Chapter 2

It was my mother.

Surprise flickered across her face, then she turned and said something to my father, and the whole group moved toward me at once, blocking my view.

"Sisi, how did you get here? Does the doctor know about this?"

My best friend looped her arm through mine, her tone as easy and affectionate as always.

"What's the matter? The worst thing a patient with delusional disorder can do is ignore the doctor's orders. Don't you want to get better soon?"

I had never realized how good their acting was.

Every one of them wore the same look of conviction, all working to steer me back out the door.

My lips trembled.

"How much longer are you all going to keep this up?"

My best friend's face shifted instantly to confusion.

"Keep what up? We're just having an ordinary family gathering. If you don't believe me, ask your parents."

My father nodded along, his face full of worry. "There's nothing here. Is your illness getting worse?"

I let out a cold laugh and raised my hand, pointing at the banquet hall.

"The witnesses and the evidence are all right here. Do you still think you can fool me?"

But the moment the words left my mouth—

Following the line of my finger, the space was empty, with no sign that any party had ever been held there.

Even Bernice and Gavin weren't together. Right now they were each hunched over a laptop, dealing with their own work.

My head began to ache again.

The change had come so fast that I couldn't help doubting whether all of it was something I'd imagined.

Because three years ago, it had been exactly like this.

When I first discovered Gavin was cheating, I'd made a scene at the hotel.

But the front-desk staff told me Gavin had gone up to the room alone, that there was no one else.

Later I saw the two of them tangled together at home more than once, and I called my parents over to witness it.

They swore to my face that nothing had happened.

I refused to give up and went to the company, only to be met with every single employee denying it.

So I recorded audio, recorded video, trying to prove I wasn't crazy.

But every one of those files would vanish within a short time, as if none of it had ever happened.

In the end, I could only admit to the delusional disorder and accept my fate completely.

Seeing that something was off with me, my best friend quickly took my hand and pulled me toward the house.

My parents were frantic too, calling the doctor to come and check on me.

Once again I couldn't tell delusion from reality. I wasn't even sure whether that voice from ten years in the future was something I'd imagined too.

Maybe they were right. Maybe I hadn't gotten better at all, and was only getting worse.

Lost in the haze, I turned my head.

And caught exactly the flash of displeasure in Bernice's eyes.

Gavin had gone back to her side too, murmuring something near her ear, one hand resting on her head to soothe her.

That gesture hit me like a bucket of cold water.

In an instant I was clear-headed.

I wasn't sick. This was just a play they were staging.

Several bodyguards were already standing in front of me.

Realizing what they meant to do, I fought to break free of my best friend's grip, grabbed a knife, and pressed it to my throat.

"Don't come any closer! Or I can't promise what I'll do."

My parents exchanged a glance, their expressions complicated.

"Sisi, put the knife down. Believe us, this is all for your own good."

Rage shook through my whole body.

"Hiding the fact that he cheated, handing me over to a psychiatric hospital with your own hands. That's for my own good?"

My best friend went still for a moment, as if gauging whether I had really guessed the truth.

She probed carefully. "How could you possibly know all this?"

Before I could answer, a little boy suddenly rushed in and slammed hard into me.

I lost my balance and pitched forward, the sharp blade slicing my skin as I went.

"Waah! There's blood!"

A child's shrill crying broke out beside me.

Bernice ran over at once and pulled him into her arms, her voice shaking.

"Don't you hurt him!"

"Whatever your problem is, take it out on me. The child is innocent."

Gavin walked over, his gaze lingering only a moment on my throat, which wouldn't stop bleeding.

Then he stepped his body between me and the two of them.

He ordered the bodyguards. "Get her under control, quickly. Don't let anyone innocent get hurt."

Several big men hauled at me and slammed me hard against the floor, the pain jolting through me as if it would knock my insides loose.

I managed a weak voice. "I didn't hurt him."

My body swayed once from exhaustion.

Gavin quickly shielded the ones behind him and warned me,

"If you dare take one more step, don't blame me for what comes next."

I gave a mocking little laugh.

There was no need for anyone to keep acting now. For Bernice's sake, he'd exposed himself.

Something wavered faintly in Gavin's eyes, but it was gone in a blink.

"Fine, so you've figured it out. That saves us from having to keep the act going."

"We didn't want to do this, but Sienna, you're too extreme. One scene from you and the whole family can't have any peace."

I lifted my eyes in disbelief.

My mother stepped forward too.

"Back then it was you, making scenes over these little things, that hurt Gavin's career. If we hadn't done this, all of it would have been ruined in your hands."

My best friend spoke up as well.

"This was the best option we could think of for you. You lived in that hospital without a worry about food or clothing while Gavin worked himself to the bone out here on his own. You should be grateful for everything he's given up."

A perfectly sane person, locked away in a place like that for three years, treated as a mental patient.

And it was being called special treatment for my benefit.

Listening to all of it, I suddenly burst out laughing.

The bodyguards bore down harder, nearly wrenching my arm out of its socket.

Gavin crouched down and reached out to touch my face.

I turned my head and bit down on his wrist.