The View is Pleasant

Bella Goth had always been beautiful and slender. As a teenager and debutante she dazzled everyone who came into contact with her and continued to do so into adulthood. She was raised in the quiet town of Brindleton Bay, a sleepy seaside town. She lived by the beach and loved traveling to the lighthouse with her older brother, Michael.

Those were all distant memories now. Bella had long since been estranged from her older brother for a long time. He had gambled away the hard earned money that had been in her family for generations. He had tried to contact her when he first moved back into Newcrest a year ago, but she ignored his calls. Then, she found out he had married a bimbo and shortly after that passed on from this life. She hoped the gold-digger and her sister got what they deserved in learning that Michael had nothing left to give.

Bella had long since left her days as a Bachelor behind her. Twenty-seven years of marriage had been kind to her and Mortimer Goth. Mortimer had been her professor in college at Windenburg and while people believed that she was only after his money, they also weren’t aware that at the time the young twenty year old had a vast trust fund of her own.

Mortimer was smart and bookish, but he had met his match in wits when it came to Bella. They were true soulmates. In their time together they moved to Newcrest and welcomed two beautiful children that Bella was more than happy to say took more after their father than her. She was thankful that they seemed to have inherited his brilliant and precocious mind.

Cassandra, on the other hand, longed to be more like her mother. Bella was gorgeous and Cassandra felt like she hadn’t inherited any of her mother’s looks. She was constantly teased for her glasses as a child and as a teenager combatted acne that never seemed to go away. She instead lost herself in books and school work, going on to graduate with a degree in science. Unfortunately, at twenty-two years old, Cassandra had felt as though she was still stuck in the awkward years of puberty.

When the Goths met Don Lothario, he was instantly captivated by Bella. Bella paid him no attention, he didn’t exist to her. He had seen the Goths around town and the first thing that grabbed his attention was the vast amount of wealth that they had. He wanted to infiltrate their lives, take control of some of the money that they had at their disposal. Bella was his obvious choice but she was married and he did not want to wait for the old man to die, so he instantly took a liking to Cassandra.

Cassandra wasn’t Don’s type, but she would do. She was cute, thin and he could work with that. Cassandra, having never had attention from a man before ate him up. She was like putty in his hands so when Don proposed she immediately accepted and actively began wedding planning.

Bella was less than pleased with the engagement.

“I don’t trust him, Cassie,” Bella pleaded with her daughter. “You are a beautiful girl and there are a lot of good men out there.”

Cassandra got up from the desk she was at and slammed the door behind her.

Bella followed her daughter into the hallway.

“Cassandra,” Bella said, “Please listen to me. He’s gross. I see the way he looks at other women. He’s too close to his neighbor, the same women who seduced and most likely murdered my brother – your Uncle.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “He loves me, mother,” she hissed. “Why don’t you want me to be happy?”

“You’re acting childish,” Bella retorted. “I do want you to be happy. That is why I am begging you to not go through with this sham marriage. You will never be happy if you marry that man.”

“It’s easy for you to say,” Cassandra cried. “You are beautiful. Everyone loves you. Look at me!” Cassandra breathed heavily, her chest heaving. “Don is the first man that has ever given me a second look. I want this.”

Bella put her head down as her daughter spun on her heel and headed down the stairs. Bella knew how insecure her daughter was, but she wished her daughter could see the same thing she did. If Bella couldn’t convince her daughter, maybe she could convince Don to leave Cassandra. It would surely break her daughter’s heart, but if Cassandra married Don, Bells knew she would be miserable.

It had been a nice day when Michael Bachelor died. It was the first warm day of spring. Birds were chirping and trees and flowers began to bloom. The chill of the previous season before had left the air. It was a beautiful and a normal day.

It was strange to Dina, Michael’s widow. People were supposed to die on dreary days. Her parents passed away on an awfully rainy day in a car accident. Michael died of a heart attack. He had been home alone. Dina had found him too late.

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” the doctor told her. “Even if you were there, you never would have been able to save him. His heart just gave out.”

Dina played the part of the grieving widow, not that it was hard considering she was always dressed in her signature black. She felt as though she could always be in mourning, wearing her favorite shade.

“Come with me,” Michael had said to her. “Move with me to Newcrest and I promise I will give you and your sister everything you have dreamed of.”

Michael Bachelor was much older than Dina, but handsome and experienced. He was wealthy, the heir of the Brindleton Bay Bachelor fortune. Dina had met him at a seedy bar in San Myshuno. He convinced Dina and her sister Nina to move with him to Newcrest, a town 50 miles outside of Brindleton Bay. He had family there, a sister and her wealthy husband. They could start a happy and a quiet life together.

Dina was five minutes older than Nina. In spite of being twins, the girls looked nothing alike save for their emerald green eyes. Dina had long, blonde hair while Nina’s hair was a rich red. They were a team though, and they did everything together.

Nina was Dina’s partner-in-crime. The two girls who were orphaned at a young age longed for more than what the world had already given them. They only had each other, but they could use their beauty to gain a better life.

Dina was determined that Michael Bachelor was her meal ticket. Dina was focused on wealth and security while Nina focused on beauty and her own lustful desires. If Dina could support Nina, then she could focus solely on herself. Newcrest was going to bring both girls what they wanted the most.

Dina had married Michael Bachelor in a quick elopement ceremony in the Newcrest court house after six months of dating. Michael wooed Dina with promises of a rich and fulfilling life. He quickly moved Dina and Nina into a condo he owned on the edge of town.

Dina remembered being unimpressed with the almost bare 2-bedroom condo. She had expected more from a wealthy bachelor but it did beat their dingy apartment in San Myshuno. Michael told her that he preferred to live small and to save. Dina knew eventually she would convince him to upgrade, but this would have to work for now.

It wasn’t all bad though, Nina was enamored with the handsome stranger next door. His name was Don Lothario, and Don was just as smitten with Nina as she was with him. Nina did not even seem to care that he was engaged, after all it felt like a farce to her.

There was an issue though, an issue that Dina was not made aware of until her husband had died. Michael was almost bankrupt and his motivations to move back to Newcrest were in hopes of garnishing support from his sister, Bella and her husband Mortimer Goth. The Bachelors had once been one of the richest families but Michael had squandered it.

Reflecting back, Dina stood alone in the graveyard. She made an effort a few times a month to visit her late husband. Despite the betrayal she felt from him, she had cared for him. Next to her sister, he had been her only friend for a while. She may not have been in love with him, but she had genuinely treasured him. His death had brought her a great sadness that she was unable to pinpoint and it was not just because he died almost broke. She believed that maybe she had truly missed his companionship.

Dina did know that this lesson in betrayal by her deceased husband did teach her that she can only count on one person – herself.

Little though did Michael or Dina know that Michael’s death would be the first in a long string of deaths that would haunt Newcrest over the next few years. Perhaps, if he had known, he would have had second thoughts of moving back and bringing the Caliente sisters with him.

Chapter II

Chapter I