CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE: LOOSE WOMAN

The flashback hit him suddenly, like a bolt of lightning illuminating the darkness of his memories. He found himself transported back to that fateful night, the night when his world had been turned upside down. It was a stormy evening, rain lashing against the windows with relentless fury. Mark had been out with friends, drowning his sorrows in a sea of alcohol and trying to escape the pain that gnawed at his soul. As he stumbled through the front door of his apartment, drenched to the bone and barely able to stand, he was greeted by Hazel’s smirking face. She had been waiting for him, her eyes glinting with a predatory gleam. In his drunken stupor, Mark had been oblivious to the danger that lurked behind Hazel’s façade. He had stumbled into her trap without a second thought, too lost in his own misery to see the truth staring him in the face. Hazel had seized the opportunity to strike, taking advantage of Mark’s vulnerable state to satisfy her own twisted desires. She had lu