<h4>Chapter 372: A Puzzle</h4>


    Mnie stared at the picture carefully, her fingers trembling slightly as she zoomed in and out repeatedly on her phone. Who was this person? This woman? Because it wasn’t Marianne Thomas... and yet, it was clearly a family picture.


    Richard Thomas stood at the center, holding a little baby on one arm, the other resting lightly on the shoulder of a woman Mnie didn’t recognize. And in front of them stood another girl, smiling. She recognised the girl, of course. That was her. And the one in his arms was probably Melody.


    Why would they have a family picture with someone else when Marianne Thomas was their mother?


    Mnie leaned closer, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the woman’s face. The high cheekbones, the narrow nose, the shape of her mouth and her eyes. And just as suddenly her breath caught as a suspicion formed in her mind.


    The features weren’t just simr to hers. They were the same shape. The same exact shade of brown. The slight upward tilt at the corners, the faint shadows just beneath them were just like her and Melody. Other than maybe the woman’s hairstyle being more old fashioned, she resembled them quiet closely.


    She moved her fingers across the screen, zooming in again.


    The nose, too—it had the same slight bump near the bridge just like she and Melody did. And the lips, though thinner, were also simr.


    Mnie’s chest tightened as the thought took hold. It started out as a flicker-silly, almost impossible-but it grew louder in her mind with every second she stared at the picture.


    Without a second thought, she set the phone down and rushed back toward the study.


    She didn’t even bother to close the door behind her. She knew Richard Thomas had already taken that picture. She had seen him slip it carefully into his pocket when he realized what had happened.


    Her mind was spinning, her breathing shallow as she moved quickly to the shelf behind the table. She reached out and grabbed the first frame her hand could find, pulling it down and flipping it over.


    Another photo was stuck behind the disyed one.


    This one was older, more faded. But the woman was there again- this time, she stood alone, smiling gently at the camera. She wore a pale dress with a delicatece cor, her hair pulled back into a low bun. There were flowers behind her.


    Mnie’s fingers trembled as she set the frame aside and reached for another one and opened it.. Her hands were shaking now, but she couldn’t stop. Her breath hitched. Another picture behind Richard and Marianne’s picture.


    In this photo, the woman stood beside Richard Thomas. Just the two of them. He had his arm around her, and they both looked straight at the camera, smiling and not the kind of forced, formal smile people wore for pictures, but much more intimate. Almost like a wedding picture but without the finery.


    She stared at the photo, her throat tightening as unease bloomed in her chest. Why were there so many pictures of an entirely separate family hidden behind pictures of Richard and Marianne? From what she had seen, Richard loved and doted on Marianne and was quite dependent on her. So, who was this other woman? And why was she being kept hidden like this?


    She picked up the next frame, and opened it again. The background showed a living room that seemed familiar, the same couch that now sat in the corner of the drawing room- only newer, with brighter cushions. The woman was sitting on it, holding a child in her arms. Mnie stared, trying to see if she could tell whether the child was her, or Melody. But now, the woman looked sick... her hair thinning... And there was another person in the picture, sitting next to her- Marianne.


    Before she could make sense of what she was seeing, a voice rang out from the hallway.


    "Has Richard returned yet?"


    Mnie froze. It was Marianne. Something told her that she could not question this woman about this. In fact, she should not let her know that she even suspected anything.


    Her heart jumped. She shoved the photos back into the frames and then onto the shelf, fumbling a bit as one nearly slipped from her hands. Her eyes darted around the room. There was nowhere to hide, and she didn’t have time to run.


    Crouching down beside the desk, she tried to make it look like she was searching for something just as the door creaked open behind her.


    "Melody?"


    Startled, she straightened, and turned towards the door with a smile. Marianne stood at the threshold, frowning. Her gaze moved from Mnie to the shelf and back. "What are you doing here?"


    "I-" Mnie forced a smile, trying to keep her voice steady. "I dropped my bracelet. I think it slipped off somewhere in here. I thought I’d check before it got buried under something."


    Marianne’s eyes narrowed, and for a second, Mnie thought she’d ask more. But then the older woman nodded slowly and walked into the study.


    "Why were you here in the first ce? When you dropped your bracelet?"


    Mnie smiled and continued to crouch, pretending to shift papers and look under the chair. "Mr. Thomas returned home feeling sick a few hours ago. He couldn’t find his medicine, so I came to the study to get that. He said he thought it might be in the drawer. I checked there, found nothing. And then I had a minor ident. I bumped my arm against the shelf and the bracelet probably slipped off my wrist without me noticing."


    Marianne didn’t respond at once. Her eyes studied Mnie for a beat longer, and Mnie could feel her pulse thudding in her neck.


    To seal the excuse, Mnie reached beneath the corner of the rug and pulled out her bracelet which she had thankfully thrown under it earlier!


    "Found it." As Mnie was about to walk away, Marianne called out to her slowly," Melody."