child, she dreamed of marrying into wealth and power. She wore a veil over her face and practiced saying "I do" to the empty air. But the one thing she never had was Veronica's venom. Her schemes never landed. Her charm never captured.
And worst of all—her own mother, Lady Ariella Watefort, had refused her hand to Kristoff Wheelbehelm.
"You are too soft," Ariella once said. "You want love. Veronica wants legacy. Love is fleeting. Power lasts."
Those words etched themselves into Bell's soul like scars.
Lady Ariella Watefort – The Matriarch with Murder in Her Prayers
Lady Ariella had spent decades playing the silent queenmaker. Her sister, Ava Watefort—Veronica's mother—had always outshone her. Until death claimed Ava and three of her children in that mysterious manor fire 15 years ago.
Only Mr. Watefort and little Veronica survived.
That day, something inside Ariella clicked.
She whispered at Ava's grave:
"You died rich. I'll live richer."
And she meant it.
She engineered the engagement between Veronica and Kristoff. And when Jehyron, Veronica's secret love, threatened that plan?
She killed him.
Pushed off a cliff.
Wrapped in chains.
Whispered to the wind, "It's your mother's wish."
But Ava never wished that.
And the manor knew.
On the third night, a mirror appeared in the hallway—one no one remembered hanging.
Bell walked by. It called to her.
She saw her younger self, begging her mother to let her marry Kristoff. Crying. Heartbroken.
Then she saw Lady Ariella, dragging Jehyron's body in the dead of night, laughing.
"You were never meant to be happy," the mirror whispered. "Only useful."
Bell screamed. The manor answered by showing the memory to the entire dining room.
Lady Ariella denied it—until the ground beneath her cracked open, revealing Jehyron's body preserved in roots, mouth open in a scream, eyes wide.
Ariella began to rot alive, vines crawling through her dress, skin tightening, bones cracking.
Bell reached for her.
The manor whispered:
"You wanted her seat. Take it."
And Bell did not want to let go, but in a blink of an eye her mother was gone.
The Wateforts' Legacy of Blood
It became clear:
The Wheelbehelms had greed.
The Wateforts had poison.
Together, they fed the gift.
And the artifact in the drawing room—the one with the eye and Latin engravings—grew warmer with each sin revealed.
It now pulsed softly, like a heart.
And in the Latin etched on its tiny door, a new line glowed red:
"Only the innocent may leave."
Bell :The Bride with a Golden Heart (and a Knife in Her Purse) soon the house came for her.
Bell wanted to be loved… but more than that, she wanted to win.
She stood in the mirror room—hundreds of reflections looking back. Each mirror shimmered and offered something different:
One showed her as Queen of the estate.
Another showed her husband dead.
Another showed veronica locked in chains at her feet .
She smiled and picked the last.
"Only if you mean it," said the mirror.
"I do," she whispered.
The mirror cracked—then swallowed her.
Inside, she lived her fantasy...
Alone.
Forever.
The manor gave her victory—at the price of companionship.
The House Watches
The manor pulsed with hunger. It didn't need to touch them anymore.
Their greed fed it. Their desires gave it walls, staircases, and voices.
In the attic, the eye widened.
Another room unlocked.
Another door shifted.
The manor was growing again.