Chapter 2

“Congratulations. I hope we won’t meet again, and you must not disclose the contents of our treatment.”

Dr. Warren sent me to the entrance.

Just like the day I arrived, the same black car was still at the gate.

He had come.

Fragmented sunlight shone through the trees and fell on him, draping him in a layer of golden gauze and softening his features.

At six feet tall, with handsome features, he attracted attention just by standing there.

I stood at the gate with the diary Dr. Warren had returned to me.

Watching him walk toward me, I could not help hunching my shoulders and backing away.

That was daily life in the conversion center.

Every day, Dr. Warren would hold Ethan’s photo and ask me over and over, “Do you still love him?”

Whether I answered or stayed silent, I would suffer electric shocks.

As long as I moved, they shocked me.

For an entire year, I lay on a cold bed and endured electric currents.

The piercing electricity felt like dense needles.

It kept stabbing me.

It hurt so much, and I was afraid to see him...

Dr. Warren stood beside me with terrifying eyes.

“Remember not to make mistakes again, or we will have to meet again.”

I walked toward Ethan, unable to breathe.

I watched the rotten iron gate, marked by time, slowly close.

This was hell, and I could not wait to escape.

“Get in.”

Ethan took the initiative to open the passenger door.

“Thank you.”

I carefully opened the back seat door and looked out the window while holding my notebook.

Every time I saw Ethan, I remembered that dark life of electric shocks.

I could not help keeping my distance from him.

“You... how have you been this past year?”

His gaze came through the rearview mirror.

He saw the diary in my hands.

“All of this is already in the past. I heard from the doctor that your reform went very well.”

I could feel the disgust in his gaze gathering on this diary.

But this diary was full of my feelings for him.

“Mm.”

I turned my head and looked at the scenery outside the window.

My knuckles turned slightly white as I gripped the diary.

“I don’t want to see that diary.”

That was right.

This diary was full of my fantasies about him, full of surging love.

He thought I was something filthy... even my blood was dirty.

I put the diary in the trunk.

I watched the route on the GPS become more and more familiar, and the black car stopped in the garage of the Blackwood family villa.

Looking at the place that was still familiar, it seemed like nothing had changed.

“I want to go home.”

I bit my lip and resisted.

She had read the diary aloud, and I did not dare look Mrs. Blackwood in the eyes at all.

Mrs. Blackwood had cared for me and said I was her godson, but I had secretly hidden those thoughts.

“This is your home.”

Ethan opened the car door.

He stood in front of me, and the distance between us was close, so I could still smell the fresh sandalwood scent.

His eyes only held me, and with just one movement, my heart fell into chaos.

The time of treatment echoed in my mind like a movie playing in reverse.

To resist the electric shocks, I could only submit.

Yet this heart still beat for him.

The evening wind brushed my face.

Remembering Dr. Warren’s creepy smile, I reined in my thoughts and got out of the car.

The round table was covered with food.

Mrs. Blackwood greeted me cheerfully.

“I cooked a whole table of food myself.”

Looking at the food that looked excellent, I had just wanted to praise it.

But the door suddenly opened.

Lily and a young girl walked in hand in hand, smiling.

The atmosphere was strange.

It felt more like a trap.

I did not know this extra girl.

Mrs. Blackwood pulled me over and made us sit on the same sofa.

I understood.