Chapter 1

Before Grandma passed away, she warned me again and again: never, ever draw eyes on that paper man without a face in the paper crafts shop.

But in a moment of desperation, I broke her rule.

That night, the paper man disappeared.

Suddenly, a pair of cold, lifeless hands gripped my waist from behind. "Honey, now that you've given me eyes, you've chosen me as your husband."

*****

A voice shouted, "Stella, where's the cash? If you don't pay up today, we're burning this place to the ground!"

The thug with dyed yellow hair kicked in the door to my paper crafts shop. Two muscle-bound goons followed him in, and one of them, looking fed up, knocked Grandma's portrait right off the wall.

With a loud crash, the glass frame shattered all over the floor.

"Stay away from her!" I snatched up the scissors beside me, my eyes blazing red with anger.

Grandma's funeral wiped out all my savings, and now I was drowning in a loan shark debt of 30 thousand dollars.

"No cash?" the thug, Hank, sneered, stomping on the shattered frame and grinding Grandma's portrait under his shoe. He murmured, "Even after kicking the bucket, this old hag is still hogging up the place."

He turned to me. "If you're broke, then pay with your body. With that pretty face, you'd be worth a fortune at a club."

His sleazy eyes roamed up and down my body, making me want to throw up.

"Get out!" I gripped the scissors so tight that my knuckles turned white.

"Oh, got some fire in you, huh?" Hank licked his lips, moving closer. "Either cough up the cash, or you're coming with me. Make your choice."

Just then, my phone rang.

It was an unknown number.

I grabbed it like it was my last lifeline and answered right away. "Hello?"

The person said, "Is this Ms. Stella Nash? This is Leslie, the butler of Harris Group. Mr. Harris wants to order a paper guardian to protect his house. He needs it tonight, and he's offering 100 thousand dollars."

100 thousand dollars!

My head buzzed.

That kind of money could clear all my debts and even get my shop back up and running.

"Deal! I'll take it!" I practically shouted.

Hank's eyes went wide at the mention of 100 thousand dollars. He snatched my phone and flashed a greasy smile. "No worries, sir. Stella's got you covered. Just wire the cash straight to my card."

After hanging up, he tossed the phone back to me.

"Lucky you. If the money's not in my account by midnight, you know what'll happen," he sneered.

After they left, I collapsed to the floor, staring at the wrecked shop and Grandma's shattered portrait, my whole body drenched in cold sweat.

A paper guardian was ridiculously complicated to make. There was no way I could finish one in a single night. Unless...

I snapped my head up, my gaze landing on the massive figure hidden under a red cloth at the very back of the shop.

It was an unfinished paper guardian Grandma had left behind, standing as tall as me. Its form was fierce and imposing, but its face was nothing but blank paper.

I was out of options.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. I had to break Grandma's rule.

I pulled off the red cloth, revealing the massive form of the paper guardian. It wore black paper armor, and even though it was only made of paper, its presence was suffocating.

I picked up my paintbrush, bit down on my fingertip, and let a single drop of blood drip into the ink.

Thinking about the humiliation I'd just gone through, I couldn't hold back anymore. A burning tear fell right into the blood-mixed ink with a quiet splash.

The ink, now mixed with blood and tears, turned pitch black, like it could devour all the light around me.

"I'm sorry, Grandma," I whispered.

Steeling myself, I set the brush down.

I started with the eyebrows, then the nose, and finally the mouth.

As I finished the final stroke and dotted the eyes, I saw those fresh-ink pupils suddenly shrink for a split second.

The temperature in the shop instantly dropped to freezing, and a layer of frost crept across the windows.

A ghostly wind swept through, making the paper money scattered around the shop rustle loudly.

I shivered, unable to meet those dark, bottomless eyes any longer. Hurriedly, I threw the red cloth back over it and called Leslie.

At eleven o'clock sharp, the Harris family's car pulled up out front.

Two bodyguards dressed in black came in and together hauled the paper guardian into the car.

As soon as the car drove off, I sent Leslie the loan shark's account info.

Less than a minute later, my phone buzzed. A text popped up, showing that the 100 thousand dollars had just landed in the account.

I let out a long, shaky breath, my heart finally settling for the first time tonight.

But before I could even fully relax, my phone rang again.

It was Leslie.

His tone had lost all politeness. Now it was icy and superior.

He said, "Ms. Nash, what kind of worthless trash did you send over? It's completely useless. We've already taken the money back."

What? "That's impossible! How could you do this?" I shouted.

But the call was slammed shut.

Right after, a bank notification popped up on my phone: [The 100 thousand dollars transferred from your account has been reversed...]

I clutched my phone, my hands and feet turning ice-cold.

Just as hope flickered, it was crushed to dust.

Not only did I fail to pay off the debt, but I'd pissed off the loan shark and now had a monster like Harris Group breathing down my neck.

I was totally screwed.

Scared out of my mind, I locked every door and window in the shop, barricaded the entrance with a table, and scrambled back to my bedroom.

I didn't turn on the lights. Just cold moonlight spilled in through the window, painting the floor bone-white.

I wrapped myself tightly in my blanket, shivering uncontrollably.