Soha stepped into the vast bathroom of the island's royal palace. The walls were made of spotless white marble, and a large bathtub stood at the center. After days of mental and physical torment, her body felt completely worn down. All she wanted was to wash herself in warm water and calm her restless mind.
She locked the bathroom door from the inside. As she removed her dress and stood before the mirror, the whip marks on her back still looked raw and inflamed. Letting out a long breath, Soha turned on the tap. Steam quickly filled the room, blurring everything around her.
Suddenly, she felt the temperature drop sharply—bone-chilling cold. Warm water was still pouring over her body, yet the air around her felt as if it had frozen solid.
All at once, she felt a touch—right below her back, near her waist. A hand, ice-cold. Not warm like a human hand, but like the hand of a corpse, slowly sliding upward from her back toward her neck.
Soha froze in terror. She tried to scream, but no sound came out of her throat. On the fogged mirror, a handprint slowly appeared from the inside, as if someone were pressing against the glass.
She turned around in panic—there was no one there! Yet the pitch-black hand with long fingers was still gripping her shoulder tightly. Its nails dug into her pale skin.
Soha (whispering, trembling with tears): "Adrik… save me! Who… who is here?"
At that very moment, there was a violent bang on the bathroom door.
Adrik (roaring from outside): "Soha! Open the door! Soha, talk to me!"
Soha looked back at the mirror. Through the steam, the outline of the unseen owner of the hand slowly took shape. A pair of glowing red eyes stared straight at her. The hand moved toward her throat, ready to choke her—her nerves were stretched to their absolute limit. Overwhelmed by the icy touch and the supernatural terror, she lost all sense of reason. Just as the shadow tried to grab her, Soha flailed blindly with all her strength.
Smack!
She opened her eyes. There was no jinn, no ghostly shadow—standing in front of her was Adrik himself! A clear red imprint of five fingers was visible on his left cheek. He stared at her in shock, one hand pressed to his face.
Adrik (in pain and disbelief): "What the hell did you just do?! That hurt! I saw you screaming alone in the bathroom, so I used the master key to break in and save you—and you slapped me instead?"
Soha was still gasping for breath. Her pupils trembled with fear. She grabbed Adrik by the collar of his shirt.
Soha (voice shaking): "But… but that hand! Adrik, someone touched my back! It was ice-cold! I saw a shadow in the mirror with my own eyes!"
Adrik gripped her shoulders firmly. His green eyes quickly scanned the bathroom. The temperature really was lower than normal, as if the room had turned into a freezer without any air conditioning.
Adrik (gravely): "Calm down, Soha. I came running the moment I heard you scream. There's no one here except me. Maybe it was your imagination—or a side effect of last night's injection."
He pulled her close. The warmth of his muscular body slowly eased her trembling. But seeing the red mark on his cheek, a flicker of guilt crossed Soha's mind—though the trace of hatred had not faded.
Leaning close to her ear, Adrik spoke in a low voice.
Adrik: "That slap really hurt. You're the only one brave enough to hit a mafia don. But be careful—on this island, I'm the only shield you have."
As Soha tried to pull away from his chest, her eyes fell on the mirror. Where the steam had been moments ago, someone had written with a finger:
"RUN."
Soha went numb.
Adrik was still rubbing his cheek, smiling as he looked at her.
Hadn't he seen it?
Before the sting of the slap on Adrik's cheek and the lingering terror of the bathroom could fade, the cry of their six-month-old baby echoed from the next room.
Soha didn't hesitate. With her body still wet and her hair in disarray, she hurriedly wrapped herself in a white silk nightdress and rushed to the child.
As she pulled the dress over herself, the thin white fabric faintly revealed the red whip marks on her back. The sight stirred something strange in Adrik's eyes—a mix of guilt and obsession.
The moment Soha lifted the baby into her arms, the crying stopped. Sitting on the bed, she loosened the buttons of her nightdress and began to breastfeed. As the baby drank contentedly, it started making the exact same sound Adrik often did—
"Hmmmm… hmmmm…"
Adrik stood by the doorway, watching. His green eyes looked unusually soft tonight. He walked over slowly and sat beside her.
Adrik (smiling gently): "See? He makes sounds just like me. Even his temper is like mine—and the way he drinks milk, exactly like his father."
Soha continued stroking the baby's head without looking at him. But she could feel Adrik's gaze—it wasn't on the baby anymore. It was fixed on her pale shoulder and the white nightdress.
Soha (in a very low voice): "He may look like you, Adrik. But I don't want him to become like you inside. I want him to be human—not an animal."
Despite the bitterness of her words, Adrik didn't get angry today. Instead, he gently brushed her wet hair aside. The baby's soft "hmmmm" sound briefly eased the suffocating tension in the room.
But at that very moment, the misty shadow appeared again outside the window—as if it could not tolerate the purity of Soha's white dress and motherhood. The word "RUN" from the bathroom mirror flashed in her mind, making her chest tighten.
Suddenly, Soha grabbed Adrik's hand.
Soha: "Adrik… don't leave me right now. I'm terrified. This room… this island… something about it is changing."
Adrik wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. Soha's fearful surrender ignited something monstrous inside him. As she clung to him in fear, he crushed her even tighter against his muscular body. The baby's calm humming and the trembling of Soha's body awakened a primal sense of triumph within him.
Adrik lowered his face to her neck and released a long, heated breath. The moment his breath touched her skin, Soha shuddered. That familiar devilish smile curved his lips. He knew—even if she hated him—fear and obligation would still force her to cling to him.
Adrik (in a deep, menacing whisper into her ear): "Are you scared, Soha? That's exactly what I wanted. I want you to understand—you have no way out without me. This island… these ghostly shadows… they're all just excuses to bring you back to me."
Seeing that smile, Soha's heart trembled. She realized the shadow outside was nothing compared to the devil sitting beside her. Adrik's fingers traced the whip marks on her back through the fabric of her nightdress.
Adrik: "You're afraid of the ghost outside? But what about the ghost I've planted inside you? The fact that you can't leave me tonight—that's my greatest victory."
The baby had fallen asleep peacefully in her arms. But Soha felt it clearly now—Adrik's touch was no longer protective. It was restless, possessive, ready to imprison her again. He leaned down and bit the blue injection mark on her neck.
Soha stifled her cry, remembering the baby. In that moment, she understood—she had stepped into a dark web on this isolated island, and Adrik himself was the spider.
Suddenly, the lights flickered on and off. The window glass shook violently, as if someone outside was trying to break in. In the darkness, Adrik's devilish smile felt even more terrifying.
Then—
Bang!
The door flew open.
In the dim corridor light, their two older children stood there—sleep and terror mixed in their eyes.
The elder son (voice trembling): "Dad? Mom? You're here?"
At the sound of their voices, Adrik instantly pulled away from Soha's neck. His sinister smile vanished as if it had never existed. Soha quickly adjusted her white nightdress and called the children closer.
The younger daughter ran forward and hugged Adrik's leg.
"Daddy, we're so scared. Someone was walking in our room! It looked like a huge black man. Daddy, come with us."
Adrik's body went rigid. He glanced at Soha. Her pale face clearly asked the same question—
Did they see it too?
He pulled his two older children into his arms. Somewhere inside his ruthless mafia heart, a hollow ache formed. The man capable of whipping his wife until she bled now grew restless at the sight of his children's fear.
Adrik (serious, yet gentle): "Don't be afraid. Daddy's here. You'll sleep on this big bed tonight—between your mother and me."
The children lay down between Soha and Adrik. The six-month-old slept deeply in the center, with his siblings on either side. Soha watched as the same Adrik who had treated her like an animal moments ago now stroked his children's heads tenderly.
Lying on the bed, Soha stared at the window. The fog outside had grown thicker. Within it, those glowing red eyes still seemed to be searching for a way inside the room.
Soha (whispering): "Adrik… did they see it too? Will you still say this is just my imagination?"
Adrik said nothing. He gripped Soha's hand tightly beneath the blanket. His other hand rested on the children.
For the first time, Soha felt it—
Adrik's hand was sweating.
Had the mafia don finally felt fear?
When the children and Soha were fast asleep, Adrik carefully slipped out of bed. There was no trace of fear left on his face now—only cold, calculated cunning. Moving silently, he left the room and walked toward a dark chamber at the far end of the corridor.
A tall man stood waiting in the shadows, dressed in a black robe. The moment he saw Adrik, the man lowered his head.
Adrik was in a vicious mood. Without saying a word, he stepped forward and struck the man hard across the face. The sound of the slap echoed through the corridor.
Adrik (gritting his teeth, whispering with a snarl): "You bastard! I told you to scare Soha so she'd forget about running away and cling to me instead. Why did you go into my children's room? Who gave you the audacity to frighten them?"
The man clutched his cheek and began to tremble violently. He was one of Adrik's paid men—someone Adrik himself had dressed up as a 'jinn' or a 'ghostly shadow' to manipulate Soha's mind.
The man (voice shaking): "Forgive me, sir! You told me to create scenes that would completely break Madam Soha. I thought that if a shadow appeared in the children's room, she'd panic even more and collapse into your arms. Sir, I was only following your orders!"
Adrik grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. His green eyes burned like those of a predator in the dark.
Adrik: "Remember this—Soha is my prisoner, my property. I can do whatever I want with her. But if you ever drag my children into this again, I'll bury you alive on this island. Now get lost. And tomorrow morning, stage it so it looks like some supernatural force has left this place."
The man bowed his head and disappeared into the darkness. Adrik pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke with a sinister smile.
It had all been a carefully planned performance.
To mentally cripple Soha and make her dependent on him, Adrik had orchestrated the entire haunting. He knew she was brave—so the only way to control her was through the fear of the supernatural.
After finishing his cigarette, Adrik returned to the bedroom. Soha was sleeping peacefully, holding the children close. Adrik sat beside her and placed a hand on her forehead.
Adrik (to himself): "Soha… you still don't know that the one you see as your protector is actually your greatest executioner. You will never leave this island."