Chapter 1

In my past life, I was a top-tier criminal psychologist sent to the mountains to assist in an abduction case.

I rescued a girl who was all chained up and fighting for food with wild dogs. She didn’t know how to talk and bit anyone who came close.

To help her integrate into normal life, I taught her to walk on her two legs, dress herself, eat, talk, and read. Despite being bitten by her so badly that I had to get stitches, I continued staying by her side day and night.

Five years later, I helped her find her biological parents, who turned out to be the richest family in the city.

Yet, at her welcome banquet, she pulled the hem of her dress away, revealing old scars on her thighs and accusing me before hundreds of media partners and reporters.

“Not only did Professor Lawson teach me the rules of society, but he even taught me how to please and serve others. He'd bully me and hit me if I were disobedient.”

I was treated like a pariah overnight. The richest man in the city crippled me and hung me on the bridge over the sea as a warning to all.

My sister, who had severe depression, had her privacy violated. She was driven to slit her wrists and commit suicide.

In this life, the cellar door was kicked down once again.

The girl, all covered in filth and dirt, climbed toward me once more, hugging my leather shoes and sobbing.

I immediately took a step back and pulled out my body cam.

“The suspect is extremely aggressive. Call for female cops and have them bring restraint straps with them. I refuse to come into contact with any underage persons of the opposite gender.”

Chapter 1

Bam!

The iron door of the cellar was forcefully pried open by the special police force.

A terrible stench hit everyone.

A curled up shadow was trembling in a corner.

It was a girl.

Her hair was all tangled up, and her clothes were torn to shreds. There were even rusted chains meant for dogs hanging on her neck.

When the harsh light from outside shone in through the open door, she growled like a beast.

The captain leading the police squad inhaled sharply.

“Goodness! Lawson, I’m afraid this child has lost all her awareness as a human being.”

In my last lifetime, my heart broke at the scene before me. I jumped into the cellar without any hesitation, took off my jacket, and wrapped it around her.

She bit my forearm so hard, she took a piece of flesh with her.

I bore with the pain and refused to let go. I comforted her with gentle words and, step by careful step, carried her out of that hellhole.

I slowly became the only person she trusted.

She always wanted me standing at the door while she bathed, and always gripped a corner of my shirt while she slept.

I thought she had developed post-traumatic dependence on me.

Five years later, she became the heiress of the Callisto family and slandered me in the media. I had no way of clearing my name.

The memory made my stomach churn.

The girl slowly got used to the light filtering into the cellar. She looked up at me standing at the entrance.

A strange glint broke through the dazed look in her eyes. In the blink of an eye, she was on all fours, scrambling up the stairs wildly.

“Watch out!” the captain yelled.

She climbed out of the cellar and pounced straight at me.

Just like in my past lifetime, she wanted to wrap her arms around my leg and rub her cheek against my trousers.

I looked coldly at her as I took three huge steps back.

“Stay away from me.”

She stood stunned, and so did the other policemen around us.

The old bachelor David Lynch, who bought the girl and was handcuffed to the side, immediately cried, “How could you so-called experts from the city be so heartless? Refusing to rescue a pitiful girl like her!”

The girl sprawled on the muddy water and stared hard at me. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and let out a piercing wail.

She tugged at her already torn and tattered clothes, exposing her shoulder.

The captain looked at me with a frown.

“Professor Lawson, what are you doing? She’s clearly traumatized and distressed. As a professional psychologist, you should be comforting her.”

I looked expressionlessly at the girl.

Others might not be able to tell, but I was a top profiler in my field.

I could see it as clear as day. There was no fear whatsoever in her eyes, only tentative probing.

What startled me even more was the targeted aggressiveness hidden in her eyes as she looked at me, which made the hair on my arms stand on end.

I switched on the body cam hanging at my chest and said in a cold, piercing voice, “Firstly, I'm a psychologist and profiler, not a nanny.

“Secondly, the victim is female and isn't properly dressed. According to procedures for handling cases, men should stay away.”

I turned to look at the captain.

“Captain Jones, I would like to call for two female colleagues to help control this situation. They should also come prepared with restraint straps.”

The captain was taken aback by my businesslike approach and asked hesitatingly, “Restraint straps? That wouldn’t be necessary, would it? She’s just a girl.”

I pointed at David.

“Just ask him. Did she bite off the finger of the woman from the west end of the village, who tried to draw near to her just last month?”

The look on David’s face changed. Meanwhile, the girl kept mum.

The captain immediately said with a wave of his hand, “Ladies! Prepare restraint straps!”

Two female cops armed to the teeth stepped forward and bound the girl up using restraint straps.

The girl struggled with all her might. Her gaze pierced through the crowd and landed straight on me. She stretched her hands out to me, a ragged, raspy voice coming from her throat.

“Hug… Hug…”

Some of the younger policemen standing by the side, who were more tender-hearted, started having tears in their eyes.

“Captain, this girl usually doesn’t care about anyone. She likes this expert and thinks he's friendly!” David yelled excitedly.

I sneered.

Likes me?

Why would a feral wolf child isolated from this world and an old bachelor have their eyes on me right away?

Why did she betray me in my past lifetime?

“Send her to the county hospital. Call for a tripartite joint consultation between the Women’s Federation, the Center for Protection of Minors, and the psychiatric hospital.”

The captain stood stunned. “The psychiatric hospital?”

I stared at the bitter, resentful look in the girl’s eyes.

“Yes. She exhibits a high level of antisocial personality traits and aggressive nature. Before we have a thorough psychiatric evaluation report on her, no one is to come into contact with her in private.”

At the mention of the psychiatric hospital, the girl stopped struggling at once.

Chapter 2

In a temporary workspace in the county police station, I sat before my computer, my fingers tapping the keyboard.

A freshly printed application for recusal lay on my desk.

It happened at the county police station in my past life as well.

David categorically asserted that the girl was a fool who knew nothing.

She trashed the police station, smashing everything in her way and even scratching three policewomen. The only time she would calm down was when I drew near to her.

The police chief gave special approval for me to be fully in charge of her psychological counseling and daily care.

That marked the beginning of hell for me.

I bought her clothes, fed her food, and patiently taught her to open her mouth to speak in an enclosed interrogation room.

All the blind spots that surveillance cameras failed to capture when we were alone in the room ended up being evidence against me of chronic abuse toward her.

The door was pushed open. Captain Jones walked in with a report in hand and a complicated expression on his face.

“Professor Lawson, the hospital couldn’t handle her. That girl was acting manic, breaking the IV bottle and waving the glass shard at her neck, refusing to allow anyone to come close. The nurse said that she kept making a sound that resembled your name.”

Captain Jones sighed.

“The chief wants you to rush over. She has a strange attachment to you, and you’re probably the only one who can solve this problem you caused in the first place.”

I sneered inwardly.

She was just being a venomous, scheming snake.

I handed my application for recusal to Captain Jones.

“I’m not going.”

Captain Jones was shocked. “This is a matter of life and death! If she were to take her own life…”

“She won’t,” I said, cutting him off expressionlessly. “Given the way she holds the glass shard, she won't be able to exert enough force to cause any real harm. She’s just threatening you guys.”

I stood up and pointed at the application letter.

“Captain Jones, I’m a psychology expert assigned by the provincial department, not her dedicated pacifier. As the person involved in this case is an underage girl who has been in long-term captivity, there is a great responsibility that she might suffer severe harm. From now on, I refuse any private, one-on-one and non-necessary interactions with her in any form.”

The captain was getting anxious. “We’re desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures!”

“No.”

I picked up my phone and dialed the number to the provincial department, switching the call to loudspeaker mode.

“Hello, Chester Lawson here. I’m currently at Green County assisting with an abduction case. I’ve found that the key victim here is an underage female. I'm requesting a female psychology expert to be assigned here immediately, and also for surveillance footage to be captured throughout the entire process with no blind spots.”

A solemn reply came through the phone. “Got it, Professor Lawson. We’ll have it arranged right away.”

Captain Jones’ jaw hit the floor.

“Lawson, isn’t this… Isn’t this too much? If word were to spread, others might think that we’re not handling our cases according to the rules.”

I looked back at him.

“Rules are meant to protect the good. Even if she dies, that should only happen with all procedures followed.”

Chapter 3

We rushed to the hospital and arrived half an hour later.

Hordes of people crowded around the door to the ward.

The girl was curled up in a corner, gripping a glass shard stained with blood. There were a few shallow cuts on her arm. She looked like a deer in the headlights, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

David, escorted down the hallway, was still trying to stir the pot.

“Oh, how terrible! This girl is a stubborn one. Mr. Lawson, will it kill you to go in, give her a hug and coax her?”

The doctors and nurses around him shot me looks of condemnation. They all thought I was being cold and heartless.

The girl spotted me through the glass pane on the door. Her eyes lit up, and she flung the glass shard far away. She opened her arms wide and ran stumbling toward the door.

“Lawson… Lawson…” she cried in a raw voice.

Everyone waited for me to open the door and receive her in my arms.

Yet, I stood rooted to the ground, unmoving.

“Head nurse,” I said as I turned to the nurse-in-charge standing next to me. “Do you have the tranquilizer ready?”

The nurse stood stunned for a moment before recovering quickly. “Y-Yes, I do.”

“She has put the weapon down and given up resisting.” I turned to look at Captain Jones. “Have the special police forces restrain her so that the nurse can go in and administer the tranquilizer to her. Physical hibernation is the best form of protection for her brain right now.”

“Go!” Captain Jones ordered through gritted teeth.

A few policemen from special forces rushed forward to hold the girl down on the bed.

The girl struggled against their hold with all her might. She looked at me in despair through the glass pane on the door and let out a blood-curdling shriek.

Once the tranquilizer was injected into her, she finally stopped moving and crumpled onto the bed like a rag doll. She fainted into a deep sleep.

I turned to walk toward David. He shrank back in fright.

I looked down at him. “David, you really want me to spend time alone with her, don’t you?”

David’s eyes widened. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. “I… I don’t understand the nonsense you’re spouting!”

Just then, my phone rang. It was Shelly, my sister.

“Chester, are you doing fine in the mountains? I saw on the news that you rescued a girl.”

Tears welled up in my eyes when I heard my sister’s soft, tender voice.

“I’m doing fine, Shelly.” I clenched my fists hard. “Be good and wait for me to come home. I’ll never let anyone hurt you until the day I die.”

I hung up and turned around to give the head nurse some instructions.

“Transfer her to an isolated single ward. Make sure the windows are all welded shut. Assign two female cops to stand guard at the door, and ensure that there are 360-degree infrared surveillance cameras installed along the corridor and inside the ward.”

The nurse sighed out loud and muttered, “This is practically the security level for a repeat offender.”

I looked at the girl sleeping soundly on the bed.

“She might be even more terrifying than a repeat offender.”

Chapter 4

Two o’clock in the morning, in the reception area of the county police station.

I sat at a desk, flipping through the latest DNA match report.

The results showed that the girl’s DNA was a close match with Rosalind Callisto, the daughter of the richest family in the city.

In my past life, this report only came out half a month later. During these two weeks, Rosalind was like a sponge, taking in and learning every single rule of modern society I taught her while quietly setting up a trap for me.

In this lifetime, I leveraged the authority of the provincial department to expedite the results of the DNA test.

The Callistos were scheduled to rush here latest by tomorrow afternoon. That left Rosalind with not much time to play tricks.

Knock, knock.

A very soft knock on the door sounded.

I didn’t move.

The knocks on the door became increasingly urgent, accompanied by a girl’s soft, suppressed sobs.

“Lawson…pain…scared…”

It was Rosalind.

She managed to escape the multiple levels of security in the hospital and find me at my dormitory!

In my past life, this exact same thing had happened.

I had thought it was negligence of duty on my part. My heart broke seeing her run miles barefoot. I had immediately opened the door to pull her in, poured her a glass of warm water, and gave her a warm towel.

She seized the chance while I walked away to retrieve the first aid kit to snap the shoulder strap of her bra.

After the incident, she told the media, “That night, Professor Lawson dragged me into his room and forcefully pressed me down on his bed…”

I stared at the door handle, my eyes cold as ice.

I picked up my phone and called the guard room at the reception area.

“There is an unidentified girl along the corridor on the third floor, trying to break into my room. Please bring security right away.”

I hung up and called Captain Jones next.

“Captain Jones, is this how your men do guard duty? The key person of interest in this case is outside my door right now. Have a policewoman here in five minutes’ time.”

Outside my door, Rosalind seemed to sense something wrong and stopped knocking.

Then, I heard the sound of cloth tearing. She was tearing her pants into shreds.

In less than three minutes, all the lights along the corridor went up. The security guard on duty and Captain Jones arrived on the third floor almost at the same time.

I heard a gasp from outside the door. That was when I finally approached the door and opened it.

The scene before me shocked everyone.

Rosalind was seated barefooted on the cold tiles, her hospital gown torn to shreds, hardly providing her body with any cover and exposing the fair, dewy skin underneath.

She looked pitifully at me with tear-filled eyes.

Any man who witnessed this scene would instinctively take off his jacket and drape it over her shoulders.

I, on the other hand, didn’t even take a step beyond my door frame. I remained in the room and raised my camera, aiming the lens at her.

“Recording has started.”

My voice was so loud, it resounded in the corridor.

“Everyone present, please take note. I'm in the room right now and more than two meters away from the target in question. We are not in physical contact whatsoever.”

Disbelief and shock flashed past Rosalind’s eyes. She couldn’t seem to believe that a normal man would react the way I did under such circumstances.

“Lawson…”

She bit her lip and made an attempt to enter my room.

I immediately grabbed a high-lumen flashlight, turned it up to the brightest, and aimed the intense glare straight on her face.

“Step back!” I barked.

Captain Jones snapped back to attention and urged two policewomen to step forward and wrap Rosalind up with a blanket.

One of the young policewomen couldn’t help but lament, “Professor Lawson, that’s way too cold of you! She ran for miles in the middle of the night to seek help from you!”

I looked coldly at the policewoman. “Ran for miles in the night? Look at her soles.”

Everyone lowered their heads to look.

Rosalind was barefoot, but aside from dust and dirt from the floor of the corridor, there were no signs of soil, blisters, or even scratches; things expected after running barefoot over a long distance.

I turned to look at Captain Jones. “Have you checked the surveillance footage in the hospital? How did she manage to escape?”

Captain Jones’ face darkened when we received a call. The news he heard made his entire body shake.

“It was David Lynch… He pretended to be sick and went to the hospital. He seized the chance during the change in shifts to pick the lock and bring her out.”

I chuckled.

This “father-daughter” pair had great chemistry indeed.

David went to great lengths to bring her out of the hospital, and she managed to accurately identify where my room was located.

The heiress of a rich family doing all these with the help of an illiterate old bachelor from the village, just to force herself on me at the risk of ruining her own reputation.

Why?

I looked at Rosalind, all wrapped up in the blanket, and turned to speak.

“Captain Jones. I have with me the first psychological profiling report. This girl is absolutely normal in intellectual development, possesses very strong counter-reconnaissance awareness, masking abilities, and traits of antisocial personality disorder.

“She’s not a prey.

“She’s a predator.”

The moment I said that, the piercing sound of brakes screeching came from downstairs.

A couple of black Maybachs screeched to a stop at the entrance of the reception lobby of the county police station. The headlights pierced through the night and shone right onto the wall of the building.

The Callistos were here.

Rosalind stopped struggling. Under the cover of the blanket, she silently mouthed a sentence that only I understood.

When I realized what she was trying to convey, my blood froze in my veins. I finally understood why she had betrayed me in my past life.

As it turned out, this was no ordinary abduction and trafficking case.