When I opened my eyes next time, we were still on the road. I checked the time and two hours had passed already. Damian instantly noticed that I was awake. "Good morning Miss Moore. We are almost there." He said. I yawned and nodded. From the window I could still see huge fields and big forest around them. I also saw big houses, no, more like mansions. They were pretty far away from each other and they seemed to be competing in beauty. Red wooden one with white fences around it, white brick house with black roof and huge garden around it. "Miss, can you see that yellow house coming up on our left?" Damian asked. "That's Mr Moores house." I turned my head to the left and saw it. It was the biggest house I had ever seen. As we got closer, it would only get prettier. Walls made out of yellow tiles, windows were so big that if you'd break one, you'd spend a lifetime paying for it. Around the house, there was a lot of beautiful flowers planted, you could probably find all the colours of a rainbow out of them. I couldn't recognize any of them, even though I loved flowers and knew quite a few things about them. When we reached the front gate, my eyes widened. It was massive. It was made of white marble, with two golden horse heads on top. Damian smiled at my reaction. He drove in from the gate and parked in front of massive stairs, made out of the same white marble the gate was made out of. I was used to living in a two room flat but this house, no, a castle would describe it better, must have more than ten rooms.  I slowly got out of the car and looked around. Neatly cut grass was covering the big yard and even bigger garden. There were many apple trees in the garden, and some pretty bushes I didn't recognize. Flowers, flowers and more flowers. "Wow.." I sighed. If I didn't know better I'd think I had died and ended up in heaven. That's how beautiful it was. Damian took my luggage out of the trunk and motioned me to follow him. And I did.

 

When we stepped inside the house, an older lady, probably around her fifties, hurried to greet us. "Welcome home Miss Moore. My name is Rose McCarty, and I'm the maid in charge." Before I had chance to open my mouth, another person spoke. "Good afternoon Miss Moore, hopefully your flight was a pleasant one. I'm John Evans." I looked at the person speaking. He was older man, he looked very elegant, but his eyes were friendly. He was probably around same age as Rose I guessed. "Evans? Are you and Damian related?" I asked. "Yes, he is my son. Hope he didn't cause any trouble for you Miss." He worried. I shook my head. "Not at all. But could you all just please call me Emily? Being called Miss Moore is so.. Formal." The man who had introduced himself as John raised his brows. "Does it make you feel uncomfortable?" He was quick to catch on. I felt like I liked this man a lot already. I nodded. "Yea, I'm really not used to it." I replied. "Okay then, Emily." He said with little less formal tone. I gave him the brightest smile that possibly could come to my lips. "Thank you very much. How should I address you? By family name or first name?" I asked. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to address elder people in England. "Just John is fine. And I'm sure everyone else would be fine also if you called them by their first names as well." Everyone else? "What do you mean by everyone else? Is there a lot of people living here?" I asked. "There is in total ten people working here. Me and my son Damian here are the drivers. If you ever need to go anywhere, just let us know. Rose, Fiona and Abbey are responsible for the household chores. In the kitchen we have Gemma, Ashley and Annabel. And the garden is taken care by Gavin McCarty, Roses husband if I may add, and his nephew Brandon." I couldn't believe my ears. Ten? Oh my. At least I wouldn't be lonely huh? But I doubt I'd have a lot of privacy either.

 

"Mooom!" A girl around her twenties ran towards us. "Abbey! Mind your manners!"  Rose said angrily. The girl, Abbey, stopped instantly when she saw me. She bowed down and apologized. "I'm sorry for my daughters behaviour." Rose said. I smiled. "It's all right. You don't need to act so stiff around me."  I turned to the girl called Abbey. "Hello there, my name is Emily. Nice to meet you." She smiled brightly. "I'm Abbey McCarty. Nice to finally meet you!" She said cheerfully. "So I can see a lot of you guys are related. Is there more family members of yours working here?" I was looking at Rose while speaking but Abbey answered instead. "My father Gavin works in the garden with my cousin Brandon and my younger sister Ashley works in the kitchen." I nodded. "Any other families besides McCarty and Evans working here?" I asked. "No, the others aren't related by blood, but to be honest, all of us are like a big family." Rose replied with a warm smile on her face.

 

A big picture on the wall caught my attention. Four smiling people. A blonde girl and a boy, teenagers I'd guess? Very elegant and beautiful Lady and .. Gary.  Rose noticed me staring at the picture and asked. "You haven't met Miss Paige and Mr Payton yet have you?" I shook my head, still looking at the picture. They had green eyes, just like Garys.. And mine. They had to be my.. Siblings. "They're related to me aren't they?" I asked faintly. "Yes, They're your older siblings. Miss is nineteen years old and Mr is eighteen. You'll meet them when they come home next time, I'm sure you'll love them." Rose said as it was natural for me to love them since we shared the same blood. My heart ached. Not that I expected anything from this so called father, but to know he already had family when he was with mom.. Wasn't exactly something I wanted to hear. "So they live here?" I asked. "Sort of.." Abbey replied. "They study pretty far away so they only come home for holidays." At least I didn't have to face them right away. "It's nice to have you here Emily, this house is mostly so empty." Rose said sweetly. "So I guess Gary isn't here very often either then?" They all looked at me. "Your father you mean?" John asked. "I have never called him that. How could I call a person I have never met.. My father?" No one replied. Everyone kept quiet, probably didn't know how to respond. Until Damian opened his mouth. "Mr Moore travels a lot because of his work. So most likely you're to see your siblings more often than him." I nodded. The mood was still pretty tense and Damian saved me. "Emily, let me show you to your room." And I followed him upstairs.