Chapter 9 – Past Secrets Revealed

Hitomi ran down the flight of stairs and went straight to the living room. She looked around and found the portrait of her father and her young self. Getting more apprehensive every second, she inspected the portrait in great detail this time. Her legs feeling weak, she fell on the floor on her knees. She couldn't believe what she's seeing. How can this be? I don't understand any of this! How come I never noticed this before! Dad has blue eyes and mom has black eyes. Where the hell did I get my green eyes from? Hitomi looked around and sought green eyes from her father's ancestors. There was none. Kneeling down on the floor, she hid her face with both her hands. Her eyes swelled with tears.

"Hitomi?"

Hearing the voice calling out her name, Hitomi looked up and saw Van standing not far away from her. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, stood up and composed herself. She smiled weakly. "Oh hi, Van. What brings you here?"

Van approached Hitomi, took her hand and led her to sit down on the nearby couch. He sat down next to her, facing her. "I'm here to see you." he wiped the rest of Hitomi's tears under her eyes with his thumb as he held her face up. "I'm also here to ask you what's wrong." He looked at Hitomi with deep worry.

Hitomi covered her face with her hands again. Soft stifles were heard.

Van pulled Hitomi into an embrace leaning her head upon under his chin. He felt Hitomi lean closer.

"I'm so confused." Hitomi spoke in a muffled voice.

Knowing Hitomi, Van asked no questions. He simply held her close signifying his deep concern. He decided that he will wait for Hitomi to tell him what's bothering her.

Hitomi remained in Van's embrace in silence. She greatly appreciated the comfort and it certainly put her in a bit of ease. She was once again tempted to keep all her findings and doubts inside of her. In doing that, she believes it will prevent another conflict to arise within her broken family. However, she promised her mother not to punish herself with that notion. She struggled hard with decision-making. It is either she will once again bound herself to another burden or disrupt the harmony within her family.

After a long time of thinking, Hitomi finally made up her mind. She looked up to Van, who still had his arms around her. "Van…", she murmured softly.

Van looked towards Hitomi and smiled. "Yes, Hitomi?"

"Can you drive me to my mom's house?"

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Meanwhile, at the other side of the city, Julianne was at her favorite café expecting company. Her childhood friend, Francesca, called her wanting to meet up. Francesca's phone call surprised Julianne greatly since they haven't seen each other for a very long period of time.

Julianne has been friends with Francesca as long as she can remember. Francesca's mother owns the orphanage where Julianne grew up in, from infancy to early childhood. Julianne became an orphan at a very early age. Having no parents, nor brothers or sisters, the inhabitants of the orphanage became her family. As children, Julianne and Francesca were inseparable until the time a lovely couple adopted Julianne to be their daughter.

Looking at the door for the fifth time, she saw a raven black-haired girl enter. As she finally recognized that it was her friend, she raised her hand and called out. "Hey Francesca, in here!" As her friend approached the table, Julianne stood up and gave her a hug. "Oh gosh! I haven't seen you for a really long time."

Francesca hugged Julianne back. "I know! I miss you so much!"

They both settled themselves at their table, sitting across each other. They started with the usual 'how-are-you' and then a brief recount of what's been happening with their life.

"So how's the orphanage going?" Julianne asked.

"Oh, it's going great! I actually manage it now since mother decided to step down and give herself a break, which she definitely deserves. You know mom, she's such a hard worker."

Julianne smiled. "Yeah I know. I better go visit sometime soon. I miss her too."

"Well you better! She hasn't heard from you for a very long time! She misses you dearly. Oh yeah, while we're at this subject, the reason why I came here to meet you is that your real father, well actually his private investigator, came to find you." Francesca watched Julianne's eyes cloud with confusion.

"My real father? What are you talking about?" Julianne gaped in disbelief. "Your mother told me that my real parents are both dead. That's why I ended up in the orphanage."

Fran looked at Julianne seeking consolation. "Julianne…My mother is deeply sorry for telling you lies. She did it because your real mother instructed her to do so."

"Why did my real mother do that?"

"Well, my mother told me that your real mother wished your life to be free of depressing past."

"What did my real father do wrong?"

Francesca gave Julianne an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I don't know. I guess you have to find that out for yourself." She handed a calling card to Julianne. "That guy came looking for you in the orphanage. I refused to give him your number, so he has asked you to give him a call as soon as possible. What are you going to do now?"

Julianne cast down her eyes. "I don't know. I don't know."

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Evening has fallen. Hitomi, with the company of Van and her beloved mother, sat anxiously inside her father's study room. She has now discovered a hidden part of the past in which her mother securely kept as a secret. She contemplated the new discovery but she forced herself to stay strong. Confronting her father has to be done. She waited patiently for her father's arrival.

Ms. Kanzaki held Hitomi's hand tight and gave her a reassuring smile. Seeing her daughter smile back gave her a small bit of contentment. She thought to herself, Everything will be alright.

Van, who was present during Ms. Kanzaki's revelation to Hitomi, wondered what will happen next. In spite of this, he has pledge to give full support to Hitomi no matter what.

Mr. Kanzaki entered the study room. Looking around he saw the face of his daughter, his ex-wife and Van. He muttered, "Good. Good." He walked straight to his seat behind a large desk and sat down. He started, "It's really good that you three are here especially you Hitomi. I have unexpected news."

Hitomi looked at her father perplexed. What could be the unexpected news now? Could it be that he also found out about mom's secret doing?

Clearing his throat, Mr. Kanzaki continued on, his face incomprehensible. "Hitomi, you have an older sister."

Van, Hitomi and her mother suddenly had their faces transfixed upon hearing the news. Hitomi spoke out first. "I…I…- You…You… have another daughter? When…How did this happen?"

Mr. Kanzaki answered calmly. "If you're thinking that I cheated on you mother and had an affair; that is not true. It is true though that I haven't been completely honest with my past, which was years before I married your mother." He now turned to his ex-wife. "I owe you the truth. I am sorry that I kept this from you. I fully blame myself when things no longer worked out between us. My past caused me from wholly loving you."

Ms. Kanzaki looked at her ex-husband straight into his eyes. She showed no hint of grief and anxiety. The guilt of keeping the truth about Hitomi from him, which overwhelmed her, has now subsided. She spoke in a composed manner. "I understand. Well, we're ready to listen to whatever you're going to say."

All eyes were on Mr. Kanzaki as he started to speak. "Four years before Hitomi was born, I got married against my parents' will. I may have greatly disappointed my parents but I had the time of my life. I never did once regret anything. Unfortunately, my state of bliss didn't last long. In fact, it only lasted for only a couple of months. My parents practiced deceit to separate me from my first marriage. My wife suddenly disappeared without a trace and my parents fed me endless lies on her disappearance. I looked for her profusely. Of course, my search didn't end up anywhere since it is possible that my parents have interfered."

Mr. Kanzaki heaved out a sigh and continued. "After a long time of searching I lost hope, but I found a new direction to lead my life to." He looked at his ex-wife. "I found you. Despite the fact that I decided to move on with my life, there has always been this small inkling of wanting to find my first wife. Unbeknownst to anyone, I hired a team of private investigators to look for her. My search is now over. I got a phone call from the private investigator saying that they had found her. I was ecstatic, but suddenly I felt grim. It was too late. They found out that she died 18 years ago due to childbirth and I was told to be the father of the child she gave birth to."

Hitomi asked in a shaky voice. "Have you met her? What's her name?"

"I haven't seen her but I will soon and you will too. You soon be meeting your older sister, Julianne."

Van's eyes opened wide with shock? Could it be the same person?

Ms. Kanzaki who has gained back her confidence, gathered up her thoughts. She now felt the urge to tell the truth to her ex-husband. Having her ex-husband reveal his secrets made her feel the need to do it as well. She thought to herself. It's now or never. She turned to her ex-husband. "Julianne is not Hitomi's sister."

All eyes were now looking at Ms. Kanzaki. Mr. Kanzaki furrowed his brows and asked, "What are you talking about? The investigators I hired made it so sure that Julianne is really my daughter, so they are definitely sisters, well half-sisters."

"I am not implicating that Julianne is not your daughter. It is Hitomi who is not your real daughter."

Mr. Kanzaki sprang up off his chair, agitated with anger. He slammed his fists unto the desk. He spoke in frustration. "How dare you do this to me? How dare you have an affair while we were married? So, your pregnancy was all a mistake. You decided to give the unborn baby a life so you lied right in front of my face telling and convincing me that you were pregnant with our child."

Despite her ex-husband's fierce false accusations, Ms. Kanzaki remained calm. "You are mistaken. I never did have an affair and I never considered my pregnancy to be a mistake. Hitomi isn't my real daughter as well. We never had a child."

Utter confusion struck Mr. Kanzaki. "But you were pregnant and I saw you give birth to her. How was that possible?"

"I was the surrogate mother for my sister's child. My sister suffered a maternal disease which precludes pregnancy. I went through a gestational surrogacy. Using in vitro fertilization (IVF), my sister and her husband produced an embryo that was transplanted into me. My twin sister is Hitomi's real mother."

"How come you never told me about your decision to bear your sister's child for her?"

"I was supposed to tell you, but the death of my sister and her husband, while I was still bearing their child, refrained me from doing it." Ms. Kanzaki held back her tears that were pooling under her eyes. "When I agreed to be Hitomi's surrogate mother, my sister told me that I will be considered as Hitomi's second mother. You know so well that when we got married I wanted a child. You obliged with my wish so we tried and tried, but we always failed. I was crushed on having to lose hope of being a mother. However, my sister gave me a second chance to be one."

Mr. Kanzaki now looked at his daughter whose head was bent low. He felt so much sympathy and worry. He turned back to his ex-wife. "Why did you keep the truth from Hitomi and I?"

"I wanted us to be a family with neither second thoughts nor hesitations. Tell me, how would you treat Hitomi if I told you that she's not your real daughter before she was born? Looking at how you treated Hitomi for the past years it could have been worse if I told you who she really was. I wanted Hitomi to have a father."

Hitomi lifted her head up and looked at her father. She saw him struggling with an answer. She spoke softly to her mother. "Mom, I did have a father. He may have committed faults but that doesn't deprive him of being a father, my father." She now turned to her father. "Dad…, you may not be my real father but you'll always have a place in my heart. Please keep your promise."

Mr. Kanzaki looked at Hitomi and smiled. "I will, honey. I will."

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Van, driving home, was gripping the steering wheel tightly as he struggled with his thoughts. He was now sure that Julianne had once again re-entered his life. Can things get any harder? For the past months everything was smooth-sailing. I actually felt that I was moving on with my life. Why did she come back? Why does my past always catch up to me? Is this a sign of any sort?

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A/N: a new chapter done! REALLY REALLY SORRY that I took long to update! (holding up a basket full of sweets and cookies) : ) School has been such a hassle and I had to prepare for my practical piano exam this Friday. I'm so screwed for that!

Well anyway…what do you think of my new twist? Since I updated late I decided to reveal both sides of the new twist. Did anyone see that one coming? Now that I think about it…it seems far-fetched. I hope it's okay though. Tell me what you think! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much for the people who reviewed! Love you guys! (holding up a humungous bowl of ice cream with sprinkles and syrup of your choice)

Review replies:

Kathya – I'm sorry about the little amount of VH moment in this chapter….more will come in the next chapters…I think: )

Inda – Hope this chapter is ok: )

f-zelda – this chapter definitely answered your question! What do you think of the new twist?

Chocolate-Covered-Coffee-Beans – did you get surprised? What do you think of the new twist? Oh yeah… I feel so mean putting Allen through all those stuff…well I feel much more terrible of what I've been putting Hitomi through…its really sad that life can be such a pain….

tigger093061 – LOL! Hope this chapter is worth your anticipation: )

Take care people!

elena-maria