Ainsley woke up late by quite a few hours; it was midafternoon. Even though a part of her was happy to miss the torturous morning lessons, she was worried that no one woke her up. Even if the maids forgot to wake me up today, my teacher surely would have done so herself. What could be happening? She casually got out from her bed and made it look partially neat. There was no point in putting full effort since the maids would rearrange it later.

Even when she tried to call for any nearby servant, there was no reply, so Ainsley had no choice but to groom on her own today. It was not that difficult since she merely put her hair in pigtails and changed her clothing, however, she would more than likely be told to take a bath later on. The young girl was struck with many forms of curiosity when she walked through the empty hallways of her home. By now, I would have at least seen Aaron or someone to rush me for brunch. Whatever could be going on? Ainsley shuffled down the stairs to the living room area. Out of the blue, she heard a loud shout. Mother? Ainsley scampered toward the main entrance to see multiple servants, including Aaron, with utterly astonished faces and her mother on her knees, leaning over and sobbing. One of the maids leaned down to comfort Priscilla, Ainsley's anguished mother, as said nine-year old tried to process the situation.

"What is going on?" Ainsley whispered to Aaron, after tugging his shirt. A few moments passed before he responded; his hand was over his face as if to hide his misery. He took in a deep breath to calm himself down and crouched down to Ainsley's height. Before uttering a syllable, Aaron placed his hand atop her head and gently patted it.

"Ainsley…"

"What?" Ainsley asked more urgently.

"Sir Nathaniel… Father…was found dead a mere few hours ago." Aaron hung his head in sorrow.

Dead…dead…dead?

"Pa...PAPA!" Ainsley screamed as she burst into tears.

The transition from the unfortunate gathering at the manor's entrance to the wagon, which was now being ridden, was a blur to Ainsley. Despite everything that she thought about her father, she had not once wished him dead. She had cared for him deeply, but never showed it; that fact she was regretting horribly as the wagon carried on. For the first time, she looked up to see who else was in it. Her mother was right by her side, tears still steaming from her eyes, but her face was entirely blank and motionless, along with the rest of her body. Across from the two of them was Aaron, who was no longer wearing his servant clothes for some reason Ainsley did not know. He seemed to be picking at his fingernails, even though they were perfectly clean. It had now dawned on Ainsley that this was the 'immediate family' of the late Nathaniel. She constantly forgot that Aaron was technically her brother through adoption, mainly because he acted as a worker. Why does he act as a servant if he's family? It was more than likely one of Papa's greedy deals… but with him gone, does that now make Aaron a suitable heir? She now questioned in her mind. Aaron's behavior was a mystery to her, but that was insignificant now.

The carriage came to a halt; the driver soon opened the door to lead Priscilla out. Ainsley and Aaron followed. The building that was their destination was anything but extravagant, however, neither was the circumstance they were in, so it did suit. The three Harris members walked together in a loose line; Ainsley held on to her mother's hand. As they entered the room, there was mild chatter. The scent of the room was less than pleasing to the aristocrat's nose, but it was doubtful that anyone would have complained a significant amount considering that the building was meant for storing corpses.

Ainsley looked around the room to see what types of people were there. Most of them were young adults or older, except for her and one young boy who was debatably entering the first phase of maturity. There overall seemed to be three groups: The Harris family, the authority figures, and a young woman with the ponytailed boy Ainsley was just looking at. It seems like mama can make friends… The young girl thought as she noticed the other young woman and boy having their share of tears. A man in uniform came up to him not long after their arrival; Aaron stepped up to do the talking. Ainsley let go of her mother's hand so she could see why the young woman and boy were here. What did these two have to do with Papa? She thought while looking at the duo, not knowing the slightest of Nathaniel's interactions with the orphanage, or who else once lived in it.

Abruptly, the main door was swung open exceptionally loud. Everyone turned to the direction of the noise, but no one could quite see who it was yet. The loud crash of the door against the wall was followed by scattered and running footsteps, accompanied by faint panting. Finally, a young girl, around adolescent age, was perfectly in view. Ainsley looked at her peculiarly, and the two strangers behind her looked at her with shock. This girl had hair resembling the color violet, contradicting her sickly pale skin. The clothes that she was wearing made it clear that she was in bed, more than likely one from an infirmary; she was leaning against the wall simply to stand. Once she had caught her breath, the girl looked up, directly at the young woman and boy, and began staggering towards them. "It's a lie…right?"

"Mai, what are you even doing here?! You should be back at the clinic recovering!" The boy grabbed the girl's arm and held her to keep her balance. "The nurse was lying to me, right?! There's no way, there's absolutely no way…" Tears were streaming down her face at a quick rate, and those tears were large in size and number. "The woman…Miss Vienna told me…that he died! There's just no way…" She let out a few hiccups, and then began coughing. "Calm down Mai…" The boy kept saying.

What? Were there others that actually cared for my father? Ainsley was raising an eyebrow at this whole conversation before her.

"Ron…it is really… true that Ollie's…dead?"

Before he could answer, another series of footsteps occurred. Miss Vienna entered the room with a worried expression on her face. "I sincerely apologize, but she insisted that we come here."

Ollie? Wait, she couldn't be talking about… Ainsley shook her head; surely she was just assuming the worst. The Ollie I knew would be somewhere in the world, surviving every way he can. It must be a coincidence with names.

"Ollie's too fast of a runner to end up dead, and the crazy woman who tried to kill us ended up dead, so I'm told, so-!" Mai was stopped right in the middle of her sentence by the young woman, who slapped both of her hands over Mai's cheeks, causing her to let out a very high-sounding hiccup. "Miss Mikayla, the woman at the clinic was lying—"

"No she wasn't Mai." Mikayla said, looking at the girl directly in the eye, causing her to look older than her years."Oliver is dead, as much as we all wished that God forbid…" She paused, trying to keep her emotions in check. "He's gone. And there's nothing we can do for him now, so please stop lying to yourself or else accepting it will be worse for you!" Mikayla's voice had suddenly risen as she finished her statement; her eyes were reddening and growing in luster. Mai slumped down and broke out into more tears. Everyone else in the room was silent, except for Aaron, who asked discreetly for his conversation to continue outside.

"What…?" Ainsley said, unheard by anyone else. Her head felt muddled with too many thoughts and negative emotions. She looked around the room to see her mother, praying over her father's body, and then saw another worker, looming over some type of bench covered with a blanket. Ainsley remained looking at that bench for several seconds; her heartbeat felt heavier each moment that passed. Finally, she could no longer stand the suspense and ran up to the bench. Without wavering, she pulled up the blanket to see the worst of her nightmares realized: Oliver's damaged corpse lay perfectly still on the bench. Terrifying her more than anything, his eye was still open; it felt as if he were looking directly at her, adding to her tremendous feeling of guilt. She could not even hear the worker that was scolding her for 'coming in contact with the body'. No…w-why? Why?!

She screamed wretchedly as Oliver's eye was closed by one of the people at the scene.

Huh? Ainsley woke up to see Aaron pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake Ainsley. You gave us quite a scare" Aaron backed away as Ainsley's mother suddenly embraced her. "Please don't ever do that again! I've already lost Nathaniel…" Ainsley was saddened a tad more than she already was before. "I'm sorry mama…uh…where are we?"

"We're apparently in a clinic. Your mother insisted we went to the nearest one, big or small." Aaron responded. "It also happens to be the same one the other young girl is currently staying." Aaron gestured towards Mai, who was coughing a few times. Ron was holding a glass of water for her. I wonder what those two had to do with Ollie… the girl especially sounded close to him. Ainsley continuously stared at the two and the noticed the same young woman who was with them before. Her name is Mikayla, if I remember correctly. Perhaps I could ask her some questions since the other two look occupied."

Ainsley waited for Aaron and her mother to leave for more of their discussions concerning Nathaniel's death. Mikayla was walking toward Ainsley's direction just as she thought of heading there. How convenient… "Miss!" Ainsley yelled, trying not to sound too disruptive. "Yes?" Mikayla turned to look at Ainsley. "Uh, I was wondering…" Ainsley started."Do you…did you know that boy named Ollie? If yes, then how?"

"You're curious?" Mikayla wondered who Ainsley was and why she asked at that moment, but kept it to herself. "Well… I knew Oliver at the least decently. He had lived in our home for months." Mikayla said. For months? He must have gotten fairly close to others then… Ainsley thought as she glanced over at Mai and Ron. Mai was the definition of depression, but she did stop crying; Ron kept trying to get her to drink water. "Is all that you want girl?" Mikayla looked ready to leave, in a polite way. "Oh! Is it okay if I asked you more questions?" Ainsley asked as she gave her attention back to Mikayla.

"I don't mind too much, but I will have to leave soon." Mikayla replied. "So please try to be quick"

"Okay" Ainsley faintly smiled. "How did Oliver come to you?"

"A man named Nathaniel Harris dropped him off at our orphanage. The young boy was apparently in some complications."

'Complications' as in 'jail'…Ainsley thought. "How…did he die?" She managed to let slide out of her lips, though she could barely accept the fact Oliver was dead. A subliminal disheartened expression showed on Mikayla's face. "I guess those who knew him would wonder…he was shot with a bullet by a woman who served Nathaniel. Her name was Hannah."

NURSE HANNAH?!

"Is something wrong?" Mikayla looked at Ainsley, whose face was petrified with a large amount of shock. "Ah… don't mind me, continue." Ainsley was feeling sick to her stomach. Is there anyone I can still trust? Mikayla continued talking. "Oliver, Mai, and Ron were witnesses of Nathaniel's murder, and that was Hannah's motive to kill the three of them, but clearly, only one was killed." She took in another deep breath to remain calm. "Authorities keep the rest of the information to themselves. My best bet would be asking the young man who came with you for the rest. He seems to be in discussion with them. Now…I ought to be leaving. I have children to tend to, goodbye." Mikayla did not wait for a reply from Ainsley before leaving.

That was insensitive of me to ask wasn't it? It's not like I'm the only one hurting. That woman looked ready to cry at any moment…Ainsley thought to herself as a tear fell from her face. How fitting…isn't it Ollie? Oh, but you can't answer that for me can you? Or any other question I ask in the future…I won't even be able to see your smiling face again…nor hear your voice again. Ainsley recalled the image of Oliver's dead body. "Ollie…Ollie…!" Ainsley cried to herself as she held onto her blanket.

After what felt like ages, everyone returned home, except for Mai, who still needed to remain in care. The sad news of Oliver's death had to be told to those at the orphanage; naturally, such news was not accepted very well by children; many, if not all, of the members of the Harris mansion were put into some form of distress, many worried about their jobs. Sadly, most people were just sent to their beds in worry. Ainsley's mother needed servants attending to her throughout most of the night, due to her trauma, while Ainsley was waiting for the opportunity to sneak into Aaron's room. It was far late into the night, and no normal child would dare stay up this late to sneak into a room. Ainsley was unable to sleep regardless of whether she planned to sneak in or not, so she felt as if there was not much to lose.

"Who's there?" Aaron asked irritably. "Uh…it's me Ainsley…"

"Ainsley? Why on Earth would you be awake at this hour? Please do not bother me; I have much work to get done."

"Please don't be that way. It's that type of attitude that made me run away from this place" Ainsley remained calm, even though her brother was clearly stressed. Aaron sort of recoiled at Ainsley's blunt statement, but knew better not to take it too seriously, or to underestimate Ainsley's maturity. "What is it then?"

"I would like it if you told me what happened to Father and that boy in detail. I feel like my mind won't be at rest until I know the truth." Ainsley sat on a chair, ready to listen, but Aaron did not look so willing to tell anything to her. "I can understand your curiosity, but I doubt that hearing the story of what happened would be beneficial to your emotional health."

"My 'emotional health' was not that great to begin with, brother. May I please know what happened? I will only be here as long as it takes for you to tell me." Ainsley looked at him directly in the eye, her expression without any hint of emotion. Aaron conceded, seeing that rejecting her would be pointless.

"Well…I'm not exactly sure where to start."

"What reason was there for Hannah to kill Nathaniel?"

"Personal revenge, more than likely, but there was no evidence pointing to it."

"Who exactly were the three people at the building besides us?"

"I'm afraid I cannot answer exact details, but due to financial donations, I was able to learn that the woman is the manager of an orphanage. Oh, those financial donations were given to the orphanage by Father. The two kids with her are more than likely from the orphanage, based on my assumption. "

"How much information do you have on the orphanage?" Ainsley felt like she was finally getting a lead on something; she actually had a chance of confirming her questions. "I have a full list of all residents in the orphanage, as well as the day they settled in, and through what means."

Jackpot… Ainsley had a faintly visible grin as she asked her next question. "Is there a boy named Oliver on that list, and was he 'settled' within the past few months?"

"I don't have the list right in front of me, in case you don't know…" Aaron said as he searched through huge stacks of papers. About a minute later, he found it and scanned through it. "He's last on the list…he was admitted on December the 7th last year. About seven months ago."

"How did he get there?" Ainsley seemed anxious at this point. "Ainsley, you're acting as if you knew this person…!" Aaron had a sudden realization that Ainsley was certainly acting as if she knew him, rather than being nosy. "He was…dropped off personally by Nathaniel Harris?" Aaron read as if he had just learned this for himself, which he did. That would explain the rest of the reports…Aaron thought to himself.

"Was there any details on what other things Father did with Oliver beforehand?" There's no way Father would simply take Ollie out of jail…after all, wasn't Ollie a criminal?

"…" Aaron gulped before responding. "Nathani-Father…did spend quite some time trying to prove the innocence of an accused boy…even I was involved briefly…"

"Innocence?" Ainsley thought aloud. Oliver was innocent of killing Olivia and Noah? But how? I remember with my own eyes I…

"According to reports, a look-alike for the boy was sent to do murders, simply to get Oliver in jail. The look-alike was hired by two men…the real killer was never found, but the two conspirators were put in jail."

"So…to sum it up…Papa was doing good deeds, a boy was framed…and months later they were both wrongfully killed?" Ainsley was staring at the ground, not wanting to look anyone in the eye. "That would explain the whole story in short…" Aaron confirmed. What could be going through her head? Aaron kept thinking to himself.

"T-thanks, brother…I-I'll be heading to bed now…" Ainsley got off the chair, and slowly began to leave the room."Good night, Ainsley."

Ainsley closed the door to her room the moment she reached it. Her legs were trembling horribly; she quickly fell to her knees. Oliver was innocent the whole time…and I accused him… If I hadn't accused him, then both he and Father would be alive now… Ainsley recalled the events that took place as she slumped against the door.

"I didn't do anything…Ainsley, can't you tell them it wasn't me?!" Oliver said the day he was arrested. Ainsley had turned him down coldly. I didn't trust him…I knew that Oliver would never kill, but I still couldn't trust him, I couldn't even see pass the look-alikes falseness. Ollie, I…failed you miserably. Ainsley once again began to let out tears, though she thought she had wept her eyes dry.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver…"

...

This is the second last chapter of the first half of the story. The second half will be a completely different story all together, so I recommend hitting "Follow author" if you want to see the rest of this story.