5

That late at night, I heard my parents arguing upstairs.

My bedroom on the fourth floor was right above their room on the thrid floor.

They were not a loving couple; their interactions were mostly silent, and I rarely heard any communication from them.

But this time, I faintly heard some fragmented words.

"Didn't we agree we would quit and this month would be the last time?"

My father's voice was repressive but with anger.

"If we continue, what if something happens? We'd all be done for!"

My mother raised her voice, her tone shrill:

"What are you making such a fuss about? Didn't you come up with the idea to start the clinic?

"Now you say you want to give up. But who can support this big family?"

She paused and spoke confidently.

"Besides, it's those people's weak minds, not our problem!"

With a heavy sigh, everything upstairs returned to the usual silence.

I pondered their words, feeling an ominous and weird vibe.

But before I could think it through, someone knocked on my bedroom door.

My voice quivered as I asked tentatively, "Who… is that?"

A deliberately lowered voice came from the outside:

"Emily, it's Jenny."

It was Jenny, Jenny.

She was the only one in the family who showed some sympathy and pity towards me.

However, all people are self-interested.

She wouldn't add insult to injury, but she wouldn't help either.

A few years ago, she had a conflict with my mother and moved out, then rarely came back.

Even when she was called home in the past, she never stayed overnight.

Tonight, she was unusually staying over, against her usual habits.

As soon as she came in, she looked around alertly and closed the doors and windows .

Then, she took my hand and looked at me with worry:

"Emily, you mustn't take over the clinic."She reminded that my parents always loved and spoiled Charles, and we all knew it.If the clinic was really so good, how could it ever come to me?

"If you take it over, you might just bring trouble upon yourself!"

She looked worried and earnestly tried to persuade me.

Of course, I knew she was right.

The locked secret room, the strange meaty eggs, the mysterious surgeries, and my mother's unchanging youthful appearance.

All of it was too bizarre.

Behind it must be a shocking truth.

But I still pretended to be interested and even excited.

Because her eyes wandered as she persuaded me, as if she knew something and was hesitant to tell.

Finally, after a long discussion and realizing she couldn't persuade me,

she sighed in resignation and looked at me directly:

"Do you remember my missing ex-boyfriend from a few years ago?"

A handsome face vaguely appeared in my mind.

He was Jenny's boyfriend when she was in her sophomore year of college.

Jenny treated the relationship serious, and she even showed his photo to the whole family.

But one day, he disappeared without a trace, never to be found again.

"He's dead."

Jenny stared at me and said.

"He died three months after mother conducted the surgery on him."