All sorts of thoughts came to her about what wrong she had committed to end up in this state. She didn’t have the luxury to think critically about whether it was really her fault. In a moment when she felt like she might die, she felt like everything was her fault.

‘That child died because of you!’

The black-haired girl who had tried to beat her to death with murderous intent came to mind. Her name was Anna or something like that.

If she was being punished because of that incident, then it couldn’t be helped. Anaïs, who had been trying to survive, felt the strength drain from her hands.

‘Ah, so that’s why I came here instead of Mr. Fred.’

She suddenly thought of that. Mr. Fred had a wife and children. It would be quite troublesome if he died. Besides, what about his clients? If he disappeared, even Mr. Cortez would look for him.

If Anaïs died, there wouldn’t be a single person who would be troubled. Mr. Fred could just find a new assistant. Preferably someone who could handle a typewriter well.

The only person who might think it troublesome would be the landlady of the house she rented. The old woman would look for her because she had money to collect. Even that, after a few months, she probably wouldn’t even remember her name.

‘A depressed-looking brown-haired woman’ would be about the only trace she left in the world. Since she disappeared without paying rent, the old woman’s evaluation of her would be very harsh.

Anna, whether she was alive or not, would be very happy to hear of Anaïs’s death. Or she might be disappointed that she couldn’t take revenge for her sibling with her own hands.

How had she become someone unloved by anyone?

There had been times when her mother warmly embraced her, when she said ‘Merry Christmas’ and wrapped a handmade scarf around her.

Anaïs eventually stopped her hands. She had lost both the strength and will to do anything more.

“Hey!”

The sound of Roderick pounding on the door asking if she had lost consciousness came from very far away. It seemed like a hallucination rather than reality. As if he had already left, calling her an impossible woman to deal with, and there was no one outside.

Just as her consciousness was about to fade, the door burst open. Roderick came in, throwing his finished cigarette on the floor. His face was thoroughly angry.

Anaïs thought his face was scary, yet somehow she was glad to see him. She felt grateful that he hadn’t abandoned her and was still here.

Right now, he was the only person who cared about her.

“What are you doing standing there blankly? Did the gauge go down?”

“I’m hopeless……”

Anaïs smiled faintly. She no longer felt even the words from her own mouth as reality. It felt like she had spoken in her imagination rather than actually vibrating her vocal cords to make sound.

“Damn. This is annoying as hell.”

He complained, then put his hands under the armpits of Anaïs, who was collapsing from lack of strength in her legs, and straightened her up. His hand lifting her skirt was unhesitating, and his hand entering her underwear was without hesitation.

“What did you do?”

Despite taking up so much time, she wasn’t even wet, Roderick scolded. Anaïs wanted to make excuses that she had tried. That she hadn’t been lazy but had really done her best.

“Fine. Spread your legs wider.”

As Anaïs moved her lips to explain, Roderick coldly spat out. In the end, she couldn’t say anything and just leaned her back against the wall and breathed to avoid falling.

Though she had snapped to attention when he barged in, her head was still dizzy. The high fever seemed to be destroying her brain.

Roderick groped her delirious p*ssy. He spread the tender inner flesh to both sides and inserted one finger into the hole. Her tense body was startled when his thick finger invaded and tightened up.

“Relax.”

An intimidating voice came immediately. Anaïs exhaled and unconsciously released the tension that had entered her vaginal walls. When she became slightly loose, Roderick’s finger began pressing firmly against the retreated vaginal walls.

“Hah.”

The man who had been pressing here and there as if searching for something paused when a strange sound escaped from Anaïs’s mouth. He now stopped paying attention to other places and began concentrating on rubbing only the area where she had reacted.

Anaïs found it hard to believe that she was getting excited by his rough touch. Would she feel good if anyone looked at her and touched her? Even if it was a man who thought of her as a troublesome woman and got angry?

Self-loathing made her miserable, but her inner walls shamelessly leaked fluid. Thanks to getting wetter and wetter, the gauge that had been full began to go down slowly, very little by little.

It was effective. But her body was equally miserable. The expectation that she could survive enveloped her body. Her head was still foggy and the heat seemed like it would melt her brain, but the sensation was a little different. It was like the difference between dying while tense and rigid versus dying while feeling good.

“Continue, ahh, continue……”

If she could die feeling like this, wouldn’t that be rather good? She thought suddenly while letting out shallow breaths.

Roderick, who glanced at her, bit his finger. As soon as her longing gaze landed on him, he began poking her hole again. The finger that had been poking became two at some point, and he also shook them up and down while keeping them inserted in the hole.

Splash splash. The sound of water filled the narrow warehouse. Her lower area, which had seemed like it would never get wet from being eternally dry, was now moist enough to make sounds.

“Stop trying to sit down.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not doing it on purpose, but I have no strength in my legs……”

“Put your arms around my neck.”

Roderick lowered his head. He seemed to be considerate so she could wrap her arms around him more easily. While speaking more coldly than anyone in the world, his actions were strangely kind. Anaïs thought he was a strange man and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She felt some inexplicable sense of security from leaning on his solid frame. It felt like even the last tension that had been in her vaginal walls was completely released.

When her body that had been constantly sliding down was fixed, Roderick picked up more speed. He wrapped his hand that had been holding her skirt hem around her waist and shook rapidly, causing water to splash on her white legs and his arm.

“Ah, ahh, haa, hh……!”

Anaïs’s b*ttocks trembled. The energy of pleasure suppressed the fever from infection and dominated her body. With the feeling of something bursting in her head with a pop, her vision turned completely white.

When what had been visible, though blurry, became completely invisible, she was frightened. It felt like she had been left alone in the world. She put more strength into her arms wrapped around his neck to recognize that she wasn’t alone.

He was definitely in front of her, just not visible. Her anxiety disappeared and she felt relieved. It was the kind of emotion she might feel from a longtime lover. Not a man she had just met. Roderick only got angry and was scary, with hardly any kind aspects.

Anaïs felt like she might fall for him. It was a very dangerous thing to do. Even with her mind on the verge of falling in love, she could easily guess that her path of suffering was clear. He was the type of bad man who would make women cry and think it annoying when women cried.

‘But maybe he might be different to his own woman……’

Anaïs was startled by her own thought and inhaled. Hadn’t she sworn to be careful about falling in love after barely breaking up with a man after losing all her assets? This place wasn’t a proper place. It was completely inappropriate for falling into something like love.

Besides, he was irritable and rough. Anaïs whipped herself, telling herself not to mistake things using her strange physical condition as an excuse.

“I thought you were someone who couldn’t feel anything since it took so long, but that’s not it either.”

If she was going to get wet quickly, why did she waste time, Roderick spat out in a tone that suggested he didn’t understand.

Anaïs had nothing to say. She originally didn’t have much s*xual desire. She was too nervous. Though she couldn’t remember exactly how long it had taken to make such excuses, she had cl*maxed rather easily with his hands.

It was embarrassing beyond words. But it was also fortunate. She had avoided falling in love at his attitude.

“What about the gauge?”

Her heart, which had been leaning toward him, returned at his coldness that only cared about the gauge.

Anaïs checked the gauge and nodded. The gauge that had been marked in red as a warning now only had a white outline remaining.

“It went down.”

Having achieved his purpose, Roderick immediately took his hands off her and went outside. Anaïs also staggered after him. The wetness on her inner thighs bothered her. It would be nice if there was something to wipe with.

She looked through her inventory once, confirmed there were only useless things, and looked away. She couldn’t wipe this off with rope or a sleeping bag.

Roderick seemed to have the same thought. He went to a nearby river and washed his hands and arms there.

Anaïs went to a place a little away from him, took off her shoes, lifted her skirt, and put her feet in. As she carefully wet herself with water and washed, Roderick approached, shaking his hands dry.

“Next time, don’t be troublesome and take care of it yourself.”

The words tinged with irritation pierced her heart. Anaïs moved her lips as if to say something, then just nodded once.