<h4>Chapter 349: Gentle</h4>


    "Come on, out."


    Mnie turned from her spot near the window, startled by the sudden voice. Dr. Jung stood at the threshold, his expression unreadable.


    "What?" she asked, brows knitting.


    But he didn’t give her a chance to question further. With a curt tilt of his head, he gestured for her to follow. Something about his demeanor told her not to argue.


    Wordlessly, she obeyed.


    Once they were outside the vi, Dr. Jung finally slowed. She wondered what it was that he wanted when he turned to her and asked, "Are you always standing at that window? Watching? Waiting for a way out?"


    Mnie folded her arms in front of her as her lips twisted into a bitter smile. "What else is there to do? The only escape that seems even remotely possible is throwing myself into the ocean."


    Dr. Jung shook his head slowly, as if he wasn’t surprised. "There are actually a lot of things you can do. But I understand what you mean."


    She looked at him. There was something in his voice that worried her. And though she had chosen to follow him out the mansion that was her current prison, she had no trust in this person either, "Where are you taking me, Dr. Jung?"


    He didn’t answer right away. He let the silence stretch, then finally said, "To escape."


    Her eyes narrowed. "I thought you wouldn’t betray your friend."


    "I won’t," he replied, his voice calm. Then he looked at her more directly, almost challengingly. "What I’m going to do is give you two options. Two real ones. And I’m hoping that the one I want you to choose appeals to your better nature."


    Mnie scoffed, shaking her head. "You think I have a better nature left after all this? I doubt any of your options could persuade me to stay. If you show me a door—any door—I’ll take it. I’ll run. Don’t think for a second that I won’t."


    "I believe you," he said, without flinching. "That’s why I’m giving you the choice. I won’t lie to you. I won’t try to trick you. But from what I know of Mnie Collins, she is a good person."


    Mnie scoffed. She was a good person so she would willingly stay with her kidnapper. But even so, if the doctor wanted to drag her there, so be it.


    They moved through a narrow path beside the vi, around a cluster of trees that partially shielded a gated enclosure. It wasn’t visible from the main property. The sharp tang of salt faded slightly, reced by the earthy scent of hay and damp soil.


    Cadence.


    He was crouched near a wooden pen, his back to them, gently coaxing a small goat to drink from a bottle. Another kid nuzzled his leg while a few chickens clucked around the edge of the enclosure. He was muttering something under his breath, soft words she couldn’t hear, but whatever it was, the animals responded. A dog—one of those scrappy, loyal-looking ones—sat just a few feet away, tail thudding quietly on the ground.


    Mnie blinked. Okkkkk. She hadn’t expected this.


    While she stared in shock, Dr Jung spoke softly, "He spends hours here. Every day. Feeding them, checking their bedding, nursing the ones that are sick. "


    "So? Just because he’s kind to animals, I’m supposed to stay here with him?"


    Dr. Jung shook his head. "Look again. Really look. Notice how he moves, how he touches them, how he keeps his voice low. That isn’t cruelty buried under pretense. It’s care. It’s instinctive. You asked what kind of man he is—this is who he is when he doesn’t think anyone’s watching."


    Mnie’s jaw tightened and she sent another sharp look at the doctor," Dr Jung, I see you are in love with that man there. But I don’t understand what it is that you want me to see."


    Dr Jungughed then and turned to see her," Mnie. You are quite perspective. Yes. I have been in love with that fool for ten years. But my point is something else."


    "You must have noticed, Cadence lives here in luxury and istion but he does not work much. Actually, this ce, I brought him here, ten years ago, because he has a brain tumor. One that suppressed quite a lot of his original personality."


    "He has episodes," Dr. Jung continued quietly. "They started when we were still in medical school. The pressure, the trauma from his childhood, and... a few things I don’t have the right to share. He hides it well, but sometimes, he loses time. Slips into states he doesn’t rememberter. When it started happening more frequently, I couldn’t bear watching him unravel in front of strangers. So I brought him here."


    "I kept him where he wouldn’t be used. Where he wouldn’t be mocked. Where I could control the variables and keep the triggers away. But I couldn’t take away the loneliness. He’s spent years here, trying to make peace with himself. Last year was particrly good for him. It is why I let him go on a vacation alone. What I did not expect was that he would gind Melody there and fall in love."


    Dr Jung sighed," When he mentioned that she was willing to move to his vi, I was apprehensive. But he seemed so happy that I did not have the heart to stop him. I kept an eye on them and Cadence really did not have any episodes for a while. I was relieved and grateful. Later, Melody and him started having fall outs, with Melody trying to pressure him into doing things her way. It got to the point that he started having episodes more than two times a day."


    "So, I threatened her. Either she leaves or I will make her. She left. But what I did not know was that she nned to return. She... told Cadence, that when she was ready to return she would let him know and all he had to do was bring her here..."