Chapter 2 She'd Rather Be A Ghost Forever

Her grandfather didn't lie. She was beautiful. She looked like the sepia photo of her grandmother Celesta Lopez that was displayed at the living room, just above the antique grand piano. Her grandfather even thought her grandmother was a fairy when he first saw her.

Yes, she was beautiful. But it was a beauty she wished she didn't possess.

"We are not really sure if he will like me, Lolo. Beauty is not everything, " she uttered sadly.

"Are you protesting your marriage with Deive?" her grandfather asked on a high pitch. "Just say it now so you won't put our family in shame later on."

"N-No! That's not what I mean, Lolo."

"If you don't want to marry Deive, then leave the mansion now. Go back to Manila and live here instead."

"No, please!" she protested once more. "I don't want to leave here. I beg you. You know how much I love this place."

It was a fate worse then death if she would leave Villa Celesta. It was her haven from the cruel world. It was her world. Leaving that place was no life at all.

From the outside world, people saw her as a shell of a woman. A ghost. She would rather be a ghost to everyone's eyes. She would rather live at the shadow of that old house. She and Villa Celesta were one.

"Well, you'd better prepare for the arrival of your future husband then. It would be better if you will tie a knot soon."

"Please give me more time, Lolo, " she begged. She was not yet ready to marry a stranger. She was not ready to welcome an unknown man in her life no matter how rich or gorgeous he was.

"I am already old, Callea. I don't have forever to guard you and take care of you, " Don Tomasino said in a tired voice. "I want you to get settled with a man who will love you and take care of you before I depart this world. I am sure Deive is that man. He won't leave you and he will take care of you."

A man who would take care of her. Only her father could do that. He was the only man she accepted in her life. She was contented living with Marina and Luna.

In her memory, Deive had an angelic face. Her grandfather thought that he was the angel who would protect her. He was wrong.

Deive was like any other men. All they cared about was the physically beauty. A beauty they could possess. A beauty that was considered as a trophy.

They were blinded by outer beauty. Deive won't accept the real her.

"I will sign over this house to you once you marry Deive. If you won't marry him, you will lose this place. I may even send you to your Kuya Lee abroad so there will be someone who will watch over you."

She shook her head, terror lancing through her body. "No, Lolo. Please. I will do whatever you want. I will marry Deive."

Callea was trembling when she put the phone down. She walked towards the verandah. She stared at the round moon. Luna jumped to her arms and rubbed its head on her chest. As if she was sympathizing with her doom.

"What do I do now, Luna? I have to obey grandpa or I will lose this house. It will kill me, Luna. We have nowhere to go."

She hugged her cat and silently cried. The moon witnessed her mourning. The cold wind blew, Her long white gown and her long black hair danced with the wind.

Screams permeated in the air from the people passing by the front of the mansion. "Oh, god! There's a ghost! A white lady!" shouted by three men who were probably drunk.

Callea wiped her tears then laughed softly. That's why she liked that place. No one would dare bother her. The mansion was in the middle of nowhere. No one dared set foot on it because the place was believed to be haunted.

And she loved it.

She was a ghost in the eyes of many. Right. She would rather be a ghost forever.