Zhifan Dong arrives at a Utah university full of hope, adjusting slowly to campus life. She begins dating Haoyu, a fellow student who initially treats her with kindness, but soon becomes controlling and intrusive. His behavior escalates from checking her phone to monitoring her movements and confronting her publicly. Zhifan recognizes the danger early and repeatedly reaches out for help, filing reports with housing staff and speaking to campus police. Each step is met with delays, misrouted paperwork, or minimal action. Despite her efforts to distance herself, Haoyu intensifies his pursuit with alternating anger, guilt, and love-bombing.

Throughout the semester, Zhifan’s fear grows while her support requests get lost in bureaucratic confusion. Housing staff suggest mediation instead of separation, and campus police label the situation as a simple relationship dispute. As the system fails to intervene, Haoyu’s emotional instability deepens. Zhifan makes a final, decisive attempt to end the relationship in a public space with her friend nearby. Though she stands firm, Haoyu misinterprets her boundary as betrayal and mentally spirals.

That night, he comes to her dorm unannounced. Terrified, she leaves with her friend to stay off campus, unaware that he is preparing for a final confrontation. By the next day, she goes missing. Police eventually trace her to an off-campus apartment, where the truth of what happened becomes clear. The campus community reels with grief and anger as institutional failures are exposed. Her family arrives seeking answers that no one can fully provide. The story closes on a single haunting question: what would have changed if someone had acted sooner?