A sense of unease washed over Jane as she gazed at Patrick. She had intended to reach out her hand, but it froze in midair.
“Patrick, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Just as Jane had suspected, all Patrick could hear was a voice shouting in his head and everything around him seemed blurry except for Jane.
But to him, the danger that Jane posed… was indescribable.
Seeing that Patrick remained silent, Jane took a few steps forward and looked directly into his eyes.
However, in the next second, Patrick suddenly reached out and grabbed Jane’s neck tightly.
Instinctively, Jane raised her hand to resist but upon seeing the pained expression on Patrick’s face, she held back instead.
“Do you still recognize me?”
Jane’s gaze burned like flames through Patrick’s heart but only made his chest feel more congested than ever before.
Patrick’s grip tightened continuously; it seemed like any moment now he would snap her slender neck with ease.
Subconsciously there was a voice reminding him to let go of her but his limbs were not under control of his brain or rather chaos reigned supreme within it.
“You…” Patrick gasped, his eyes showing a spreading bloodshot color.
He stared at Jane, as if holding back something, the veins in his neck tense.
His face became increasingly flushed, and Jane bit her lip, but she didn’t struggle. She locked eyes with Patrick and spoke slowly,
“Patrick! Do you still recognize me?”
Although Jane didn’t understand why Patrick suddenly transformed into this state, she knew that resisting might provoke Patrick in his current condition.
Jane maintained a calm expression, but the hand behind her was getting close to the red wine bottle on the table.
She didn’t want Patrick to lose control.
This statement acted like an alarm, slamming into Patrick’s mind. His hands trembled suddenly, realizing what he had just done.
A sharp pain in his head made Patrick stagger back a few steps. He looked at Jane, his expression chilling.
Finally released, Jane couldn’t help but cover her neck. The stinging sensation in her throat caused her to cough uncontrollably, and it took several breaths for her to recover.
Patrick pressed his temples, recalling what he had just done, feeling regretful: “What’s wrong with me?”
“I just couldn’t control myself from wanting to hurt Jane earlier!”
“How are you feeling?” Jane’s voice was still hoarse as she approached Patrick.
As he lowered his head, Patrick saw the glaring finger marks on Jane’s neck. He instinctively clenched his fists, causing his joints to crackle.
“I’m sorry for everything I’ve done…” Patrick took a deep breath.
Jane only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Patrick in this state. She was also afraid that he would lose control again.
“Did you feel anything strange just now? Or anything unusual?”
After careful questioning, Jane felt that something was very suspicious about the situation.
“It’s very strange, like something is interfering with my thoughts.” After pondering for a moment, Patrick answered slowly. The pain in his head subsided slightly but he wasn’t sure if this uncontrollable state would happen again or not.
Jane furrowed her brows. Today, Patrick had been with her all day and hadn’t come into contact with anyone or anything else. She couldn’t make sense of it anymore and shook her head, “Let Amber come over and check if there is any problem.”
Patrick nodded before gently touching Jane’s cheek and keeping his gaze fixed on her neck.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly before hesitatingly putting down his hand instead of embracing her like he wanted to do earlier.
“Don’t apologize anymore,” said Jane as she leaned into him and hugged him around the waist lightly. “Besides, I have ways to get away from you if necessary; I trust that you won’t really hurt me.”
“Thank you,” replied Patrick as he kissed the top of her hair lightly but coldness filled his eyes at the same time.
“Why thank me?” asked Jane while smiling at him.
Watching her smiley face made it hard for him to say what came next but eventually managed it, “If I ever harm you like that again… kill me…”
Before finishing what he had to say completely though, Jane already placed a finger on top of his lips, “This kind of thing won’t happen again.”
…
In no time at all Amber arrived after being called by Patrick; she immediately conducted an extensive examination on him.
“The blood test results will take a while to come back. Besides that, there’s no issue with your health.”
Amber pushed up her glasses on the bridge of her nose, but judging by Jane and Patrick’s expressions, things were probably not that simple.
“Weird…” Jane murmured, her fingers twisting her long hair with a hint of force.
If there were no external factors…
Jane’s gaze returned to Patrick’s face, and she immediately quashed the absurd thought that had just crossed her mind.
Patrick remained calm, absentmindedly rubbing his fingertips together.
Suddenly, Jane seemed to remember something and turned to look at Patrick. “Patrick, have you seen anyone strange these past few days?”
“Hmm?” Patrick responded softly before slowly standing up.
Jane shifted her gaze towards Amber who had been looking through files but noticed their conversation. “Mr. Pansy has only been to one place besides being with you these past few days.”
Jane’s eyes flickered as she approached Patrick and took his hand. “Let’s go there together.”
Although he initially wanted Jane to stay behind, he ultimately relented after remembering what she said earlier.
“What did you see when you went there?” Jane asked curiously since she couldn’t imagine what it could be about.
“I investigated the backgrounds of those people we caught earlier,” explained Patrick calmly while holding onto Jane’s hand.
“Did they prove useful?” inquired Jane but then realized that they hadn’t affected Patrick much before this point anyway.
“A little bit,” nodded Patrick. “One of them used to work with the CEO of New Covenant Ventures who owns a piece of land I’ve been wanting for a while now.”
This situation was unexpected for him too but digging deeper led him to discover quite a bit more than he expected.
Hearing this made Jane smile mischievously, “You’re so cunning! Is this considered black on black action?”
Patrick simply chuckled and playfully rubbed her nose as they arrived at their destination during their conversation.