Ruoxi hadn't heard the name Dr. Xu Meilin in over ten years.
Yet the envelope resting on her desk bore the distinct, looping signature of her childhood therapist — and inside it, a photo that made her drop everything with a gasp.
Two girls. No older than seven.
They sat side by side, wrists restrained by soft velvet straps, electrodes fixed to their temples. One girl stared at the camera with dull, empty eyes.
The other… smiled.
Ruoxi ran a trembling finger across the photo.
That was her. And beside her — Linyue.
A sticky note was attached:
"It's not your imagination, Ruoxi. They buried what you were never supposed to remember. I'm ready to talk now — before they silence me, too. — Dr. Xu"
Ruoxi felt like the walls were closing in. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She remembered none of this. No therapy room. No straps. No experiments.
But the girls in that photo… were her and Linyue.
And they had been used.
That same day...
Zeyan stormed into the Mo Family Records Room — the only place in the estate still protected by his late father's biometric code.
He'd tried his fingerprint three times before the lock beeped green.
The lights flickered on, revealing stacks of case files, lab reports, and old VHS tapes stored meticulously.
He flipped through until one name caught his eye.
Patient File: Lin Qian
He froze.
Lin Qian.
He'd heard that name before — from the anonymous letter that had arrived days after Linyue's death.
"She didn't die. She became Lin Qian."
Zeyan scanned the documents.
Subject: Lin QianDate of Admission: 10 years agoAge: 8Condition: Dissociative Identity Disorder (Induced)Notes:Subject believes she is "Mo Linyue." Requires sedation before reconditioning sessions.
He gripped the edge of the cabinet.
They hadn't killed Linyue. They'd erased her.
Meanwhile…
Ruoxi met Dr. Xu in a small teahouse outside the city.
She looked older, gaunter. Her eyes darted toward the door every few seconds.
"I shouldn't be doing this," she said quietly, pushing a thick folder across the table. "But I owe you the truth."
Ruoxi opened it. Inside were session transcripts — ones she'd never seen. Audio cassettes. Therapy drawings.
"She used to draw mirrors," Xu said. "Dozens of them. But there was always another girl inside the mirror. A girl watching her."
Ruoxi whispered, "Linyue?"
Xu nodded. "But the twist is… sometimes, the drawings were reversed. Linyue drew you in the mirror."
Ruoxi blinked. "We were both aware?"
"On some level, yes," Xu said, her voice shaking. "They didn't want you two to bond. That's why they separated you. Controlled the narrative. You weren't just part of an experiment. You were the experiment."
Ruoxi's hands trembled. "Why?"
Xu exhaled. "The Mo family… and Professor Yan Ming… wanted to create a perfect heir. Not just in genetics, but in loyalty. One who could be reprogrammed, molded, perfected through mirrored trauma."
Ruoxi looked up, hollow.
"Then… who am I, really?"
Dr. Xu gave her a long, sorrowful look. "You're the one who survived. That doesn't mean you're the real one."
Back in the estate...
Zeyan sat in his private study, watching the video he'd pulled from the Lin Qian file.
It showed a sterile white room.
A girl, maybe eight years old, sat on a chair, silent. Her hair was cropped. Her eyes wide.
A voice — male, clinical — spoke offscreen:
"State your name."
The girl blinked.
"Mo… Linyue."
"Wrong."
The girl winced, a small electric buzz sounding in the background.
"State your name."
She hesitated.
"L-Lin Qian?"
"Good girl."
Zeyan's jaw clenched.
They tortured her into becoming someone else.
He searched further — until he found a modern record:
Lin Qian, Age: 20, Currently institutionalized under private care — Shengde Neuro-Psychiatric Facility.
Zeyan picked up his phone.
"Send a team. I want to verify who Lin Qian is — now."
That night...
Ruoxi stood before her mirror again.
Only now, she wasn't afraid.
She held the photo in one hand, the diary in the other.
"Linyue," she whispered. "If you're still out there… I'm coming."
And behind her reflection, for a moment, a faint shadow flickered — one that looked like her twin, standing just out of reach.
Elsewhere…
Inside Shengde Facility, a nurse brought a tray into a dim room.
The girl on the bed stared blankly at the wall.
"Time for meds, Lin Qian."
The girl didn't move.
The nurse set the tray down. But when she turned to leave, the girl's lips parted, ever so slightly.
"Ruoxi…"
The nurse froze.
The girl smiled faintly.
Then whispered, "They're coming for me. But I remember now."