Chapter 4

Victoria completely lost it.

She burst out of the wine cellar and sprinted back to the main control room, hammering at the keyboard, desperately trying to force-terminate the brutal wipe program.

"Incorrect password."

"Insufficient permissions."

"Warning: Unauthorized tampering with core internal settings will immediately trigger the next memory wipe."

Victoria slammed her fists against the keyboard in despair. Her knuckles split open and bled.

She finally understood. Damien had calculated everything in advance.

He knew she was a tech genius, so he'd used the most unbreakable encryption possible — and built in a self-protecting lockdown mechanism on top of it.

If she dared to force her way through, the entire database would be instantly and completely destroyed. Not even the smallest fragment would be left.

Even in death, he still had her completely under his control.

"How dare you." Victoria sank to her knees in front of the control panel, tears and blood dripping onto the floor. "How dare you make this decision for me. You died and left me here alone — and now you won't even leave me this one thing to hold onto?!"

The control panel's cold blue lights blinked silently.

"Host heart rate critically elevated. Recommend calming down and taking deep breaths." The system's mechanical prompt was as flat and emotionless as ever.

Victoria grabbed a metal water cup and hurled it at the screen.

"Go to hell! Give Damien back to me!"

The screen shattered. Sparks flew.

"Violent destructive behavior detected. Triggering the second mandatory wipe."

"Deletion content: morning wake-up service, personal lifestyle preference memory."

"Deletion complete."

Victoria went completely still.

And then, suddenly, she snapped back to clarity.

Every time she lost control. Every time she fought back. Every time she broke down — she was accelerating Damien's disappearance from this world.

He was using the cruelest method imaginable to force her to calm down. To force her to wean herself off the longing. To force her to keep living — alone.

What followed became a brutal tug-of-war between Victoria and the cold, unfeeling system.

She tried to compromise. She ate on schedule, kept regular hours, and sat in front of the empty dining table forcing herself to stay calm. "Damien, I ate properly today. See? I'm being good."

No gentle response came. No soft reminder.

Only the flat mechanical report: "Nutritional intake within acceptable range. Physical vitals stable."

She didn't dare cry. She didn't dare let her emotions swing too far.

The moment her emotional state exceeded the safe threshold, another wipe would arrive right on schedule.

The 7th wipe.

Victoria dreamed of Damien being swallowed by the deep sea. She jolted awake and lay in bed, helpless and devastated.

The system wiped it immediately: late-night sleep comfort function, emotional stabilization feature.

From that day on, there was no longer a voice to gently coax her to sleep, and the villa's lights would never quietly dim for her again.

The 15th wipe.

Victoria staged a hunger strike — three days without a single drop of water.

The system initiated a forced intervention. A mechanical arm pinned her to the bed as nutrient fluid slowly dripped into her body.

"Damien, you bastard! Let go of me!" Victoria thrashed wildly, like a fish gasping its last breath.

"The host is deliberately starving and damaging her body. Activating forced vital signs maintenance protocol. You have no right to destroy yourself, Victoria."

In that moment, the system suddenly switched back to Damien's familiar voice — stern, furious, and laced with a tenderness it couldn't quite hide.

Victoria froze. Then she broke down completely, sobbing uncontrollably.

He was still here.

He had just buried all his gentleness, leaving only cold rules behind — forcing her to keep living.