Chapter 1

I smelled the sharp, stinging scent of formalin coming from the one room my girlfriend never let me enter.

Driven by a dark curiosity, I pushed the door open.

Inside, I found a cold, stiff corpse.

I was certain it belonged to her husband.

Right at that moment, my phone buzzed.

A voice as cold as a grave spoke from the other end.

"Does my wife's body feel good, Silas? "

1

After dinner, I put in some serious work and went for two more rounds.

I was completely exhausted after that.

I fell into a deep, heavy sleep.

I don't know how much time passed.

I suddenly jerked awake.

Something felt off in the room.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the air felt heavy.

I finally chalked it up to my own guilt.

After all, Rosalie was a married woman.

I grabbed a cigarette from the coffee table and lit it.

I scanned the room, but Rosalie was nowhere to be found.

All the lights were off, leaving the house in total darkness.

Even the moonlight outside had ducked behind the clouds.

"Waaah... waaah... "

Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying drifted up from downstairs.

I didn't know Rosalie had a kid.

She never mentioned it, and I hadn't seen any toys around.

I figured she must have gone down to feed the baby in the middle of the night.

Curiosity got the better of me.

I pulled on my clothes and headed downstairs to take a look.

But when I got there, Rosalie was gone.

The living room was empty, and there was no baby in sight.

I was caught off guard.

I thought I might have misheard the direction of the sound.

I ran back upstairs and checked every room, but I found nobody.

My skin started to crawl.

The mansion was way too big and echoed with an eerie emptiness.

The designer lighting was dim and moody, making the whole place feel haunted.

I went back downstairs and finished the leftover red wine on the table.

Then, I pulled out my phone and called Rosalie.

I wanted to know where the hell she had disappeared to in the middle of the night.

"Hello? "

The call connected, but a man's voice answered.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

I thought her husband had made a surprise return.

Terrified, I slammed the phone shut and ended the call.

I decided it was time to get the hell out of there.

I didn't want to be caught in a messy situation with a jealous husband.

But just as I reached for the door, that baby's cry started up again.

It was coming from right beneath my feet.

I followed the sound and noticed a small, hidden door under the staircase.

It clearly led to a basement.

If I hadn't been looking closely, I never would have found it.

Why would she keep a baby in the basement?

Rosalie was married, so having a kid was normal.

There was no reason to hide a child downstairs just because I was over.

After all, I was the one who was supposed to be the secret.

I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Driven by a fatal curiosity, I opened that basement door.

That decision would haunt me forever.

I had no idea that I was stepping straight into the mouth of hell.

A cold, moldy draft hit my face.

I followed the stairs down into the dark.

The basement was much larger than I expected.

It was filled with junk and old furniture.

There was a separate, partitioned room in the corner.

The door was cracked open just a sliver.

I slowly pushed it wide.

Inside, a harsh, white light blinded me.

The air was thick with the suffocating, chemical stench of formalin.