Today was the day that Joanna was supposed to officially move out of her Residence.
Although it was mainly because she wanted to avoid her ex–husband, Ace, she had also been dreaming about moving to her new place for three years.
Her new place would be the Pierce Residence!
After the Pierce family went bankrupt three years ago, the court sold off their three–story mansion.
Nevertheless, since her parents had passed away at the mansion, no one dared to purchase it, even at a modest price.
It was auctioned off again a few days ago.
This time, Joanna bought it for 1.5 billion without further hesitation.
She only told Clara and Liam about her new home, who both wanted to throw her a housewarming party. Clara even said that she'd be bringing a mysterious guest.
Joanna quickly agreed to it as she wanted the abandoned Pierce Residence to feel lively again.
She hadn't stayed in her Residence for long, and there wasn't much to pack.
Before leaving, she gave the door one last look and couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
'Ace is probably in bed with Alice talking about their wedding,' she thought to herself.
Her hast move did seem a little unnecessary, seeing as to how Ace didn't seem to care one bit.
She took a deep breath, shook her head, and forced herself to forget him.
'It's all in the past!' she told herself.
After this, there would be no connection between them, not unless they became business rivals.
The car drove past the cities before arriving at a quiet place on the outskirts.
The City's residents used to say that the rich flourished in the South, the poor survived in the North, the nobles resided in the West, and chaos existed in the East.
True to the saying, those who lived in the West were mostly nobility.
There were either high–ranking officials, leaders in the academic world, or an aristocrat whose ancestors had some relation to the royal family for three generations. On the other hand, the extremely wealthy didn't live there very often.
Joanna's grandfather was a warrior on the battlefield, while her grandmother's identity had been a mystery, but it was said. that she was closely linked to the royals.
So, when the Pierce family was at its finest and amassed almost as much wealth as the top three families of The Great Eight of the City, they chose to reside in the West.
However, everything crumbled before they could even settle in.
Thus, the once magnificent Pierce residence became a dusty, cobweb–infested shell, marred by a forest of weeds that conquered most of its grounds.
The unkempt sight disappointed Joanna, but she knew that it would be over soon. She knew the Pierce residence would reclaim its glory once again.
Everything was going well until the cleaning service called to cancel their appointment.
The hiccup quickly made her anxious.
Although the house seemed sturdy on the outside, the same couldn't be said about its interior.
The original housekeeper had refused to come because she didn't want to clean the entire place on her own.
Thus, Joanna called several house cleaning services right away, but when they heard that the job was at the Pierce. residence, they immediately refused, making up silly excuses as they went along.
'The Pierce residence is haunted. Who'd dare to go there?!"
"I heard that the ghosts of the husband and wife are trapped in the house. After dark, you can hear them cry and howl all night!'"
After hearing the same story several times, Joanna couldn't help but frown. She wondered if her parents' ghosts were really even trapped there.
If they were, she wouldn't be the least scared.
In fact, she wished that her family was with her!
Joanna got off the car moment it stopped in front of the Pierce residence.
The house gave off a familiar yet strange feeling.
The iron fence was caked in rust, and in the place where the flower garden once was were weeds as tall as people.
Seeing this, Joanna felt a wave of sadness wash over her, and tears began to roll down her face.
'Grandpa, Dad, Mum, I'm back,' she cried.
Just as she was about to enter the house, she saw something peculiar.
Joanna noticed that the iron fence had been knocked down, and in one spot, the tall grass had been trodden on, with footprints in the wet mud.
It was obvious that someone had come to the house before. The footprints, however, indicated that they went in but never came out.
There was a high possibility that the person was still inside!
Behind her, the man from the moving company put down her baggage and wiped his sweat nervously. "Miss, I've put all your stuff here. I'm not going in there. A word of advice, get out of here as soon as possible when you can."
Joanna turned around to look at the man and asked worriedly, "Do you know what's wrong with the house? Everyone seems to be saying there's something wrong with it."
The man gulped nervously and stole a glance at the house. "Haven't you heard? The couple who owned the house ended their lives there. Their ghosts are trapped there, and the house has become haunted!"
"I know the owners passed away, but I believe it's nothing more than a rumor. There's no evidence it's haunted."
"No! It's definitely not just a rumor!"
The man shook his hand and said without hesitation, "A lot of people have seen it before. I came to deliver a package around here before and saw it too! The mistress of the house walks around the window, crying in a white dress. It's so scary! If it weren't for the fact that I needed the money, I would never have come here with you."
After he finished speaking, he began to tremble. Then, he ran back to his car immediately and waved goodbye to Joanna. "I'm leaving now. Be careful. Don't give me a bad rating!"
Joanna was unshaken by the man's jitteriness. She was, in fact, hoping to see this woman in white that appeared in the middle of the night.
For now, though, she needed to figure out the identity of the mystery person hiding in her house.
Joanna took out a baseball bat from her bag, pushed the gate open, and walked in.
Every corner of the house carried memories of her past, and it quickly brought her to tears.
She loved the garden the most. It used to be filled with sunflowers, and in the middle, stood a swing that her father had built
for her.
The swing was still there, but the sunflowers were no more.
She walked past the garden and pushed the doors open. It was then that she heard a 'boom,' before rainbow confetti rained down on her.
"Surprise!"
Just as Joanna was about to swing the bat, she saw Liam holding a bouquet in his hand, while Clara walked out from the corner with a cake.
"Joanna, congratulations on leaving that scum, Ace. Your life will only get better from here!"
It was unusual to see Liam so serious about a change. When he handed the flowers to Joanna, his face was filled with sincerity; the uninitiated would have assumed he was proposing to her.
He had bought her sunflowers, which were her favorite.
The golden and shining petals would only grow bigger in the sun, symbolizing a strong drive to live.
Clara didn't want to lose either, as if it was a competition. She immediately presented the cake. "Joan, I made this cake for you. It'll bring you luck and chase away the bad from your life!"
Joanna was surprised and overwhelmed that tears began to pool around her eyes.
She glanced around the room and noticed that there were no spider webs or dust inside the house. The house was spotless, and there was a pleasant aroma in the air. Everything had obviously been well–cleaned.
"You guys are too considerate. You had a surprise prepared and even cleaned the house. I have to cook today as a thanks for your efforts!"
Liam didn't say a word, but Clara was excited. "Joan, you got it wrong. We are not that hard–working, especially my brother. We're not the ones who cleaned the house."
"Then who?"
Clara mysteriously looked upstairs and said, "Come out."