Chapter 40 The Only Tenderness
In the treatment room, Professor Klein took off his glasses and pressed his brows with his fingertips, his expression even more solemn than usual.
"Mr. Mo, I must remind you once more—" She pushed the assessment report to the center of the table, her fingertips heavily focusing on the value in the "Trust Threshold" column. The red mark was like a warning line.
"Your girlfriend's PTSD stems from extreme betrayal and existential crisis, making her far more sensitive to interpersonal boundaries than most people. Her experience as a human trafficking victim has subconsciously convinced her that any 'closeness' could harbor predatory tendencies, and you're the only person she currently dares to let down her guard. Once this trust collapses, it won't be a matter of rebuilding; it could directly trigger traumatic flashbacks, sending her back into the stressful state of 'abandonment.'"
Mo Xiaohan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with his back to her. His back was like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, revealing a tense and violent aura. The heavy rain was pouring outside the window, making his profile look cold.
"She doesn't believe the video that was fabricated by that bunch of bastards." There was a barely perceptible hint of relief in his voice, but it was quickly covered by hostility.
"It was a fluke this time." The professor adjusted his glasses, which he had put back on, the lenses reflecting a cold light. "She doesn't believe it because that experience has made her exceptionally keen in identifying 'betrayers.' But even a single instance of her forming a close connection with someone else could cause her to waver. If she wavers even a little, all the treatment will be wasted."
Mo Xiaohan turned around, his eyes filled with suppressed violence: "What do you want me to do?"
The professor pulled a bound treatment plan from a drawer and pushed it toward him. The label on the cover read, "Secure Bonding Enhancement Plan: 'Let her see for herself that your rejection of other members of the opposite sex is a natural reaction.'"
She paused, her fingertips drawing a line under the words "exclusive protection." "One of her core traumas is being pushed into danger by the person she trusts most. Therefore, the key to rebuilding her sense of security is to make sure she knows you will never be the source of harm. One thing you must remember is that this certainty can only be proven by you personally. Her sense of security can only be given by you."
Mo Xiaohan stared at the words on the plan in silence for a moment, then suddenly asked, "If one day she is completely well, will she still need me?"
Klein raised his eyebrows and smiled, a rare moment. "Mr. Mo, are you afraid of losing your value?"
He didn't answer, but turned and walked towards the bedroom. His back looked extremely lonely under the light of the corridor.
The professor looked at his back and murmured to himself, "Mad man... but he's surprisingly affectionate."
Three days later, Bangkok's top private club was brightly lit.
This was a charity reception attended by many Southeast Asian celebrities. Mo Xiaohan had never shown up in the past, but he came this time because Professor Klein insisted that he attend.
She said, "Cocktail parties are a natural 'display ground' for boundaries. Let her see through real-time monitoring the stark contrast between your alienation from everyone else and your indulgence towards her. This is currently the most effective 'exclusivity anchoring method,' allowing her to intuitively feel that the special treatment you give her isn't a temporary measure, but an instinctive choice."
So that night, Mo Xiaohan rarely appeared under the spotlight. His black handmade suit made his figure look even more upright. As soon as he entered, the originally noisy banquet hall became quiet in an instant.
Lin Wei, the casino daughter of the Lin Group who had once loudly declared that she wanted to be "Mrs. Mo", immediately walked over with a glass of champagne and twisted her waist when she saw Mo Xiaohan.
"Mr. Mo, long time no see." She curled her red lips, and her fingertips tried to hook his tie ambiguously: "What do you think of the last proposal?"
Mo Xiaohan didn't even raise his eyelids, and just uttered one word: "Get lost."
Lin Wei's smile froze on her face, but she kept getting closer, "Don't be so cold..."
——Snap!
There was a crisp sound of dislocated joints, and Lin Wei's wrist bones were suddenly broken by Mo Xiaohan!
"I say," he pinched her neck and pressed her against the champagne tower, the glass collapsing with a bang, his eyes as cold as if he were looking at a corpse: "Get out."
The whole place was dead silent.
At the same time, Ruan Xingchen was sitting on a swing in the manor garden, the tablet on his lap playing real-time surveillance footage of the banquet hall. This was the "auxiliary observation session" arranged by Professor Klein, and the corner of the screen was marked "Emotional Fluctuation Monitoring."
On the screen, the scene of countless beauties surrounding Mo Xiaohan made her chest feel tight.
"What are you looking at?"
A low voice suddenly came from behind her, her hands shook, and she almost dropped the tablet.
Mo Xiaohan came back at some point, holding a sunflower covered in dew in his hand.
"Aren't you...going to be gone for two hours?" she asked stutteringly.
He bent down and handed her the sunflower: "Too noisy."
Ruan Xingchen took the flowers and suddenly noticed a faint lipstick mark on the cuff of his suit. Her heart suddenly sank, as if pricked by a needle.
"Those women..." She lowered her head and plucked the petals, "They are all very beautiful."
Mo Xiaohan raised his eyebrows, suddenly knelt on one knee in front of her, and forced her to look at him: "Are you jealous?"
Ruan Xingchen blushed instantly to her ears: "No!"
He chuckled, brushing his fingertips across her hot cheeks: "They are not even as good as a hair on your head."
"Did you treat them like this before?" She hesitated for a moment, but still asked.
"Yeah." He answered simply.
"Why?"
He stared into her eyes, with the familiar paranoia and tenderness in them: "Because it's dirty."
Ruan Xingchen was stunned for a moment, then smiled, the haze in her eyes dissipating as if blown away by the wind. She reached out and stroked his tense jawline, whispering, "But you hugged me the first time you saw me."
Mo Xiaohan grabbed her wrist, lowered his head and placed a light kiss on her palm: "You are different."
——You are the name engraved in my bones and blood, and the only reason I live.
In the treatment room the next day, Klein looked at the curve on the monitor and smiled with a rare sense of relief.
"Trust increased by 17%." She closed the folder. "It seems the effect of 'Boundary Anchoring Therapy' is more significant than I expected."
Ruan Xingchen fiddled with the candy paper boat and suddenly asked, "Professor, have you known about this for a long time..."
"Know what?"
"I know he..." Her ears turned slightly red, and her voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum, "He is only gentle to me."
Professor Klein looked at the light that had returned to her eyes and said calmly, "Science requires empirical evidence, but the bias of the human heart is sometimes more obvious than data."
The sunlight shone through the blinds onto the candy paper boat, flashing tiny lights. Ruan Xingchen looked down at the boat in his hand and smiled.
She finally understood that Mo Xiaohan's cruelty was directed at the world, while his gentleness... from beginning to end, was only given to her.
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