Chapter 1

I had been dating Lucas for six months and we were planning to get married. He invited me to his hometown to meet his parents. Lucas was considered a good man by everyone, and his parents had always been very caring towards me. Today, because I wasn’t feeling well, I stayed alone at his house. Her words made me uneasy, so I left the basement as quickly as I could. When I came up, I found Lucas had already returned. He handed me a bag of sweet apricots, but I could barely taste them. I tentatively asked, “Have you ever brought other women back here before?” Lucas’s fingers paused for a moment, then he wiped the juice from the corner of my mouth and smiled, “I’ve already told you, I’ve only had two exes.” Lucas had always kept his social circle simple, coming home on time every night. Even when he occasionally went out drinking with friends, they were all people I knew. I knew I shouldn’t doubt my boyfriend. But who was that girl in the basement? I nodded thoughtfully, suddenly remembering something. I probed further, “Was one of your ex-girlfriends… the one with a birthmark on her wrist?” His face instantly darkened, and I felt inexplicably nervous. Lucas demanded to know how I knew about the birthmark. I suppressed the fear in my heart and tried to act calm, telling him he had mentioned it once before and I had remembered. I’ve always been attentive to details, so this explanation should be believable. Lucas stared intently at my expression. I unconsciously swallowed, cold sweat breaking out all over my body. Suddenly, Lucas smiled. He went into the inner room and took out a photo from the drawer, handing it to me. The woman in the photo was clearly the woman in the basement. Next to her stood Lucas and his parents, all smiling at the camera, clearly a family portrait. Lucas pointed to the family photo and explained that the one with the birthmark was actually his sister. His sister had an accident some years ago and became mentally unstable, often running away on the streets. She almost got hit by cars several times, so they had no choice but to keep her locked up at home. I suddenly understood and felt relieved. But then I thought, even if she was his own sister, she shouldn’t be locked in the basement. However, this was their family matter, and I didn’t feel it was my place to ask more questions. As I glanced at the photo again, I couldn’t help but feel that their smiles seemed somewhat forced.