Chapter 1

My husband, Ethan, recently became obsessed with miniature landscapes. He set up a massive ecosystem tank in our master bedroom and strictly forbade me from touching it.

One night, getting up to use the restroom, I thought I heard faint panting coming from the tank.

As I leaned closer, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in my mind, followed by a torrent of frantic messages:

[OMG, Aurora still thinks he's raising ants in there.]

[Ethan got a shrinking potion just to get off with Chloe by Aurora's bed. So wild!]

[Having sex in the ecosystem tank right in front of his wife, Ethan sure knows how to find thrills!]

I'm Aurora, and Chloe is Ethan's distant cousin.

I looked at the two rice-sized figures, frantically having sex in the tank, then turned and walked to the kitchen, grabbing a can of bug spray.

"What are you doing, standing in front of my ecosystem tank with bug spray in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Ethan's voice suddenly cut through the silence from behind me, laced with clear panic and suppressed fury.

I turned around.

He stood barefoot in the bedroom doorway, wearing nothing but boxer briefs. His chest heaved violently, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, and even his hair was soaked.

I looked at the bug spray in my hand, then at him.

"We have bugs," I said.

"If there are bugs, just kill them! Why are you spraying bug spray into my tank?" He strode over, snatching the plastic bottle from my hand.

I looked up at his disheveled state.

"Weren't you sleeping in the guest room?" I asked. "Why are you covered in sweat?"

His eyes darted away, and his voice immediately rose.

"Can't I get up at night? I just did a set of burpees in the living room. What's wrong with a little sweat?"

"Two-thirty in the morning, doing burpees in the living room in your boxer briefs?"

"I've been stressed lately, can't sleep. Working out helps release some energy. Got a problem with that?"

He slammed the bug spray onto the nightstand.

"The moss and miniature plants in this ecosystem tank are expensive imports. Even a drop of chemicals will ruin them. Stay out of the master bedroom from now on, and don't you *dare* touch my tank."

So *that's* what your tank is for, huh.

The mechanical voice in my head chimed again, accompanied by frantically scrolling messages.

[OMG, OMG, I almost died of fright! Aurora was actually going to spray bug spray!]

[Good thing Ethan reacted fast, instantly using the 'Grow Bigger' and 'Teleport' functions, or he and Chloe would've been poisoned to death in there.]

[Ethan's excuse is so lame, burpees in the middle of the night, LOL.]

[But Aurora totally bought it, because in the original story, she's just a blindly devoted fool when it comes to Ethan.]

[Poor Chloe, she was just getting into it, then Ethan suddenly disappeared. Now she's naked and shivering behind the miniature rock formation in the ecosystem tank.]

I lowered my head slightly, my gaze sweeping over the five-foot-long giant ecosystem tank. The tank was adorned with a realistic miniature rainforest, complete with miniature rock formations, a flowing stream, and intricate vines. Behind the rock formation in the far corner, I vaguely saw a tiny, unnatural fleshy spot. It was minuscule, only the size of a grain of rice, and it was trembling slightly.

So the mistress was still in there.

"What are you looking at?" Ethan took a step forward, blocking my view.

"Nothing," I retracted my gaze. "Just thinking the landscaping in this tank is quite unique."

"It's unique, but it's none of your business." He scowled and pointed towards the door. "Get out, I'm going to sleep."

"I thought you had insomnia?"

"Just worked out, now I'm tired." He pushed me towards the door.

I walked out, yielding to his force.

"Fine, then get some good sleep," I said.

The door slammed shut in front of me and was locked.

I stood in the hallway, listening to the faint sounds from inside.

The messages continued.

[Ethan is so manly, he kicked his wife out just to protect Chloe.]

[Hurry, hurry, Ethan, change back! Chloe's waiting for you behind the rock formation.]

[Tonight's thrill isn't over yet, keep going!]

I turned around expressionlessly and walked back to the guest room.

Ethan is a partner at an architectural design firm, always impeccably dressed in suits, looking every inch the respectable professional. We've been married for two years, and he's always touted himself as a man of principle, a perfectionist with a clean freak obsession. He'd even frown and spend ages vacuuming if I dropped a single hair on the couch.

Now, to pursue so-called "thrills," he was shrinking himself down to roll around in a tank full of dirt and moss with another woman.

I lay on the bed in the guest room, staring at the ceiling.

Bug spray would be letting them off way too easy.

Since they loved the miniature world so much, and loved seeking thrills... then I'd let them experience what *true* thrill was like in that tank.