Elias Carter is a man trapped in his own mind a place where desire and fear constantly battle for control. On the surface, he is successful: a well-respected psychologist with an impeccable reputation. But beneath the façade, he suffers from an unshakable emptiness. No matter how many relationships he pursues, no matter how much he indulges in fleeting moments of intimacy, true satisfaction remains out of reach. His life takes a strange turn when a new patient, Lillian Monroe, enters his office. Lillian is unlike anyone he has ever met enigmatic, intense, and seemingly attuned to the very void he tries to hide. As their therapy sessions progress, Elias finds himself unraveling. Lillian's confessions about her own unfulfilled desires mirror his deepest fears, forcing him to confront the question he has always avoided: What if the problem isn't external? What if true pleasure is not something he can attain, but something he has lost within himself?
Chapter 1 The mask
Dr. Elias Carter sat at his desk, staring at the clock on the wall, counting the seconds as they passed. He had always prided himself on control-on analyzing human behavior from a safe distance. He was the one who understood, not the one who felt. His patients were subjects to study, their struggles mere puzzles he solved with precision.
But then came Lillian.There was something different about her from the very start. Quiet, intense, never rushing to fill the silence with words. She wasn't like his other patients-her gaze wasn't vacant, it was sharp. Observant. Almost like she was waiting for him to reveal something."Tell me, Lillian," he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "What brings you here?"
Her eyes flicked to him, calculating. "I'm here because I need to understand why I can't feel anything."
Elias didn't answer immediately. Something about her words caught him off guard. Most people came to him because they were too emotional,too sensitive. But Lillian wasn't like that. She was distant, cold even, and that intrigued him."Why do you think you can't feel anything?" he asked, leaning forward just slightly.She smiled faintly. "Because I've spent my whole life convincing myself that I shouldn't."
Elias's chest tightened for a moment. It wasn't something he expected her to say and yet it resonated. Her words reminded him of something,he'd buried long ago. The question was too familiar, too personal.
He quickly covered it up with a professional tone. "And what would it mean for you to feel something?"Her gaze didn't falter. "It would mean admitting I've been wrong all this time."
Elias nodded slowly, unsure whether it was curiosity or something else that made him want to dig deeper. But he'd been trained to stay objective, detached. Focus, Elias, he reminded himself. She's just another patient.