Haunting-Adeline

"Now, of course, when my father told me Gigi was gone, I understood
death, but not the severity. The last me I had ever asked to go to the
manor was a few days a er. And my father looked me in the eye and said,
'You want to die next?'" He laughs without humor. "I'll never forget that.
My blood ran cold when he said that. Never asked again, and eventually, I
let go of Sera."
I frown, shivers roll down my spine. Nana didn't talk much about John.
She did men on before that he was a wonderful father up un l Gigi's
death. He did have a drinking problem, but I think he hid most of his anger
from Nana in the beginning. But once Gigi died, all hell must've broken
loose. Nana never told me how Gigi died, so I had just assumed he
declined due to heartbreak.
But I would’ve never thought it'd be for a much darker reason. For the
first me, I'm faced with the true possibility that my great-grandfather was
the one to murder Gigi.
Clearing my throat, I take a different direc on. Gigi had spoken of people
breaking into her house in the diary entries due to John’s gambling habits,
and Nana had said in passing before that her father liked to gamble.
“My Nana men oned before that he liked to gamble. Maybe he owed
some people money, and when he couldn’t pay up, they went a er Gigi?”
Mark nods his head though ully. “John was known to have really bad
gambling habits. They almost lost Parsons Manor at one point because of
it. The only reason they didn’t was because Gigi came up with the money
to pay off the mortgage and property tax,” he explains.
I ghten my lips. According to her diary, Ronaldo paid off their overdue
bills, but the excuse Gigi spun was that she borrowed it from one of her
girlfriends. John wanted to know who, but she refused to tell and it caused
a fight considering John was a typical man back then with pride and an
ego.
But from what I gleaned from the entries, I can’t be sure if Ronaldo ever
paid off John’s debts. He had men oned he’d take care of it, but when the
righthand man for the mafia says those words, that can mean a number of
things.
Maybe he killed the people instead and gained Gigi enemies by doing so.
Jesus, it really is like me repea ng itself if that’s the case.
“Then how did he pay off the men he owed?”