As soon as Kylie and Stephen left Garcia Entertainment, they drove together to Stephen's private clinic, where he practiced as a surgeon and a psychologist. When they arrived, there was a middle-aged woman in the parking lot. She approached Stephen and shook his hand excitedly. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed. "You cured my son of his Autism."

Stephen frowned when he heard this high praise, and he said, "Ma'am, there is no cure for Autism. I am glad that your son seems to be doing better, but this will always be an uphill battle for him. Keep bringing him to see me and, above all, never fight with your husband in front of him. That is the kind of trauma that, for a boy like him, is irreversible."

​​

"I will follow your directions," the woman said. Then, after shaking his hand one more time, she wandered off in the direction of her car. Once she was out of sight, Stephen put his arm around Kylie's shoulder and led her to his office.

As Kylie and Stephen passed the reception desk, the receptionist's face broke out into a broad smile. "Kylie," she gushed, "is it really you?!?!"

Kylie looked at her awkwardly. "It is me," she replied. "Do I know you?"

"Not really," the secretary admitted. "I am just another one of your loyal fans. I even asked for Ethan's autograph when I was climbing the mountains in Connell…"

Kylie looked at her curiously and asked who she was referring to.

"Ethan!" she replied emphatically. "He was the guy who had surgery. He is tall and handsome, but he had leg problems…"

"I'm sorry," Kylie sighed, "but none of that sounds familiar to me. If you're a fan of mine, though, I could sign something for you."

The secretary looked to Stephen for permission, and he nodded. "I have work to do," he said, "but go ahead and take a break. You've earned it!"

After Kylie signed a photo for the secretary, she followed Stephen into the office, and the secretary was left alone. She had only been with Kylie for a short time, but as she looked at the photo, she realized that she was actually very confused. She'd been certain that Kylie had been close with Ethan.

The secretary wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable with the way the conversation had gone. Ethan's name seemed to be a trigger for her that brought up emotions that seemed impossible for her to process. Stephen saw what she was going through by the look on her face, and he asked her if she was okay. She didn't want to talk about it, though, so she blamed her sour demeanor on period cramps.

Kylie sat down on the couch in Stephen's office and rubbed her temples with her thumbs. As Ethan's name echoed in her head, an image appeared in the back of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and, when Stephen saw that she was in agony, he came over to rub her shoulders. "Don't worry," he said. "I will help you to feel better."

Kylie opened her eyes, and she looked at him skeptically. "How?" she wondered.

"I will perform a stress test," he said as he grabbed a book off of his shelf, "and we can go from there."

Stephen began to flash images quickly in front of her, and he asked her to say what she saw, which was no problem for her. What she did not know, though, was that it was not a stress test. Rather it was a method to hypnotize and brainwash a person.

As the pictures changed, faster and faster, Kylie began to feel as though she were being sucked into a cave. After a moment, the cave branched into two separate directions, and the walls began to spin. The cave on the left spun counterclockwise while the one on the right spun clockwise. Then, in the same way that the cave had split, so did her consciousness, and she felt herself being pushed in the two opposite directions – and then the light went out.

Once Kylie was unconscious, Stephen helped her to the floor. He knelt down beside her and whispered into her ear: "What is your name?"

From the depths of her subconscious, Kylie found her name.

"What is your occupation?" Stephen wondered.

"I'm an actor," Kylie replied.

"Do you like acting?" he asked her.

This was one of the questions that Stephen was nervous about. If he couldn't get the answer from her that he wanted, he would never convince her to change jobs.

There was a long pause, and then Kylie said, "I do like acting, but I would happily give it up for my husband."

Stephen frowned when he heard that because he didn't know who she was referring to. He thought it was worth following up, so he asked her to name her husband.

Without expression or emotion, Kylie said, "I love Stephen. He is my husband. He is the only one I would ever want to be with."

At first, when Stephen heard this, he was overjoyed. After thinking about it for a few minutes, though, his joy turned to rage as he realized that he had not planted the things she'd said. What this meant was that someone other than himself had been playing around in Kylie's head. The problem in this is that if the two hypnotists accidentally inserted opposing truths into a person's head, it could easily cause them to go insane.

Stephen was equally angry because he knew who had been playing around in Kylie's head, and he considered it a major breach of trust. The person who had hypnotized Kylie behind his back was none other than the butler, whom he had known for most of his life.

Stephen sat down, gently lifted Kylie into his arms, and snapped his fingers in front of her face. Kylie's eyes opened, and she blinked three times. "What happened?" she wondered. "The last thing I remember is when you were giving me a stress test…"

"Don't worry," Stephen replied. "You passed out for a second. Don't even think about it. You will be fine. Are you hungry? You must be. Let's go get something to eat. I would hate for you to pass out again!"

"Before we go anywhere," Kylie replied, "I would like to know the results of my stress test."

"You are no more stressed out than the average Joe," Stephen laughed. "In my opinion, you will feel better after you eat. Let's go have a hotpot. I know that you like hotpots!"

"Alright," Kylie replied. "I know of a place. Fannie took me there, and the food was good."