It has been three weeks since my father passed away, and we are now in our home's living room.
The lawyer in front of us, Henly, will review the assets Papa left behind.
"How are you feeling right now, hija?" He asked, and I smiled and stared at it.
"I am fine." I gave a brief response, and he simply nodded and looked at Sophia.
He began talking about papa's extraordinary wealth.
This is mostly in my name; it is my inheritance from my mother and my grandparents, my father's deceased parents.
"As you can see, this inheritance comes from your mother, who is the only daughter of the Yamamoto clan." The attorney explained, and I simply nodded.
Aside from what dad left in my name, he has some relatives in Australia and New Zealand who visited when he died.
However, they are not after Papa's wealth because they also live a lavish lifestyle.
"This is too much; even half of what dad left me is too much for me to live on until I am old." When I said this, the attorney just smiled and looked at Sophia.
"And for you, Mrs. Alvarez, your husband gave you the ancestral house in the Philippines, where he lived when he was a teenager." Sophia was clearly surprised as she heard this.
"Do you mean where he wants us to live before he dies from his illness?" This question piqued my interest.
He explained that dad had planned for us to return to the Philippines before his heart attack, which is why I regretted it so much.
The flight was so long that I did not realize how we got to this country.
I never imagined myself going to the Philippines.
"Winter, it is beautiful here, and I am sure you will enjoy it." I looked at Sophia, who was smiling, and just nodded.
We were in the van that had picked us up from the airport earlier and said we were going straight to Papa's house.
"I want to return home after this!" I told her in a low voice.
She did not say anything, but she did hold my hand tightly.
"We can not go back until after this because I want to fulfill your father's last wish." As she said, I simply looked out the window.
I scowled as I realized that it appeared as though we were traversing a vast field.
"Winter, you own everything that your eyes see." I was even more shocked when Sophia said that.
"What do you mean?" I just asked because I could not understand what she was saying.
"You did not notice that the arch we passed from there leads to the land your father left you." She stared at me, so I blinked and opened the window to see what we were passing.
I could see rice paddies, trees, and a hill in the distance, but what struck me was the smell of the sea.
"Is this all papa's land?" Sophia nodded in response to my question.
She smiled and said, "We are getting close to the mansion."
The entire land area is enormous; according to Sophia, it is nearly twenty hectares.
The size of this land is unbelievable; how could Papa own so much land in the Philippines?
According to her, the mansion that Papa's grandfather and grandmother inherited on this hacienda is still intact despite having been struck by typhoons multiple times.
It is also said that the current trustee of this land has been with our family for a long time, and there are others who look after the entire mansion.
"Look, Winter, you can see the house from here." Sophia pointed to something, so I looked at it.
I could see the sea in front of the great house, the mountain in back, and the house itself standing on high ground.
I followed the location in wonder, and as we approached, I started to feel a weird sense of relief.
I exhaled a sigh of relief and held my chest.
Once we arrived at the mansion's front, we saw a stone staircase leading up to the front door.
"This mansion is known to the locals as the stone house." The elderly man was Tatay Elpidio, her husband, and I looked at the elderly woman, who introduced herself as Nanay Mirasol.
They are in charge here, and judging by their positive energy, I know they are decent people.
"Yes, it is right in front of me now; it was once so beautiful that I could only see it in my picture." I looked around after Sophia said that.
Because the stairs are steep on both sides, they are protected by stainless steel railings.
How could my father's family have constructed this mansion on a hilltop that faces the sea and is tucked away in a mountain?
Though I have been all over the world, this place is on a whole new level. It is iconic and lit.
Although I have seen stone houses in places like Greece and Turkey, I do not find them as fascinating as this one.
Strangely enough, I did not feel like there were any ghosts around.
To put it another way, I was curious that there were no ghosts here.
Perhaps because I never saw the ghosts that have haunted our mansion ever since Dad passed away, even when we were still in Japan.
"Come on, winter." When Sophia called, I turned to face her because I had stopped going up the stairs.