Dominic tugged at his tie, trying to shake the tight, suffocating pressure in his chest.

"Call the sanatorium now!" he said into the intercom, anxiety edging his tone. "Ask how Isobel is doing. I want every detail. I want to know everything about her right now!"

A moment later, his assistant, Nolan Kirk, reported back. "They said Ms. Atkinson's condition is stable. She's resting and is under quiet care. They don't recommend disturbing her."

"I want a photo or a video!" Dominic demanded at once. "I need to see her myself!"

He needed something concrete, even if it was just a still image.

Soon, a photo came through.

In the photo, Isobel was in a hospital gown, sitting by a window with a book in her hands. Her profile looked calm and still. The image wasn't very clear, and the angle was a little off.

Dominic stared at the screen, frowning.

It was Isobel, but something felt wrong.

He

Isobel had always been capable and independent. Compared to her, Zara looked like a cheap knockoff.

For the first time, Dominic wondered if he'd made a terrible mistake by betting everything on Zara just because of his stubbornness.

The answer to his question showed itself the very next day.

The launch was supposed to be a big moment for Knight Tech. Instead, it turned into a train wreck.

Under the bright stage lights, Zara stepped out in a designer gown, looking polished to perfection like a star. But despite the flawless makeup and stunning silhouette, the panic in her eyes broke right through the facade.

She clutched the script and read line after line in a flat, mechanical voice.

Every time the script got even a little technical, she stumbled over the words and covered it with an awkward smile.

At first, the audience was caught up in her looks. But when she kept tripping over 

A cold needle pierced Isobel's skin, pushing an unknown liquid drug into her body.

Then, she was roughly thrown into a musty-smelling room. The iron door slammed shut and locked with a clang behind her.

This was a living hell, where the so-called "treatments" were full-body convulsions brought on by electric shocks.

After that, countless drugs would follow. If Isobel resisted, people would hold her struggling body down and force the drugs into her.

Even a random orderly could beat her up for no reason at all.

Isobel curled up on the cold concrete floor. Her nails were broken from struggling and resisting. Blood oozed from her fingers, mixing with the dust on the ground to form a dark red grime.

Her only time outside the room was spending half an hour in the activity room with an old wall-mounted TV. 

One day, Zara appeared on the TV screen. Her delicate face evoked sympathy, yet she looked resolute. She was attending a highly anticipated tech award ceremony.

Clad in an elegant gown, Zara stood under the spotlight and accepted the "Most Influential Rising Tech Star of the Year" award from the presenter.

The host introduced her with exaggerated flair. "Ms. Zara Clarke isn't just a renowned celebrity. She's also a hidden tech prodigy! During her college years, she participated in several national research projects and earned top scholarships. 

"Today, she's made groundbreaking advances in intelligent companionship for autism intervention."

Isobel felt her blood freeze instantly.

The screen began playing a review of Zara's "achievements".

Those lines of code, algorithm structures, the countless technical challenges Isobel had tackled late into the night alongside Dominic… 

They were all credited to Zara!

Even Isobel's college graduation project—the smart system that had brought both her and Dominic praise—was now credited entirely to Zara!

The camera panned to the audience, where Dominic sat in the VIP section. His gaze was fixed on Zara on stage. There was a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

Next, the host interviewed several of their college classmates. They spoke with certainty about how diligent and brilliant Zara had been, and how she had displayed remarkable talent in computer science.

It was as if Isobel, the real academic prodigy, had never existed.

Isobel trembled all over as her stomach began churning violently.

She couldn't believe Dominic had bribed everyone to erase her from her own life so he could put Zara in her place!

All her hard work, talent, and past achievements had been so easily stolen and handed over to someone else, as if they were their own.

Zara had replaced Isobel entirely inside out!

Just as Isobel was shaking, the TV screen suddenly switched to breaking news.

"Breaking news! A major medical accident occurred today at a high-end rehab center in Stentland. A Colandian female patient, who was bedridden long-term due to a car accident, has tragically passed away due to a medication error…"

Martha's pale, peaceful, but lifeless face flashed across the screen.

Isobel froze instantly, feeling as though she had been struck by lightning.

She immediately thought of Dominic. It had to be him and Zara!

To control her completely, or perhaps just out of convenience, they had joined forces to cause Martha's death.

Isobel stared at Martha's photo on the TV screen. The light in her eyes slowly faded away into nothingness.

She collapsed onto the cold floor, like a broken doll drained of life.

After a long while, footsteps and the sound of a key turning came from outside the iron door.

A tall figure in a white coat and mask stood in the doorway. They spoke in a low voice, tinged with a barely perceptible urgency. "Isobel, I came too late…"

The light blurred the person's features.

Isobel looked up, her gaze devoid of life.

She stared at the newcomer numbly, as though he were a stranger with no connections to her.

…

In the conference room, Dominic was presenting the ultimate "prodigy celebrity" plan he had crafted for Zara.

The slides detailed every step he intended to take to propel her to stardom.

However, his phone kept on vibrating.

It was the butler, Barry Smith, who called. Since morning, Myles had been crying nonstop and breaking everything within reach. Anyone who approached him would trigger even more intense outbursts.

Dominic ordered impatiently, "Get Isobel to deal with him!"

A relative from his hometown then called. They said the Knight residence's smart security system had completely shut down, causing alarms to blare throughout the neighborhood.

Dominic massaged his temples irritably. "Isobel used to take care of this. Get her to deal with it!"

Without warning, the chief technology officer, Ethan Caldwell, barged into the conference room with a pale face. 

"Mr. Knight, our new project's core database is under an unknown attack. The logic is locked, so w-we can't crack it. It seems the early security protocols Mrs. Knight set up have been triggered…"

The entire tech team was at a loss.

"Then get her to deal with this at once!" Dominic's tone carried a hint of urgency that he didn't even realize was there.

Soon, he realized something was off.

He had sent Isobel to the sanatorium, cutting her off from the world. In fact, he hadn't contacted her in ages.

Dominic dismissed everyone. For the first time in forever, he called the number he had deliberately ignored.

However, his calls went unanswered.

For some strange reason, he felt anxiety closing over him.

Suddenly, an automated text message appeared on the screen. 

"Notification: your domain 'loveforever.com' has been canceled due to overdue payments. All data has been permanently erased."

Dominic froze.

He and Isobel had registered that domain back in college to save every memory from their time together. It included screenshots of their first conversations, the code they'd written together, his first love letter to her, and photos he'd taken in excitement when Myles was born.

Later, he got busy with work and stopped logging in to the website, so she quietly maintained it.

Now it had been canceled due to overdue payments.

After reading the text, Dominic felt as though an invisible hand had gripped his heart, causing it to stop beating suddenly.

Dominic tugged at his tie, trying to shake the tight, suffocating pressure in his chest.

"Call the sanatorium now!" he said into the intercom, anxiety edging his tone. "Ask how Isobel is doing. I want every detail. I want to know everything about her right now!"

A moment later, his assistant, Nolan Kirk, reported back. "They said Ms. Atkinson's condition is stable. She's resting and is under quiet care. They don't recommend disturbing her."

"I want a photo or a video!" Dominic demanded at once. "I need to see her myself!"

He needed something concrete, even if it was just a still image.

Soon, a photo came through.

In the photo, Isobel was in a hospital gown, sitting by a window with a book in her hands. Her profile looked calm and still. The image wasn't very clear, and the angle was a little off.

Dominic stared at the screen, frowning.

It was Isobel, but something felt wrong.

Her eyes looked too blank, as if they had no focus at all. They weren't like the warm, bright eyes he 

Chapter 8