The Walls of Riverside Manor

DISCLAIMER: all characters, places and situations depicted in the following work, are completely fictional.

Any resemblance with actual living people or places is completely unintentional and unintended.

All character are above legal age.

Chapter one

Chapter 1

Hello there.

My name is Matthew Evans and I am forty-one years old.

Believe it or not, I won the lottery.

It happened when I was twenty years old, back then I was just your average scrawny college student with very little remarkable about himself.

My pops, Jack Evans, had a habit of buying tickets every chance he got, especially if the purse was big.

He usually got home during dinner time.

One day he came home talking about how the purse this time was going to be huge.

Over seven hundred million.

I nodded at him and got back to my meal.

I paid no mind to it, I really did not.

The next day, however, on my way to college, I noticed a sign on a pharmacy that said that the tickets were sold there.

I thought "what the hell" and I ended up with

h two.

A day later I had already forgotten.

My dad came in and sat at the dinner table as I was busy having dinner.

"The draw is about to start" he informed me.

"Oh, Ok" I limited myself to answer.

He took his tickets out and spread them on the table, he had ten I believe.

I remembered mine, which I still had in my wallet.

I took both out and placed them next to me.

"Oh, you bought some" he smiled "good luck son" he wished.

"Same, dad" I replied.

The draw started.

The first number came out.

It was a forty-one.

"Damn" my dad grunted.

It seemed that it only took the first number for my dad to feel like all ten of his tickets turned into paper not even worthy of wiping your ass with.

I also didn't get it on the first one, but I did get it on the second.

"Got it" I informed.

"Well, good for you kid" my dad humorlessly said.

The next was thirty-seven.

He wasn't really in the mood anymore.

"Got it" I exclaimed.

"Really?" He perked up.

"Yeah..." I wasn't as thrilled "what are the odds?" I thought.

Seventeen came next.

My dad was looking at me.

"Well?" He inquired.

I turned to look at him, with an expressionless face.

"Got it" I announced.

He jumped from the chair.

"Come, boy, let me check," he said, as he rushed to my side.

He took the ticket and stared intently at it.

"God damn, it's true" he muttered, I think he thought I was joking at first.

Next came another number, fifty-four, and the fifth was twenty-six after that.

"Shit, son" he mumbled, "you have them all".

I didn't understand much about the game, to be honest, what little I knew about it came from the man that was holding the ticket in his hand, and I doubt he knew much himself.

But I wasn't dumb enough to not understand the following...

I had won.

There was only one number remaining, I had chosen twenty-three.

My dad was visibly shaking, with his eyes round as saucers.

"Just one more, kid, one more" he mumbled over and over.

The promised last number came.

Both I and dad became immobile.

The screen showed a little red ball with a number on it.

It was fucking twenty-three.

My dad turned to look at me, after about a minute.

"Son" he struggled to get the sound out "you just won the lottery" he declared, I think not quite aware he was crying.

I slumped on the dining chair.

"Hey guys, what's going on!" A voice was heard.

It was Connor, my little brother, he is a year younger than me.

He stared at both me and my dad, visibly confused.

"What happened to you guys?" He asked.

"Matty" my dad finally answered "it's Matty"

"What do you mean?" He pushed, "what's wrong with Matty?", my dad wasn't helping him.

"Matty...Matty just won the lottery."

Connor just stood there and looked at us both, with a vacant look on his face, the words registered in his brain but I doubt he understood what was informed quite clearly.

My dad started jumping all of a sudden and ran to hug me.

"Matty, you fucking won!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, hugging me and jumping over and over.

I finally reacted and jumped with joy with him.

Connor understood shit, but he jumped alongside us all the same.

I had won.

"Quick, sign it" my dad hurried to hand the ticket over "you need to be careful" he warned.

It took us a while to get the money.

I was given the choice to remain anonymous, and I took it

Still, everyone in town found out.

Courtesy of blabbermouth Connor.

Nobody tells you how much is retained before you win, only afterward I was informed.

A huge chunk of my winnings was deducted, but I didn't care.

I had won.

Of course, I shared my winnings with my family and friends.

I started to throw parties that lasted days.

At one of such parties, I got to meet her.

Kara Sinclair.

The most beautiful girl in town.

"Hi," she said," this is your party right?" She smiled.

Kara was a ravishing five feet seven inches tall woman, with a pair of enthralling almond-shaped, deep turquoise eyes, long and curly eyelashes that required little help from a mascara, a square jaw, some captivating full bright pink lips, painted with a vibrant velvet red, pearly white perfect teeth that no doubt cost a fortune to maintain, a perky nose, alabaster smooth skin with a mild pink undertone, and platinum blonde, slightly wavy hair that she kept loose on her back, up to her waist.

Her presence had something magnetic and otherworldly about her.

The kind of woman that steals gazes wherever she goes, from men and women alike.

She was not only considered the most beautiful, but also the hottest.

She owned a pair of amazing all-natural bouncy breasts, she looked out of the best magazine you can think of.

32DD-28-39 were her exact measures.

A total goddess in the flesh.

She wore a pair of skin-tight blue jeans and a tight plain white low-cut blouse that appeared to have trouble keeping those puppies in place.

A pair of white high heels, medium-sized hoop golden earrings, and a red velvet clutch with golden metallic handles completed the ensemble.

I was honestly shocked that she would even go anywhere near me.

We went to the same school, and naturally, I knew who she was.

Who doesn't know the campus goddess?

But, by my recollection, she had never even turned to look my way, much less spoken to me.

But, here she was.

Talking to the wallflower boy...

Back then I had already reached my present height of six feet two inches.

Which was the only thing of note about me.

Dark brown hair, sandy white skin,diamond-shaped sharp jawline, and my late mom's hooded green eyes were some of my other features.

I must confess I never had that much luck in the ladies' department.

I had dated three times, and only got laid with one of them.

And that was not a particularly fond memory either, my first time was awkward, she struggled to take me in, and our movement hurt us both.

I had to pretend like I had come to put an end to our misery.

But now....Kara Sinclair was within reach.

That first night we talked endlessly, I stopped caring about the party and instead retreated to the backyard with Kara, where we sat and talked.

"Can I call you?" I finally emboldened myself once the evening was at an end and she informed me she was leaving.

"I was afraid you wouldn't ask" she sulked, as she took a napkin from the table and took a pen out of her purse.

"You better not leave me waiting" she warned while handing me the napkin.

Then, she left.

That night I lay in my bed, flat on my back, like starting at the ceiling.

But it wasn't the ceiling that I was looking at.

I held the napkin with her phone number right in front of me.

I swear I was so happy that even those numbers seemed pretty.

As if her handwriting was as beautiful as she was.

I naturally called her the very next day.

I know you are supposed to wait a few days before reaching out, to make yourself interesting or some shit like that, but I didn't care, I had to hear her voice again.

Love comes unannounced and hits you as if you owed it money.

From then on, I used every means at my disposal to woo her.

A few hundreds of millions can do wonders for your love life.

I had it all, the money, the youth, and the attention of my dream woman.

I showered her with as many grand gestures as I could imagine.

Flowers? why not fill up the front yard of her dorm?

Chocolates? How about a chocolate fountain outside her hallway?

Gifts? How about a brand new Mustang?

Such was my gestures, and she received them all with that smile that drove me crazy.

Still, as I was happily living in my land of bliss and sunshine.

There were a couple of insignificant and gloomy dark clouds here and there.

Gossip mostly.

Some of my classmates and friend came to me and informed me that rumors were floating around about Kara.

I listened to them in case she needed help in any way I was unaware of.

The first one I was told was that Kara had said in the school dinner that she had found herself the best piggy bank she could ever hope for and that her piggy bank would give her anything she wanted.

I didn't believe a word, but it was not wrong, this piggy bank would give her anything.

Next came a rumor about Kara being seen in the gym past midnight with some members of the basketball team.

Notice I said "members"?

That one was even crazier, according to this Kara had been passed around from team member to team member all night long.

"Who makes this bullshit up!!!?" I stood up, yelling.

I couldn't believe the shit that people spit, out of jealousy.

They were fucking jealous of how we were so happy together and how she got treated like the Queen she was.

"Fuck you all!!!" I yelled as I walked away.

I was expecting to hear she needed help, not that she got all the help she needed...from the basketball team.

I, however, paid no attention to that shit and continued to see Kara every day.

I knelt at graduation.

In front of all the graduates from our class, our friends and family, I proposed to the love of my life with the biggest ring I could find.

She cried tears of joy, as she nodded like crazy and extended her hand.

We hugged as people, in general, started cheering.

I saw everyone there, most were smiles, but there were exceptions.

The classmates that told me the gossip wasn't smiling.

"Envy" I judged.

The only other ones I noticed were three guys who, although we all were smiling, their smiles were different from anyone else's

They were the three members of the basketball team that were graduating that year.

The smiles on their faces were not of joy, but...schadenfreude.

Their faces as we walked away were sinister and mocking.

I frowned but said nothing, as Kara was walking by the arm with me.

We married later that year.

I threw as grand a wedding as the town could hold.

No expense was spared.

My queen wanted a grand wedding and a grand wedding she got.

It lasted for almost a week.

We were recently graduated, and I had already taken care of both of our student loans

Next was our new place.

But my queen deserved a castle, and I had trouble finding a location that suited my vision.

It took me over a month of visiting properties until I found what I was looking for.

The old riverside manor.

A property located, as the name implies, next to a river, in the middle of a two hundred acres property.

The manor was huge.

There were thirty bathrooms, twenty-nine bedrooms, a ninety-one feet dining room, and an Olympic size swimming pool.

As well as the main house, there was a playhouse and a pool house on the property.

The garage could hold up to twenty cars.

It all was impressive, and certainly not cheap.

But there was one selling point that made it stand above all the others I had seen so far.

Have you ever heard about palaces?, like the palace of Versailles?

Palaces stand among the greatest buildings ever envisioned by humanity.

And what makes them so special is...their secret rooms and passageways.

I had studied architecture, and palaces were one of the types of buildings we were tasked with analyzing.

I remember enjoying those assignments very much.

Well...it appears the original owner had the same liking to palaces I do, and similarly commissioned the manor.

Meaning.

There were hidden passageways and rooms all over the house!!!.

How cool was that?

I visited the property alone.

As such, only I heard that information.

I immediately asked to visit those passageways.

The realtor took me through every single one.

They truly were all over the place, in each of the three levels.

As long as you knew how to open them, you could travel almost anywhere from almost anywhere inside the manor.

The realtor showed me the trick, it was rather simple.

All you had to do was to push the wall that served as the tunnel entrance until you heard a minute click, and then let go.

Then the passage opened.

The entrances had a little handle on the inside to do the same once inside.

Most passages were really narrow, with some so much, that they barely fit an adult person standing inside.

Once I finished exploring.

I readily said that I would take it.

This was it!.

No property would ever come anywhere near to the coolness of this one.

Two weeks later I got the deeds of the place.

Then, four weeks were spent preparing the property for its new mistress.

"You like it?" Is what I asked, once the blindfold I asked her to wear came off.

"It's amazing honey!!!" She chided, as she let her sight travel everywhere around it.

This would be our love best, and where our children would identify as "home".

That they do.

Twenty-one years have passed since that day we arrived here.

The best twenty-one years of my life.

As promised, our children call the Riverside home.

Product of our love, three children were born.

Lilith was our firstborn, now twenty years of age, a slight variation of her mom, she inherited the same height, the same hair, and the same measures, but she got my petite nose and my green eyes.

She has a natural elegance to her, from the way she walks to the way she looks at you.

Then we welcomed Christine, a year later, she, of course, is nineteen years old, she is a carbon copy of her mom, except her height is a little taller at five feet eight inches tall, and the shape of her eyes resembles mine.

She is our resident troublemaker, her mischievous and energetic personality causes her to bicker with her big sister all the time, as Lilith's patience is not ample, to begin with.

Last but not least, we had Simone, she turned eighteen just two months ago.

Simone is the only one who looks more like me, but with all of her mom's advantages.

She is the tallest of the three, at exactly six feet tall, she is imposing.

Long and toned legs, a slightly sandy skin tone, a tad lighter than mine, and a sharper jawline than her big sisters, she also inherited my dark hair but her mom's turquoise eyes and scrumptious full lips.

And when I say my baby got her mom's advantages I'm not kidding,, her mom told me last that Simone had 32E-28-41 for measurements.

She has the mildest personality of the three, her calm demeanor and graceful bearing make her the favorite sister of the other two, as she is equally able to bear Christine's chaos and Lilith's impatience.

There you go, my perfect family, that together with my millions, should make me the happiest guy alive.

And they do.

But not everything is perfect.

There are details always details, not necessarily bad things, but things I would have preferred otherwise.

For one, My peace was short-lived.

Not eight months after we moved in, my dad told me he was retiring.

Well, he did not need to work anymore and decided that he wanted to spend time with his favorite son, and be there when his first grandchild was born.

The one with the limitless checkbook I assumed, but anyway, he wasn't unwelcome, and he moved in shortly after.

He has been at our side ever since.

Next, the house kept getting new inhabitants.

In the form of my little brother, Connor.

Connor got pops place all to himself after he moved with us, and a generous allowance from me.

He used both to the fullest, to woo Crystal.

Crystal Johnson, now Evans, was, and still is, Kara's best friend.

Kara introduced them, of course.

Crystal is a black woman of impressive physique, she is every bit of Kara's darker counterpart, but taller.

At five feet nine inches tall.

She has almond skin, a very toned figure, that she has always kept over the years, a long loose curly dark hair, that she always keeps carefully maintained.

Very luscious full lips and diamond-shaped jawline.

A pair of hazel upturned eyes with long thick eyelashes make her's, a stare difficult to maintain, even to me, that is used to Kara's.

She sports 34D-28-42 as measures, those I know because, as I said before, Connor is a blabbermouth, he brags about her whenever he gets drunk.

Which is often.

Crystal is one of those women who were born with the gift of allure.

From the sweetness in her voice to the naturally enticing way she moves.

She is cheerful and candid, making her a pleasant person to be around.

In all honesty, I like her better than I do Connor.

Anyway, Connor chased after Crystal and used everything he could to succeed.

So successful he was, that he showed up with Crystal by the arm, at my front door seven months after pops.

"You're going to be an uncle!" was how he greeted.

I didn't notice at first but Crystal was already showing, which meant it was not recent news.

She had to have been pregnant for at least three or four months or something like that.

He told me that he started a business and that he sold the property that pops left for him to finance the whole thing.

Now he needed somewhere to stay while his business picked up.

What was I supposed to do? kick my little brother and his pregnant girlfriend out?

"Say no more, you guys are family, we have more than enough rooms, please do come in!!!" Kara screeched.

I'm not saying I was going to kick them out, but Kara took that decision away from me anyways.

I figured it would be a couple of months thing at the latest.

Lol, idiot.

They are still here, and now their children, along with mine, call the riverside "home"

Crystal gave birth to Amber five months after they moved in, she is now nineteen, and my stupid brother, once we told him that Kara was pregnant for the third time, thought that maybe his daughter would get jealous of my kids having siblings, so he took it upon himself to knock crystal up a second time.

Product of that came Sophie, she is younger than Simone by two months, also eighteen right now.

They both are a very good mixture of my brother and my sister-in-law.

Crystal finally tied him down about two years after Soph was born, and their daughters were the ringbearers.

Amber grew to become a stunning young woman, she is as tall as Simone, at six feet, a light honey skin making her tone lighter than her mom, but darker than her old man.

She looks to have inherited her mother's measures, but I'm not sure, her chest seems bigger, maybe 34DD.

Her upturned eyes are of a pale green tone, with some almond yellow mixed in, really beautiful eyes, her hair is loose curly too, but of a clearer tone than Crystal's, ever since she turned eighteen, she straight perms it, I guess she wants to differentiate herself from her mom and sister.

Her face is a lot like Crystal's, with big thick lips, a short fine nose, and a diamond-shaped jawline,