Flash back(3)

Renji and Sara eventually decided that Yan Shu needed to see a shrink. It simply wasn't healthy for her to live like that, thinking that the whole world was out to get her.

Sara contacted Shen Yifeng, a psychiatrist friend of hers, who quickly diagnosed her with social phobia.

"She's not able to trust other people, most likely from fear of being betrayed," said the doctor. "And yes, the taxi incident may have something to do with it, but I doubt it is the main cause. This goes deeper and likely has to do with her life before arriving at the country."

Renji and Sara were shocked at this. "And what can we do to help her?"

"Being there for her is important, but we should also try to gradually introduce her to the outside world. And most important of all, she needs time."

"How much time?"

"Weeks, months, years. That's impossible to say. I'd recommend putting her on a mental institution, where she would have a lot of professionals near her. This will get her out of her comfort zone, which can be both good and bad. For the best results, you would need to visit her every day."

Renji and Sara looked at one another. They had no idea that Yan Shu Carried so much baggage, but they were sure that they wanted to help her. So they followed Dr. Shen's suggestion to put her on the mental institution.

Yan Shu spent nearly six months in there, and Kai's family made sure to visit every day. In the mornings, Renji would visit and teach her some basic martial arts. The doctor suggested that, claiming that learning to defend herself could be a good way for her to feel safer. Besides, it also helped to take her mind off things.

Kai and Sara followed his example and both decided to teach her some of what they knew. Kai taught her how to code while Sara taught her acupuncture.

Eventually, Dr. Shen said that she could go back to living with them. "She still isn't completely cured, but from now on, the best treatment would be to go out and meet new people."

And so they did as he suggested while continuing to teach her.

Renji started taking her to the office with him so she could learn more about business. Before, he used to delegate most of his work to others and only showed up at the office once in a while. Now, he would go every weekday so that she could come along.

As she improved herself, Renji started to hand some simpler work to her, and she did them exemplarily. He had only praises for how fast she learned.

Finally, one day after dinner, Yan Shu decided to open up. She called everyone to the living room and told them about her past.

As expected, they burned in anger and indignation. But no matter how much they asked, she refused to let them deal with it. That was her problem, and she wanted to personally take care of it. They had to agree, albeit reluctantly.

As the anger faded, a feeling of happiness took over the family by the fact that Yan Shu decided to open up to them.

She only asked then to help cover up for her in case anyone came looking, which they gladly did. Besides, as she lived with them, they already had the perfect cover for her. From that day forward, Renji and Sara gained an adoptive daughter.

Yan Shu also decided to apply for college. She had done so back at Country X, but she never managed to enroll due to the turn of events. Now, she had the chance to, and she decided to apply to Fengshan University.

She couldn't hide her excitement after finally receiving her letter of approval. She jumped in joy, more often than not on Renji, who had to sleep with an aching back that day. For the first time in her life, she knew how it felt to have parents who loved her.

But while everything was good with the parents, things were more complicated with Kai. Not that he treated her badly, far from that, but whenever she sees him, she remembers her brother, who also loved her and was probably dying for news of her. Not knowing how to deal with this, she would either ignore or mock him.