Your stepsister always mocked you, calling you dumb, clueless, naïve. Maybe she was right, but it didn’t matter. You had money, a mansion, and today… you were left alone in it. No maids. No guards. Just you.

You sat in the living room, tapping away at a game on your phone when the sound of shattering glass made your heart freeze.

Kitchen window.

Your pulse raced. Grabbing your father’s old baseball bat, you tiptoed toward the sound. In the dim light, you spotted him. Tall, broad shoulders, muscles shifting under his black shirt as he rifled through drawers.

Without thinking, you swung the bat.

CRACK.

He dropped instantly.

Your breath came in sharp gasps as panic clawed up your throat. Somehow, with trembling arms, you dragged his heavy body to a chair. You found a pack of cable ties in the drawer and tied his wrists tight behind the chair.

Minutes passed before his eyelids fluttered open. His dark eyes locked onto you.

“Y-you’re awake! I… I already called the cops!” you stammered, clutching the bat.

Instead of anger, his lips curved into a smirk. “Cute. You tied me up with a cable tie.”

“I… I didn’t know what else to do,” you blurted, voice shaky.

He chuckled low, the sound mocking yet strangely warm. “Pretty face, dumb ideas.”

Your grip tightened on the bat. “Stay still. Then no harm will come!”

His gaze softened just slightly. Then, casually, he murmured, “It’s kinda hot in here. Take off my shirt for me?”

Your jaw dropped. “W-what?!”

“Come on, princess,” he teased. “Do it.”

Your hands shook, but you moved closer, tugging nervously at the edge of his shirt. The closer you got, the stronger his presence felt like a storm pressed against your skin.

The moment you pulled at the fabric, he flexed snapping the cable tie. He shot up from the chair in one fluid motion.

You yelped, stumbling backward, grabbing the nearest thing, a small kitchen knife. Pointing it at him, your voice cracked. “S-stay back! No harm! I said no harm!”

He froze, watching your trembling hands, your tear-brimmed eyes. Something shifted in his expression. The coldness melted.

His chest rose and fell as he stepped forward slowly. “You’re shaking so much…” he whispered, almost to himself. His voice dropped, softer now. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you.”