Chapter 1 Chapter 1

It was late at night, and the neighborhood was so quiet that I could hear the distant meows of stray cats. I lay alone in bed, clutching the thin blanket between my legs, shifting restlessly. Despite the cool air from the air conditioning, my body burned with heat, and the blanket offered little relief. I let out a few frustrated groans, unable to endure the discomfort any longer. Eventually, I made up my mind and reached for the drawer of my nightstand, pulling out a toy I had recently purchased. Even though I was alone at home, my cheeks flushed as I opened the packaging. I hesitated briefly before switching it on, following the instructions that came with it. The gentle hum filled the room, soon accompanied by the sound of my quickening breath. The rave reviews I read online weren’t exaggerating. The intense relief that swept through my body and the warmth spreading across my face were proof enough. It had been five long months since I’d felt anything like that. The tension drained from my limbs, leaving me lying there, basking in the afterglow. As I lay there, my mind wandered back to the last time I had real, physical contact. That was four months ago when my husband had come home drunk after a night out. By then, we had started fighting constantly and sleeping in separate rooms. However, that night, he mistook me for someone else and was unusually passionate. I figured it was a chance to reconcile, so I did not resist. That night, I got pregnant. My name is Elizabeth Crane. I married my husband, Mark Russell, a year ago, after being set up on a blind date. For the first two months, things were great, but then it all started falling apart. I thought getting pregnant would be the turning point in our relationship, but instead, it marked the end of our marriage. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, Mark moved out and told me to get an abortion. He said he wanted a divorce. I knew he was cheating, but I never expected him to be so cold-hearted, abandoning both his wife and child for some other woman. I’m not one to cling to a man who doesn’t want me, so I agreed to the divorce. However, I refused to get rid of the baby. Luckily, I had savings from my previous job as an executive, so I quit my job and focused on taking care of myself and the baby. What I didn’t expect was how much my body would change during the pregnancy. I had always been indifferent to intimacy before, but now, especially in the second trimester, I found myself craving physical touch more and more each day. I was too embarrassed to ask my doctor about it, so I started finding ways to take care of it myself when I was home alone. By the second trimester, the baby was stable, so I wasn’t too worried about causing any issues. That was when I decided to buy a toy online as a little treat for myself, and to my surprise, it worked wonders. In fact, I was already thinking about ordering a few more. Just as I was about to place an order, I heard a rustling sound coming from the living room. Since Mark moved out, I had been living alone, so there was no way anyone should be in the house. My heart started racing—could Mark have come back? He was the only one with a key to this place. Thinking of that possibility, I panicked and shoved the toy under the blankets. "Who's there? Mark, is that you?" I called out nervously. The noises stopped immediately. If it wasn’t Mark, then who was it? My heart pounded as I carefully got out of bed, determined to check it out. I always turned off the lights before going to sleep, so the house was dark. Opening the bedroom door, I could barely make out the shadowy shapes in the pitch-black living room. I fumbled in the dark, feeling my way toward the light switch. However, just as I reached out, a gust of wind swept past me. Before I could scream, I felt someone—tall and strong—grab me from behind and slam me against the wall.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Why was there a stranger in my house? The moment I was pinned against the wall, I realized something was terribly wrong. The man quickly clamped a hand over my mouth, probably to stop me from screaming. Panic surged through me, and though I wanted to say something, I was too terrified to risk angering him. Before I could fully process the situation, his hand left my mouth and began to move down my body. This was exactly the worst-case scenario I had dreaded—an intruder, alone with me, just one vulnerable woman in the house. Was I really about to become a victim of whatever he wanted to do? Even though Mark and I had separated, I was still technically his wife. The consequences would be unimaginable if he found out about something like this. In hindsight, I should never have let him move out. Only now did I realize how truly isolated I was, with no one to call for help and no backup in a situation like this. I bit my lip hard, trying not to make any noise, especially with this stranger so close… However, a small voice inside me whispered, ‘Please... just go along with it. Do whatever you need to survive.’ The man chuckled softly, and I froze, every hair on my body standing on end. A shiver ran down my spine as I imagined the mocking grin on his face. His warm breath grazed my neck as he finally spoke, "At last…” His voice was low, almost as if he was deliberately disguising it, making it impossible for me to recognize. A faint and oddly pleasant scent of mint filled the air around him, and it snapped me back to the reality that this man had broken into my home. I managed to stammer, my voice shaking, "Who are you? Please, don’t hurt me… I’ll give you money. It’s in the closet of the guest room. Take it, j-just let me go." The man let out a chuckle. "Who said I’m here for money?" Before I could react, he grabbed my chin with firm fingers. "Don’t make a sound, or I might get nervous and… hurt you by accident. "But don’t worry," he added, his voice laced with something sinister yet calm. "I’m not going to hurt you." His words were bizarre, but I had no time to think them over. No matter what he said, I wasn’t about to trust him. Still, I nodded in agreement, signaling that I would comply. Once he seemed convinced I wouldn’t resist, he relaxed a little and guided me toward the bedroom. He must have known I was pregnant because he kept his hand protectively near my stomach, careful not to harm me. As we moved, the dim light of the moon filtered through the window, and I finally got a clearer look at him. He wore a black mask that covered his entire face, leaving only his eyes visible. In the darkness, I couldn’t tell who he was at all. While I tried to make sense of him, he was also sizing me up in the moonlight. It was obvious that I was his target from the start. I thought for sure he was about to force himself on me, but to my surprise, his touch remained gentle. In my head, I kept thinking, ‘Just get through this. If you make it until morning, you can call the police.’ Just as I was clinging to that hope, he suddenly got out of bed and walked over to the nightstand. The moment I saw what he pulled out, my entire body went rigid. “What?” I gasped, horrified. How did he know… what was hidden in my nightstand? That was a secret—something I never told anyone. No one should know about that. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest. Who was this man? How did he know such intimate details about me? He didn’t offer any explanation. Instead, he quietly fumbled with the toy, turning it on. "This should make things a lot more… comfortable for you, don’t you think?"