Had Skylar started to change the moment we were officially locked into a relationship?

Was it after Helen constantly called him and hammered into his head that women shouldn't be spoiled?

Somewhere along the line, the once-generous Skylar transformed into a cheap, tight-fisted man obsessed with fixed deposits.

I gripped my phone tightly and felt a suffocating weight settle in my chest.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed with a text from Skylar.

"It's snowing so hard outside, Freya. Could you please have pity and see me for just a minute?"

I froze.

After slipping on a coat, I made my way downstairs and saw Skylar standing by the building's entrance, amidst the swirling wind and heavy snow.

He was completely covered in a thick layer of snow and held a bouquet of red roses tightly in his arms. His face was frozen in a bright red.

The moment he saw me, he began walking toward me stiffly. "Please don't be mad at me, Freya."

For a fleeting second, the scene reminded me of the year we watched the first snowfall together. My heart softened a little.

He stuffed the roses into my arms and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry for messing up today. My mom just has that old-school mindset."

What his family did earlier today flashed across my mind again, and I stayed silent.

"You've always wanted to soak in a hot spring, haven't you? My friend just opened a hot spring resort, and it's his treat. Let me take you there."

I hesitated. "It's the holidays. Maybe we should forget it."

"The holidays are exactly why we need to unwind properly," he said, looking all sincere and genuine. "I've arranged everything, so think of it as my way of making things up to you. Will you give me a chance?"

Going to a hot spring resort was indeed something I had been talking about for a very long time. Whenever I brought it up in the past, Skylar always complained it was too expensive or far away.

Seeing how insistent he was, I finally agreed.

The next day, Skylar showed up on time.

The backseat of his car was piled high with my favorite snacks, and he even reached over to proactively buckle my seatbelt for me. His overwhelming enthusiasm made me instinctively shrink back.

"I can do it myself."

The farther we drove, the more remote our surroundings were.

Two hours later, we turned onto a muddy, unpaved road. A solitary hot spring resort bearing the sign "Canopy Cove Hot Springs" stood on a barren, desolate slope.

The moment I stepped out of the car, my heart skipped a beat. The place was isolated, with barely anyone in sight.

"Is it supposed to be this remote? Why isn't there a single guest around?" I asked, looking at Skylar.

Carrying my bag, he grinned. "They just opened and are currently in a soft-launch phase, so they're only hosting friends. I had him clear the entire venue for us today so we could have the ultimate private experience."

I followed him into the main lobby, casually texting my best friend, Sadie Holtmann, on the phone as we walked.

After changing into my swimsuit, I stepped into the hot spring pool. The rising steam immediately drove the winter chill away.

I called Skylar, who still hadn't shown up. He told me he was arranging for someone to bring over a fruit platter, and I didn't think much of it.

The water temperature was perfect, and within minutes, I drifted off into a deep, hazy sleep.

When I jolted awake, the sky had gone completely dark. I reached out toward the edge of the pool to grab my bathrobe, but found nothing there.

A sudden jolt of panic hit me.

When I took a closer look, I realized that not only was my bathrobe missing, but the towel and sandals I had left next to it were gone as well!

Only my phone was left, sitting isolated on the edge.

"Skylar? Anyone?" I yelled, but there was no response.

A cold dread crawled up my spine as I scrambled to dial Skylar's number. He picked up almost instantly.

"Where are you? My clothes are gone, and nobody answers when I call out. What's going on?"

My voice was shaking violently as I demanded answers.

"Freya," he said. His voice sounded panicked through the microphone. "My family just called to tell me that my mom suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. I left in such a hurry that I completely forgot to tell you.

"Were your clothes blown away by the wind?"

I froze, and a sudden unease rose in my chest.

After taking a deep breath, I said, "Find someone to bring me clothes right now."

He stammered, "I-I can't go back. The staff must have clocked out and gone home at this hour.

"I'm rushing to pay my mom's medical bills, and I need to withdraw cash from the bank."

"What am I supposed to do then?" I asked.

"How about this? Send me money right now, so I can have someone else handle the paperwork."

"Send money?"

I calmed down the moment I heard those words coming from Skylar.

"How much?" I asked.

"I have a bit on me, but I need you to scrape together 4,000 dollars or so.

I let out a cold laugh and finally connected the dots.

"Skylar, you want me to send you 4,000 dollars, don't you?"

"It's money for an emergency, Freya. Just send it over first, and I'll immediately call my friend to bring you clothes."

I looked out at the darkening sky. A freezing chill surged from the soles of my feet straight to my skull.

Apology?

This whole thing was a meticulously planned trap. Skylar had intentionally lured me here just to extort money from me.

"Do you honestly take me for an idiot, Skylar?" I snapped and gritted my teeth. "Bring me my clothes first, then we'll talk about money."

"You're truly heartless, Freya!"

On the other end of the line, Skylar suddenly exploded.

"That's my mom we're talking about! I'm not at the hospital just to sort this out for you, and yet you're being this cold-blooded. Are you going to watch her die over a few thousand dollars?"

He was pulling his same guilt-trip routine. For all I knew, Helen might not even be sick at all.

Suddenly, my phone flashed with a low battery warning of only 10%.

"This is blackmail, Skylar."

"Stop talking nonsense! I told you I'm just borrowing it!"

His voice turned vicious as he continued, "Don't blame me for not warning you, Freya. That place is remote, and it'll be dark soon. You can't stay in that hot spring pool all night.

"If wild dogs or wolves wander in there…"

I shivered all over.

"Send me the money, and I'll immediately figure something out for you. Otherwise, you can enjoy your night on the mountain alone."

I hung up on him.

"Way to go, Skylar. It seems like I truly can't judge a book by its cover.

"I can't believe I've wasted two years of love on a lowlife like him," I murmured.

With shaking hands, I was about to text my Sadie when Skylar called back again.

"Ten minutes. If I don't see the money in the minutes, you'll lose your chance. The main gates are locked, so you can't escape.

"And don't forget how terrified of the dark you are. Don't come crying and begging me then."

Fear and fury erupted in my chest, but I softened my voice to say, "I'm truly scared right now, Skylar. Look. Just come back first, and I'll send you whatever amount you need."

"Ha. Send me the money first," he demanded.

"My phone is about to die. You know that a bank transfer requires facial recognition," I protested.

"Stop playing games with me!" he snapped and scoffed. "Don't think I don't know you're just stalling for time. You can just freeze to death if you don't send me the money.

"I seriously don't get it, Freya. I'm your boyfriend, so why can't you bear to spend this little bit of money on me? Is this how a girlfriend is supposed to act?"

"You'd better get back here right now, Skylar! Otherwise, you're committing a crime!" I warned him and gripped the phone tightly.

"Go ahead and sue me! I'm your boyfriend, so even if the cops show up, they'll just see it as a domestic dispute. You can't scare me.

"Let me tell you—"

Halfway through his vicious threat, my phone beeped twice before the screen went black, and the battery completely died.

At the same time, the landscape lights around the hot spring pool flickered and went out, too. The entire resort lost power.

Everything around me was instantly swallowed by endless darkness.

I screamed in terror and dropped my phone into the water.

Curled up in the pool, I dared not climb onto the deck or move an inch. Despair slowly began to swallow me whole.

Just then, a loud crash echoed through the darkness, followed by an urgent shout.

"Freya!"

It was my best friend, Sadie!

She barged into the area with two friends. When she saw me curled up in a corner of the pool, her hands holding the heavy-duty flashlight began shaking.

"Skylar, that monster!"

"Don't worry," I said, slipping into the thick down jacket she handed me.

My gaze was cold as I announced, "I'm going to make sure he's completely ruined."