Chapter One Sunday evening, March 19, 1989 It is a large white old mansion with marble paths leading through the gardens.The setting sun sprinkled the slanting shadows of the bare maple trees on both sides of the driveway into the garden, and the cold wind rolled up the dust and rolled them, and the shadows of the trees swayed.It's early spring, but severe winter is still reluctant to leave the land of Andover in northern Massachusetts. Martha stared out from the edge of the large country kitchen sink.The figure moving on the driveway caught her attention, and VJ was rushing back on a speeding car.

She suddenly felt anxious.It had been almost five years since David died, and she still couldn't shake the painful memory.The liver cancer lesions caused by jaundice made David skinny and the pain was unbearable.Although she was heartbroken, there was nothing she could do, she could only hug his fragile little body and weep.David struggled to say something to her, and all Martha heard was the painful gasp of his struggle with death. In the last days of David's life, Janice, the nanny of their family, worked hard and guarded day and night.Not long after David was buried, Janice carried the Bible with her all day, as if entrusting her body and mind to God.The housework was done as usual, and when he was free, he was sullen and taciturn, and locked himself tightly in the room at night.What makes Martha even more disturbed is that Janice suddenly avoids VJ.At that time, VJ was only five years old. Although he was able to take care of his daily life by himself, it was inevitable that he needed someone to take care of him. Janice always refused to approach VJ.

Martha repeatedly enlightened her, and when it got tight, she yelled that VJ was possessed by the devil and said some shockingly crazy things. Soon, Victor noticed that Janice's eyes were yellow, and Martha panicked when she thought that this was the same as David's early symptoms. Victor sends Janice to the hospital for a diagnosis, and as expected, she suffers from the same terminal illness as David.Moreover, during the consultation, it was confirmed that she had brain lesions before.Modern advanced medical methods failed to prevent her condition from deteriorating, and within two weeks she was completely broken.

One day, Victor had just gone to the bathroom to take a shower, and Martha was preparing dinner in the kitchen, when suddenly hoarse and distraught screams exploded in the mansion. Victor rushes out of the bathroom asking: What happened? Martha turned pale and said the screams came from Janice's room.Immediately they rushed to Janice's apartment at the top of the narrow stairs, opened the door and entered.But I saw Janice standing stiffly in the middle of the bed, holding the "Bible" tightly in both hands, her face was ashen, her hair was disheveled, her eyes were dull, she looked like a ghost.At this time, VJ was standing behind the door, staring at Janice with piercing eyes.

Martha thought it must be VJ who was naive and curious, sneaked in to see her, and Janice, who was already insane, was so frightened that she howled. He is the devil!Janice pointed at VJ and shouted, he is a murderer!Pull him away! You try to steady Janice.Martha said to Victor, hurriedly picked up the six-year-old child and left the room.She went back to her room, closed the door, pressed VJ's head tightly to her chest, and comforted him: Janice is crazy, don't take her words seriously. VJ tried his best to break away from her hug, stared at her with crystal clear eyes, and calmly replied: I know, she is suffering from illness, and she doesn't know what she said at all.

A few days later, Janice died in the hospital. After that, Martha was worried all day long, lest VJ might go wrong.Although she knew that David and Janice's illness was not contagious, she was always worried about VJ's health.Martha, who is a psychiatrist, doesn't expect the only child to be intelligent and precocious, as long as VJ is cheerful and enthusiastic.But since VJ was a baby, she has shown a distinctive tendency to be independent, always avoiding her intimacy and hugs, which often makes her feel lost. At this moment, she watched VJ lightly jump off the bicycle, waved at him, but he ignored him, took off the tool bag from the car and threw it on the ground, opened the garage door, and put the car away.After coming out, pick up the tool bag and go straight to the house.Martha waved to him again, VJ still didn't look sideways, just walked with his head hooked.

She knocked on the glass a few times, then dropped her hand in disappointment.Recently, some kind of terrible premonition often came to her heart, that something might be wrong with the child.Although he is not his own, but from a genetic point of view, VJ is his son to the letter.Sometimes she would have a whim, fertilization in a cold test tube would probably be destined to give birth to a cold and unreasonable child, but how could she reduce her mother's love for him a little bit! She temporarily put aside her distracting thoughts and shouted towards the back room: VJ is back. Victor was reading a book in front of the burning fireplace in the living room, and he answered casually without raising his head.

The back door slammed, for a moment.Martha watched VJ lean out of the kitchen door.He had grown into a handsome boy, five feet tall and sturdier than other ten-year-olds of his age.Martha has chestnut hair, while he has pure blond hair, excellent temperament, and an angelic look. The most alluring feature is still the pair of cold blue eyes, which seem to always contain superhuman intelligence. OK, young man!Martha said mockingly, did you forget that we don't allow you to ride around outside after dark? It was not dark. VJ argued loudly, and immediately heard that his mother was joking, and hastily added that I have been staying at Rich's house.He put down his tool bag and approached the sink.

That's good.Martha was overjoyed, you should call home, you can play for as long as you want in the future, I am happy to drive to pick you up. no need. After VJ finished speaking, he grabbed Martha's freshly washed carrot and took a loud bite.Martha hugged VJ vigorously, feeling the vitality bursting out of her son's body.Since it's spring break, why not have a good time with Richie? No. VJ broke free from his mother's embrace. Want to make mom angry again?Victor cuts in to joke.He walked to the door with a professional magazine, his glasses slipped to the tip of his nose, and he looked funny.

Martha continued to ask her son: What new tricks are you going to play with Rich this week? I want to go to Dad's lab for a few days, okay, Dad? VJ's eyes turned to Victor. As always, you are most welcome.Victor shrugged and agreed. OMG!What is there in the laboratory that you always want to drill into?Martha was puzzled. VJ has often gone to the laboratory with his father since he was a child, at first to escape the boring life in the company-affiliated nursery school, and as time goes on, he has become accustomed to it.Especially after Janice died, he spent more time in the laboratory.Why not visit friends from school and do something creative together.

VJ picked up the tool bag and went upstairs without making a sound. He stepped into the study on the second floor, which was a small and comfortable room.He sat down and turned on his father's computer, first he listened attentively to the movement downstairs and his parents seemed to be talking in the kitchen, then quickly pressed a few keys to check the file he called features.The light on the screen flickered, and the data was typed out. He unzipped the tool bag, stared at the displayed content, did mental calculations for a moment, and then decisively entered a series of data.The whole process only takes a few minutes. VJ returned the file, closed the zipper, and inserted the Pacifica game card leisurely.The yellow signal flare flew out of the maze, and VJ immediately began to play ecstatically. Martha's worries about VJ's mental health deepened, and she felt as if he was afraid of communicating with his family or anyone else.She firmly believed that the child's psychological development was abnormal, but she couldn't find the reason, so she was determined to explain it to her husband frankly.She picked up Kisha, the Russian cat who had been playing with her legs, and walked into the living room, where Viktor curled up on the gingham-covered couch and read a book as usual. Can we talk?asked Martha. Victor put down the magazine and looked at Martha over the frame of his glasses.He was forty-three, a stocky, athletic man who had played handball in college. VJ worries me.Martha sat down in the high-backed chair by the couch and absently fondled the cat, which was hanging on her lap. Yeah?Victor asked, what happened? It's not a matter of life or death.Martha said hesitantly, some unremarkable things, such as he is not good at talking and likes to be alone.It made me so happy to hear him talk about Rich, but he didn't want to spend spring break with his classmates.Making friends is crucial to his psychological development and potential wisdom development. Victor glanced at Martha and said nothing.How many times he has heard her talk about the topic of VJ's psychological growth, he is already tired of it. Don't you think he's freaking out and doesn't have the slightest worry?Martha asked persistently.She gets upset and beats the annoying cat on errands. Victor shook his head resolutely and denied: No, I think VJ is the smartest and outstanding kid today.What's for dinner? Victor!Martha yelled sharply, don't make fun of this! well!truce!Victor snapped the magazine shut. But Martha was in pursuit: he had no close friends at all, and he had nothing to talk to with his classmates. make it clear.Victor softened his tone.Deep down in his heart, he cares about VJ no less than his wife, but the perspective is different.He wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible.You are making a fuss and being nervous, VJ is a good boy, so don't worry about it.Lest the sorrow of David's death still haunt you.As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them endlessly.But there is no way around it. As the saying goes, the best option for defense is to take the initiative to attack. As if being slapped loudly, Martha held back her tears and continued: Now that David is being talked about, do you think it's normal for VJ to avoid talking about his brother?Whenever I told him interesting stories about David's life, he always looked indifferent, as if we were remembering strangers. Don't forget, Martha, that he was only five years old.Look at your sentimentality, maybe you should also find a psychiatrist to resolve it. Martha bit her lips.Everything is fine with Victor, but VJ seems to be untouchable, and he collapses when he talks about it. Look, I mean it, but I'm just telling you some lingering doubts.She got up and walked towards the kitchen. On the way, she heard a familiar voice from the study upstairs, and she couldn't help furrowing her brows. Victor stood up, stretched himself, and followed the kitchen.