Lunari Thomas: Unfolding secrets

A middle-aged woman wearing a fitted white dress underneath a lab coat, walked in an elegant marble staircase with her heart beating fast. She has blonde hair tied in a bun adding up to her formal attire and has flawless white skin despite her age. 

Only the sound of her stiletto can be heard inside the house but for this woman, a lot of voices can be heard in her mind. She had so many things bothering her and finally, today there is a high chance that all her questions will be answered. 

She looked at the USB flash drive in her hand and bit her lower lips as she hoped that the truth was already in her hands. 

This woman is Lunari Thomas, the woman who only loved one man, Manuel Hundrel. She's working in Deviant that is currently owned by Penelope Hundrel, Manuel's wife and Pharis's mother. 

For years, Manuel's death has been a mystery for her. They said that Manuel saved his daughter Pharis when their house burned. He ended up getting burned alive inside their old house but the cause of the fire was said to be an accident because they couldn't find anyone in the house that time except for Manuel and Pharis. 

There is no smell of gasoline and any evidence that someone committed arson. They couldn't find the source of fire yet they couldn't suspect anyone. It's as if the fire just suddenly appeared. 

Luna wanted to suspect Penelope but she has a solid alibi. The eleven years old Pharis had a trauma and lost all her memories that day so no one found out about the truth. 

She walked with her head up, totally opposite to what she is feeling right now. When she reached the door at the end of her hallway, her heart beats even faster. Lunari heaved a deep sigh and opened the door.

She didn't waste any time and opened her laptop that is on her working table. Using the tip of her thumb, she slid the cap of the flash drive and inject it to the USB port. She gulped when the USB worked. 

This is the USB she found in Manuel's old office. Earlier she went to their old house, the one that was burned. Well, only the master's bedroom was burned down and the rest was still okay. During those times, Pharis's mental state went to zero that is why the doctor advised them to leave the house for the best. Penelope couldn't care less because she doesn't go home anyway. 

She just bought a house for Pharis to stay in along with the maids. 

Actually, Lunari has been bothered by some things for a while, that's why she visited the family's old house and unexpectedly, she found this old flash drive hidden in a thick picture frame in Manuel's office. That picture frame has Manuel and Pharis's photo back when he was still alive. She accidentally broke the frame and saw something hidden inside it, which is the USB flash drive. 

She thought that this flash drive might be very important because Manuel hid it and she wants to find the reason why. 

Lunari opened the file name M.H.file and several folders popped out of her screen. With her heart beating fast out of excitement and nervousness, she clicked the first file named "recording 19**". She counted the years and thought that it might be videos from Manuel's college or younger days before he had Pharis. Even though it is entitled to that date, the video was saved a month before his death and so as the other videos. 

She gulped when she saw familiar faces in the thumbnail of the video. It is Manuel and Penelope, looking happily in the camera. Their smiles are so genuine and for that reason, she felt something throbbed in her heart. 

Lunari doesn't deny the fact that she's in love with Manuel until now. That is the reason why until now, she's still single. Knowing that he married a woman as evil as Penelope makes her blood boil because she knows he deserves better. She still couldn't get why Manuel married Penelope. 

Aware that she might end up broken if she watched the video, she still played it. The video is quite old and Manuel made an effort to revive it before he died. 

The video started with Manuel recording Penelope who seemed embarrassed. She would use her hands to hide her face. 

["H-hey! Stop it'] 

["Don't be embarrassed. You look beautiful."] 

["Eeeh b-but—"] 

The Penelope in the video was totally different from the Penelope now. Lunari didn't had a chance to see this side of Penelope because she just met them when she started working in Deviant. 

The two appeared to be in their 20s and are madly in love with each other. It's like every moment they have with each other is a treasure. 

The video stopped and Lunari realized that tears are streaming down her face. It's not because of jealousy but because of sadness. She feels sad that she wasn't able to see him that happy. 

There was so like five videos saved in the drive and everything else are folders of images and documents. Lunari didn't watch the other videos and go through the other folders. The one that caught her eyes is the folder named "My lovely daughters".

"Daughters?" she mumbled to herself. Manuel and Penelope only has one daughter and that's Pharis. She shook her head thinking maybe it's just a typo. 

When she clicked the folder, tons of Pharis's childhood photos popped on the screen from her baby photos til she reach the age of ten. Then Lunari realized that there are a lot of things she didn't know about Manuel like how he likes taking photos and videos of special memories in his life. 

Lunari was smiling as she looks at Pharis's photos in the folder. She's always been a grumpy kid but that is what makes her so cute. Lunari adores Manuel's child because she has a really strong personality because at a young age, she already understands the world and has matured early. 

As she flips through her album, an unfamiliar photo of a child appeared. She almost mistaken it to be one of Pharis's childhood photos but isn't. This isn't Pharis. 

The young girl's hair is jet black while Pharis's hair is ginger red like Manuel's. Although they almost have the same features and curls on the tip of their hair, this girl is indeed a different child. 

Lunari took a closer look at the photo and zoomed it in and out and tries to compare it with Pharis's photos. They have the same skin color which is a pale white but their eye colors are undeniably different. Pharis's eyes are hazel brown while this child has a color black eyes. 

When she clicked the next button, she saw another photo of this unfamiliar child then realized that she also had baby pictures in this folder until she reached the age of ten like Pharis. 

"Could it be…" shocked, Lunari's mouth was left slightly open. 

There is only one thing running in her head but then she exits the folder and reads it's name again. 

"My lovely daughters…" 

She can only conclude one thing and that is Manuel and Penelope have another child that she doesn't know about. The thing that is bothering her is that she never saw this child. And based on the dates in the photos, it was saved on different dates as if it is being documented. Based on the latest saved photos, Pharis and this child have the same age. 

Based on what she knows, Penelope only gave birth one time. Which means these two might've been twins. 

But why did the man hide this? Does Penelope know that she has another child? 

When Manuel died, Lunari tried to take Pharis's custody but Penelope refused saying she's the mother and she doesn't want anyone to take care of her own child. Penelope doesn't want her to take Pharis even though she never expressed any care for the child. Knowing this, Lunari thought that Penelope would not let her child be taken away from her so there is a chance that Manuel hid this child from his wife. 

The big question is why? 

Why would Manuel hide his other child from Penelope? 

Pharis never mentioned having a twin sister because they all know that she's an only child. 

A lot of questions popped in her mind nonstop so she decided to go through Manuel's documents but when she was about to click the first file, her phone suddenly rang. 

She looked at her screen and it's no other than Penelope Hundrel. 

Lunari knows that the woman doesn't like waiting so she immediately answers the call while her mind is still occupied. 

"Yes, Penelope?" 

["Hello, Luna. Come here to my office. There is something I want you to do."] 

*** 

End of chapter.