6

Jenny said that after her ex-boyfriend disappeared years ago, she gave up searching for him.

But a few years later, she accidentally found the clinic's surgery register book.

She knew that my mother only conducted exactly ten surgeries every month.

But that month, only eight surgeries were recorded.

And the final surgery of that month was for her ex-boyfriend.

"I don't know why he had surgery, but he disappeared after it."

She said, and three months later, her ex-boyfriend suspiciously died.

It was said that when he died, his whole body was bruised, all the blood had been squeezed out of him and his face was extremely pale, very strange.

But his family kept silent and quickly buried him.

"After that, I investigated the men who had surgery in the past few years.

"Without exception, they either vanished, or they went mad, or they committed suicide."

Jenny sighed helplessly and advised me one last time.

"Emily, I've told you all I know. What you want to do next is up to you."

After she left, I lay in bed, my thoughts in disarray.

In fact, I had also kept a secret from her.

I had known about the death of her ex-boyfriend for a long time.

Not only that, but I also knew the reason for his death.

The handsome men who came to our clinic for surgery were actually not decent.

They were either young men brought by wealthy women seeking novelty, or ones trying to climb the social ladder through wealthy women.

Her ex-boyfriend was the former.

Men like him were often used as sex toys by wealthy women.

It was natural for them to feel resentful and unwilling.

So, they would seek a sense of control over girls, who were innocent and naive.

Back then, when my mother's wealthy regular client brought him, Peter, to the clinic, the same face was in Jenny's official relationship announcement.

mother realized that Jenny was just an existence for him to pursue excitement but not true love.

Out of concern for Jenny's feelings, my mother asked me to keep the secret.

Later on, I heard the news of Peter's death.

Apparently, the wealthy women were too fond of him.

As it was not a respectable matter, the wealthy women paid off his family to keep them quiet.

With the family receiving the money and quickly burying him, the matter was resolved.

As for the second thing Jenny mentioned, it did indeed remind me well.

Many wealthy women who came to our clinic were regular customers.

Their special friends were replaced every two years like clockwork.

Previously, I had thought it was just fickle in affection.

But now it seemed there was more to it.

All kinds of stuff just kept swirling in my head, making me more and more confused.

Before I got an answer, I fell asleep.

That night, I had a dream.

I dreamed I was back by the little window outside the surgery room.

Inside, it was a scene of passion. The blissful expression floated across her face.

The woman straddling David suddenly looked up and laughed at me.

It scared the hell out of me, sweating bullets and jolting awake.

Because that woman's face in the dream wasn't my mom.

It was me.

But before I could even wrap my head around the horror,

my mom's angry voice was banging on the door, yelling,

"You've got some nerve, still sleeping at this hour! What's wrong with you?

"I told you yesterday, we had to get up early to enter the secret room today!

"If you don't want to take over the clinic, then pack your stuff and get out of the house at once!"

After announcing that I would take over the clinic,

she made me get up early the next day and follow her up to the secret room.

But I slept like the dead last night, missing my alarm.

I opened the door, trembling with terror.

As soon as I went to her, a loud slap across the face.

"You disobedient idiot, come with me upstairs!"

My mom glared at me impatiently.

Except for Jenny, everyone else was the same.

If they were even slightly dissatisfied, they took it out on me.

I held my cheek, whispered a meek "Yeah," and obediently followed behind her up to the secret room.

I followed her steps. 

With each step, the overwhelming fishy smell grew stronger.

It was a familiar stench, coming from that locked-up secret room.

I sniffed the air, cautiously.

Something was off, the smell today was way more intense than usual.

And when we reached the sixth floor, the scene before us left both my mother and me gaping in shock.

All the locks and chains outside the room were broken, lying in pieces.

The door was ajar, with clear signs of forced entry.

 There was hammer, knife and axe on the floor.

My mother's face was ashen, her hands trembling as she checked the surveillance video.

Ever since we snuck a peek through the crack of the door of the secret room when we were little,

our parents had surveillance cameras installed on every floor.

My mother stared at the screen, her face hard.

But she saw my brother sneaking up to the sixth floor in the dead of night.

He had tools in his hand, slicing through locks and chains.

Only to find another layer of electronic lock inside.

Losing his patience, he swung the hammer forcefully at the door frame.

With brute force, he smashed the door open.

The noise he made was so loud, but no one in the house was awake, everyone slept like the dead.

Clearly, he did it on purpose.

To Charles, that secret room held our family's money-making secret.

He always took himself as the only inheritor for granted.

Every penny was supposed to be his in the end.

But he never expected that mother would give the most profitable clinic to me, the most unfavoured child in this family.

Maybe he couldn't stomach the injustice.

That's why he wanted to get there before me, to know the secret of that room.

My mom probably thought the same.

"Quick, go to the nearby massage parlor and ask Michelle here,"

she said, her hand tightly gripping mine, maintaining the last calm amidst her panic.

"Just get her here, no matter how much needed!"

I furrowed my brows, confused on my face.

Everyone knew Michelle. It was common knowledge that she ran a brothel under the guise of a massage parlor.

The surveillance video showed my brother entering the secret room and never coming out.

But instead of worrying about Charles, my mother was in a panic, sending me to find a hooker?

The whole thing made no sense.

But I didn't dare to ask questions, and quickly ran downstairs to find Michelle.