Lin Jiujiu certainly couldn’t refuse.
Half an hour later, she was bundled off to the psychiatric intensive care ward.
A nurse built like a bull strapped her into an electrotherapy chair and asked calmly, “Anything else you’d like to say, criminal—ah, I mean, patient?”
Lin “Pitiful, Weak, Small, and Helpless” Jiujiu blinked her red-rimmed eyes and sobbed, “Sister Nurse, I’m a little nervous. Whenever I get nervous, I need to use the bathroom.”
Nurse Niu hesitated, then glanced at the two bodyguards behind him, who were just as robust as he was.
The three exchanged glances. They unanimously decided that using the bathroom was a reasonable request and tossed Lin Jiujiu into the restroom.
One hour after crossing into this world, Lin Jiujiu finally obtained some precious private time in the bathroom.
Unfortunately, Shen Huan had confiscated all her electronic devices. Her only possession was the loose, ugly patient’s uniform she was wearing.
She looked around for a moment, then, in her desperation, stared at the toilet and began seriously considering whether she could flush herself away.
But it was clearly impossible.
When Nurse Niu burst through the door and saw her gazing lovingly into the toilet, he froze for a moment. His heart sank.
She really was sick. She wasn’t pretending.
He would have to report this to Seventh Master.
Sadly, Lin Jiujiu pulled her gaze away from the toilet. Looking utterly dejected yet strangely self-aware, she returned to the electrotherapy chair and leaned back. Then she said earnestly and firmly, “If you knew my true identity, you wouldn’t want to kill me.”
Nurse Niu’s hands paused as he fastened the restraints.
The two burly bodyguards instinctively turned their eyes toward her and held their breath.
Lin Jiujiu sensed an opportunity. Drawing out her words, she abruptly sat upright and asked solemnly, “Do you know what my relationship with Shen Huan is?”
Nurse Niu shook his head in confusion.
The dark-skinned bodyguard nodded and answered honestly, “You tried to kill Seventh Master for another man.”
Lin Jiujiu smacked the armrest and glared at him with displeasure. “Nonsense! Do I look like someone who would kill people?”
The three of them proceeded to inspect her very honestly from head to toe.
Her skin was almost unnaturally fair, and her features were exceptionally beautiful and gentle. Though her eyes were slightly swollen from crying, they still shone brightly.
She looked very well-behaved.
At a glance, she seemed like the sort of child who would have been awarded for being one of the top three students in her class.
The two bodyguards looked somewhat confused.
Before today, they had seen this young lady at home practically every day.
She was always holding her chin high, spoiled and arrogant, constantly making things difficult for the servants.
This time, although she had the same face and the same pampered air, she seemed much gentler and easier to get along with.
The three of them shook their heads in unison. “No.”
Lin Jiujiu sighed and said earnestly, “The truth is, Seventh Master Shen has been in love with me for a very long time. He’s reached the point where he can’t live without me.”
The three of them let out a simultaneous gasp.
Nurse Niu subconsciously loosened her restraints, took two steps back, and became much more respectful.
It wasn’t their fault for being deceived.
After all, before today, Shen Huan had indeed treated her quite well.
For a man as ruthless and vicious as him, a man who kept his distance from women, to let Lin Jiujiu move into his home clearly meant he wasn’t simply being hospitable. The reason behind it was obvious.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Jiujiu slipped down from the electrotherapy chair. She stood by the window with her hands behind her back, her silhouette full of melancholy. “If I were to explain it in detail, it would be a very long story.”
The three burly men immediately widened their eyes, the words gossip practically written across their faces.
Lin Jiujiu pressed a hand to her forehead in anguish. “Back then, Shen Huan fell in love with me at first sight and pursued me relentlessly. Unfortunately, my family intended for me to marry into the Gu family, so I had no choice but to take the long way around. I ran away from home to find Shen Huan…”
She spoke with ringing conviction. “Who would have thought that my mental illness would suddenly flare up? I almost hurt Shen Huan. Fortunately, his love for me remained profound, so he sent me to the hospital for treatment.”
After saying this, she suddenly turned around, her brows tightly knitted as she shouted, “Doesn’t that count as love?!”
“It does!!”
Nurse Niu was even more excited than she was. He wiped at nonexistent tears and said, “I never knew you and Seventh Master Shen had such a touching story.”
The two brainless bodyguards covered their faces and sobbed. “So that’s how it was. We nearly hurt you today. We truly deserve to die!”
“It’s all right.”
Lin Jiujiu walked a few steps toward them and patted them on the shoulders magnanimously. “You’re just workers too. It isn’t easy for you. But if you really do hurt me, Shen Huan might repay you a thousand or ten thousand times over. After all, he’s only angry right now…”
Nurse Niu hurriedly waved his hands and made his position clear. “Miss Lin, you’re joking. Of course we wouldn’t lay a finger on you.”
Lin Jiujiu breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced at the tightly shut door. “All right, I don’t blame you either. Find me a car. I’m going home.”
“Of course. I’ll go ask Seventh Master what he thinks right away.”
One of the bodyguards immediately nodded, his expression obsequious. “Your position in his heart is so high that he definitely won’t refuse.”
Lin Jiujiu: “…”
No.
If you don’t know how to flatter people, you don’t have to try.
She immediately lowered her voice by two notches and stammered, “N-no, there’s no need to trouble him. I can walk home by myself.”
The dark-skinned bodyguard gave her a simpleminded smile and pointed toward the surveillance camera in the corner of the ceiling. “Miss Lin, it’s no trouble. Seventh Master is watching us from there.”
Lin Jiujiu: “…”
What?
Why had no one told her beforehand?
Then what had she been doing just now?
Trying to get herself killed?
She felt a little desperate.
The next second, a deep, amused voice came through the surveillance system.
“Lin Jiujiu, I fell in love with you at first sight?”
Even though she couldn’t see his face, Lin Jiujiu could imagine his expression.
Mocking, cold, vicious, and cruel.
Lin Jiujiu could no longer straighten her back.
“I pursued you relentlessly?”
Lin Jiujiu’s legs gave way.
“I can’t live without you?”
Lin Jiujiu dropped to her knees with a thump.
Her knees hurt.
Her face hurt even more.
The two idiotic bodyguards and Nurse Niu were completely oblivious to the atmosphere. They hurriedly tried to pull Lin Jiujiu up from the floor.
“Miss Lin, the floor is cold. Seventh Master will feel sorry for you later. After all, you’re his most beloved person.”
Lin Jiujiu’s legs went even weaker. Summoning the last of her strength, she grabbed Nurse Niu’s sleeve and said in a trembling, tearful voice, “Please, stop talking…”
If this continued, Shen Huan—the crazed villainous antagonist—would definitely kill her, sob.
And who knew? Maybe he would pull out her tendons, tear out her bones, and dump her body in the wilderness.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Shen Huan let out a cold snort from outside the surveillance room. His exquisite eyes narrowed, and the corners of his lips lazily curved upward.
“Here. Give the phone to my most beloved darling, Jiujiu.”
His voice was so gentle when he said those words that it sounded almost unnatural.
It made goosebumps rise all over one’s skin.
To anyone else, it would have sounded like sweet, suggestive flirting.
Trembling, Lin Jiujiu took the phone. She glanced at the black surveillance camera and looked utterly pitiful and helpless.
Shen Huan stared at the girl on the screen.
She was still kneeling on the floor in a pitiful posture, her almond-shaped eyes brimming with tears. Dressed in a loose blue-and-white patient’s uniform that clearly didn’t fit, she looked as aggrieved as anyone could possibly look.
She was quite different from the arrogant young lady with her clumsy acting skills from before.
Could she really have dissociative identity disorder?