“My uncle once asked me, ‘Are you a virgin?’ when I was already 27 years old. From that moment, I started to be afraid of him. And a few days later, when he took me to a hotel outside the city, he leaned close to my ear by the pool and whispered, ‘After the pool, come up to my room…’”

“You came,” he said softly, his voice carrying a heavy burden that I had never heard in him before.

I swallowed hard, my hand still gripping the edge of the doorframe as adrenaline surged through my veins. “Uncle Richard, what is all of this? Why did you bring me to a hotel just to show me paperwork?”

He turned around slowly, and I was shocked to see deep, dark circles under his eyes and a look of profound exhaustion. He gestured toward the desk, motioning for me to step further inside and close the door behind me.

“Close the door, Emily, and sit down,” he urged, his tone shifting from mysterious to intensely urgent. “I didn’t bring you here to hurt you, though I know my strange behavior over the past few weeks terrified you.”…Cautiously, I stepped into the room and took a seat on the edge of the velvet armchair facing the desk. I looked at the scattered documents, noticing official stamps, legal seals, and faded letterhead stationery bearing dates from over twenty years ago.