The Rescued Heiress’ Charade

Bam!

The iron door of the cellar was forcefully pried open by the special police force.

A terrible stench hit everyone.

A curled up shadow was trembling in a corner.

It was a girl.

Her hair was all tangled up, and her clothes were torn to shreds. There were even rusted chains meant for dogs hanging on her neck.

When the harsh light from outside shone in through the open door, she growled like a beast.

The captain leading the police squad inhaled sharply.

“Goodness! Lawson, I’m afraid this child has lost all her awareness as a human being.”

In my last lifetime, my heart broke at the scene before me. I jumped into the cellar without any hesitation, took off my jacket, and wrapped it around her.

She bit my forearm so hard, she took a piece of flesh with her.

I bore with the pain and refused to let go. I comforted her with gentle words and, step by careful step, carried her out of that hellhole.

I slowly became the only person she trusted.

She always wanted me standing at the door while she bathed, and always gripped a corner of my shirt while she slept.

I thought she had developed post-traumatic dependence on me.

Five years later, she became the heiress of the Callisto family and slandered me in the media. I had no way of clearing my name.

The memory made my stomach churn.

The girl slowly got used to the light filtering into the cellar. She looked up at me standing at the entrance.

A strange glint broke through the dazed look in her eyes. In the blink of an eye, she was on all fours, scrambling up the stairs wildly.

“Watch out!” the captain yelled.

She climbed out of the cellar and pounced straight at me.

Just like in my past lifetime, she wanted to wrap her arms around my leg and rub her cheek against my trousers.

I looked coldly at her as I took three huge steps back.

“Stay away from me.”

She stood stunned, and so did the other policemen around us.

The old bachelor David Lynch, who bought the girl and was handcuffed to the side, immediately cried, “How could you so-called experts from the city be so heartless? Refusing to rescue a pitiful girl like her!”

The girl sprawled on the muddy water and stared hard at me. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and let out a piercing wail.

She tugged at her already torn and tattered clothes, exposing her shoulder.

The captain looked at me with a frown.

“Professor Lawson, what are you doing? She’s clearly traumatized and distressed. As a professional psychologist, you should be comforting her.”

I looked expressionlessly at the girl.

Others might not be able to tell, but I was a top profiler in my field.

I could see it as clear as day. There was no fear whatsoever in her eyes, only tentative probing.

What startled me even more was the targeted aggressiveness hidden in her eyes as she looked at me, which made the hair on my arms stand on end.

I switched on the body cam hanging at my chest and said in a cold, piercing voice, “Firstly, I'm a psychologist and profiler, not a nanny.

“Secondly, the victim is female and isn't properly dressed. According to procedures for handling cases, men should stay away.”

I turned to look at the captain.

“Captain Jones, I would like to call for two female colleagues to help control this situation. They should also come prepared with restraint straps.”

The captain was taken aback by my businesslike approach and asked hesitatingly, “Restraint straps? That wouldn’t be necessary, would it? She’s just a girl.”

I pointed at David.

“Just ask him. Did she bite off the finger of the woman from the west end of the village, who tried to draw near to her just last month?”

The look on David’s face changed. Meanwhile, the girl kept mum.

The captain immediately said with a wave of his hand, “Ladies! Prepare restraint straps!”

Two female cops armed to the teeth stepped forward and bound the girl up using restraint straps.

The girl struggled with all her might. Her gaze pierced through the crowd and landed straight on me. She stretched her hands out to me, a ragged, raspy voice coming from her throat.

“Hug… Hug…”

Some of the younger policemen standing by the side, who were more tender-hearted, started having tears in their eyes.

“Captain, this girl usually doesn’t care about anyone. She likes this expert and thinks he's friendly!” David yelled excitedly.

I sneered.

Likes me?

Why would a feral wolf child isolated from this world and an old bachelor have their eyes on me right away?

Why did she betray me in my past lifetime?

“Send her to the county hospital. Call for a tripartite joint consultation between the Women’s Federation, the Center for Protection of Minors, and the psychiatric hospital.”

The captain stood stunned. “The psychiatric hospital?”

I stared at the bitter, resentful look in the girl’s eyes.

“Yes. She exhibits a high level of antisocial personality traits and aggressive nature. Before we have a thorough psychiatric evaluation report on her, no one is to come into contact with her in private.”

At the mention of the psychiatric hospital, the girl stopped struggling at once.