Twisted desire

Chapter 6

Luna could not stop thinking about the

photograph Hamilton had described

without actually describing it.

Different woman. Same story.

The words had been repeating in her

head all day, refusing to leave her alone.

Even now, sitting across from Richard

at dinner, she could still hear them.

Richard looked calm as always.

Perfect posture. Perfect voice. Perfect

smile.

Like a man with absolutely nothing to

hide.

And somehow, that only made Luna

trust him less.

“You’ve been quiet tonight,” Richard

said suddenly.

Luna looked up from her plate.

“Oh. I’m just tired.”

His eyes stayed on her for a moment

too long.

“You should rest more,” “he said softly.

You look exhausted.”

Something about the way he said it

made her uncomfortable again.

Like concern was not the only thing

behind his words.

Across the table, Hamilton noticed.

She could tell.

His jaw tightened slightly, but he

stayed silent.

Luna quickly looked back down at her

food.

The tension at the table felt unbearable

tonight.

Her mother either did not notice it or

chose not to.

She kept talking casually about flowers

she wanted added to the garden, smiling

happily while Luna struggled to focus on

anything she was saying.

Luna suddenly felt guilty.

Because her mother looked genuinely

happy here.

And Luna did not know if she should

ruin that.

What if Hamilton was wrong?

What if she was overthinking

everything?

But then she remembered the way

Richard looked at her.

The way Hamilton warned her.

The way both of them kept speaking in

half truths.

No.

Something was wrong in this house.

She felt it.

Dinner ended later than usual.

Hamilton left first without saying much.

Richard took a business call.

Her mother went upstairs.

And suddenly, Luna was alone.

The mansion felt quieter than ever.

She stood near the staircase for a

moment, thinking.

Then made a decision.

If everyone kept hiding things from

her…

She would find answers herself.

Luna moved carefully through the

hallway, her footsteps soft against the

polished floor.

Her heart beat faster the closer she got

to Richard’s office.

She had no idea what she was even

looking for.

But she knew one thing.

People who had nothing to hide did not

make everyone around them feel afraid.

The office door was slightly open.

Luna froze.

Listening.

Nothing.

Slowly, she pushed it open further and

stepped inside.

The room smelled like leather and

expensive cologne.

Dark shelves lined the walls, filled with

books and neatly organized files.

Everything looked perfectly arranged.

Controlled.

Just like Richard.

Luna swallowed and stepped farther

inside.

“This is insane,” she whispered.

If Richard caught her in here, she had

no idea what she would say.

Her eyes moved across the room

carefully.

Desk.

Cabinets.

Shelves.

Nothing unusual.

Until she noticed a small drawer slightly

open beneath the desk.

Luna hesitated.

Then slowly pulled it open.

Inside were photographs.

Dozens of them.

At first, they looked normal.

Family dinners.

Vacations.

Formal events.

Women standing beside Richard.

Different women.

Luna frowned slightly.

How many times had this man been

married?

She picked up another photo.

Another woman.

Another house.

Another smile.

Then her stomach tightened.

Because beside one of the women

stood a girl.

Young.

Pretty.

Around Luna’s age.

Richard stood beside her with one hand

resting on her shoulder.

The girl smiled at the camera.

But her eyes did not look happy.

Luna stared harder.

Something about the picture felt

wrong.

She reached for another one.

The same girl again.

This time at a beach.

Richard standing too close.

His hand lower this time.

Too comfortable.

Luna’s chest tightened.

“No way,” she whispered.

Her fingers moved faster now, flipping

through more photographs.

Different women.

Different daughters.

Same pattern.

Richard beside them.

Watching them.

Touching them too comfortably.

And then suddenly…

They disappeared.

The daughters stopped appearing in

later photos.

Luna’s breathing became uneven.

This was not coincidence.

Hamilton had been telling the truth.

A sound outside the office made her

freeze.

Footsteps.

Coming closer.

Her heart slammed against her chest.

Quickly, she shoved the photographs

back into the drawer.

The footsteps stopped outside the

door.

Luna held her breath.

Silence.

Then the footsteps continued down the

hallway.

She exhaled shakily.

“Oh my God.”

Her hands trembled slightly now.

But she could not stop.

Not anymore.

She pulled the drawer open again,

searching deeper this time.

Then she found something else.

An envelope.

Old.

Folded.

Luna carefully opened it.

Inside was a single photograph.

The moment she saw it, her stomach

dropped.

A girl stood beside Richard at what

looked like a formal event.

She could not have been older than

nineteen.

Dark hair.

Soft smile.

Beautiful.

But it was not the girl that made Luna’s

chest tighten.

It was Richard.

The way he was looking at her.

The way his hand rested possessively

against her waist.

Too intimate.

Too familiar.

Luna looked down at the bottom

corner of the photograph.

Three words were written there in

faded ink.

Summer of 2018.

Her heartbeat slowed.

Because the girl in the picture looked

almost exactly like her.

And for the first time since entering the

mansion…

Luna realized Hamilton had not been

warning her about a possibility.

He had been warning her about a

pattern.