“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…’”

A large picture of my mother hung on the wall.

Old letters, documents, and sealed envelopes were scattered across the table.

Beside the bed stood an open suitcase.

I took one step backward.

“What is this…?”

At that moment, the door moved behind me.

I turned around.

Richard was standing there.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid? You filled an entire hotel room with pictures of me. What is going on?”

He looked as if he wanted to speak, but for a few seconds, no words came out.

Then he picked up an old brown envelope from the table.

“Your father made me promise that I wouldn’t give this to you until you turned twenty-seven.”

I just stared at him.

“My father?”

Richard nodded.

“That’s why I brought you here. Starting tomorrow, this hotel is closing for renovations. And this room means a lot to me.”

He turned over the photograph of my mother.

There was a handwritten message on the back.