Yue Linze, who was away on a business trip, rushed back. Seeing the television on, he paused, calmly turned it off, and sat down in front of Tao Yu.

"Are you angry?" he asked calmly, as if it were a trivial matter.

Tao Yu stared at him, then after a while, extended her wrist. The chain jingled. She lowered her eyes. "Unlock it."

"The servants told me you haven't eaten anything all day. I'll have them bring you some food." Yue Linze stood up and walked towards the door.

Tao Yu abruptly stood up, her voice rising. "I've thought about it carefully. We're not compatible. Our relationship ends here. Please unlock this."

Yue Linze stopped in his tracks. "Do you know what you're saying?" he asked indifferently.

"I'm perfectly aware, Mr. Yue. I apologize." Tao Yu pursed her lips, her voice firm. To be ejected from this world, she first needed to get far away from the alternate personality, then use self-hypnosis to return to reality.

If she stayed too close to the alternate personality, her brainwaves would be significantly affected, reducing the success rate of self-hypnosis, which wasn't conducive to her return.

There was a simpler method – suicide. It was the quickest way, but although death here was fake, the feeling of dying was real. She didn't want to resort to suicide unless absolutely necessary.

She had reverted to calling him Mr. Yue, the shift so natural, as if her previous endearments had never existed. Yue Linze stood there for a long time, suppressing the surge of rage within him before finally speaking. "If you're not hungry, then rest."

He turned to glance at Tao Yu, then walked to the bed, leaning on his cane. Lying down, he closed his eyes. "Turn off the light."

Tao Yu had anticipated his refusal and remained calm. She took a deep breath to steady her tense nerves, turned off the light, and lay down on the sofa.

Having made her decision, she was prepared for a long battle.

The sofa, though soft, wasn't as comfortable as the bed. Tao Yu tossed and turned, unable to sleep, her mind racing with random thoughts. First, it was her real-world loan and the aftermath of this medical contract, then her thoughts drifted to the man in the bed.

After a long period of restless contemplation, she finally drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep. Not long after she fell asleep, Yue Linze carried her back to the bed. So, when she opened her eyes the next day, she found herself back in bed. After this happened a few times, she simply stayed in bed.

However, from that day on, Tao Yu refused any contact with Yue Linze, not even speaking a word to him. Furthermore, she began a hunger strike, gambling on whether Yue Linze's love for her was strong enough to let her go.

After two days of this standoff, Yue Linze sat before her, radiating a trapped, restless energy. Tao Yu flinched, but her expression remained calm. "Let me go. It's for your own good, and mine."

"Why do you want to leave?" Yue Linze asked, his eyes dark. "Weren't things good before? Why not continue?"

Tao Yu shook the chain on her wrist, her voice cold. "You think this is good?"

"Isn't it?" Yue Linze said indifferently. "You just need to belong to me completely. I'll give you everything a woman could ever want, and all you have to do is enjoy it."

Tao Yu looked at him for a long moment, then sighed. "But I don't like this life without freedom, and I don't like you anymore, either."

Yue Linze wanted her to belong to him entirely, but that was too difficult. She wasn't a mindless doll he could keep locked away in a room for so long. And because she couldn't comply, his anger wouldn't dissipate. It was an unbreakable, vicious cycle, and she could only choose to withdraw.

Yue Linze's heart felt like it had been struck a heavy blow. The festering wound in his chest began to bleed again because of her words, yet he seemed to feel no pain, staring at Tao Yu with a self-destructive intensity.

"You don't love me." After a long silence, Yue Linze stated the fact.

A pang of pain shot through Tao Yu's heart. Her first instinct was to deny it, but she quickly regained her composure. "I'm sorry."

Yue Linze chuckled, a careless sound. "It doesn't matter. You just need to know that you're mine."

"Mr. Yue, I'm an independent person." Tao Yu frowned.

Before she could say more, a knock came at the door. Yue Linze said indifferently, "Enter."

The door opened, and the aroma of food wafted in. Tao Yu's mouth watered, but she remained impassive.

Yue Linze tapped his fingers on the table. "Eat."

"...." 

Faced with the appealing dishes, Tao Yu wavered momentarily, but ultimately resisted.

Yue Linze waited, seeing her determination to continue the standoff. He slowly asked, "I'm still your patient, right?"

Tao Yu frowned at him, wondering why he brought this up.

Yue Linze chuckled and rolled up his right trouser leg, revealing a gruesome wound.

The scars from the car accident were old, but these were fresh, two of them still oozing blood. Tao Yu's brow twitched, a bad premonition forming in her mind.

"Eat your food. Don't make me hurt myself again. You're my doctor, aren't you?" Yue Linze spoke with unusual gentleness.

Tao Yu stared at him, then finally managed to speak. "You're self-harming…"

"I love you. Anyone who makes you unhappy deserves to be punished." Yue Linze said calmly, his eyes filled with undisguised, frantic love.