Chapter 1

The Samoyed I had raised for six years has suddenly grown terrified of men.

It would cower away at the sight of any man from afar during our walks, and would bare its teeth whenever my boyfriend got close to me.

I posted a joke on Instagram: [My man is on the dog's bad side, and even random men out there are suffering for it.]

I attached a photo of the dog sticking up its butt and snarling at my boyfriend.

Right away, someone commented under the post: [There's something wrong with your dog. Hurry and take it to the vet, and don't get intimate with your boyfriend these days.]

I didn't pay it any mind, thinking the person was just one of those online trolls.

But a few days later, I took the dog for a check-up. The results showed that it actually had a pelvic fracture and internal wall bleeding.

*****

I, Kate Summers, went on a business trip out of town a few days ago and asked my boyfriend, Henry Cole, to take care of my dog Sophie at home.

But when I came back, Sophie had suddenly turned strange. Pushing open the front door, she didn't wag her tail to greet me like she usually did. Instead, she huddled in the corner with her ears drooping and a resentful look in her eyes.

Henry picked me up and spun me around. "You're finally home."

I wriggled out of his arms and hurried to check the fox keychain on my backpack.

Henry scoffed playfully. "Why are you making such a fuss over it? If it's broken, I'll buy you a new one."

I shot him a glare. "It's not the same. I just love the first one. Besides, it has a beauty mark just like me."

Henry made a move to grab it. Seeing this, Sophie jumped up and bared her teeth at him aggressively. Her front legs were trembling, but her face wore a fierce snarl.

I was shocked as I'd never seen Sophie this vicious before. "Sophie, my good girl, come to mommy."

However, no matter how I called her, she wouldn't budge. She just stared daggers, growling low in her throat.

I was just wondering what was wrong when Henry took the bags from my hands and pushed me into the house. "Sophie must have missed you so much that she's upset. She hasn't eaten or drunk much these past few days. Probably throwing a tantrum."

I thought Sophie was just suffering from separation anxiety, but three days later, things still hadn't gotten better.

When I took her for walks, she'd hide far away whenever she saw a man. Her whole body would tremble, and she'd whimper softly.

"What on earth is wrong with her?" I slumped onto the sofa and asked Henry in frustration.

As soon as we got home, Sophie trotted over to lie down by the bathroom door, looking listless. She wouldn't even touch her favorite dried meat treats. Henry had to tiptoe around her whenever he passed by.

Henry leaned over, gave me a quick kiss, and said, "I have no idea. She's been like this since the second day you left."

Then, he teased, "Next time you go on a business trip, take us both with you. I was almost having separation anxiety, too, waiting for you to come back."

Sophie saw Henry's gesture, looked up at us, and barked at us.

I pushed him away, laughing helplessly. "How do you manage to be so annoying to dogs? Even being around you is enough to make a dog depressed."

Then I picked up my phone and posted something on Instagram. I joked about how my dog had stopped recognizing me after a short business trip, and how her dad was a total dog repellent.

Henry shrugged, leaned back against the sofa, and started scrolling through his phone.

Less than a minute after I posted it, a comment popped up. It was from someone with the username "B".

B: [There's something wrong with your dog. Samoyeds are very gentle by nature, and its current state is clearly abnormal.]

B: [How can you even be in the mood to post on Instagram? Hurry up and take your dog to get checked out.]

I didn't know this person at all, and I couldn't even remember when I'd followed them.

They went on a rant in the comments section like some kind of self-appointed internet judge, firing off one comment after another.

Their words annoyed me, so I clicked on their profile picture, ready to block them. But just then, a message popped up at the top of my screen.

B: [Stay away from your boyfriend. Don't have sex with him.]

This person was really out of their mind. I couldn't hold back and shot back a reply. Kate: [Are you crazy?]

I was typing furiously, ready to give this person a piece of my mind, when they sent me a link. The headline read: [Landlord breaks into tenant's home and sexually assaults her Samoyed while she's away on business.]

My fingers froze over the keyboard. I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew the meaning of every word on my screen but couldn't understand when they were put together like this.

B was implying that Sophie had been raped. I just couldn't believe it.

So, I let out a cold laugh at this nut. This was absolutely absurd. A plot this outrageous would get ripped apart if it were written into a novel, yet it was actually a news story published by an official account.

Out of curiosity, I clicked on the link, but I had to close it halfway through. It was completely mind-numbing. Men would really lose all sense of reason and do something like this just because they were driven by lust.

I muttered to myself, "Is this real? Could it just be a fake news story made up for clicks?"

The typing status popped up on the screen again.

B: [Just because something is outside your realm of experience doesn't mean it's fake. Hurry up and take precautions.]

I let out a snort of laughter and replied.

Kate: [Even if this news story is true, it doesn't mean my dog was raped. She only came into contact with two people these past few days. Who could have done something to her?]

I'd only posted that on Instagram to tease Henry, but it had somehow attracted such disgusting suspicions toward him.