Chapter 3

When the applause died down a little, I calmed myself.

" ‘A deep dive into the human psyche.’ What a compelling tagline."

"But for Dr. Liam, a professional therapist, to provide a patient's privacy as material to someone else..."

I paused, my voice turning cold. "How does that align with your ethical oath?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, the audience, who'd been shipping them just moments before, shifted uneasily.

Right, leaking patient privacy—that's a cardinal sin for a therapist!

Reporters reacted quickly, their cameras and microphones zeroing in on Liam on stage.

"Dr. Liam, is what this young lady said true?"

"Did you really leak a patient's privacy to Screenwriter Scarlett to use as script material?"

Liam panicked, waving his hands frantically, his voice strained. "No! It's not true! Everyone's misunderstood, this isn't a patient's privacy!"

Scarlett immediately jumped in, her voice tinged with grievance. "Our film is based on a real social event; how could it be a patient's privacy? This young lady must have misunderstood something."

"Oh? Based on a real event?"

I smiled. "Then, Screenwriter Scarlett, can you tell everyone where you learned about this 'real event'?"

Back then, due to a mistake by the involved officers, the killer almost escaped.

Because of that, the case was hushed up, never reported.

Aside from Liam as the source, Scarlett wouldn't have known.

Scarlett's expression faltered, and she fell silent.

She couldn't say she heard it from Liam, because that would confirm his breach of confidentiality.

She could only glare at me ominously.

The air grew thick.

Scarlett looked pleadingly at Liam. He gave me a deep look, as if making a decision.

"The person involved was an old friend of mine. She didn't want it mentioned again, so I originally didn't want to say much."

"But since this young lady is so insistent, I'll explain clearly."

My heart sank.

He instinctively chose to protect Scarlett.

I was utterly crushed.

"My old friend knew the mistakes her parents had made. For years, she carried immense moral pressure and developed severe depression because of it."

"She came to me and confided everything, begging me to find a way to make this public, to warn the world, as an act of atonement for the victims."

He paused, his voice rising a few notches, imbued with a righteous indignation.

"So, this is not a breach of confidentiality."

"Scarlett and I are simply helping a poor girl complete her journey of self-redemption."

I stared at Liam, speechless.

My heart ached, a pain so intense it almost suffocated me.

After my parents' brutal deaths, I got sick.

Depression.

Living felt more painful than dying.

I'd swallowed sleeping pills, cut my wrists, and stared down from rooftops countless times.

Each time, someone pulled me back.

Until, after one stomach pump, the doctor couldn't bear it anymore and called in Liam.

He told me I was a survivor, not a criminal.

That some people in life are like gifts.

With his companionship, I slowly healed.

And now, his face had become as repulsive as the killer's back then.

I fought back tears, my voice trembling slightly. "Liam, you truly have no heart."

"So righteous, you've made yourself out to be a great hero."

I let out a sudden, hoarse laugh.

"But you've twisted the truth, inverted right and wrong. When you wake up in the middle of the night, won't your conscience eat you alive?!"