Her voice was filled with longing for the future, as if all the grievances and unease had been washed away by this sudden rush of happiness.

  Even the tears at the corners of her eyes seemed to carry a hint of sweetness.

  Michael wasn’t being falsely polite;

  he just needed to know if Mia had any hidden concerns holding her back.

  “Mia, I’m over the moon that you’re willing to come with me, but are you really sure? Getting into Vine Company must have cost you a lot, right? Being a Vine Company employee is a status countless people are scrambling for.”

  Before he could finish, Mia had already responded with action.

  This girl and Michael had been through their share of real encounters, and what started with shyness had turned into initiative:

  Mia shifted to sit sideways on Michael’s lap, using her honeyed lips to directly answer Michael’s question…

  expressing her determination to stay with him…

  After a bout of passion, the two lay together with eyes closed, holding each other.

  The warmth hadn’t yet faded when Michael half-opened his eyes, gazing at Mia’s almost translucent skin, and suddenly, a thought crossed his mind…

  He tensely propped himself up.

  “Mia, I need to ask you something.”

  Mia wearily opened her eyes, her voice soft and childlike.

  “What is it, Mike? You…”

  “When my body was taken over by Yang Chen, did he… with you…”

  Mia’s eyes widened at first, then she covered her mouth with a light chuckle.

  “What are you thinking? Don’t you remember? Those two days you were possessed, you ignored me completely. How could that…”

  Hearing this, Michael’s heart settled somewhat.

  But then another thought struck him: even if Yang Chen hadn’t controlled his body to do anything with Mia, had that old man shared his senses?

  Once this idea surfaced, it grew wildly like weeds, instantly entangling his heart and tightening his breath with an oppressive discomfort.

  The recent tenderness, those scorching embraces, that unreserved intimacy。

  if they had been seen, heard, or even felt by another consciousness…

  Michael’s stomach churned violently, and the hairs on his back stood on end.

  First, he thought of the two days his consciousness had been dormant.

  After Yang Chen took control of his body to defeat the Rhinoceros-Man, he blacked out.

  When his own consciousness returned, his mind was a blank slate, with no memories of that time.

  He couldn’t see what Yang Chen had done or hear what he’d said.

  If Yang Chen could spy on everything he did at any time, why hadn’t he retained even a trace of memory from Yang Chen’s perspective during his slumber?

  Conversely, when Yang Chen took over his body, why would he easily let Michael’s consciousness go “offline” instead of sharing his senses?

  This contradiction relaxed Michael’s taut nerves slightly.

  He began reviewing every instance of Yang Chen’s appearance, the scenes flashing through his mind as clearly as yesterday.

  The first time was near the company lab, when that slimy cell mass suddenly burrowed into his skin.

  Facing the Pig-Man, control was handed over externally, and Yang Chen performed.

  The second time, facing the Rhinoceros-Man, Yang Chen performed again.

  Both times occurred when he was in dire straits at home, with an impulse to escape.

  Not once during his peaceful moments, not once during his daily interactions with Mia, and not even once while he was handling work or simply thinking alone.

  This was no coincidence.

  Michael’s fingers, which had been stroking Mia’s back, stilled, but his brow gradually smoothed.

  He recalled the aged, domineering voice of Yang Chen that echoed in his mind each time before the takeover, and that suffocating feeling as if his consciousness had been forcibly pried open.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Perhaps Yang Chen’s appearance itself had strict triggering conditions.

  Desperate circumstances were the prerequisite, and his “consent” was the key switch.

  The second time, he lost control for two days, so there couldn’t be a third time.

  This was something he had to remember.

  So there was no need to worry about shared senses.

  As long as he was conscious, not facing a fatal threat, and didn’t grant permission, he had nothing to fear.

  Mia belonged to him, Michael, alone.

  “Mike, let’s sleep early. You have to get up really early tomorrow morning for store inspections, right?”

  This was Mia’s weak, satisfied voice.

  Michael kissed Mia’s forehead, relaxed his body, and closed his eyes to rest.

  …

  The next afternoon, after completing inspections at three Vine Supermarket stores, Michael returned to the Vine Tower.

  It was the most relaxed time during the company’s lunch break.

  Small groups of employees gathered in the shaded areas by the entrance

  some buying meals, others smoking.

  Not far from him, by a flower bed, a man and a woman stood with their backs to him, holding convenience store rice balls.

  Their voices weren’t loud, but the wind carried their words straight to his ears.

  “Honestly, don’t you think there’s something about that Mia?”

  The woman’s voice held a gossipy excitement.

  “She looks all plain and simple, but I heard when she was in Finance, she got close to several supervisors. Otherwise, with her lack of background, how could she just transfer to Sales for no reason?”

  The man chuckled scornfully, his tone full of lewdness.

  “You don’t know, do you? It’s been circulating in the circles for a while—she’s like a public bus,easy girl. Any guy who gives her a little something can hop on. Haven’t you noticed how close she’s been with that Michael lately? Probably saw he got promoted to Level 4 Sales Rep, gained a bit of authority, and is trying to climb another branch.”

  “Really? She seems pretty quiet normally…”

  “Quiet? That’s an act! This type of woman is best at playing innocent…”

  Michael didn’t hear another word after that.

  The sun was shining on him, yet a chill crept up his back.

  His interactions with Mia had always carried an indescribable “swiftness” from the very beginning.

  Not long after he joined the Western District Sales Department, during an external task, a rack had collapsed.

  He’d casually grabbed a heavy wooden crate beside him to shield her.

  —the crate was heavy enough to strain an arm, and he’d acted on instinct, not expecting anything in return.

  But from that day on, Mia seemed like a different person.

  She started bringing him homemade meals, looking out for him in every work matter, and before long, expressed her feelings.

  Soon after, they became intimate. Everything happened so fast that looking back now, it felt almost unreal.

  He’d always told himself it was mutual affection, a rare warmth in this wasteland of a world.

  But at this moment, those two phrases—“public bus” and “climbing another branch”

  —acted like a key, unlocking the deep-seated doubts buried in his heart.

  Was she really… that easy?

  Otherwise, why would just shielding her from a falling crate make her open up so quickly, even planning a shared future?

  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

  If only one or two people said such things, it might be slander.

  But judging by the certainty in these two people’s tones, it sounded like a “fact” that had long been circulating in the company.

  He couldn’t help but start doubting: was the future they’d planned together just last night even feasible?