Chapter 1

I noticed something was off with my wife sleeping next to me. When I tried to get close, she was as unresponsive as a dead fish.

I thought maybe it was just that the spark had faded after years of marriage.

Until I overheard her talking to her hot best friend: *My husband sleeps like a log every night. You could put a corpse next to him, and he wouldn’t wake up!*

So, my wife found a corpse to replace her?

I jolted awake, hearing faint, soft noises from the living room.

It sounded like someone groaning or gasping.

In the pitch black, a shiver of dread crawled down my spine. I instinctively reached out and nudged my wife beside me.

“Honey, I think there’s someone outside…”

I nudged her a few times, but she didn’t stir, seeming to be in a deep sleep.

Maybe she was just exhausted from her day?

In the end, I decided not to wake her. Slowly, I got up, grabbed a vase nearby, and held it firmly for defense.

Could it be a burglar?

I crept silently in the dark, pushing open the bedroom door. The living room was shrouded in black, nothing visible. After a moment’s thought, I braved the darkness and stumbled into the kitchen, grabbing a knife.

A surge of courage immediately filled me. I then fumbled for the light switch by the door, flooding the house with light.

Instantly, the living room brightened. I scanned around, seeing nothing out of place. I checked the other bedrooms; no sign of anyone. Not a single valuable item was missing.

I stood there in the living room,愣神, wondering if I’d imagined it all.

The next morning, I woke up and came into the living room to find Chloe already at the dining table, looking at me with a radiant smile.

“Honey, you’re up? Come have breakfast!”

My wife, Chloe, was tall, curvy, and a total knockout. We’d had a whirlwind romance, getting married just a month after meeting.

Despite the fast pace, our relationship had always been good. She’d stuck by me from when I had nothing to now, as a general manager at a company.

I was the envy of every guy in my social circle.

Ever since my business took off, she’d quit her job and became a full-time housewife.

My only regret was that after six years of marriage, we still didn’t have a baby of our own.

At first, we thought something might be wrong with us, but hospital tests showed both of us were perfectly healthy. Maybe it just wasn’t our time yet!

I washed up and sat down, taking a bite of my warm sandwich.

Remembering last night, I couldn’t help but ask her about it.

Chloe rolled her eyes at me, clearly annoyed. “Honey, were you dreaming?”

I wanted to say more, but she’d already gotten up. “Alright, honey, you need to go to work. Hurry and eat! I need to go catch up on some sleep. I don’t know why, but I’ve been so sleepy lately.”

Chloe stretched, passing by me and heading to the bedroom. I didn’t know if it was my imagination, but I thought I caught a faint, strange smell on her.

I didn’t think much of it. After a quick breakfast, I left for work.

The next night, I don’t know how long I’d been asleep before I was startled awake again.

The gasping outside was louder this time.

I got up to check, and again, nothing was missing.

A chill ran down my spine. Was it not a burglar, but a ghost in the house?

I’m an atheist, but right then, the only explanation I could think of, besides a haunting, was nothing at all.

But for the next half-month, everything seemed to return to normal. That eerie sound never came back.

I thought that was the end of it, but it turned out to be just the beginning.

That night, I had a fantastic dream. In it, Chloe and I were completely wild, but just at the crucial moment, I suddenly woke up.

The lingering desire left my entire body feeling like it was roasting over a fire.

I instinctively pressed closer to Chloe’s body, whispering her name.

“Honey, are you asleep?”

Just like before, I called for a long time, but my wife didn’t respond. It felt like I was next to a dead person.