"Courtney!"
Whitney cried loudly. There were desperation and agony in her ear-piercing shriek.
Cassandra's heart sank horribly when she heard thescream. She rushed to the room where the voice
came from and gasped when she saw what had happened inside.
The white European-style engraving dresser was turned upside down, and things that were once neatly
placed on it were scattered on the floor.
Strong fragrance from a broken perfume bottle filled the room. Still, it failed to mask the smell of blood.
Courtney's long-sleeved silk nightgown was stained with blood. Cassandra's heart skipped a beat when
she saw this.
The girl sitting on the floor was holding a piece of blade on her left hand, her face oblivious to her
mother's scream. The shining piece of metal was bloody, too.
Looking closer, Cassandra realized that Courtney had cut herself. Blood oozed from the wound. And it
stunned her just as much as it did Whitney.
After what felt like a long time, the frightened mother rushed to her daughter's side and knelt beside
her. The girl still sat on her knees and gave no response at all. Whitney snatched the blade and flung it
to a corner of the room before begging, "Please don't do this, Courtney!"
Then, tears started streaming down the poor woman's cheeks. Surrendering to the?sobs, she held the
bloody girl tightly as she cried hoarsely.
"I don't know what to do, sweetheart!" she wailed, heartbroken. "I did not know when you'll give up and
hurt yourself. It pains me so much to see you like this."
Whitney's face that was distorted in agony was a stark contrast to her daughter's, which was blank and
indifferent, staring into the abyss.
Cassandra put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. The strain of the situation
was too much for her, and she nearly burst into tears as well.
Whitney had told her that Courtney might have some mental problems, but she did not expect it to be
so grave. She was thinking something possibly like sleepwalking or reluctance to interact with people,
not to an extend that she would be predisposed to self-harm.
It now made sense why Whitney chose to be away from most people. She was a proud woman. She
knew how gossip would spread if anyone found out that she had a mentally ill daughter.
Feeling pity, tears finally welled up in her eyes as Cassandra watched the mother holding the girl and
crying her heart out.
Just then, they heard quick footsteps from downstairs. Seconds later, a man in a suit was led to the
room by a steward.
The man was around 50 years old, and carried a medical kit with him. He wore grave expression as he
strode into the room.
Hope shone in Whitney's eyes seeing the man.
"You must help her, Smithers. She... has cut her own wrist," Whitney pleaded.
She then let go of Courtney, rose, and stepped aside to allow the doctor to get closer. It was then that
Cassandra realized that the blood had stained her clothes too as she was holding her daughter, but it
seemed to be the least of her concerns.
Clearly, it was not the first time that Smithers had handled situations like this. He crouched down
beside Courtney, took out some drugs and bandage from his kit, and put the bandage around her
wounded wrist after rolling up her sleeve and disinfecting it.
Throughout the whole process, Courtney watched without moving or making a sound. As the doctor
dressed her wound, she continued to stare in a daze, as if nothing around her existed.
She was extremely beautiful, yet looked nothing more like a broken doll now—no soul, no feelings. Her
lifeless expression made Cassandra feel very uneasy.
The doctor stood up and breathed a sigh of relief after he finished treating the wound. He then turned
to Whitney and said, "Didn't I tell you to take good care of her? It is true that she is less likely to hurt
others, but she will most probably hurt herself when she is in doubt. You must keep an eye on her!"
he advised, frowning. The man seemed very displeased.
"I... I didn't expect that she would do it again. She hasn't acted like this for months, so I thought that
she might have recovered!"
Whitney replied in a low voice, helpless. Unlike what Cassandra saw the morning she arrived, her hair
was no longer clean and tidy. Instead, she looked like a sorry figure with all the messy locks on her
face. She was clearly so worried about her daughter that she did not have time to fix her appearance.
"That's not possible. It's hard for her to recover if she hasn't let go of what has been troubling her!" the
doctor declared. "Make sure that she keeps taking the medicine. It's very important for now," he added
firmly.
After packing his medical kit, Smithers turned to leave. Before walking out of the room, he looked at
Courtney and shook his head slightly.
"If only we could find out what has been troubling her, " he lamented with a sign of regret on his face.
"What a pity!"
His words got Cassandra thinking, 'What exactly is eating away at Courtney's soul? What on earth has
been troubling her?'
"Have some clean clothes sent up here now and help Courtney change. And I want the floor here
cleaned up, too," Whitney said calmly after taking a deep breath.
She still looked pale, but she mustered to give her instructions clearly.
"I'd like to help her get clean up too,"
Cassandra volunteered. She really felt sorry for Courtney and wished that there was something she
could do for her.
"It's very kind of you, Cassandra. Thank you so much," responded Whitney. "I'll have a talk with the
doctor, call me if you need anything."
She gave Cassandra a grateful look and went downstairs with the doctor.
Soon enough, a servant girl brought some clothes in. Cassandra took them over and closed the door,
getting ready to help Courtney change together with the girl.
To her surprise, Courtney didn't resist at all. She just allowed them to do whatever they needed to like a
very docile and obedient child.
Taking off her clothes gently, Cassandra saw some old wounds on her arms. Those were deep-
creased?scars. It was quite dreadful to see them.
Before seeing them with her own eyes, it would have been unimaginable for her to think that a girl as
beautiful as Courtney would have these horrific scars on the body that most women would take pride
in.
After?changing?her clothes, the servant girl proceeded to clean the floor
while Cassandra finished the work up by straightening Courtney's collar. Suddenly, a necklace around
Courtney's neck caught her attention. She paused to study it.
It was a heart-shaped silver locket carved with vines that adorned its two windows. Cassandra realized
immediately that it was a pendant in which Courtney might carry a photo...and it was slightly open.
When Cassandra reached in to close it, she saw a familiar figure through the crack...
She gasped and her eyes widened at what she saw. The face in the photo expanded in her head until it
was so blindingly clear.
A sudden dizziness overpowered her. She couldn't help but lean?her palm?against?her brow, and gave
herself a little shake as if to shut the face out of her mind.
Her mind was now in turmoil, as if she was knocked by a sudden blow and her brain was going to
explode.
'Why is Courtney carrying his picture?' she wondered. 'What might be the relationship between them?
Is it possible that he has anything to do with whatever might be troubling Courtney?'
Just as she was lost in thought, Courtney bolted upright.
An innocent smile spread across her face, as though the doll had come to life.
Cassandra was taken aback. It was like watching a girl walk out of a painting.
Ignoring everyone around her, Courtney trotted cheerfully to her wardrobe, opened it, took out a pile of
her clothes and laid them out on her bed.
Her eyes gleamed with joy and a certain kind of anticipation.
She picked out a dress, walked to the mirror and held the dress up in front of it, cocking her head like a
little girl. Then, she shook her head and held up another dress.
Courtney did the same thing time and again as if she was dressing herself up for a date and wanted to
make sure that she looked her best.
Her face, which looked pale because of the blood loss minutes ago, had now regained some color.
However, Cassandra had mixed feelings. She had a feeling that Courtney hadn't returned to normal
yet.
Also, her thoughts strayed to the picture in Courtney's locket. He must be someone important to her
and might very well be the one whom she was unable to let go.
Her shilly-shallying when selecting the clothes, the way she hurt herself and how she had been acting
like a girl in love all seemed to point to one thing.
Cassandra guessed that Courtney was in love but was unable to move on. Would that explain her
mental disease?
The door opened and Whitney walked in.
Her?brows?knitted, her eyes were red from crying, and she wore a look of despair when she saw
Courtney choosing her clothes happily again.
"What...is the matter with her?"
Cassandra asked in a low voice, referring to Courtney.
"She has again been caught up in remembering her last relationship. This was what she used to do
when she was in love: dressing herself up for a date," Whitney sighed.
She closed her eyes as soon as she finished speaking with an expression of pain, as though she
couldn't bear to look at it anymore.
Cassandra turned back to look at the girl. She felt so much sympathy for her, but also relief.
She remembered the locket around her neck and thought that Courtney's problem might have been
caused by a man she loved. He was probably the man in the picture she carried.
Courtney indeed was one of her childhood friends. Though she had very little memory of her now and
didn't even know where to start if she wanted to help, Cassandra decided she was going to do
something about it. The girl was about her age, it was truly a tragedy that she had to spend the best
years of her life in pain and suffering, and even sometimes ended up in hurting herself and breaking
her mother's heart. Cassandra wanted so much to help.
A very wild idea prompted in her head:
she would find a way to get to the core of Courtney's misery and help her recover.
Didn't the doctor also say that he wished that he could find out the cause of her distress? Now that
Cassandra might have a clue, she promised herself that she would do her best to help Courtney.
Taking another look at Courtney, Cassandra finally made up her mind.
"Auntie Whitney," she said seriously, "I might know exactly what has happened to Courtney."
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