When Alex opened his eyes in the morning, the woman beside him was already gone.
Alex stretched his arm. The warm blankets were empty, but the lingering scent and warmth of Mrs. Summer still remained, a intoxicating floral perfume.
Alex simply rolled over, sniffing the rich fragrance on the pillow, and narrowed his eyes.
It was Monday, time to go to school, but he felt lazy and reluctant to get out of bed.
"Click—"
"Alex, it's time to get up," Mrs. Summer, wrapped in an apron, stood by the doorway. "Aren't you supposed to go to school today?"
"Mmm... let me sleep a bit more," Alex smacked his lips, not opening his eyes.
"You'll be late if you sleep any longer."
"If I'm late, I'm late. Hmm. I'm not going to school today. Please call in sick for me, Summer—"
"..."
Hearing this, Mrs. Summer sighed helplessly and walked closer, gazing at Alex's sleeping face. "Honestly, you're like a child..."
He looked completely different when he was sleeping, just like a normal boy. Thinking this, she playfully pinched Alex's nose. "How can you not go to school? Come on, breakfast is ready. I made it extra hearty."
"Waaah—"
Alex woke up gasping for air and opened his eyes to see Mrs. Summer already standing by the door, covering her mouth and chuckling. "Hurry and wash up, then come eat breakfast."
"..."
Alex had spent the entire weekend at the Summer house with Mrs. Summer and hadn't left. Whether the wife had resigned herself to the situation or had completely submitted, she was no longer resisting Alex.
It was almost like they had returned to the period when she was first under his hypnotic control.
Whether it was during their erotic time in bed or in the mundane moments of daily life, she was proactive toward Alex, as if she had decided to give her body and mind to him entirely. Alex could sense this through the control mark.
She was no longer repulsed by him.
To be honest, even Alex hadn't expected this. He had thought Elara would quickly come to terms with reality, while the wife would remain resistant. Reality was the opposite: Elara was the one avoiding him.
Alex got out of bed and looked around the bedroom. The framed photo that used to be on the bedside table was gone, and the wedding photo that was once hung on the wall had also vanished.
Did Summer take them down?
Even when she was hypnotized, these items hadn't been moved, and Alex hadn't cared. But now they were gone... If the room had previously felt like a shared space between Mrs. Summer and her husband, now—
This bedroom felt more like the sleeping quarters for just him and Mrs. Summer.
This perhaps signaled the profound shift in the wife's psychological state. Alex's lips curved upward. It didn't feel bad at all.
He washed up and went downstairs.
"Has Elara already left for school? I feel like she's been avoiding me these last two days."
Alex sat at the table eating the rice dish Mrs. Summer had prepared, asking the question.
"You woke up too late, Alex," Mrs. Summer replied with a gentle smile, like a true Yamato Nadeshiko. She knew her daughter still carried emotional turmoil but didn't elaborate. "Elara got up very early today."
"...I'm leaving then."
"Wait," Mrs. Summer followed Alex all the way to the entryway, calling out to the boy holding his schoolbag and preparing to step out. She stepped forward to adjust the buttons on his collar. "The buttons need to be fastened... There."
"You truly are a Yamato Nadeshiko, Summer," Alex teased, which earned him a playful glare from the woman.
"Be careful on your way~"
After seeing Alex out, Mrs. Summer watched his retreating back and let out a soft sigh. She couldn't believe she had become this way... Regardless, Alex's appearance had completely and fundamentally changed her unchanging life.
"I just don't know what Elara is thinking... Sigh."
"Summer..."
Just as Mrs. Summer was about to return inside, a hoarse voice made her freeze. She turned around and saw a familiar face standing at the gate of the yard. His face was fatigued, and the bloodshot eyes made him look much older.
"You..."
It was her husband. Mrs. Summer wasn't surprised to see him. "I see. You've recovered too."
It wasn't just her and her daughter who had been hypnotized; her husband had been too. Now that the hypnotic effect on him had worn off, Mr. Summer immediately realized what he had done.
Judging by his haggard appearance, he had clearly suffered a great deal mentally.
"Why didn't you answer my calls?" On Saturday night, the call he made was instantly rejected by Mrs. Summer. And not just that one time—he called again on Sunday, but none of the calls went through.
This amplified his pain. "And yesterday! I called you yesterday, too! Summer, why won't you answer my calls!!"
"..."
"Are you still with that person? What did you two do yesterday... Now that you've returned to normal, you must know what he did to us. Why are you still with him—"
The thought of his wife being with that man filled him with intense rage.
"If that's the case, why didn't you come home yesterday?" Summer asked calmly.
"Wh... what?"
The frantic shouting stopped abruptly, and the man froze.
"You must have returned a long time ago, haven't you? Since you called, why didn't you just come back? Why weren't you here for the whole day yesterday?"
"I, this..."
He was stunned into silence.
"You were afraid of him. You didn't even dare to come out this morning and had to wait specifically for Alex to leave before showing yourself to me," Mrs. Summer said without emotion. "Isn't that true?"
He couldn't find a single word in reply.
She was right. After recovering, he rushed straight back, but Alex had been in the house the entire time, making him afraid to step inside. He stayed outside for two nights and only dared to show up after Alex left.
He was terrified and fearful of that person's methods.
"I don't blame you. After all, Alex truly possesses... a frightening power," Mrs. Summer said softly. "But since you didn't dare to come home, don't question me about things like this."
The man was startled, then fell silent. "I'm sorry... Summer, it was my fault. But that person is gone now. Let's run. Let's go somewhere he can't find us. Summer, let's leave this place together!"
"Is that why you came to find me?" Mrs. Summer shook her head, her expression cold in the face of her husband's shock. "If you had come back yesterday, if you had faced Alex regardless of the consequences, perhaps I would have left with you."
"But now... I'm sorry, I cannot go with you. Besides, there's Elara, too. I can't abandon my daughter."
The man's face instantly drained of color.
When he saw his wife hand him their wedding photo and her ring, his pallor became ghastly. He stared at Mrs. Summer with disbelief, his lips trembling, his body shaking.
"Summer, you—"
"I'm sorry, I am Alex's woman now," Mrs. Summer said, turning to walk back inside and closing the door, leaving the man standing there blankly, speechless for a long time.
It was his own home, but this place no longer belonged to him...
In that moment, his figure seemed to stoop considerably.