Tianyi returned to the abandoned Qin family mansion, passed through the quiet rooms and garden, and entered the basement.
Sophie lay on a simple single bed, covered by a blanket, as if asleep.
Tianyi suppressed his anger, sat by the bed, and said to her, "Have you thought it through? What exactly have you done? If you tell me everything, I'll get you a better place, and I'll give you food and water."
Sophie woke up immediately, threw off the blanket, looked at him, and smiled, saying, "You're here. I knew you would come. You wouldn't abandon me."
Tianyi took out his phone and showed her the photos of the bloodstains. "Even if you say nothing, I know Chen Ma was killed by you. Look at the two letters she left in blood; they are the initials of your name!"
Sophie sat up, reached out to touch Tianyi's neck, and said with a bewildered expression, "Tianyi, what are you talking about? Don't you recognize me? I'm Susu. Susu, your beloved Susu."
Tianyi grabbed her hand with disgust. Her face was pale, her lips were chapped, but her eyes were extremely infatuated as she looked at him.
He stood up and shook her off, saying, "Do you think pretending to be mentally ill will make me let you go? You are Sophie, and you are not worthy of impersonating Susu!"
Sophie hurriedly touched her face and insisted, "How could that be? I'm not impersonating anyone. I am Susu, I am the real Susu! Sophie has ill intentions; she wants to break us apart. You need to be careful of her."
Tianyi looked down at her, appearing crazy and unsure of who she was. He was momentarily uncertain if she was genuinely mentally ill or just pretending.
He hid his emotions and tried to coax Sophie to speak, his tone softening, "You're right, Sophie has ill intentions. But how exactly does she want to break us apart? Do you know?"
Sophie put her fingers into her hair, clutching it as she tried hard to recall. "She wants to create misunderstandings between us... and she wants to deliberately seduce you. If you could love her properly, perhaps she wouldn't be like this. But you are mine, and I won't give you to anyone!"
As she spoke, she nervously hugged Tianyi's waist tightly.
Tianyi endured his disgust and aversion, gently placed his hand on her head as if to comfort her, and said, "So that's how it is. Don't worry, I won't fall in love with her. I also know a secret about her, but I won't tell you."
Sophie hugged him tighter, resting her face against him, and said coyly, "I want to know her secret. Tell me."
Tianyi said softly, "She's the one who pushed Chen Ma down the stairs. She killed Chen Ma..."
"I already knew that, but I didn't tell you." Sophie smiled, "I was afraid you would kick her out. I still wanted to take care of her. Can you not hold it against her? Let her go."
Her speaking in Susu's tone made Tianyi's scalp tingle, but he forced himself to continue probing, "So you knew everything. I can overlook it, but why did she kill someone?"
Sophie let go of him, looked up at the ceiling, and said with a confused expression, "Yes, why did she kill someone? Let me think, let me think..."
Tianyi seized the opportunity to press the recording function on his phone and asked, "Didn't you have a good relationship? Didn't she tell you these things?"
"Oh!" Sophie excitedly waved her hands and looked at him again, "I remember now, she told me. When she went to our room to steal your clothes, Chen Ma caught her. Chen Ma wanted to tell us, wanted us to send her to the hospital again. That's why she pushed her..."
Sophie spoke animatedly, standing on the bed, making pushing gestures with her hands.
Tianyi said dismissively, "I don't believe you. You're lying to me. Even if your relationship was good, she wouldn't tell you this. Chen Ma would at most be injured if she was pushed down the stairs by her."
"Of course, it wasn't just a push," Sophie said, trying hard to prove herself. "She saw Chen Ma lying on the ground floor, still alive, so she went into the room, got a dumbbell, and smashed it against Chen Ma's head, again and again."
Sophie mimed holding a dumbbell and smashing it towards the bed, occasionally smiling at Tianyi.
Tianyi could no longer control himself. Exuding an aura of despair and rage, he grabbed her hand, as if she were holding a dumbbell, and hysterically forced her to kneel on the bed, punching towards her!
She screamed in fear, "Tianyi! You're crazy, you're crazy!"
Tianyi's punch was aimed at her but didn't land on Sophie's face. Instead, it grazed her cheek and hit the wall behind the bed.
This woman had revealed the truth, but she had also completely lost her mind. Even if he beat her to death now, it would be useless; Chen Ma could never be brought back.
"Tianyi, I knew you wouldn't bear to hit me. I'm Susu, your beloved Susu." Sophie didn't understand how furious Tianyi was, his eyes blazing, and continued to smile.
Tianyi abandoned her, "Crazy!" He could no longer stay in the basement and rushed out.
Upstairs, he turned off the recording on his phone and called Xiaolin, instructing him, "Find a psychiatrist to come to the basement of the Qin family mansion."
Xiaolin, knowing he hadn't been to the Qin family mansion in a long time, repeated, "The Qin family mansion?"
"Yes, now." Tianyi then asked, "Has the young madam returned? Is she home?"
"She's not home, hasn't returned yet."
"Remember, whatever I've instructed you to do, don't let her know," Tianyi emphasized.
"Young master, don't worry."
When Xiaolin brought the psychiatrist, Tianyi waited for the doctor's examination results on a garden chair.
The doctor came out of the basement and told him his diagnosis, "Mr. Qin, the lady in the basement suffers from delusional disorder caused by paranoid personality disorder. The condition is quite severe."
"Are you sure?" Tianyi asked coldly.
The doctor dared to conclude, "This is my professional judgment. If you want a definitive diagnosis, you can send her to our hospital, and I will have a psychiatrist consult with her."
Tianyi refused outright, "No need. Someone who sent you here should have briefed you. Don't let anyone know."
"Understood."
Tianyi asked, "For someone with this mental illness, how can we make her feel that living is worse than dying?"
"Mr. Qin, what do you mean by that?" The doctor was somewhat unable to comprehend.
Tianyi clarified, "You don't need to understand my meaning. Just tell me if there's a way to make her live but feel that life is worse than death."
The doctor pondered for a moment, "People with this mental illness have problems with their behavior and cognition. Making them feel that living is worse than dying is probably..."
"Just tell me if there's a way?" Tianyi said, "If there is, no amount of money is too much."