Wendy was preparing a meal in the kitchen. She was unaware that the two children had already devised a plot of vengeance for her. To give back her a sense of shape, she loosened her apron and started bringing the dishes to the dining table when a man from behind took over. His fingers were long, healthy-looking, with properly shaped bones, and their ends were cut and well-kept, looking like sculpted digits. Without speaking, he put the dishes on the table one by one. “What are you doing here? When did you come?”. Nervousness overtook her again upon seeing Ryan. He responded, “You don’t want me in this house?”. Wendy could not rebut because she had no idea what to say. How dared she say that she didn’t welcome him?! She was just his employee! Wendy forced a smile to conceal her embarrassment. “Of course you are welcome here! Very much welcome!”. “That’s all right then! It’s good to hear from you. Dishes clutched in her lap, Wendy attentively followed behind him to the dining table and set the plates down. Ryan and Luke were already in place, as earlier they both sat on the seats. Wendy was at a loss for words when she initially witnessed this scene. It was as if they were considering it as their own home. “I’ll fetch the children so they can also have dinner. Fetch the kids for dinner…There was a distinct impression as if he was listening to a wife speaking to her husband. Having to hear this, Ryan brightened up instantly. He nodded and said, “All right. Go ahead!”. Wendy bolted from the room as soon as he finished responding. ‘Oh my goodness!’ She was absolutely terrified that her heart would stop when she was with Ryan, who was constantly having a cold aura. It was extremely uneasy and challenging! She reached the area where the children were and told them to join her and Ryan for dinner. Wendy made an effort to eat quietly, lowering her head over her plate and not saying anything until the food was finished. She knew that Ryan’s eyes were always piercing into her, and each time they landed on her, she got too scared to even chew her food. This meal was an utter agony for her. After they had finished eating, Luke started his nightly duties of cleaning automatically, against his will. “Daddy, you look worn out. Are you feeling under the weather?”. Upon hearing Precious’ voice, Wendy looked up and noticed Ryan with a bad complexion that looked as though he was in poor health. When they returned, it was almost completely dark. As it was light outside, the car’s headlights did not come across until it was fully backed into the garage. Moreover, his aura was so overwhelming that she couldn’t dare even to turn her head in his direction. As a result, she was surprised to find that he really didn’t look well. Though his face still showed no emotion, his eyes were bloodshot. His under-eye circles were noticeable, and his face was still a little pale. He appeared to be a bit distressed. He furrowed his brow and rubbed his temple with his hand. “Boss……”. “Since you are off duty, you need not call and treat me as boss!”. “Okay then if that’s what you want. What’s the matter with you?”. “Nothing!”. He was as icy in his speech as he typically was. When Wendy was astounded by such a reply, she remained silent

“Daddy, you didn’ t get enough rest last night again?” . He couldn’t conceal his d iscomfort with Precious a s she knew him very well. Thus, she poured him a glass of water and gave him an anxious expression Ryan’s hands moved on Precious’ head and his eyes softened a little. “I’m fine, n o need to wor ry about me!” . “You’re such a liar! Tak e a look at your face! Yo ur skin is ghostly pale!” . The little girl loudly yelled at the kitchen. “Uncle Luke, how many ni ghts has my dad not been able to sleep soundly?” . “You know what, dear , it has been for se veral days already!” . Luke craned h is neck to gl ance at Wendy. And he finished the discussion by saying, “As far as I’m aware, he’s been having more frequ ent problems with his sleep ever since he slept for twelve hours in one stretch last time. T hat has been difficult for him, as he has only slept for two hours over the past few days. Immediately upon hearing his uncle’s revelation, tears p oured down Precious’s cheek. “There is no need to worry, dear. Dadd y is feeling okay. “I am not three years old, dad. You can’t hide the truth from m e anymore. I am not that naive!” . Precious frowned an d ran away, sheddin g tears in her eyes. Raymond imm ediately ra n after her. Wendy followed them as well to see whe re they were going. Precious bolted up the steps and onto the balcony. She crouched in a dar k corner, brushing aw ay her flowing tears. “The tears won’t help. Stop crying! Whining ma kes you look unlovely. As soon as Raymond finished hi s words, Precious couldn’t hel p but burst into tears loudly. She sat on the g round and kept w iping her tears. “My daddy is dying! What will happen to me?! Ooh…Wit hout my mommy, I am already pitiful. What’s worse is i f my daddy passes away, I will become an orphan. Ooh…” . Dying?! What did she mean by “dying”?! W endy was taken aback. She knelt and inquired, “What are you on to, Precious? How could your father die? He is in good health…” . Precious attempted to ca lm herself with a pitiful expression and red eyes. She was sobbing as sh e had to recount the whole story to Wendy. It was during her less-than- voluminous narration that Wen dy learned what had happened. After visiting a psychiatrist, they discovered that Ryan was s uffering from chronic insomnia. It had been fifteen years sinc e he was diagnosed as having th is illness when he was fifteen. It initially required the use of a sleeping pill or alcohol to get him to fall asleep, for a moment. But over time, his body’s t olerance for both alcohol a nd sleeping pills increased. And by that time, th e effects of these lo st their grip on him. Afterwards, he turn ed to rely on hypnos is to help him rest. However, Ryan mount ed a formidable psy chological defense. Ordinary hypnotists were unable to gain his trus t, making hypnosis tough. Leo, who grew up alongside him, learned hypnosis specif ically to cure his insomnia. Initially, his hypnosis did assist Ryan in falling asleep, but the eff ect of hypnosis gradually weakened. Due to his insomnia, Ryan ’s level of sleep problems increased over the years. In the recent past several yea rs, he was able to sleep for n o more than four hours a night

Because he didn’t get enough sleep, he qui ckly became increasingly frustrated, to th e point where he developed a blue demeanor. To put it mildly, this was not the m ost urgent matter. In addition to that, the most serious concern was that insom nia had caused his ill health. His nerves were on edge because of th e long-term insomnia and the intense w ork schedule had been taking its toll. Leo told him many times that h e would be dead at any moment if he didn’t make some changes. “Ooh…I do not want to be alone. I do not wis h for my dad’s death…” . Wendy was astound ed and dismayed u pon hearing this. Despite the fact that she noticed that Ryan was experiencing insomnia, she had not anticipated his condition being so peri lous! It took a long time for Wendy to voice out her thoughts. “I wonder if t here is no oth er treatment?” . Still sobbing and burping, Precious replie d, “Uncle Leo has been attempting to hypnot ize daddy, but he does not always succeed. “Then bring him o ver! We’ll wait f or him over here!” . Before Wendy had sai d a word, Luke had a lready contacted Leo. Fortunately, it only t ook him less than twent y minutes to get there. “Come and see Ryan, Leo! M ake it quick!” . Leo dashe d across the room. When he saw Ryan was ex pressionless, his manif estation turned gloomy. “How many night s have you not been sleeping?” . “T hre e…” . Ryan gl anced a t Wendy. “What?! Damn! Are y ou unaware of your own physical state?” . “I just c an’t fall asleep. Leo had no words to utter. What e lse could he say? . “Leo, why are you just standing? Hyp notize Ryan! Now!” . “Whe re? H ere?” . “To our villa!” said Luke, dragging the ot her two men with him. Raymond, too, s eemed concerned after they left. Wendy took his little hand a nd walked out. “Let’s go t ogether!” sh e exclaimed. “Okay! Let’s go!” They we nt directly to Ryan’s room without wasting a second. This was the fi rst time Wendy had been there. The room’s furnishings were depressing, and the color was all dark. They could hear soft music coming from the stereo, which caused pleasant background sounds to reach the area of so othing, hypnotic tones as the sleeper was slowly relaxed. They’d arranged the curtains o ver his window, preventing any light from entering the room. After a while , Ryan and Le o were ready. Everyone st ayed out as they waited. Luke explained, “They are impervious to outside in fluences during hypnosis. Wendy gave a small g esture to demonstrat e her understanding. Outside the room, all of them we re anxiously waiting. They couldn ’t do anything else now but wait. After a half-hour wait, t he door opened, and Leo e xited with a bitter smile. He regarded the crowd’ s expectant eyes and sh ook his head forlornly. “I have failed once again! I’m really sorry. When Leo was done spe aking, Precious began to sob uncontrollably. The young gi rl felt mise rable again