Free Web NovelChapter 350: Chapter 348: The Betrayer in the Dream
"Have you ever played chess?"
"No."
"Unlike Xiangqi, in chess, there are situations where the king must lead the charge himself."
Dr. Quinlan briefly explained the rules to her, then drew six chess pieces on the side.
"King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, Pawn..." He tapped the spot for the king, his gaze falling upon her.
Mia Grant seemed to understand. "You want to ask which one I think I am?"
"You are the king."
Mia Grant thought for a moment, then asked, "Then what are you trying to ask?"
"Which piece do you think Yates Donovan is?" he coaxed. "The knight? Or the queen?"
After a long silence, Mia Grant shook her head. "He isn’t on the board."
This answer was completely outside of Dr. Quinlan’s expectations.
Even with his prompting, she hadn’t been swayed.
"Because he’s an anomaly. He’s outside the chessboard, so the player has no ability to control him."
Dr. Quinlan tried to analyze her words, thinking along her line of logic for a moment before saying, "In other words, there’s a high probability he’s the player you’re talking about."
!!!
Mia Grant shot to her feet, knocking over the glass of milk in her hand.
The glass shattered on the floor. Fortunately, there was only a little milk left, so it didn’t spread too quickly.
Dr. Quinlan quickly concealed the surprise and shock in his eyes.
He grabbed the tissue box from the table and knelt beside her. "Careful. I’ll get it, I’ll get it."
Mia Grant’s outstretched fingertips trembled. She touched a shard and then pulled her hand back.
The man rolled up his sleeves, used tissues to soak up the milk, and then picked up the shards through the paper.
There were quite a few fragments. He knelt on one knee, cleaning them up meticulously, afraid of missing even the smallest sliver.
It was during this long, quiet moment that Mia Grant asked softly, "Is there a high probability that he’s the player?"
"..." Dr. Quinlan calmly pulled out two more tissues. While wiping the floor, he said, "Based on my understanding of him, he probably wouldn’t rack his brain to play this kind of mentally exhausting game."
"In high school, he couldn’t even be bothered to sit still and do a basic, entry-level Sudoku puzzle."
"He’s not a very patient person."
"However..."
"However?" Mia Grant blinked.
"However, if he’s really sick in the head, then he just might."
"..."
The man seemed to hear a heavy swallow, as if she were gulping down all the glass shards on the floor along with a mouthful of blood.
He tossed the tissue-wrapped shards into the trash can. It was empty, so the fragments made a dull thud as they landed.
He looked up at her, that sense of affability undiminished. He had an inoffensive face that made people feel at ease.
Unlike someone genuinely gentle like Hayes Hughes, he used this harmless-looking face to "deceive" quite a few patients throughout his career.
"So, is he the betrayer from your dream?"
"..."
BOOM. Mia Grant felt as if she had truly jumped onto the chessboard that had been casually tossed on the table.
She was like a sacrificial maiden, tied to a cross on an altar, being roasted by raging flames, completely unable to see the situation before her.
She couldn’t tell who was playing what role in this game.
She seemed to be the most important piece, yet her fate was not in her own hands.
RUSTLE.
As Mia Grant sat up straight and returned to her seat, she crumpled the piece of paper from the table into a ball and tossed it into the trash can.
"Instead of asking you all these questions, I might as well ask myself."
"If you don’t mind? I’d like to swear."
Dr. Quinlan watched her. From the shape of her mouth, he guessed she probably hadn’t sworn much in her life. The word wasn’t crude, and it didn’t seem out of place coming from her.
At this moment, she was looking at him with a playful expression.
Like the King on the board, breaking free from its constraints, unwilling to be controlled by another.
And so, the King overturned the board and became the new player.
’Is this a good sign?’
He couldn’t be sure. He felt he would need one or two more heart-to-hearts like today’s to be certain.
But, judging by her attitude, this girl probably had no intention of ever seeing him again.
But there was one thing he could be sure of—
"Yates Donovan isn’t that person, right?"
"..."
"Actually, you don’t need to be so anxious. The fact that he isn’t is a good thing for you. It means you have an indestructible ace in the hole."
"Right now, he’s like a wild card on the field."
"Even if he really is the player, no matter the situation, he is under your control."
"He can be the queen, the bishop, knight, rook, or pawn."
"He can even take your place and become the king."
Meeting her beautiful, dark, and indifferent eyes, which showed not a ripple of emotion, Dr. Quinlan smiled. "Unless... you don’t trust him."
"For now, based on my judgment, the relationship between you two is subtle, but also solid."
"It’s just that you’ve revealed so little, there’s one thing I haven’t quite figured out yet."
"What?" Mia Grant asked coldly.
"You’re clearly aware of everything I’m saying. So what is it you’re so worried about?"
"You must have told Yates Donovan about this dream, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had him make an appointment with me for you."
"So, you’ve revealed your will to survive to him, hoping to win over this ace in the hole so he can save you at the critical moment."
"But only to *save* you."
"And not... to eliminate the betrayer."
"So, what is it that’s holding you back?"
"..."
"You’re afraid, yet you don’t want to harm this betrayer? Is that how I should understand it for now?"
Pretending not to see the tremor in Mia Grant’s pupils, he turned to the side, took a clean paper cup, and filled it with water, his back to her. "You know who the betrayer is."
"It’s not that you don’t act because you don’t know."
"On the contrary, it’s precisely *because* you know. That’s why you can’t act."
"Because this person has, from the very beginning, played a non-aggressive role in your mind."
"So much so that you’ve forgotten every piece on the board can capture another."
"..."
"The most beautiful things are often the most dangerous."
"Let me guess, could this beautiful piece be—the Queen? The Queen in your heart?"
—
"You don’t need to look at me like that."
"I mean you no harm. I’ve said you can think of me as a dear friend. If you’re not comfortable with that, just seeing me as a regular doctor is fine too."
He placed the paper cup on the coffee table in front of her.
"I may be something of a hack, but I still have the basic professional ethics of a doctor."
"I won’t reveal the contents of our conversation today to anyone, and that includes Yates."
"Alright, let’s get back on track. Your long-term insomnia and vivid dreams, filled with these fragmented pieces of information, point to two possibilities."
"One is that you’ve actually experienced it. Perhaps you suffered a major trauma, causing abnormalities in how your brain processes memories and emotions. We usually call this—Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."
"The other possibility is a confusion caused by an anxiety disorder or another psychological disorder, which often makes you unable to distinguish between dreams and reality."
"Of course, if you want to know the source of the problem for certain, my advice is to go to a hospital and undergo a full series of evaluations."
