System 088's urgent, top-priority warning was like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, instantly snapping Lin Nuannuan out of the complex emotions she had been experiencing because of Xie Chen's vulnerability.

Premature awakening of the main consciousness? Decreased stability of the mission world?

These words, put together, point to a terrifying possibility—what she perceives as "reality," this world of domineering CEOs, may not be the whole truth! Xie Chen, this obsessive, fragile man with a tragic past, may harbor a far greater and more astonishing secret at his core!

She looked down at Xie Chen, who was still tightly holding her in his arms, fast asleep. His breathing was even, and the pain between his brows seemed to have subsided temporarily, but his dependent posture remained unchanged. At this moment, he was as harmless as a beast that had sheathed its claws. But the system warning meant that this calm was only a temporary illusion; something far more powerful, lurking deep within his consciousness, was stirring prematurely because of the extreme emotional impact of last night!

Is this a blessing or a curse? If her "subjective consciousness" awakens, will Xie Chen disappear? And what will become of her?

Countless questions churned in her mind like boiling bubbles, yet she found no answers. After issuing that warning, System 088 fell silent again, as if its energy had run out, or... been interfered with by some force.

The first rays of dawn slanted through the rain-soaked windows into the study, dispelling the gloom. The light fell on Xie Chen's face, and his thick eyelashes fluttered, as if he were about to wake.

Lin Nuannuan's heart leaped into her throat. She could almost foresee his possible reaction after he regained consciousness—shame and anger, rage, an even colder aloofness, and perhaps... a destructive urge born from having his deepest vulnerability exposed.

She instinctively tried to break free from his embrace and escape before he woke up. However, the moment she moved, Xie Chen's arms around her waist tightened reflexively, and he let out a muffled, dissatisfied murmur, as if protesting her departure in his dream.

This unconscious dependence froze Lin Nuannuan's movements.

In the end, Xie Chen woke up.

His awakening was not instantaneous. First, his eyelashes trembled violently, then his brows furrowed tightly, as if resisting some kind of headache. When he finally slowly opened his eyes, his deep eyes held the confusion of just waking up, and a trace of lingering fear from the nightmare that had not completely faded.

His gaze first fell on Lin Nuannuan's face, which was so close to his, and he seemed momentarily stunned and confused, as if he didn't understand why she was there and why he was holding her so tightly.

Immediately, fragments of last night's memories flooded his mind like a tidal wave—torrential rain, thunder, uncontrollable fear, desperate screams, and... this warm body that he clung to like a lifeline, offering him clumsy comfort.

Lin Nuannuan held her breath, nervously observing every subtle change in his face. She saw the confusion in his eyes quickly replaced by astonishment, followed by a surge of shame, which instantly transformed into an almost instinctive rage—a fury that stemmed from the invasion of his deepest privacy!

His face darkened visibly, his eyes as deep as the sea before a storm, and the muscles in his arms around her waist tensed instantly, the force almost breaking her waist!

It's coming! Lin Nuannuan closed her eyes in despair, waiting for the storm she had anticipated to arrive.

However, the expected rough shoving, cold questioning, and even punishment did not come immediately.

Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Lin Nuannuan could feel his body stiffen, hear his breathing suddenly become heavy, and feel the force tightening around her waist, yet forcibly restraining itself at a certain critical point.

He was struggling.

Reason and the violence arising from his exposed vulnerability were locked in a fierce battle within him.

Finally, he abruptly released his arms from her, the force so great that Lin Nuannuan staggered before regaining her balance.

Xie Chen quickly stood up, his back to her, his movements so fast they almost created a gust of wind. He raised his hand and pressed hard on his throbbing temples, his back straight yet revealing an indescribable tension and dishevelment.

"go out."

He spoke, his voice hoarse and low, carrying an undercurrent of emotion that he tried desperately to suppress but still managed to betray. He didn't look at her; his command was concise and cold.

But this was the best outcome Lin Nuannuan could imagine. He didn't react immediately, didn't pursue the matter, and simply let her leave.

Without the slightest hesitation, she responded softly with a "Yes," and practically fled the study, gently closing the door behind her. Only when she returned to her bedroom, locked the door, and leaned against it did she dare to breathe heavily, her heart still pounding.

He didn't lose control. At least, he didn't completely lose control.

Since that night, the atmosphere in the apartment has become even more eerie.

Xie Chen didn't bring up that night again, as if the breakdown during the downpour was just a shared, forgotten dream. He resumed his early mornings and late nights, even busier than before. But Lin Nuannuan could keenly sense that something was different.

The way he looked at her was no longer pure indifference or cold scrutiny, but rather contained an extremely complex kind of inquiry that even he himself might not have realized, and... a hint of barely perceptible confusion.

He still rarely spoke to her, but certain details were subtly changing.

For example, he no longer forbade her from entering the living room at night. On one occasion, Lin Nuannuan discovered that the lavender scented mat that she had "unintentionally" placed in the living room to help calm her nerves had been left in the corner of the sofa with his tacit approval.

For example, one evening at dinner, he casually asked, "Are you still afraid of thunder?" After she shook her head in surprise, he didn't say anything more. But that night, the wall lamp in the hallway leading from the living room to her bedroom stayed on all night for the first time ever.

These subtle changes, like scattered sparks in the darkness, are faint, yet undeniably real.

Lin Nuannuan responded cautiously to these changes, still playing the obedient role, but the tension in her heart caused by the system warning never eased. She was constantly on the lookout for any unusual behavior from Xie Chen.

Her observations were not in vain.

She began to notice that Xie Chen would occasionally fall into a brief daze. Sometimes it was during meals, sometimes it was during breaks from working on documents. His gaze would become distant and empty, and his fingers would unconsciously rub the silver ring engraved with "RS" that she had never seen him wear, but which he always carried with him.

Once, she even heard him in his study, repeatedly muttering a vague syllable in a very low voice, like "...read..." or something else. When she tried to hear it clearly, he would suddenly stop as if he had just woken up, exuding an aura of being disturbed and agitated.

"Nian"? Is it remembrance? Or... a name?

Lin Nuannuan's heart inexplicably raced. She recalled the "active core memory fragments" mentioned by the system. Were these moments of absentmindedness, these unconscious whispers, signs that her "subjective consciousness" was trying to break free from its constraints?

That afternoon, Lin Nuannuan was in the living room reading a book about trauma psychology—something she had recently found in an attempt to understand Xie Chen—when Xie Chen unexpectedly returned home early.

His face looked somewhat pale, and there was an undeniable weariness between his brows, but his eyes were unusually sharp, as if he had just gone through a mentally exhausting battle.

Instead of going straight back to his study as usual, he stopped in the living room and looked at the book in Lin Nuannuan's hand. The words "Trauma and Repair" were clearly visible on the cover.

His eyes instantly became deep and unfathomable, carrying a penetrating power that seemed to see right through people.

Lin Nuannuan's heart tightened, and she subconsciously tried to close the book, but it was too late.

Xie Chen walked step by step to her, looking down at her. He didn't question her, didn't mock her, but simply asked in a calm yet unsettling tone:

"You want to cure me?"

His questions were direct and sharp, like a scalpel, precisely dissecting all of Lin Nuannuan's careful pretense and probing.

Lin Nuannuan looked up at him, feeling completely exposed under the gaze of his all-seeing eyes. She opened her mouth, but found herself unable to answer.

Was she trying to cure him? Was it for the mission? Or... was there something else mixed in, feelings that even she herself couldn't quite explain?

Seeing her speechless expression, Xie Chen's lips slowly curved into a very faint, cold smile. There was no warmth in that smile, only a kind of all-knowing, almost tragic mockery.

He leaned down, close enough that they could feel each other's breath. His gaze locked onto her eyes, his voice low and clear, each word spoken like a pronouncement:

"it's useless."

Some wounds can never heal.

“Like some people,” he said, his fingertips lightly brushing her trembling eyelashes, the movement carrying a heart-stopping tenderness, yet his eyes were as cold as frost, “they are destined to live only in darkness.”

After saying that, he straightened up, stopped looking at her, turned around and walked into the study, closing the door behind him.

Lin Nuannuan stood frozen in place, the book "Trauma and Repair" in her hand becoming incredibly heavy.

He saw through her. He told her clearly that her efforts were in vain.

"Destined to live only in darkness"...

Was he referring to himself, or... hinting at her fate?

As he approached, she clearly saw a faint, unusual dark golden light deep within his pupils, which vanished in an instant.

What is that...?

The suspense in the story reaches a new level at this moment—the male protagonist seems to have seen through the female protagonist's intentions and rejected them, and is the fleeting strange phenomenon in his eyes a sign of the awakening of "subjective consciousness"? Faced with a doomed ending, what will the female protagonist do? Everything awaits to be revealed in the next chapter.