Chapter 5

Polina's POV

After treating the wound on my forehead, the nurse was about to bandage me.

Ethan pushed the door open.

Two bodyguards followed him, along with a doctor I didn't recognize.

The doctor held a report and looked at me with some sympathy.

"Mr. Harper, based on the stress reaction just now and past medical history, Miss White has typical paranoid personality disorder, accompanied by severe persecution delusion."

"If not intervened immediately, she may pose a life threat to others."

I laughed.

So in that earlier scene, my non-resistance was guilt, and my resistance made me insane.

"Ethan Harper, what are you trying to do?" I stood up, still clutching the blood-stained gauze.

Ethan didn't look at me, only coldly instructed the bodyguards. "Take her away."

"I'm not going! Ethan Harper, this is illegal detention!"

I struggled desperately, knocking over the treatment tray.

But this only confirmed my supposed mania.

Two bodyguards grabbed me from both sides, dragged me out of the emergency room, and shoved me into an SUV.

The car didn't return to the Harper villa but drove toward a fully enclosed private psychiatric rehabilitation center in the suburbs.

It was a place specifically for confining disobedient people from wealthy families.

I was taken into a padded room.

No windows, no sharp objects, only a treatment bed with restraint straps.

Ethan walked in, looking at me tied to the bed.

"Polina, you're ill."

His tone was calm. "The doctor says you have severe pathological jealousy. Your recent resistance, attempts to escape, and the attack on Lily just now are all symptoms of your condition."

"I'm not sick! You're the one who's insane!"

I screamed, my wrists rubbed raw by the restraints. "I want to break up! Can't I just stop loving you? Let me go!"

"It seems quite serious."

Ethan shook his head, taking a document the director handed him. A forced medical custody consent form.

In the guardian section, he smoothly signed his name.

"Treat her. When she's willing to admit her mistake, then stop."

The so-called treatment was actually electrical stimulation.

The doctor placed cold electrode patches on my temples.

"Ethan Harper! You bastard!"

"Begin." He turned his back, unwilling to watch my humiliation.

The instant the current penetrated my nerves, the intense pain left me unable to even scream.

It felt like countless needles were frantically stirring inside my brain, shredding my reason and dignity.

I could even smell my hair burning.

"Will you admit you pushed Lily?" he asked over the sound of the electrical current.

I bit through my lip and said nothing.

Increase the current.

Three full days.

I was injected with sedatives, lying in bed like a waste of space, even needing nursing staff assistance to use the bathroom.

That shame of having my dignity as a human being completely stripped away hurt more than physical pain, driving me to despair.

And in this despair, the last shred of love I had for Ethan Harper was finally uprooted completely and died.

Three days later, I was allowed to be discharged.

Walking out that door, the sunlight hurt my eyes so much I couldn't open them.

My face was deathly pale, and I needed to lean against the wall even to stand.

Ethan stood by the car waiting for me. Seeing me come out, he walked over to help, his tone becoming gentle.

"Feeling better? I did this for your own good. As long as you behave from now on and stop making trouble, this won't happen again."

I lowered my eyes, hiding the deathly ash in them.

I didn't avoid his hand, but nodded numbly instead.

"I understand."

Ethan smiled with satisfaction.

Seeing me compliant, he confidently let go.

"Have the driver take you home. Rest well."

He got into another car.

Watching his departing figure, I dug my palm hard under my sleeve.