She was executing her plan the other day in the kitchen, spiking the soup with a drug that would cause major damage to the nerves. Sheba never thought that James would sneak into the kitchen for food in the middle of his study. Thus, he witnessed what she was doing.
James was initially confused by what she was doing, so he asked her about it. However, Sheba panicked. She tried to lie to James. Alas, James was a smart boy. He did not believe what she said, and he decided to tell his parents about it.
Sheba became frantic, and she quickly ran after him to stop him. James was a child, after all. He thrashed in her grip and screamed. Sheba pinned him down, but he kicked her in response, making her stumble backward.
At that moment, Yennefer and Jones returned. That was how they watched Sheba lose her balance and fall into the deep well. Perhaps Sheba had knocked her head on her way down and passed out, for she sunk without even getting the chance to scream.
Jones and Yennefer hastily tried to save her, but it took them forever and a day to get her out of the well. By then, it was too late. Sheba was dead.
James never expected that to happen. His father beat him terribly despite how he tried to tell him again and again about what he saw. Ultimately, they found evidence of his aunt’s attempted poisoning in the kitchen.
The loss of her sister and the revelation of Sheba’s plan broke Yennefer. Her mental breakdown led to a terrible period of illness, and she was in a coma for half a month. When Yennefer woke again, she was no longer quite the same.
The trauma made her manic. She would act exactly like her younger sister, Sheba Thompson, whenever she was in one of her episodes. That year, James had been thirteen.
From then on, every time his mother had her episode, she would see James as her enemy and hurl insults at him. James was depressed for a while, but in the end, he decided to become a psychologist to save his mother from her mental illness.
After countless research and visits to various famed doctors, he finally figured out that his mother’s illness was probably borne out of her connection to her twin sister.
His mother, Yennefer, was unable to process the traumatic incident, so another alter identity was formed in her, and that identity was her sister, Sheba. Moreover, Yennefer mimicked the fear Sheba felt before the latter’s death.
That was why she subconsciously assumed her sister would deem James as an enemy. Every time Yennefer had her episode, she would go on and on about killing James. James was on the verge of breaking down after witnessing his mother’s episodes.
Yet, he never gave up. He continued visiting various countries for his mother. As a matter of fact, he started becoming superstitious. When he heard that there was an ancient shaman in Alendor who could control episodes like his mother’s, he decided to bring his mother to the shaman.
The truth was that they had gone to Alendor a few years ago, and they had found a supposed shaman to treat Yennefer.
Perhaps subconsciously, Yennefer knew that if the entire family would be affected if she continued to have these episodes. Perhaps the ceremony really did have a psychological effect. In any case, Yennefer’s condition stabilized after that trip.
The shaman was close to death on their second trip to Alendor. After visiting the shaman, the family stayed for the shaman’s funeral. Then, they planned to visit Alendor’s grasslands to see the wildlife.
No one expected an accident to happen. To protect his parents, James shot the thugs dead. The scene shocked Yennefer and triggered her memories of her sister’s death. Unsurprisingly, her condition worsened again.
In the room, Jones was slowly telling them what had happened in the past. Sure enough, Lucian realized the many details were the secrets James once told him.
However, James never told him about his reason for studying psychology. Still, Lucian could make a guess. His mood was a rollercoaster. Like Jonathan, James still kept many things a secret from him.
Meanwhile, Roxanne had a look of surprise on her face. She never thought there would be so many twists and turns in the story. Her heart sank.
She never thought the unbothered and mild- mannered James would be bearing such a heavy weight on his shoulders. If he were someone else, perhaps he would have been crushed by the weight.
Robert Zucker and the other psychologists had similar somber expressions on their faces. They finally found out the origin of Yennefer’s condition.
“So, Ms. Thompson’s previous recovery was due to the placebo effect. Since we now know what happened, let’s continue adjusting our treatment plan. Mr. Lann, please give us a minute. Let’s have a meeting,” Robert said.
Robert was a famous psychologist who had seen many similar cases. To some extent, individuals with mental illness had experienced a multitude of tragedies that pushed them further and further into despair.
Jones nodded and led Robert and the other psychologists out of the room. He acted as if he did not hear the cries of his wife behind him, but Roxanne and Lucian noticed the dullness in his eyes. It was a look that stemmed from numbness after the misery. The indifference was only a show he put up.
Jones was the primary support of the Lann family. To save his mother, his son had walked down a different path. Jones could not afford to break down nor let himself feel the sorrow. Soon, Roxanne, Lucian, and the screaming. Yennefer were the only ones left in the room.
It seemed like Yennefer was agitated as she screamed for people to let her go. She wanted to look for James-to punish him.
“Lucian, I’ll try to use acupuncture to calm Mrs. Lann down first. She’ll probably need therapy. from a psychologist for the rest of her treatment. At most, I can only halt her episodes.” A look of melancholy crossed Roxanne’s face. Lucian nodded and reminded her, “Do your best, but don’t stress yourself out too much.”
With that, he slowly approached Yennefer from behind before hastily grabbing Yennefer’s head to stop her from struggling.
With a glint, three needles appeared in Roxanne’s hands. She then walked to Lucian’s side and swiftly inserted the needles into the acupuncture points on Yennefer’s head.
One. Two. Three. As the needles were inserted, Yennefer’s scrunched-up face relaxed. In the end, Roxanne used nine needles on Yennefer’s head.
Yennefer calmed down completely, but in the next second, to their surprise, her eyes rolled up, and she fell backward. Roxanne reacted in time and quickly supported her with an arm around her waist.
“Lucian, quick, undo her restraints. We’ll carry her onto the bed.”
The couple then exerted much strength to put her comfortably on the bed. Perhaps Jones had noticed the lack of crying. He came running to check on Yennefer.
When he saw his wife lying on the bed peacefully and the needles in her head, he immediately figured out what was going on. Roxanne’s really a miracle worker! Her acupuncture’s working!
“Thank you so much, Roxanne. You’re really an amazing doctor. I can’t believe this worked so quickly. I hired a traditional medicine practitioner in the past too, but they couldn’t do anything about her condition,” Jones exclaimed.
Roxanne shook her head and politely denied it. The truth was that she was using Cerulean Needle Technique’s last move. To do the challenging technique of inserting needles into the head, one had to possess strong mental fortitude and the capability to improvise.
Whenever her mentor did acupuncture on a patient’s head, her mentor would pre-set the depth of the insertion to avoid accidents.
However, things were urgent earlier. Roxanne had noticed Yennefer’s bloodshot eyes, agitation, and skyrocketing blood pressure. The stress on her heart had been too much for her.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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