My friend and I transmigrated into a melodramatic novel about a wealthy family. When the mission ended, I chose to leave.

He fell for the obsessive female lead and chose to stay with her.

Eight years later, the system told me that she had locked him in a mental hospital, and he had only three days left to live.

When I rushed to him, he was tied to the bed. His eyes were dull, and he kept repeating my name.

His crush, Sterling Group's CEO, was planning a grand wedding with the man she truly loved.

I looked at my friend’s hands. They had once played the piano with grace. This time, they were covered in countless needle marks.

“You came, I knew you would...”

He mustered the last of his strength to look at me. “I was a fool. I thought staying by her side was the truest form of my love for her.

“I never realized I was only a stepping stone in her path.

“Take me home. I don’t want to die here...”

“Xavier…” I said in a trembling, hoarse voice.

“All right. We’ll go home.”

I forced out a faint smile as tears welled in my eyes.

“I’ll take you home.”

His unfocused eyes flickered. He tried to smile, but only managed to twitch a stiff muscle in his face.

“Quincy… Quincy…”

His voice was so faint that I could barely hear it. Every word seemed to drain the last of his life.

My hands shook as I tried to unfasten the strap around his wrist.

It had cut deep into his skin and left dark red scabs.

A doctor in a white coat walked in with a blank face. He glanced at me coldly.

“Who are you? Visiting hours are over.”

I turned suddenly. The iciness in my eyes made the doctor take a step back.

“What happened to him?”

The doctor adjusted his glasses and gave a brisk response.

“The patient suffers from severe delusions and violent tendencies. These restraints are necessary.

“His family signed the consent forms. All our treatments are by the book.”

‘Family? Moon Sterling? That monster?’ I thought.

I looked back at Xavier and carefully lifted the sleeve of his hospital gown.

The hands that had once danced across the black and white keys on a piano and played the most beautiful music in the world had withered to skin and bones. They were covered in bruises and needle marks. New wounds stacked over old ones, and there was almost no unbroken skin left behind.

“Does it hurt?” I asked in a choked voice.

He seemed not to hear me. His eyes stayed fixed on me as his lips moved.

“She’s getting married. It’s in the papers… She and Ryan look so perfect together…”

“Enough!” I shouted. My heart ached for him.

The doctor rapped impatiently on the door.

“Ms. Sterling has ordered that he mustn’t get emotional. Sir, you need to leave immediately.”

I ignored him. I leaned close to Xavier’s ear and whispered, “Xavier, hang in there. I will get you out.

“We’ll go back to our own world where there’s no Moon and no Ryan. It’ll be just the two of us.

“I even signed you up for a world piano tour. Fans everywhere are waiting for you.”

At the word “piano,” a flicker of light appeared in his hollow eyes. But it faded almost immediately.

“My hands are ruined,” he whispered.

“They gave me injections and shocks. My head doesn’t work anymore. I can’t remember the scores.”

I bit down hard on my lip, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.

I told myself I could not cry. Xavier needed me.

“It’s all right. I’ll remember them for you.” I gripped his freezing hand tight.

“I don’t want anything else. I only want you to live. Let’s go home, okay?”

“Okay… Home…”

The light in his eyes went out, and his head slumped onto my shoulder.

At that moment, the world fell silent.

The only person I cared about and the only thing tethering me to this world died quietly in my arms.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Moon held a grand engagement party for her crush.

On TV, her radiant face wore an affectionate smile. Ryan White stood beside her. They looked like a perfect match.

They celebrated with great fanfare.

I held Xavier’s body and let out a bitter laugh.

They made him suffer, and now I will make them pay tenfold!

Sterling Corp’s grand engagement ceremony took place at the city’s top seven‑star hotel by the bay.

The city’s elite filled the ballroom. Everyone was dressed very elegantly.

Moon wore a custom gown. She held her glass with effortless grace and smiled as everyone congratulated her.

Ryan stood at her side in a white suit. He smiled like a prince who was untouched by the world.

“Moon, thank you for everything,” Ryan said softly. His eyes shone with love.

Moon smiled at him affectionately. “Anything for you!”

The gilded doors of the ballroom burst open with a thunderous bang.

Every head turned.

I stepped inside in a plain black suit. I looked out of place among all that luxury.

My expression was darker than my suit. My gaze cut through the crowd and fixed on the couple on stage.

“Quincy?!” Moon was shocked to see me.

She still remembered me.

Eight years ago, Xavier and I had appeared at her side. However, I later chose to leave.

Ryan took Moon’s arm and pretended to be startled. “Moon, who is this gentleman?”

“Who are you? How did you get in here? Security!” Moon’s assistant snapped.

Several guards closed in and tried to drag me out.

I gave them a cold look and said, “Move.”

The burly guards froze under my stare and hesitated.

I walked toward the stage.

My shoes clicked on the marble floor.

“Moon, I brought you a gift.”

I took a small urn from my pocket and placed it on the stage.

The plain white urn stood out sharply against the vibrant red.

“You lunatic! You madman!”

Moon went pale. She knocked the urn to the floor, and ashes spilled everywhere.

“Ahhh!!!” Ryan gasped and moved behind Moon. His face was pale.

I stared at the smear of gray on the floor, and my eyes turned red with anger.

“Moon, you've caused Xavier's death already! You want to destroy the last peace he had as well?” I forced the words out through gritted teeth.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Moon shouted.

“Xavier had a mental breakdown. Even if he’s dead, that has nothing to do with me!”

“Really? That has nothing to do with you?” I laughed.

“He stayed eight years by your side and paved the way for you. He protected you from every business scheme. He took every insult for you.

“And in the end, you call him mentally ill?

“You locked him up in that hospital. You drugged him and tortured him every day.

“You ruined his hands and his mind, just to clear a spot for your crush.”

My voice rose. Every word hit like a hammer.

The guests began to whisper. Their gazes shifted to Moon and Ryan.

“Ridiculous!” Moon snapped.

“Throw this lunatic out of here!”

This time, the guards did not hesitate. They lunged at me.

My gaze turned fierce. I moved and slipped past them with ease.

In a flash, I struck. One by one, I threw them to the floor.

In seconds, four guards lay groaning on the floor.

The ballroom fell silent.

No one expected a man who looked so lean to be so deadly.

I looked at Moon and smiled.

I pointed at her and Ryan. “Moon, and you, Ryan!

“I’ll not only ruin you and strip you of everything, but I’ll also make you suffer exactly like Xavier suffered.

“I’ll force you to kneel at his grave and repent until death comes to claim you!”

The engagement ceremony turned chaotic. Moon and Ryan were the biggest joke in the city.

The next morning, Sterling Corp’s PR team went into action.

The internet was flooded with dirt about me.

[Breaking News: Mysterious man crashes engagement ceremony. Rumored to be Ms. Sterling’s ex, driven by jealousy!]

[Insider Report: Sources claim Mr. Zane has a family history of mental illness. Ms. Sterling did her best to help.]

[Quincy Miller, missing for eight years, has a mysterious past and unstable behavior.]

They tried to make me look insane and blame Xavier’s death on his own mental issues.

Public opinion turned. People began to sympathize with Moon and Ryan.

Ryan spoke to reporters with a sorrowful face.

“I don’t know Mr. Miller. I don’t understand why he hates me so much.

“As for Xavier, I’m heartbroken.

“Moon has done a lot for him over the years. We both hope he can get better.”

What a hypocrite! Pretending to be innocent.

In her office, Moon read the online comments and finally relaxed.

“Where’s Quincy now?” she asked her assistant.

“We can’t find him. It’s like he disappeared. There’s no trace of him anywhere!”

Moon frowned. I had been a mystery eight years ago. Eight years later, I was even harder to read.

“Find him. No matter what it takes, find him!”

She did not know I was still close by.

At that moment, I was sitting in a coffee shop. My fingers flew across the keyboard.

Lines of code flowed across the screen.

“So, they want to use the media to ruin me?” I muttered under my breath. My eyes were full of contempt.

“Let’s wait and see.”

At 3 p.m., Sterling Corp held an emergency press conference.

Moon and Ryan stood side by side, ready to clear their names in front of the press.

“About the recent rumors, I want to clarify—” Moon began.

Before she could finish, all the screens in the hall, including the reporters’ laptops and phones, suddenly changed.

A high-definition video started playing on its own.

The scene showed a hallway inside a mental hospital.

Ryan glared at a doctor. “Increase the dosage! I want him so broken that he should be unable to even think.”

The doctor hesitated. “Mr. White, if we keep this up, he’ll die.”

Ryan sneered. “Good! That’ll save me the trouble.

“I should be Moon’s husband! Xavier doesn’t deserve it.”

Then, the screen switched to another video.

This time, Ryan was speaking to Xavier directly.

“Don’t blame me for this, Xavier. You should’ve known better than to stand in my way.” Ryan had a fake smile on his face.

“Moon always loved me. You were just a stepping stone for her success.

“Now that she’s made it big, you’re no longer needed!”

In the video, Xavier tried to fight back, but two nurses grabbed him and forced him into the shockwave therapy room.

His screams echoed through the speakers and filled the press hall.

Reporters went wild. Cameras flashed on the stage where Ryan stood, pale and frozen.

“No! That’s fake! It’s edited!”

Ryan screamed in panic and completely lost control.

Moon sat there in shock and stared at the cruel man on the screen. She could not believe this was the same person she once thought was pure and perfect.

At the end of the video, my recorded message played. The cold, robotic tone echoed through the hall.

“Moon, do you see him clearly now?

“This is the man you swore to protect for life. You’re blind, inside and out!

“This is only the first gift. You should look forward to the rest. The real show hasn’t even begun.”