"Du Yue, come out! Someone has come to take you home!"
As the long, grating creak of the door reverberated through the corridor, sunlight poured into the gloomy, cramped ward, illuminating every corner. The staff member's voice dripped with indifference as they gave a dismissive glance toward the woman seated on the bed.
This was a psychiatric hospital, but this woman before them was unlike the others. She was the sole individual here who was mentally sound, yet forcibly confined as a "patient."
Du Yue sat quietly at the head of the bed, her gaze lowered and vacant, staring off into some indeterminate point in the room. When the words "someone has come to take you away" reached her ears, her eyelids shot open as if her soul—once scattered—had suddenly returned. Her once-lifeless eyes now trembled with an intensity that betrayed her shock!
Someone had finally come for her! After two painful, interminable years, when hope had nearly vanished entirely, someone had finally arrived to free her!
Overcome with emotion, she attempted to stand from the dilapidated wooden bed but, weakened by prolonged inactivity, collapsed to the floor almost immediately after rising. A searing pain spread across her palms and face, her hands throbbing and swelling as though scorched by fire.
Not a single person moved to help her to her feet.
Du Yue didn't feel wronged. Wiping the dust from her face, she painstakingly pulled herself upright. In these past two years, she had grown accustomed to such treatment.
"Hurry up! Don't waste any more time!" the staff snapped, their irritation growing more palpable with each passing second. Without another word, they turned on their heel and walked off.
Du Yue scrambled after them, following closely along the dimly lit corridor. As she quickened her pace, she realized something felt amiss about the direction they were heading.
"Excuse me," Du Yue began hesitantly, her voice trembling, "if someone has come to take me home… shouldn't I be leaving through the main gate? Why are we going toward the examination room?" She stifled the joy bubbling within her, speaking slowly and deliberately, her voice tinged with unease, fearful of angering the already irritable staff.
The staff ignored her completely, stopping abruptly at the entrance to the examination room. With a curt order, they instructed, "Go inside. The person waiting to take you away is already in there."
At those words, Du Yue could no longer conceal her elation. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as they brushed against the cold metal of the door. Who could it be? Her childhood friend? Or perhaps her closest confidante?
With great effort, she pushed open the heavy iron door of the examination room. Her eager eyes darted toward the tall figure standing inside—and in an instant, she froze. Her face drained of all color, as though struck by lightning.
Chen Ze stood gracefully before the file counter, his silhouette illuminated against the backlight. Even in shadow, his commanding presence was impossible to ignore. Clad in a finely tailored Italian suit, his broad shoulders and chiseled frame exuded an air of effortless dominance. His features, sharp and resolute, bore the marks of time's gentle hand, untouched by hardship—only refined, like the edge of a blade honed to perfection. His piercing gaze, framed by thick brows and striking eyes, held an air of detached authority, his lips set in a casual, indifferent line.
Two full years had passed, and the merciless passage of time seemed to have spared him entirely. If anything, it had smoothed his rougher edges, sharpening his features to an even more formidable degree. Yet to Du Yue, he now felt like a stranger.
For two agonizing years, night after endless night, she had clung to the faintest glimmer of hope. Every day, she had carved his name into the wooden bedframe with her nails, her heart consumed by resentment, hatred, and a desperate longing. She had dreamed that one day he might change his mind—that the same man who had locked her away would return to set her free. But as the months dragged on, that fragile hope transformed into her greatest torment. Over the next year and a half, she shattered the resilience she had painstakingly built, swallowing the shards with tears and blood, enduring a pain too profound to bear.
And now, standing face-to-face with Chen Ze after two long years, Du Yue realized something chilling: her heart no longer stirred with the affection it once held. Instead, an unrelenting, suffocating panic had taken root, spreading wildly through her chest.
It was him! It was really him!
Trembling with fear, Du Yue instinctively shrank back, her shoulders curling inward as she tried to retreat.
The staff member noticed her hesitation and sneered, showing no mercy. With a rough shove, they sent her stumbling forward, crashing into the examination room.
The moment she crossed the threshold, the overwhelming weight of Chen Ze's presence pressed down on her like a physical force. Her face flushed crimson, her breath catching in her throat as though she were drowning.
"Open the door! Open the door! Let me go back! Please, let me go back!" Du Yue cried out, her voice breaking with desperation. Pain shot through her body, but she barely registered it as she twisted around, clawing at the iron door with frantic, futile attempts to escape. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, her voice raw with anguish.
She no longer wanted freedom. She no longer cared about leaving.
If it meant never having to see Chen Ze again, she would gladly remain locked away in that suffocating, lightless cell for the rest of her life!