Page 108 of The Cute Psycho

"He wanted your father to pay him forty million for access to his research." I smirk, suddenly making sense of Valentino's presence at the laboratory when I'd been found. "I'm guessing your father wanted to see for himself what he was going to pour his money into, so he sent your brother to check the project—incognito, of course."

"And he found you," Marcello says, his expression grave. I nod.

"You know, Tino never told me the specifics of how he ended up in that place. Thinking back, it does seem unusual that he would miraculously find you when your father hadn't been able to for years."

"Exactly. Your father never shared his knowledge about ProjectHumanitas, and now I have to wonder if somehow he wasn't involved."

He would have had many opportunities to tell my father who had kidnapped Vanya and me and why, but he'd never done it. Maybe he just didn't want to incriminate himself.

"Can you look into your father's finances around that time?" I ask Marcello, hoping I can find a paper trail at least.

"Will do." He gives me a brisk nod, and I rise to leave.

"What happened to you there?" he asks as I'm on my way to the door. "Why do you want to find themnow?"

I turn slightly, shrugging. "Things that happen to helpless children," I add, not wanting to get into details. I may not remember what happened, but my body is another story. "Miles and another person were the ones who poisoned Misha against my father and our family, promising him the leadership if he helped them. And Miles is the one who took Katya."

"I see," Marcello replies, his hands in his pockets. "I'll look into it."

"Thanks." I give him a mock salute, leaving.

Behavioral therapy.

Besides the experiments, they also performed behavioral therapy. Then... What if my crises are a result of that therapy? And what if they have a cure?

I don't get to dwell on that as another thought intrudes in my mind, and I find myself surreptitiously sneaking upstairs, finding Sisi's room with ease.

"I told you I'm not in the mood," I hear her voice as I slowly open the door.

"You." She furrows her brows when she sees me come inside her room, locking the door behind me. "What are you doing here?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at me.

For a second, my entire mood is shattered as I realize I'mnotwelcome.

"I was visiting your brother and thought I'd drop by." I feign a smile.

"You're taking too many risks." She scowls at me, getting up from her bed and coming toward me. "We just saw each other too."

"So what if I wanted to see you again?" I give her my most charming smile as my arm sneaks around her waist, bringing her into me. "Tell me you didn't miss me." I inhale the scent of her freshly washed hair, and for the first time today, I feel at peace.

"We just saw each other," she sighs, "when would I have had the time to miss you?" She raises an eyebrow at me, seeking to disentangle my hands from her body.

"You should go before anyone finds you here," she repeats, and I feel completely blindsided.

What happened? What did I do wrong?

"Are you feeling okay?" I ask, suddenly worried about her injury. My hand grazes her forehead, but she stops me, flinging it away.

"Yes, don't worry. I'm just tired and I want to sleep." She turns her back to me, returning to the bed and getting under her blanket.

"You should. You're not sleeping enough," I tell her, worried I've been keeping her up too late at night. Taking a seat by the bed, I place my hand over hers.

"Yeah..." she agrees, but something in her expression bothers me. "Maybe we should stop seeing each other for a few days," she suggests, her words throwing me off completely.

"What do you mean?"

"So I can rest a little." She yawns, snuggling deeper under her blanket.

I'm about to protest, but seeing her so tired makes me reconsider my stance.I have been keeping her up too late.Even though I'm loath to, since I know it's going to be painful to be without her, I need to let her rest a little.

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