767  Chapter 766

Noticing Erin’s sudden look of surprise, everyone held their breath.

She gestured for Ellie to sit on the nearby couch and, after a quick glance at her eyes, circled around her, inspecting her carefully.

Erin’s face was now serious, which was a rare sight.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Ellie asked, “Am I really hypnotized?”

“Yeah,” Erin replied. “I can see signs of it. When you found out that guy betrayed you, did you suddenly feel… lighter? Like all the love and attachment you had for him just vanished?”

Ellie nodded immediately. “Yes, exactly!”

She had been confused earlier.

She used to be obsessed with Darien, loving him to the point of insanity. She wouldn’t have been willing to be his mistress for years, let alone act like a lovesick puppy.

The idea of him breaking up with her once felt unbearable, devastating.

She thought finding out who he truly was would break her, but instead, all she felt was relief, almost like a sense of victory.

As if her love had been a lie all along.

As Ellie reflected, Erin spoke up again. “That makes sense. The hypnosis you were under made you think Darien was risking his life for you, that you had to love him deeply no matter what, trust him… and that’s why you’ve been stuck on him all these years, thinking he was your true love.

“But the moment you found out who he really was, that hypnosis broke. The trust was shattered, and without that foundation, the whole thing collapsed.”

Erin, looking like a picture-perfect princess with her delicate features and sweet voice, stayed serious as she continued to examine Ellie’s head, tilting it this way and that.

Ellie, feeling uneasy, asked, “Wait, is breaking the hypnosis going to damage my brain?”

“Nah,” Erin replied with a grin.

“I’m just curious how someone could be this clueless and get duped so easily.”

Ellie didn’t know what to say.

She jumped up, backing away a few steps from Erin.

With her playful smile returning, Erin teased, “You know what the first thing is when it comes to hypnotizing someone?”

This time, Ellie didn’t answer, but Keira, who’d been quietly observing, spoke up, “It’s trust.”

“Exactly. The person being hypnotized has to trust the hypnotist for it to work. Ellie, you and Darien didn’t even know each other back then. There was no trust between you two yet. So, who did you trust enough to allow them to hypnotize you?”

Ellie was silent again.

Seeing her confusion, Erin turned to Keira, smirking. “She’s a little slow, isn’t she? Even if Darien didn’t fool her, someone else definitely did.”

Darien’s manipulation was too straightforward.

Any person with common sense would have avoided getting entangled the way Ellie had. So, the idea that Darien alone deceived her seemed unlikely.

There was only one other possibility.

Keira asked Erin, “Besides trust, what else do you need for hypnosis?”

Erin thoughtfully rubbed her chin. “A quiet environment. Ideally, the person needs to be relaxed, maybe even asleep. That’s when hypnosis works best, in that half-awake, half-asleep state.”

Keira turned back to Ellie. “Think carefully. Three and a half years ago, where were you? Who did you trust enough to completely fall asleep around them?”

Ellie thought hard.

It was true—once girls grow up, they become more mindful of privacy. Even at home, she’d developed the habit of locking her bedroom door before sleeping.

And no way would she fall asleep in front of Ryan, not even at home.

So how could she have slept somewhere else…? Wait!

Ellie suddenly spoke up, “I remember! It was the spa!”

Keira’s brows furrowed.

The spa.

It actually made sense.

Ellie continued, “I had a membership at this spa. I went every week for treatments. I even got to know one of the girls there really well because she was good at her job. After a while, I only ever booked with her.”

It wasn’t unusual to fall asleep while getting a massage during a relaxing spa session.

No wonder Ellie got hypnotized.

Someone like that was impossible to guard against!

Ellie clenched her fists in anger. “I’m going to find that girl right now!”

Keira and Lewis exchanged a glance before Keira calmly spoke, “How long has it been since you’ve been to that spa? Maybe call them first.”

Ellie paused, her hand hovering over her phone, then dialed the spa’s number.

When someone answered, she froze.