What Happened to These Characters in the Casteel Saga?

Although Virginia Andrews is one of my favourite guilty pleasure reads, there are some times I’ve been left to ponder what happened to certain characters - especially the ones who just walked out of the plot and we never heard from again.

This was particularly prominent in the first two books of the Casteel series as Andrew Neiderman penned the following three books; there are certain characters I have often wondered what could have happened to them after Heaven and Dark Angel. So I’ve decided to put fan theory to the test with the loose ends of some of the supporting cast of the Casteel Saga.

Sarah Casteel

Sarah Casteel is the step-mother of Heaven Casteel and the second wife of Luke Casteel. She mothers four children with him. She tries to have a fifth but gives birth to a stillborn. Shortly after this tragic loss and spiralling into a dark depression, Sarah flees, leaving a note.

After her departure, Heaven and her siblings never hear from her again. Some fans have debated whether she is alive or dead, but my theory is that she completely reinvented herself once she got out of Virginia.

My headcanon for Sarah is that after she leaves, she goes back to using her maiden name and begins working at a diner far from her hometown - she spent most of her younger years caring for people. I could see her working as a waitress. The guilt of abandoning her children would probably weigh on her heavily, so she'd definitely deny she has any children and rewrite her own history to anyone who'd ask about her past. I would also suspect someone like Sarah - who craves validation from her partner and loses her own identity in a relationship - would probably fall into the trap of falling for toxic or emotionally unavailable men like Luke.

Miss Deale

Heaven’s high school English teacher who ignites her love of literature which inspires her academic and career choices in later years.

Miss Deale is initially written as an ally for the down on their luck children - even making sure they are fed while Luke and Sarah have abandoned them to fend for themselves. Although she is at first flattered by Luke’s charm, she becomes concerned when Heaven reluctantly reveals how much the family are struggling. As Christmas approaches, Miss Deale has to see releatives for a family emergency and although promising to return, Heaven does not see or hear from her beloved teacher again.

This is something that is never revisited after Heaven and despite the character being referenced in the second and third book, her absence is left up to the reader to interpret.

My theory is that Miss Deale became so occupied with her own family, the Casteel kids became less of a priority. With no family ties or relationships in Virginia, Miss Deale could easily find another teaching job closer to where she ended up.

It is sad to think that someone Heaven idealised so much could easily forget about her, but these things do happen. Out of sight, out of mind - I think Miss Deale’s character took that saying literally, especially as it’s never confirmed her fate on page.

Cal Dennison

Calhoun "Cal" Dennison is the husband of the late Kitty Dennison and a former father figure to Heaven Casteel. While Kitty abuses Heaven, Cal bought her expensive gifts and lavished attention on her, and in the end, takes advantage of her. Cal makes a small apperance in Dark Angel where Heaven rejects his advances, reminding him he abused her and she never wanted to see him again. In the closing chapters, it’s revealed he pursued a brief relationship with her sister Fanny - alas, Fanny assures Heaven that’s she’s just using Cal and does not have feelings for him.

Despite his appearances in the first and second books, Cal does not appear in Fallen Hearts, Gates of Paradise or the prequel Web of Dreams.

Cal is quickly established as a weak-willed man, often manipulative and emotionally abusive. It’s never revealed the extent of his “relationship” with Fanny, but I believe it must have been brief as it’s never mentioned in future books. I believe Cal is a character who’d continue displaying cohersive behaviour towards women and continue seeking partners he could manipulate or who could take care of him financially. Cal was just as bad as his partner Kitty, but he never admitted his faults when confronted with them. Most likely, as he got older and his looks faded he’d become a sad, lonely and bitter old man. Which would be some justice, but not enough.

As a reader, I was glad we didn’t have to deal with his presence after the second book. However, he was a prime example of a co-dependent narcissist.

Darcy Wise

In Heaven Fanny is sold to the town minister, Wayland Wise. She becomes pregnant by him later, and gives birth to Darcy, who is raised by Rev. Wise and his wife as their own child. Rev. Wise buys Fanny off, and she goes to Nashville, trying to make it as an actress, but has no success.

Darcy’s first appearance occurs in the sequel, when Fanny longs to have her daughter back, and attempts to blackmail Heaven into getting her back, but Heaven doesn't, believing that the reverend’s wife will be a better mother. This causes a rift between Darcy’s aunt and mother, influencing Fanny to seduce Heaven’s husband out of revenge.

Darcy’s true origins are revealed in truly dramatic VC Andrews fashion, where Wise confesses that Fanny is Darcy’s biological mother, claiming his adopted daughter seduced him. Fanny vehemently denies that, revealing the town’s minister abused her to the stunned courtroom.

Aside from Heaven, no one believes Fanny as most of the town knew of her reputation as a teenager. Despite this, I highly doubt that the Wise family would’ve stayed in town after this revelation.

To avoid further scandal, they would have probably had to move away from any association to the Casteel family. Which would’ve made it harder for Darcy’s biological mother to maintain a relationship or even gain legal rights, which had been signed over to the Wises upon Darcy‘s birth.

As tragic and sad as that is, especially when you see how far Fanny has grown as a character throughout the entire series, I think Fanny would have struggled to gain legal access to her eldest daughter and Darcy would grow up completely unaware of her true parentage.

Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t imagine any of these characters from the franchise having a true happily ever after - unless they moved away from their crazy families and cut out all of the toxic partners, those characters may have hope.

What do you think? How do you imagine some of VCA’s characters’ stories ending or maybe even beginning?