Mental Disorder

There is something strange about her sister. Thought Anna suspiciously. The twins were completely unaware of the swift changes in her eldest sister, but Anna was compassionate in sensing her sisters' moods.

Cathy was still smiling as usual and joking with them. Even when they got on the bus on their way home, there was nothing strange about their cheerful atmosphere.

Only Anna felt something different from her sister. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything unusual or a sign of her sister's changing mood.

Anna decided not to think about it and thought it was all just her feelings.

After arriving at their destination stop, Cathy did not get off with them.

"Let me know when you get home."

"Where are you going?" asked Anna.

"Just stopping somewhere for a minute. I'll be home in an hour."

The bus door closed, and Anna saw the bus her sister was riding away from her sight.

"Why isn't sister Cathy coming with us?" asked Lina

"She said she wanted to stop by first. Let's go home," responded Anna.

The three of them walked and entered a small street flanked by two high buildings not far from the bus stop.

After exiting the road, they crossed and entered the gate of the elite residence. After walking for five minutes since getting off the bus, they finally arrived at their house.

They saw an unknown car parked in front of their house.

"Whose car is that?" asked Lizzy in amazement at the luxury car.

"I don't know. Maybe we have guests?" even Anna herself did not know who owned the luxury car.

They passed the car, curious about the car owner, and casually entered the gate of their big house.

As soon as they entered the family room, they saw a man in neat clothes sitting casually reading his tablet.

Anna suspected the man was the owner of the car parked outside. But, she had absolutely no idea who the man was.

"Pst.. who is that person?" Lina tried to whisper towards her sister, but the whisper was loud enough to make the man turn their head.

The man gave the tablet to his assistant and got up.

"Catherine?" the man called Anna with the name 'Catherine' in a hesitant tone.

"No. I'm not Catherine."

"Ah, you friends of Catherine?"

"We're Catherine's sisters. I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Anna and her sisters could see the man looked stunned before finally sighing heavily.

"Anastasia." called the man, pointing at Anna, "You must be Elizabeth and Carolina." continued the man while pointing at Lina and Lizzy.

How did the man know their names?

"How can you..."

"We've never met before, so I'm not used to seeing you grow up at all. I remember you were still babies when you first came here." the man sighed, "Who would have thought, time went by so fast."

Then she remembered her sister about their benefactor. This person was the real owner of this house. This person was the one who finances their daily life and their education at school.

This person was the younger brother of their father.

"Uncle Benjamin?"

The man smiled at Anna, who called him uncle.

"That's right. It looks like Catherine has brought you up well," he said in awe as he saw his three nieces give him a respectful nod.

"Where's Catherine?"

"Sister still hasn't come home. She said it might take an hour to get home."

Benjamin nodded in understanding and called to Aunt Len, the caretaker of the family house.

"When Catherine comes back, send her to my office."

"Yes, sir."

Did her sister do something wrong? Has her sister been in trouble? So many thoughts that worry about her sister's situation circulated on Anna's mind. She hoped her sister wouldn't get involved in any problem.

Cathy, who did not know her uncle's return, waited patiently for a nurse in one of the mental hospitals.

"Miss West," called a nurse. "Your father is asleep. I think that you can come into the room now."

Cathy followed the nurse and entered a room that had become a residence for her father.

For these so many years, whenever she came to visit, her father always got angry and threw her out. He even wanted to beat her so many times that the nurses and doctors gave him sedatives.

Received such treatment, Cathy could not get closer and could only see her father's face from afar.

This was the first time she could see his father's face up close.

'Isn't there a way to cure him?'

'Sorry. We've done everything possible to restore your father's mental health, but as you can see, there's no progress.'

She recalled her conversation with one of the doctors who treated her father.

Cathy didn't understand why she still cared about her father. Her father injured her; he snatched something precious from her, but why does she always spare the time to visit him?

Cathy's eyes stared at one hand of her father that stretched out beside his lying body. Her hand moved towards his father's hand. For a moment, she wanted to hold her father's hand.

But...

Her movements stopped right when her hand was above her father's. Just a little more, her small hand will touch his father's big hand, yet Cathy pulled her hand back.

No matter how much Cathy wished for her father to be well, what her father took would not return. Her happiness was already destroyed the moment her father slapped her.

Her heart already dead the moment the older man snapped at her.

'The problem is not with your health, but with your mental state.'

Cathy bit her lip so hard that the blood came out and slipped on her tongue.

Feeling her sore lips and the taste of blood, Cathy's tears began to come out and flow down her cheeks.

'The problem is not with your health, but with your mental state.'

Does that mean she also has a mental disorder like her father? No. She doesn't want it. She did not want to end up stay in the hospital.

If, in the end, she experienced the same condition as her father, then who will look after and protect her younger siblings?

Ting!

Her phone sounded, indicating an incoming message.

Cathy wiped her tears to see the messages on her phone.

'Uncle Ben is home,' was the message sent by Anna.

Reading the news, Cathy raised an eyebrow. Her uncle came home? After not showing the bridge of his nose for nearly fifteen years, that man suddenly returned home?

Cathy put her phone back into her small bag. She looked back at her father a little bit longer, afraid that for her next visit, she would not be able to see her father's face this close.

If she knew her father was sleeping from the beginning, she would invite her younger sisters to see him. However, she doubted if that was a good move.

After satisfied looking at her father's face, Cathy rose to her feet and walked out without making a sound.

Once at her house, Aunt Len immediately conveyed her employer's message to her. Cathy immediately headed to her uncle's study room without stalling for time. She wondered why her uncle summoned her after they had not been touched for dozens of years.

"Come in."

As soon as she got permission, Cathy opened the door and closed it again after she entered. She saw her uncle sitting at his desk with glasses typing something on his laptop.

Cathy walked over to him and stood right in front of the table opposite her uncle.

"Can I help you with something, uncle Ben?"

Ben glanced at his oldest niece and took out a passbook from his desk drawer.

"You're not using your savings at all." said the man in an accusing tone.

"It's not my money, but ..."

"This is your money. I promised my brother and the court to take good care of you. You don't have to work anymore and use this money if you need anything."

"..."

"You're still going to work at that lowly restaurant." this is not a question but a confirmation.