"Okay, I know." Mandy placed the milk on the nightstand. She was not curious about it, and she knew
that she should obey the rules.
Later that night, Mandy had a long dream.
She was walking into a forest, and there was an eerie feeling that she was lost. It was foggy. The air
was pungent with the smell of smoke, which made her cough.
"Ahem!" She didn't know where she was now, so she was terrified and continued trudging her way out
cautiously. Stretching out her trembling fingers, she helplessly tried to explore what was around her.
She couldn't feel anything with her fingers, and what was worse, she could see nothing.
Suddenly, a deer rushed out of the fog and ran towards her as if it was crazy. Mandy instinctively
turned around and abruptly fell into a strange embrace.
With her vision blurred, she couldn't see who the person was. She only heard him call out her name
softly, "Mand."
His magnetic voice was like the sounds from heaven, which gave Mandy a strong sense of security in
an instant. Mandy inched her body closer and hid in his arms, staying there motionlessly.
"Oh, my God! Bruce, is that you? Am I dreaming?" Mandy asked tentatively, feeling relieved.
The fog had not yet dispersed, and Mandy couldn't see who was behind her. But she believed that this
voice, sounding like an angel, belonged to Bruce.
"It's me. Don't be afraid. I'm here!" Bruce gently patted her on the shoulder and tried to comfort her in a
flat tone.
Nathan stared daggers at Mandy, who was lying on the bed. Although he looked calm as usual, there
was already a surge swirling deep in his heart.
'Bruce?
Who was he?' Nathan thought to himself.
Mandy furrowed her eyebrows tightly as she clenched her teeth. She was shivering in fear when she
gripped the bedsheet with her both hands, leaving some marks on the blue sheets. Undoubtedly, she
was having a nightmare.
"Bruce, take me out. It's so scary here," Mandy said in a pitiful and pleading tone. She suddenly
grabbed the quilt, as if clutching at a life-saving straw.
"Really? It's so scary here, but where do you want to go?" Nathan's thin lips moved strangely with a
sneer on his angular face. He wanted to butt in.
Thinking that Mandy was yelling out another man's name in her dream, and she had even asked that
man to take her away from here, he was fuming mad.
"Leave here. I want to go home." Mandy began to move her arms anxiously. Her delicate face looked
worried, and her smooth forehead was sweating profusely.
"Go home?" There was a hint of playfulness in Nathan's voice. The next second, he smiled indifferently.
"In your dreams."
Mandy seemed to hear Nathan's words because, in her dream, sunshine burned through the fog, and it
shone brightly on her.
The mist finally disappeared, and Mandy could only open her eyes slowly as they were tired. Soon she
realized that the light above her was on, and a dark shadow was looming over her eyes.
A trace of fear flashed through her beautiful eyes as if she had met a ghost.
There was a hint of coldness across Nathan's face. He was staring at her with his murderous eyes
without saying anything.
In her daze, Mandy hastily sat up from the bed. She could still recall her nightmare vividly in her mind,
making her eyes became blurry. She didn't dare to look at his face, so she kept her head down.
She was so humble in front of him.
They said that the first reaction to falling in love with a person was humbleness. But Mandy had
restrained her feelings all these times, knowing that Nathan would never take her seriously since the
first day she came here. However, it seemed that two different forces were fighting against each other
in her heart. It made her feel uncertain.
"Who is Bruce?" Nathan demanded point-blank. His deep gaze turned dark and indecent as he
watched Mandy's guilty look intently. Fury began to consume him.
Mandy raised her head in surprise. Mist covered her eyes. She looked at him, confused, but she
couldn't tell him who Bruce was.
Without warning, he ruthlessly seized her neck with his cold and dangerous hands. There was no
mercy in him.
Mandy was pinched so hard that she couldn't breathe at all. Her face turned red, and her eyebrows had
already been twisted into a ball. It was so painful that she could not make a sound.
"Mandy, you seriously are something! You have been dating another man while living with me! And...
You even hooked up with your old lover." There was disdain in the voice above her head, which was
followed by a horrifying coldness.
"I... I didn't." Mandy managed to choke a few words. She was like a fish on the chopping block, being
slaughtered by others and unable to move even a little.
"You didn't? Then you tell me who Bruce is?" Nathan's eyes seethed with anger. He seemed to have
lost his patience. Mandy raised her eyes to glance at him tentatively. She perceived that he was cold all
over, and his beautiful black eyes were red with fury.
"Bruce... is my friend. She was my girlfriend back when I was studying abroad. I mean it, seriously,"
Mandy pleaded. Her tone was serious, though she was shivering with fear. But at this moment, she
couldn't shrink back.
She knew that once she told him who Bruce was, Bruce would get into trouble. She would never let
that happen.
Nathan pinched her hard with his slender fingers, but he loosened it a little when he heard the word
"girl."
"I hope what you said is true. If you dare to lie to me, I will lock you in a psychiatric hospital," Nathan
warned her as he lowered his fingers. His face showed a very complicated expression, which Mandy
could not understand.
She trembled with cold fear when she heard Nathan's treat. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest.
Nathan would do what he said, and he always meant it. She mentally noted. If Nathan would send her
to a psychiatric hospital, then Mandy would be ruined for the rest of her life.
Nathan didn't take his eyes off her after letting her go. Instead, he stared at her with his piercing eyes,
figuring out the truth in her because he doubted her. Deep in his heart, he was even more willing to
believe that Bruce was a man.
Noticing the red marks on Mandy's snow-white neck, Nathan felt guilty. A little remorse flashed in his
eyes, but then, he immediately concealed his emotions.
Mandy was on her stomach against the bed. She was in pain and gasping for breath. She bit her lips
tightly, but she would never betray Bruce.
Bruce had been her good friend ever since her childhood. And for a long time, Mandy treated him as
her big brother. He was very kind and protected her like an elder brother. How could Mandy betray
him?
Before Mandy could react, she heard the door slamming hard, making her tense again. She only saw
Nathan quickly walking away.
'He was angry.'
Mandy was so worried and nervous in her heart. 'Did I do something wrong? It was just a nightmare, in
which I dreamed that Bruce came to save me. Was it wrong?' There were a lot of thoughts running in
her mind now. She felt uneasy.
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