Chapter 1

Isabella sat in front of Ezekiel, the world’s most renowned hypnotist. Her thin face and sunken eyes, combined with her reverent demeanor, made her look like a devout believer. "I want to forget someone," she said. Her voice trembled, and even her frail shoulders shook. Ezekiel pulled out his old pocket watch. After tracing a graceful arc through the air, it fell steadily into Isabella’s line of sight. Her gaze quietly fixed on the watch, waiting patiently for him to begin. "Is there any unfinished wish you’d like to fulfill first?" Ezekiel asked. Isabella shook her head. Ezekiel felt his question was pointless. If she weren’t utterly despairing, how could this young woman have chosen such a drastic way to sever ties with her past? "Where should I send you after the hypnosis?" he asked, changing the topic. As an internationally renowned hypnotist, he had helped many people recover lost memories and erase painful ones. Those who left his clinic often seemed reborn. But Isabella wanted all her memory erased. Once the hypnosis was complete, she might end up a fool. He needs to arrange a place for her to go afterward, so he wouldn’t be stuck with her. Isabella hesitated, then eventually wrote down a string of numbers. "This is my husband’s phone number. Send me back to him," she said. Her eyes inexplicably reddened, and her voice dropped to a murmur. "If he doesn’t want me, could you… could you leave me at Rainbow Bridge?" Ezekiel, intent on doing his job well, nodded without hesitation. "Alright. Let’s begin." As the pocket watch swayed, an eerie, lulling melody filled Isabella’s ears. Her mind flickered with scenes of her past life. She saw her parents’ divorce, both of them fighting over her elder Sis. The younger version of her curled up in a corner, crying and begging them not to abandon her. She promised to eat well, study hard, and be a good child. Yet in the end, her father won the lawsuit and took her Sis. She stayed with her mother, who subjected her to daily beatings and scoldings, calling her a burden who had ruined her life. Amidst the thorns of hardship, Isabella defied fate and eventually became an outstanding university student. The scene shifted. At 19, she met Nathan Hill. He was like a ray of light piercing her dark life. He paid her tuition, taught her foreign languages, and polished her into a proper socialite before proposing to her. She believed all her misfortunes were worth enduring if they led her to Nathan. She was grateful to him and loved him deeply. After their marriage, she devoted herself entirely to being his sweet little wife. Then, three months ago, Nathan Hill pressured her to donate a kidney to her critically ill Sis. Isabella, afraid of pain and reluctant deep down, hesitated. But Nathan gripped her chin and said, "Bella, did you know why I married you? I gave you wealth and luxury so I could have your kidney." Isabella wasn’t stupid. Her face turned pale as paper. Trembling, she asked, "Nathan, have you ever loved me?" Nathan admitted, "Bella, I once loved your Sis deeply. Very deeply. But I promise you, as long as you save her, our marriage will remain valid. As long as she lives, I’ll have no regrets in this life." It was then Isabella realized his love had never belonged to her. Yet she loved him too much and relied on him too deeply. After all, he was the first man in her life who had treated her kindly. Unwilling to lose him, she decided to give up her kidney to preserve their hard-won marriage. The surgery was a success. While Isabella lay weak and barely alive in her hospital bed, she heard laughter from Nathan and her father in her Sis’s room. Tears streamed down her cheeks—bitter tears. She, too, had just undergone surgery, but neither her father nor her husband, the two men closest to her, cared about her survival. They only cared about Victoria, the prettier and smarter one. "If Victoria exists, why did Isabella have to be born?" she thought. From that moment on, she had no hope for the future. Her world lost all its color. So while Nathan stayed by Victoria’s side during her recovery, Isabella secretly arranged to meet the world’s most famous hypnotist for what would become the most successful hypnosis in history. When the session ended, Ezekiel was surprised to see Isabella’s once-dull eyes sparkle like obsidian. The gloom on her face was gone, replaced by an innocent, cheerful expression. Ezekiel picked up the note Isabella had written earlier and sent a text to Nathan: "Your wife is with me, only for three days. Come get her." Nathan was sitting quietly in Victoria’s hospital room when he received the message. Looking at the newly recovered Victoria filled him with a sense of relief. His assistant, Jayden, entered, respectfully handing him the phone. "Sir, there’s been a message for you." Annoyed at being interrupted, Nathan glanced at the screen. His sharp eyes narrowed before he sneered coldly. Scammers these days were ridiculous. His wife, Isabella, was clearly still lying in her hospital bed. After surgery, she was either asleep or too weak to move. How could she have run off and fallen prey to scammers? Yet, inexplicably irritated, he got up and strode to her hospital room to confirm her presence. Only by checking could he put his mind at ease. But when he pushed open the door, his face froze. The bed was neatly made, as if she had deliberately tidied it before leaving—a silent farewell. So, the text was real? Nathan’s dark eyes gleamed with frost. His fists clenched, knuckles cracking. "Bella," he muttered, "could you be any dumber?" Leaving the hospital to encounter scammers instead of resting? Only Isabella, the fool, could manage such a thing. He ordered his assistant to track the location of the sender’s phone. Luckily, the scammer didn’t seem too bright; the address was easy to find. Nathan grabbed some cash and drove to a chaotic, rundown area on the 6th Avenue. He couldn’t believe such a filthy place existed in the capital. After searching the area, he finally found Isabella outside a shop with a skull emblem. Her behavior, however, was… peculiar.