My 10-year-old daughter always rushed to the bathroom as soon as she came home from school. When I asked, “Why do you always take a bath right away?” she smiled and said, “I just like to be clean.” However, one day while cleaning the drain, I found something. The moment I saw it, my whole body started trembling, and I immediately…

she just liked feeling fresh. But as weeks passed, the routine felt less like a preference and more like something rehearsed.

One evening, I finally asked her gently, “Why do you always bathe right away?”

Lily flashed a quick, almost too-perfect smile. “I just like to be clean,” she said.

Her answer should have comforted me. Instead, it left a quiet unease continue reading …