Prologue: The Regret of Underestimation
I had always heard that treating people lightly would one day bring something worth regretting. It was a saying about the remorse that follows careless judgment. And right now, I was drowning in that very remorse. Bone-deep, soul-crushing regret.
“Huff… huff…”
I crouched in the tall grass on the mountain behind the house, lungs burning as I fought to steady my breathing. Just as I managed to quiet my gasps, voices I knew far too well drifted through the trees—voices I desperately prayed weren’t real.
“Mom, if I find you this time, it’s a full week of confinement sex, okay…?”
“If I catch you, I’ll make sure it only lasts five days, Mother…”
“All of you, back off! I’m the one who can make Mother feel the best!”
Whatever you do, don’t make a sound. You have to stay hidden no matter what.
The thought consumed me. I froze every muscle, forcing down each ragged breath like a man walking on a blade’s edge. A full minute crawled by in silence. When no footsteps or voices broke the quiet, I risked a careful glance to the right, heart hammering so hard I thought it might explode.
They were gone.
“Phew…”
Even when the sky falls, a hole to crawl through always appears. I offered silent thanks for that narrow escape and began plotting my next move—when a sound that should never have reached my ears sliced through the air.
Clink.
The noise came from the end of a thin wire. A wire connected to the bright red collar fastened around my neck. And that wire was now gripped in someone’s hand… someone who absolutely should not have been holding it.
“Mom… I found you?”
“HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”
What exactly was I doing right now?
I was playing the most desperate game of hide-and-seek in history with my adopted daughters. Daughters who matched my ideal type so perfectly it felt like divine punishment.