Chapter 1

A rundown motel in Rayburn, England, where moans echoed from every direction.

A refined-looking white man knelt on the bed. His hair was a warm shade of gray, and his eyes were as blue as the sky.

The black suit and watch he wore looked completely out of place against the worn-out blanket. As if determined to blend into the shabby motel, he casually stripped off his jacket, shirt, and watch, tossing them onto the floor.

The movement of his long arms carried an unmistakable sense of menace. The woman, half-reclining on the bed, drew back her legs clad in red high heels and spoke to him.

“Stop… That’s not why I came to see you.”

At first glance, the man’s eyes were consumed by an unbearable thirst. They even trembled restlessly, as if begging her to understand, but she deliberately looked away.

“I… I don’t want to see you again.”

The end of her voice cracked dryly. The man listened intently, as though he cherished even that sound, yet bit down on his lip in frustration.

“You should’ve said that before we slept together. You’ve completely bewitched both my body and my heart. I can’t go back to who I used to be.”

As though reclaiming what belonged to him, the man spread the woman’s knees apart. Preparing for what was to come, he pulled his phone and card holder from his back pocket and carelessly tossed them aside.

The only things left on him were the in-ear earbuds in his ears and his pants. Watching his broad, well-built chest, the woman threw the blanket over him, hoping to distract him.

In the dimly lit room, two dark silhouettes swayed together. Before long, the larger silhouette completely covered the smaller one and came to a stop.

In that fleeting moment, the man looked down at her with resentment.

“Is the baby growing well?”

Though irritation tightened the space between his brows, he still tried to meet her eyes.

The woman didn’t answer. The look in the man’s eyes gradually grew harsher.

“You carried my child, then had your fun with that bastard? Sex when your life’s on the line must’ve been one hell of a thrill, huh?”

His index finger traced over the fabric of her underwear between her parted legs. When she pressed her lips tightly together and ignored his touch, he grabbed her blouse roughly and tore at it.

“Answer me. Is my child growing safely inside you?”

The man watched her anxiously. If she was really pregnant, she’d surely try to avoid having sex.

But the woman only stared gloomily at the tattoo etched on her right hip.

‘J-D.ISOO.’

Only after letting him stew in anxiety for a while did she finally answer.

“The pregnancy… I was too hasty. If I made you worry, then I’m really… truly sorry.”

An apology echoed through the room in place of the answer he had hoped for. Disappointment flickered across the man’s blue eyes before they steadied once more.

“I’m glad it wasn’t a miscarriage.”

“…”

“Then what did you mean when you said you never wanted to see me again?”

If he had been so worried about a miscarriage, he shouldn’t have tried to intimidate her with such a hostile attitude from the start. Turning her head away from him, the woman stared at the wall.

“…”

“Answer me. I’ve been losing sleep for over two months because of those words.”

“I don’t know.”

“You hurt me, and you don’t even know why?”

“I need time.”

“Time? …You’re planning to run away again.”

“It’s not like that. I really do need time to think.”

The man had no intention of moving away from her body.

“Then think hard while we make a baby. I untied the restraints. You seem to hate me, but you seem to like children.”

The man buried his nose in her bra and inhaled. When the sensation of him sucking on her flesh made her grip the bedsheets tightly, he spoke.

“If we put effort into it, we’ll have a baby as beautiful as you. I’ll make sure to do it right so there are no regrets later. Think carefully.”

“No, stop—”

A breeze slipped through the narrow gap in the slightly open door, stirring the red curtains. Somewhere upstairs, a woman lost in ecstasy moaned like a cat.

She had a feeling her turn would be next. Pulling her body back, she stabbed the mattress sharply with her red high heel.

“Hayden, I don’t want to see you again. It’ll put you in danger, too. No, stop, ugh!”

The man ripped her stockings and shoved her panties aside.

“You were the one who seduced me when I was minding my own business. Though I’m also to blame for falling for it, knowing your habit of using people.”

His firm fingertips pressed softly against her clitoris, and the wet sounds echoed all around. The man let out a groan at the sound, yet asked with a fierce edge.

“Why are you so wet? Who were you with before I got here?”

As much time as they had spent apart, he couldn’t completely trust her. She struggled, trying to pull her body back.

“We don’t have time for this. They might break in. They might have been following you—ugh, huc, ahh…”

The man looked down with feverish excitement at her urgent words.

They belonged to different worlds. Unable to accept that, the man turned her head away from the window toward himself and dragged her into a motel where the cries of coupling men and women ran rampant.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve got employees stationed all over this motel.”

Click. The sound of a belt loosening rang out. The woman threw her head back and held her breath.

She knew how good it was going to feel before long. It had only been fifteen days since she met him, and she was already addicted to the physical pleasure he gave her.

Her lips trembled at the heat already surging up from below.

Then she thought: Why was she cooped up in a shabby motel room? Where on earth, and what, had gone wrong?

Two months ago.

The woman had wandered through a dream for a long time.

The dream was dark and narrow like a tunnel, and cold enough to make her whole body shiver.

Only when she felt like she might freeze to death did she sense a tiny bit of warmth. What followed was a headache severe enough to make her head spin, and a man who chased her relentlessly.

Because it was so dark all around, the man’s appearance was hazy. Yet every time she ran for her life and looked back, she saw him vaguely: a tall, giant build, light-colored hair, and cool-looking facial features.

The man never ran. He approached leisurely, as if watching a child play in the palm of his hand, acting as though he already knew where she would hide.

Every night, chased by him, the woman picked up what seemed to be his company ID card. The name Graham was clearly written on it.

Some days she was caught and teased by the man named Graham, and other days she was tied up tightly and given strange injections. On other days, she had to endure desperate confessions of love.

It was driving her crazy because she didn’t know why. Every night, she avoided the man in the darkness and searched for an escape route.

She cried out every day, and sometimes begged him to let her out. Amidst that, a streak of light appeared from far, far away.

It was a last straw and a final gasp of oxygen. Like a shipwreck survivor discovering an oasis, the woman ran breathlessly toward the light.

The light grew brighter. A thrill coursed through her entire body.

Whether it was the precursor to death or life, the unusual thrill was exhilarating. She hurled her entire body into the pure white abyss.

“Urgh…”

When she opened her eyes, everything was dark again. But something was different from the previous darkness. Cold, hard metal wrapped around her whole body like a coffin.

Her mouth was stuffed with a thick, long hose. The hose had taken control of her windpipe and esophagus.

A wave of nausea hit her instantly. Reacting on instinct, she gagged and pulled the hose out.

“Ugh, ugh, uck, ugh!”

The hose came sliding out endlessly. She grew suddenly terrified that she might even vomit up her internal organs.

The smell of burning drifted into her nose, and the air was stuffy like a steam bath. The metal casing that imprisoned her like an underground coffin was scorching hot, as if heated by fire.

“Uck, ugh, ugh!”

She had no idea how she even pulled the hose out. Her only thought was that she had to escape quickly from this hot place reeking of toxic gas.

“Ugh, pl-please, please.”

She pushed against the metal casing with all her might. But the surface was astonishingly hot, and she soon found herself only stamping her feet in panic.

“Please, please, please! Hah, hah…”

It felt like her surroundings were on fire. The air was choking, and jet-black smoke was visible through a small glass window in the metal casing.

With every breath she took, the sensation of her throat being choked grew terrifyingly dreadful. Unable to accept death passively, she thrashed about with every ounce of strength she had left.

“Please, please! Help me! Help me! Ah!”

It seemed the sprinklers had gone off. Jets of water dropped onto the metal coffin and the palm-sized window.

At the same time, tears blurred her vision. Why on earth, and how, was she trapped in a place like this…?

The harder she breathed, the duller her head became, as if she were walking through a dream. Objects began to blur, and her vision grew dark.

Cough, cough. She coughed as if she were about to cough up her lungs. Then, hearing a loud crashing sound, she strained her ears.

Thud, thud!

It sounded like a building collapsing. Even if she managed to escape this metal coffin by luck, she would undoubtedly be engulfed in the flames.

“Ah…”

Striking the warm metal casing, her fists slowly loosened. Her desire to escape quickly turned into a desire to die quickly. Death by the hot air burning her lungs and melting her skin was simply too horrific.

Then the door flew open, and a black figure rushed through her foggy vision. The figure was as huge as a beast and gripped a long rod in its hand.

It began to beat down upon the metal coffin. The world spun wildly without mercy. Her head rattled, and nausea rushed up.

Amidst the massive earthquake, she saw ashen hair and blue eyes. Right as her consciousness began to fade away into darkness, the coffin door swung wide open.

A hand in a shirt thrust inside. The woman stared at the owner of the hand with hazy eyes.

It was a man soaked through as if he had just been swimming. As if the choking smoke didn’t bother him at all, he showed a white dimple and whispered.

“Hello.”

In an instant, the man’s arm wrapped around her waist and supported the backs of her knees. Her body was lifted high. As the strong force curled her body like a fetus, a slight sense of relief washed over her.

Then, firm yet refined English pronunciation fell against her forehead.

“Bury your nose in my shirt and breathe. As slowly as you can.”

Doing as the man commanded, the woman grabbed the collarbone area of his shirt and buried her nose in it. Thanks to the fabric being soaked in water, it was deep enough to breathe in.

The man walked away with long, decisive strides toward somewhere. The deadly smoke that had overwhelmed her vision slowly faded. Overcome by relief, the woman tightly wrapped her arms around the man’s neck.