As relationships unfolded on the side, I was careful to hide reality from fantasy. I traversed around my Villa with money I didn’t earn inviting neighborhood women over to flirt with me when my husband wasn’t home. Unlike my Barbie Dolls in the basement, who I’d have to untangle before my parents realized I had two girls (two girls!) kissing, The Sims provided an oasis away from reality. 'We never moved past flirting, but the act hung heavy in my soul, a looming dread that my parents would somehow figure out how to load my saved game.' Before winning Bella over in four different iterations of the game, she was married to Mortimer Goth, their offspring Cassandra frumpy and unimportant. Bella (and Mortimer) Goth in The Sims 4 (Image credit: EA)ĭressed in a red dress, black tights, and a chunky silver necklace, Bella evolved over time, a pixelation fleshed out over 20 years into a now-certified bombshell.