Xia Xiaoman remembers everything—the blood on the pavement, the shattered glass, the whispers of a debt too large to repay—everything except how her parents truly fell to their deaths. As an investigative journalist, she infiltrates the world of Li Moting, the ruthless heir to a financial empire, armed with nothing but a recorder and her perfect memory.  

"Three therapy sessions a week," he offers, fingers steepled, his voice colder than the rain outside the window. "In exchange for your silence."  

But what begins as a calculated game of revenge spirals into something far more dangerous. He scales a crumbling factory to save her from kidnappers, his hands bleeding, yet claims it’s merely "asset protection." She discovers ledgers in his study that implicate his family in her parents’ ruin—yet finds her childhood lullaby tucked in his desk drawer, the notes still intact after twenty years.  

On the night the truth comes crashing down, he kneels in the snow, pressing a pair of worn ballet flats into her hands. "Hate me if you must," he murmurs, "but let me remember you properly this time."  

And when she plays back the tapes—the ones she swore were evidence—all she hears is the unguarded hitch of his breath when she entered the room, the quiet, damning confession: *", Xia Xiaoman you were never part of the plan."*

In the psychotherapy room, Dr. Wang removed his glasses and meticulously wiped the lenses.  


"Your mother's last words were for me to protect you," his voice shifted—from the gentle therapist to a sharp avenger—"But she didn't specify *how*."  


Dr. Wang—no, he should now be addressed as Wang Yi, former core researcher of MN-07 and the most trusted deputy of his mother, Lin Lan—pulled an old-fashioned recorder from the drawer.  


"You thought Xia Xiaoman betrayed you?" He pressed play. "Listen to this."  


Xia Xiaoman's voice on the recording trembled with resolve:  


**"If my disappearance can free him from the Li family for good... then let everyone believe I betrayed him."**  


Li Moting's knuckles cracked under the force of his grip.  


"Memories." Wang Yi slid a yellowed file across the table. "The memories you shared—the ones Li Chenzhou artificially erased."  


**"MN-07 Dual-Carrier Experiment: Emotional Bonding Report for Subject No. 7 (Xia Xiaoman) & Subject No. 1 (Li Moting)"**


Chapter 40 - The True Identity of Dr. Wang