The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 211

"I'm not cold, thank you." Evelyn folded the used pocket square, shoved it back into his hand, and crossed her arms. She looked him up and down with the professional scrutiny of a doctor examining a patient. "Also, are you... sick? You're talking really weirdly."

She frowned, genuinely deep in thought, her fingers absentmindedly tapping her arm. "Sebastian, don't hide your illness for fear of treatment. What's the phrase again... Oh right, if you're sick, go see a doctor. Don't avoid it."

Sebastian was speechless.

His grip tightened around the pocket square, crushing the silk in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force. The garage lights cast deep shadows over his face, obscuring his expression.

But Evelyn could tell he was grinding his teeth.

"I wonder what kind of illness," he bit out through clenched teeth, forcing the words out one by one, "Dr. Rose thinks I have?"

Evelyn dropped her arms, genuinely adopting the stance of a clinical consultation. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping from his face to his body and back again, professional and detached. "Based on the clinical manifestations I'm observing right now... It should be Emotional Threshold Reset Syndrome."

"Emotional Threshold Reset Syndrome?" Sebastian repeated the absurd-sounding diagnosis.

"Yes." Evelyn nodded, her tone as serious as if she were presenting at a medical conference. "It's a hypothetical psychological and behavioral disorder I just named. The main clinical manifestations include the patient suddenly exhibiting a series of words and actions completely out of character with their past behavior."

She began listing them, even raising her fingers for emphasis. "For example, showing excessive concern for someone they aren't intimate with; using a bizarre, uncomfortable, and doting tone of voice; and saying things that give people goosebumps and are clearly divorced from reality."

She paused, taking in Sebastian's darkening expression, and added, "Based on my preliminary assessment, this might be a compensatory behavioral abnormality caused by recent severe mental stress or a major emotional shock. Mr. Thorne, I recommend you visit a neurology department for a thorough examination. Or psychiatry would work too, just to run a complete psychological evaluation."

Sebastian stared at her.

He stood there, still holding his half-removed suit jacket in one hand and the crumpled dark blue pocket square in the other. The expressions crossing his face were a colorful array—the initial shock had faded, replaced by a profound, almost tangible speechlessness, mixed with awkwardness and a hint of poorly concealed humiliation.

The parking garage was so quiet they could hear the low hum of the ventilation system and the distant drip of a leaky pipe.

Evelyn raised her wrist and checked her watch. The hands pointed exactly to three-twenty in the afternoon.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Thorne, but I'm on a tight schedule." With crisp, decisive movements, she pulled open the car door. "I have things to do, so I'll be going now."

She slid into the driver's seat and pulled the door shut with a soft click as the locks engaged. She buckled her seatbelt and adjusted the rearview mirror.

She started the engine.

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