Ben seemed more desperate than I was to find out what the secret was.

On the seventh day after Hank's passing, Betty drank excessively out of grief. In her drunken haze, she started ranting and raving incoherently. Seizing the opportunity, Ben managed to coax the secret out of her.

Betty spoke very softly, so he had to lean in close to hear her. But almost immediately after he had heard it, the same terrified expression that had been on Edith's and Hank's faces appeared on his own.

I watched this horrifying scene unfold. Unable to wait any longer, I questioned him. "So? What's the secret? Why are you and Betty both so terrified?"

However, Ben didn't answer me. It was as though he had been scared senseless. He merely stood there while holding Betty up.

Utterly anxious, I walked over and leaned toward Betty myself. I wanted to hear it directly from her, but Ben's reaction shocked me even more.

Tears began flowing from his eyes, like a broken dam. Not only that, he looked terrified and helpless.

Then, Ben actually pushed me, forcing me away from Betty.

Frantic, I said, "Why are you pushing me? I'm pregnant! What did Betty say? Why are you keeping me from hearing it?"

But no matter how I questioned him, Ben refused to answer.

His eyes were full of sorrow as he looked at me. "I really wish you will never learn this secret."

I stood there in a daze. I didn't understand what kind of secret could make my boyfriend's entire family fall into despair. Why were they all so terrified after hearing it? Why did Hank take his own life the moment he found out?

At that moment, I realized Betty had sobered up without us noticing. Her eyes were vacant as she stared at us.

She chuckled bitterly. Her face was haggard and anguished. Then, gradually, Betty's bitter chuckling morphed into maniacal laughter.

She grabbed Ben's hand, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face.

"You insisted on hearing it yourself, Ben. Now, you'll have to live in pain, just like me," Betty said.

I was completely devastated. I couldn't understand how things had come to this.

I had come here happily, bearing gifts, and excited to meet my boyfriend's family. I had thought our days ahead would become more joyful.

Ben was a good man. He was emotionally stable and had a gentle temperament. In the three years we had been together, we had never once had an argument.

Ben's family was just like him—gentle and warm.

Edith was kind. Hank and Betty were deeply in love with each other. They usually spoke kindly to each other and had never had a single fight.

Ben often spoke about me in front of his family. He also said they all liked me and looked forward to meeting me.

Edith, in particular, was very fond of me. She would frequently give Ben money to buy me gifts. She even told him to be patient with me and treat me tenderly. Additionally, she often sent me local specialties and asked about my well-being.

However, everything changed the moment I said I was pregnant.

Edith took her own life on the spot, and Hank followed her soon after. Betty fell into despair and spent her days in a daze. Even Ben became quiet and withdrawn, as though he were carrying an unbearable burden.

I felt as though the whole world was against us, refusing to let us live in peace for even a single day. When I would feel mentally and emotionally exhausted, I would often wonder—what exactly was the secret that Edith had left behind?

It turned out I wasn't the only one with that question, especially after the neighbors shared this incident online.

Under pressure from the public, the police showed up again the very next day.

Betty had returned to her parents' home while Ben was at work. So, I was the only one left at home to answer the police's questions.

The officer tactfully asked, "Edith Dent was getting on in years. Is it possible she had some sort of mental condition? Maybe you didn't notice, but she might've already been confused for a while."

I thought back carefully, sifting through every little memory I had of Edith over the past three years. In the end, I firmly shook my head.

"That's impossible. Edith had health checkups twice a year and just did her latest one half a month ago. She was in great health with no signs of dementia or anything like that," I replied.

The officer looked a bit disappointed at my answer. After a brief pause, he asked again, "What about your boyfriend's father? We heard work has not been going well for him lately, and his company is planning to lay him off. Maybe he was embarrassed by this and couldn't accept it?

"He killed himself right after hearing his mother's last words. She could have told him she took her own life so she wouldn’t burden him. And perhaps your boyfriend's father followed suit because he felt ashamed?" he theorized.

I had watched with my own eyes as both Edith and Hank went from living, breathing people to cold, lifeless corpses. Hence, I understood better than anyone just how determined they were when they ended their own lives. There was no way they would have done so over something so absurd.

The officer offered a few other theories, but I shut them all down. Seeing they couldn't get any clues from me, they had no choice but to end the questioning.

After all, Edith's and Hank's deaths were clearly suicides, not murders. If it weren't for the pressure from public opinion, the police wouldn't have wasted the manpower to question me in the first place.

However, shortly after the officers left, Deputy Captain Leo Cade came hurrying back.

Deputy Captain Cade scratched his head uncomfortably as he looked at me. He asked if I was able to get in touch with Ben.

"Your mother-in-law… Meaning your boyfriend's mother… She jumped," he said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the ground. I struggled to breathe, as though I was suffocating.

As the police couldn't reach Ben, they had no choice but to take me to the scene first. By the time we arrived, the area outside the building had already been cordoned off.

A crowd had gathered. Their eyes were full of curiosity. The moment they saw the police helping me out of the car, they all raised their phones to take pictures.

"That's the daughter-in-law of the woman who jumped, right? I heard both her father-in-law and grandmother-in-law took their lives in the house the same day she visited!"

"That is so unlucky. Anyone who didn't know better would think she drove them to their deaths."

"The woman who jumped is something else too. Her husband and mother-in-law may be dead, but she still has her son and daughter-in-law, right? I heard the daughter-in-law is even pregnant. How is that young couple supposed to go on living now?"

I had already gone completely numb as I listened to the whispers around me. I knew Betty was grieving deeply, but I never thought she would actually take her own life.

One of the more superstitious officers pulled me aside. Concern was etched on his face.

"She jumped from too high… Her body's completely shattered, so you really shouldn't look. Where is your boyfriend? Some of the onlookers said she was muttering the word 'secret' in a trance-like state just before she jumped. We suspect it's the same secret that drove Hank Miller and Edith Dent to end their own lives," he explained.

Despite the officer's attempts to block my view, I stepped through the layers of white drapes and spotted Betty's body. Her body was mangled beyond recognition.

With over 30 floors, the building was dozens of feet high. Jumping from it was certain death. Yet, Betty had done it.

Unable to hold myself up any longer, I fell to my knees. I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Like anyone else, I had visited my boyfriend's family. Yet, I had watched as they died in quick, horrible succession.

I didn't understand. What kind of secret could possibly make them so desperate to end their lives?

Deputy Captain Cade looked at me with sympathy.

"I know you're falling apart right now, Ms. Samson, but you have to pull yourself together. The situation is very clear now—anyone who knows the secret ends up dead," he said.

Then, he asked, "Seriously, what is this secret? Do you know? Or does your boyfriend know?"

Due to overwhelming grief, I couldn't think straight. I could only shake my head helplessly as tears streamed down my face.

I didn't know what the secret was. I knew nothing.

I wanted to know what it was even more than the police did. What exactly was it that made Edith choose to end her life immediately after hearing I was pregnant?

Just then, Ben arrived in a hurry. Like a pool of still water, he accepted with disturbing calmness the fact that his only remaining family member had also taken her own life.

Looking at the broken remains on the ground, Ben flatly told the police that he knew what the secret was.

"My grandmother and my parents all committed suicide because of this secret. Now, I am the only one who knows it. But the time isn't right yet, so I won't reveal it for now."

After handling Betty's incident with composure, Ben took me home.

While I didn't know what the secret was, I had a vague feeling that it was related to my pregnancy. I was scared. Ben was the only one who knew the secret, and I was afraid he might choose to take his own life like the rest of his family.

With fear in my heart, I watched my belly grow day by day. I prayed anxiously that Ben would not suddenly commit suicide one day. However, it seemed I was wrong.

Ben remained very calm. He continued working as usual, took meticulous care of me, and arranged everything for me and the baby.

Gradually, I began to relax, thinking he had finally come to terms with the loss of his loved ones. However, after Betty's death, Ben avoided me by cooping up in his room. He tapped away on the keyboard as though he was recording something.

I had a feeling he was writing down the secret. However, every time I asked, Ben would deny it. So, I could only pretend I didn't suspect anything.

I thought life would continue peacefully like this. But then, one day, out of nowhere, Ben started an online livestream. With a serious expression, he announced that the time had come. He was going to reveal the secret to the world.

I watched as the number of viewers in the livestream abruptly surged to 100 thousand.

Ben held my hand tightly and looked at me tenderly. "Kristy, I know you've always been curious about the secret my grandmother left behind. Now, the time has come. I'll tell you everything."

Pulling me into his arms, he stroked my slightly protruding belly with reluctance. Then, he leaned close to my ear and softly whispered the secret.

By the time I realized what I had just heard, it was already too late. My tears reacted faster than my mind. I stared at Ben in horror, trembling violently.

Panicking, I tried to question him. However, he had already pushed me away with tears in his eyes.

He stepped back and stood far away at the doorway. Then, without warning, blood gushed from his mouth.

A chill instantly ran down my spine. I scrambled forward, stumbling and crawling toward him.

"Don't do this, Ben! Please, don't die! You can't just leave me and the baby like this!" I begged.

However, it was already too late. Blood spouted continuously from Ben's mouth, and within seconds, his life slipped away.

Just like his father, mother, and grandmother, Ben chose to end his life right in front of me. Just like them, he decided to leave all the despair to me alone.

Just like that, I held my belly and watched helplessly as Ben took his last breath. I pleaded with him, but he could no longer answer me.

I cried until no more tears would come. I knelt on the floor like a lifeless doll, heartbroken beyond words—and terrified.

This was because the secret Ben told me was truly horrifying.

It was no wonder every single one of them chose to end their lives after learning the secret.

And now that I knew the secret, it meant my child and I should join them too.