Page 21 of Ruthless Prince

“We’ll be back to see you soon,” Dr. Monroeadded.

The two of them left the room for around twenty minutes. When they returned, their expressions were graver than earlier, and this time, Dr. Monroe did thetalking.

“I need to discuss something quite serious with you, Willow,” he said. “Do you mind if Special Agent Greer stays in the room with us, or would you prefer to talk in private? Either way is fine, but it might go a little smoother if she’s here to help explainthings.”

Confusion gnawed at my guts, but I nodded anyway. “Sure, she canstay.”

“All right.” He gave me a brief nod. “Firstly, I wanted to ask you something. Have you ever heard of a phenomenon called ‘gang-stalking’?”

“No, but I assume it’s pretty self-explanatory. Is it when a person gets stalked by agang?”

“Not exactly.” He shifted his chair closer to mine and leaned forward. “It’s a delusional symptom experienced in various mental illnesses, most notably paranoid schizophrenia. Sufferers often believe they are being targeted, harassed, and stalked in vast government surveillance efforts designed to ruin theirlives.”

My eyes widened. “So you think the guy who attacked me is going through that?” I asked, drawing my brows together in a curious frown. “I guess it makes sense,” I went on before he could respond. “He could’ve decided to hurt me as some sort of retribution against the government, seeing as he’s so convinced they’re trying to ruin him. He’d probably see the president’s kids as the ultimate targets for his revenge.Right?”

Gen stared at me with an impassive expression as I spoke. Dr. Monroe cleared his throat. “No, Willow. That’s not why I brought itup.”

My frown deepened. “Why,then?”

His lips tightened. “I’m concerned that you might be experiencing a form ofpsychosis.”

“Huh?” My mouth droppedopen.

He held up one palm in a conciliatory gesture. “After listening to you earlier, I don’t believe you have paranoid schizophrenia, and I don’t believe you’ve had a psychotic break either, but I do think you are experiencing something very troubling. We need to address this quickly andcarefully.”

“What the hell is happening here?” I said, whipping my eyes from him to Gen and back again. “Wait… are you apsychiatrist?”

“That’sright.”

“But Dr. Georgiou said you’d dealt with cases like mine before. I assumed she meant sexual assaultvictims.”

He shook his head. “Not exactly, no. I’m currently treating five other people who are exhibiting signs of this gang-stalking phenomena, so Dr. Georgiou and the Secret Service asked me for an opinion on yourcase.”

My heart began to thud painfully fast. “You can’t seriously thinkI’mthe crazy one in thisscenario.”

“I don’t like that word,Willow.”

“But that’s what you’re implying, right? That I’ve lost my grip on reality and made up this entirething?”

My mother’s earlier words echoed in my head. ‘It just didn’t occur to me that someone could be so sick…I’m going to make sure you get all the help youneed.’

That was why she didn’t mind leaving me earlier so she could go and deal with the Brazilian situation. She wasn’t worried about a stalker bursting in to finish the job, and she didn’t want to hear me raving on and on about the so-called masked maniac. She thought he wasn’t real. She thought I’d simply lost my mind and desperately neededhelp.

Everyonedid.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” the doctor said in a soothing tone. “We just want to helpyou.”

My cheeks burned with indignation. “Please tell me this is a joke. You have a ton of evidence, and you know how I was found this morning. I’m obviously being stalked by some sort ofpsychopath!”

He held up both palms. “Will you let us explain,Willow?”

I took a deep breath, chest heaving with anger. “Fine,” I said through grittedteeth.

Gen spoke up this time. “You say we have a lot of evidence, but the fact is, there’s very little to go on beyond yourword.”

“How is thatpossible?”

She held up an index finger. “Firstly, the text messages and emails you claim to have received—there’s no evidence they everexisted.”