Chapter 397

The night wind was biting cold. Even with a coat on, Isabella felt the chill right down to her bones.

As soon as Isabella stepped outside, the cat's meowing stopped. The silence around her was creepy, and she instinctively gripped the car keys in her pocket, hurrying to her car while glancing at the living room windowsill.

She couldn't see anything in the dark bushes. She figured the cat must've taken off.

Once she was in the car with the doors locked, Isabella finally started to relax a bit.

She buckled her seatbelt, let out a long breath, and started the car.

The visibility was terrible, so Isabella drove slowly. Just as she was about to leave the yard, a dark shadow suddenly darted from the left side of the road, heading straight for her car.

Isabella screamed and slammed on the brakes.

When the car stopped and she looked up, she thought she saw a cat's tail disappearing into the bushes.

She thought, 'That cat again! Wasn't it under the windowsill? How did it get here? It's just a cat, not a ghost; how could it be so sneaky?'

The only good thing was she wasn't driving fast; otherwise, if she had hit it, the cat would be a goner.

Even though Isabella wasn't a fan of that cat, she didn't want to run it over.

She took a deep breath, started the car again, and drove off.

Maybe it was the earlier scare, even after leaving the villa area, Isabella stayed super cautious, worried she might hit something.

When she finally got to the studio, she grabbed a couple of tissues to wipe the sweat off her forehead, unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out of the car.

The research lab under the moonlight had a cold glow. As Isabella walked in, the nurse at the front desk stood up and asked, "Miss, who are you here to see?"

Isabella replied, "I'm looking for Seb."

The nurse gave her a once-over. "And you are?"

Isabella said, "I'm his fiancée."

The nurse said, "Mr. Landon is in treatment. Would you like to wait downstairs for a bit?"

Isabella asked, "Can I go up and wait?"

The nurse said, "I need to check with Dr. Vaughn."

Isabella vaguely remembered that the last time she met Marvin at the Landon Group, there was a young guy with him. Marvin had introduced him as his student; she couldn't remember his name, but it was something like Vaughn.

The nurse went back to the front desk, made a call, said a few words, and then came back to Isabella. "Dr. Vaughn said Mr. Landon has already left."

Isabella was surprised. "Where did he go?"

The nurse shook her head. "I don't know; maybe he went home?"

Isabella frowned. "Can I talk to Dr. Vaughn? I have some questions for him."

"Sure." The nurse made another call. After getting Bradley's approval, she led Isabella upstairs.

Bradley met Isabella in an office. He personally poured her a glass of water. "Ms. Miller, what can I do for you?"

Sensing Bradley was busy, Isabella got straight to the point. "Dr. Vaughn, I want to know how to avoid being hypnotized."

Bradley looked a bit surprised. "Is it you who's been hypnotized, or someone else?"

Isabella said, "It's a friend of mine. She has some doubts about this. She heard that a really skilled hypnotist can hypnotize someone in just a few seconds. My friend thinks this is exaggerated, but she still wants to know how to stay awake and not get hypnotized if she realizes it's about to happen."

Bradley said, "Well, besides the hypnotist giving up halfway, there's one thing you can try."

Isabella asked, "What's that?"

Bradley replied, "Inflict pain on yourself with something sharp or keep yourself in pain. That's the only way to avoid being hypnotized."

Isabella asked, "Is there any way to avoid self-harm?"

Bradley shook his head seriously. "Not at the moment."

Isabella paused, then asked, "Can a hypnotist alter or erase the memory of the person being hypnotized?"

This was a big deal. If it was just hypnosis, it wasn't a huge problem. But if memories could be altered or erased, that was a whole different story!

Bradley's eyes flickered for a moment. Instead of answering right away, he asked, "What makes you think that?"

Could it be that Seb noticed something when he got back, or did Isabella figure something out?

Isabella said, "I'm just curious. I read a novel where the heroine was hypnotized by a really skilled hypnotist who messed with her memories, making her fall in love with someone else after losing her memory."

"That's just fiction," Bradley replied. "In real life, I haven't seen anyone who can do that."

Isabella breathed a sigh of relief. "So, even the best hypnotist can only hypnotize people and not mess with their memories, right?"

"Exactly." Bradley nodded, looking serious.

Isabella exhaled. "That's a relief."

Just then, the alarm clock on Bradley's desk went off. He turned it off and said to Isabella, "Do you need anything else? If not, I need to get back to work."

"No, that's all." Isabella thought for a moment and then said, "Dr. Vaughn, could you not tell Seb that I came to see you?"

Bradley looked puzzled. "Why?"

Isabella said, "To be honest, I already know he's secretly undergoing treatment. And he's doing it for me. With the wedding coming up, I don't want to stress him out. Just pretend I never came and that I don't know anything."

Bradley nodded. "Okay."

"Thanks." Isabella left, feeling satisfied.

The research lab was huge; Bradley, probably worried she'd get lost, assigned a staff member to escort her downstairs.

As soon as Isabella left the office, a nurse wearing a mask hurried over. "Dr. Vaughn, something's wrong. Mr. Landon is having another episode! You need to come quickly."

Isabella paused. Didn't Bradley say Seb had already left?

"Ms. Miller, the elevator is here." The staff member gestured for Isabella to step in.

Isabella nodded and got into the elevator.

Almost as soon as the elevator doors closed, Bradley strode out of the office, followed by the anxious nurse.

The nurse thought Bradley was heading towards the treatment room but was surprised when he suddenly turned towards the elevator.

"Dr. Vaughn, you're going the wrong way." Even though the nurse urgently reminded him, Bradley seemed to ignore her and headed straight into the elevator.

The nurse, growing increasingly anxious, could only follow along.

When she entered the elevator, she saw Bradley standing there, staring at the descending floor numbers on the wall.

It took only a few seconds to go from the second floor to the first.

After that, the number stayed on the first floor and didn't move again.

"Dr. Vaughn, are you taking the elevator?" the nurse asked.

Bradley turned around and glared at her. "You're fired."

The nurse was stunned. By the time she reacted, Bradley had already walked past her like a gust of wind.

Dear Readers,

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continuous support and love for my ongoing novel. Your enthusiasm and feedback have been the driving force behind my writing.

After careful consideration, I have decided to adjust the update frequency of the novel from three