When she put the key into the lock, Kate had a second of hesitation, but she pushed it in and twisted it immediately afterward.

With a click, the door opened.

The place was quiet and peaceful like the last time she had come there.

The files she copied from Tristan's computer, after an initial check, turned out to be mostly bookkeeping files and contracts of recent years. But she had been told that his company's operation in recent years was normal and the illegal activities should have happened way back, in the period where the original capital was acc.u.mulating.

So she thought of this apartment. He told her that he moved out of here five years ago. And this was a place with special significance to him.

When one was into something, one usually was obsessed or paranoid about it. This task she took on was possibly motivated by ethical concerns, or her curiosity or pregnancy hormones now made her feel like she was possessed by Sherlock Holmes.

In the photo on the wall, that woman whose name she didn't know yet was looking at her gently.

Kate said sorry to her in her heart.

And then she went up to the second floor.

Hours passed by, and she had broken a sweat on her forehead.

The hair that was pinned up came loose, and one strand fell on the side of her face. Based on her little knowledge of Tristan's personality and her own instincts, Kate searched the study first. After she removed one-third of the books from the shelf, she found a concealed cabinet on the floor.

Sliding open the door, she found a metal box of similar size to the shoebox in the cabinet. This should be what she was searching for. She took the box out and put it on the floor, but then she frowned-there was a coded lock on it.

An 8-digit sliding wheels lock. She put in his birthday, wrong—their wedding date, wrong.

Kate sighed. She tried these two dates on the study computer, and they were wrong there too. But she could not think of any other numbers. If she just took the box, she wouldn't have to think about it, but she abandoned this idea.

Finally, she put in another number.

And she heard the incredible cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound! She had no time to be surprised at her accidental success. The things inside the box consumed all her attention.

The box was filled with many cassette tapes and discs, along with a few brown envelopes and a thick notebook.

She carried the box to the next room, where there was a media player.

She took out the cassette tapes on the top layer on the right. There was a label attached to it on which a long number was written. She put it in the cassette player and pressed the play button. The magnetic head started to run, and there was the sound of a man's voice.

After she finished that tape, she took it out, put it back in the box, and took out a DVD.

On the screen, a man and a woman spoke only a few words and then started to take off their clothes and roll around on the bed. Their fully n.a.k.e.d bodies tangled together. It was very stimulating to the viewer.

And then, in subsequent scenes, there were different actors and actresses featuring almost the exact same screenplays. Kate put her hand to her mouth and rushed to the bathroom.

After throwing up what was in her stomach, she sat on the floor. She looked at the bathroom blankly and could not get away from the world she had just seen. It was a world full of dirty and filthy things.

There was a familiar voice in those videos. And there were two voices that she didn't know. They talked about trades, sometimes vaguely, sometimes blatantly.

And in the NC-17 rated videos, the bloated lead actor, after putting back his clothes and glasses, went back to be a conscientious civil servant.

Parasite, vampire. She squeezed the words from her teeth.

And the man was playing a role no less disgraceful and outrageous in the scenes.

Familiar music came from some distance and pulled her back to reality.

She put her hand on the toilet to support her up and then went back to the video room. It was her cell phone ringing.

She suddenly got nervous. Tristan called at irregular intervals every day to check on her. He was on a business trip and would spend a few hours on the plane. So she took the excuse of going to have a facial at the beauty parlor to come here.

She drew a long breath and took up the phone, and was relaxed at the number on the screen.

It was from Max.

***

Max told her that the guys who wanted to get the house back ceased their request and left. And somebody had donated a sizable amount of money to the public schools in their town.

Max asked with concern, "Kate, don't you think he is too powerful? It is in a different state. And the guys that found trouble are rumored to have an influence on the town government. Ed gave me the feeling that he was sort of gangster when he saved me last time. Are they…"

"No." Kate said, looking down at the box on the floor, "They are not."

Max changed the subject; "Mom said on the phone that there is a boy in our town who is helping his parents run a café. His mother and ours used to hang out together. Mom knows their family very well. She said if you would like to go back home, she would like to introduce you to the boy. I had to tell her that you were busy with your studies now…"

Kate smiled bitterly after hung up the phone. It was a life so far away from her now. She could never go back to that kind of world again.

Kate stared at the things on the floor. They represented a dirty and ugly past but probably would represent a dangerous and unpredictable future. She had stepped into this by choice.

She took a heavy bag out and walked by the photo of the smiling woman. She stopped and said in a low voice to her, "What would you do if you were me?"

"You wouldn't have done this, right?"

The person in the photo just smiled.

"What a shame! We are different."

Kate entered from the back door of the beauty parlor. Her classmate who had experienced the fight with her had come to help today. She had enjoyed the facial and other services available for hours on her behalf. They switched identities and left when Tristan called.

She rubbed her sore shoulders and said, "A facial and a massage…"

"OK, have fun. I will do it for you with my expertise in this field when I get back…" As Tristan talked, heated air seemed to transmit from the other end of the phone.

She could imagine his vague smile on the other side of the phone. His breath was blowing on her ear. She had just gone through another cold and cruel experience, and now the conversation was more torture for her.

Only after he heard the slam of the car door and another person's voice did he want to end the conversation. He asked if she had anything else to say.

She did have questions. Why was the password her birthday? Was it a coincidence or on purpose? Why did he let her know everything so easily? Why had she met him and get involved in this?

And she also wanted to ask why he was not a good guy? Why was he cruel, evil, and merciless, while he could touch the softest parts of her? Why were his evil measures used to rescue her family?

In her world, there was only good and bad, white and black. There weren't so many whys. Kate had been silly, but she lived at ease. But since she had known Tristan, she had had to bend her principles and blur the boundaries and colors.

Now it was not just a vague boundary. It was totally overthrown.

When Kate woke up in the morning, she found the man who was supposed to come back in the evening was deep in sleep beside her. She was surprised when he came to bed, and she didn't know at all. It was horrible.

The next moment, her attention was drawn to a new thing on his face- the stubble on his strong chin. He always cared so much for his appearance. It was the first time she had seen this on him. Was it because of too much hormone?

The ding of the alarm o'clock broke her meditation, and she reached for the clock at the nightstand immediately. He usually got up at six, and she did at seven. Kate got off the bed quietly.

After cleaning up, she had a cup of honey water and went outside to stretch her legs. She did some simple exercises.

She had had too many emotional ups and downs lately, and her sleeping and eating had been influenced too. She didn't want this to affect the baby inside her. It was the only oasis in her world of the desert.

As she was working out, she heard the phone in the living room ring. She went to answer it. It was from the sanatorium. The nurse said, "Aunty is missing the lady with dimples…" Before the nurse could finish, Tristan's mother grabbed the phone, "Could you come to see me?" She asked shyly.

An old woman sounded like a little kid. It made Kate's heart soften. She agreed immediately.