A Graduation Gift

Joel was stunned to see the beautiful woman standing before him. Transfixed by her twinkling eyes, distant memories began to
flood back to him.
Trying to hide the mild panic in his eyes, a name slipped out of his lips.
"Courtney!"
His voice was so high that it drew inquisitive eyes from around the restaurant.
Cloris also averted her eyes towards the commotion with curiosity. She caught Whitney hurrying to Courtney's side, looking at
the man with bewilderment.
"What's going on there?"
Arthur asked. He brought his glance back from the strange man to Cloris in front of him, who did not look like her usual self.
"Nothing. Don't worry about them. Let's just finish our meal. We're still going to the movies afterwards, right?"
Whitney's words from before were still running through Cloris's mind. She did not dare meddle in whatever drama was unfolding,
mindful of Courtney's current mental state.
"Of course. We should be just in time when we finish this meal,"
Arthur replied, smiling at Cloris and putting the commotion across the restaurant to the back of his mind.
Courtney's eyes were stunned wide open, and her face began to contort in anguish, conjuring up some grievous memory. She
felt her mother's arms come around her. As her mother, Whitney's maternal instinct was to protect her as the symptoms of her
illness started to show.
"Come on, Courtney. Let's head home,"
Whitney said, with agitation straining her voice. She feared what would happen if Courtney had a relapse in her mental disorder
in the middle of this restaurant.
With a sudden and forceful push that even surprised Whitney, Courtney wriggled out of her grip. She stood, glowering with rage
at the man.

"You promised you would be beside me for the rest of our lives. You promised me! Why did you lie?"
Courtney shouted, tears falling down her cheeks and clouding her vision.
Joel was lost for words, dumbstruck at the outburst. He knew he had taken advantage of Courtney, cheating her out of her
money the moment he found out she was the daughter of a very wealthy family. He had always had the reputation for skirt-
chasing but never thought he would have to face up to his past actions like this.
"Courtney, calm down. Just forget about him and let's head home, okay?"
Whitney was so focused on getting Courtney out of this situation and back home to take her medication. 'Maybe I should've
brought the doctor around too, ' she thought, leaving no space to even ponder whether Joel was the man who had hurt Courtney
so badly back in the day.
Whitney grabbed onto her daughter tighter but Courtney did not budge, nor did her hateful stare waver from Joel.
"You lied! You cheated! You are a liar!"
Courtney continued to yell. The people in the restaurant could no longer ignore the commotion. They strained their heads from
the seats to get a good look and some waiters had even gathered to watch.
Cloris suddenly rose from her seat, her mind too distracted.
"Arthur, let's go. It's too noisy here, I can't stand it anymore," she said, packing her things for a hasty exit.
Cloris could feel the nerves rising within her. Deep down, in her heart, she felt every word dagger Courtney threw at Joel was
actually being directed at her. She couldn't handle it any more.
Arthur hastened to get up and join Cloris as she hurried out.
Cassandra watched on, her heart sinking as Courtney became more erratic and crazed.
This was not the first time she had seen Courtney relapse.
She hurried over to the scene, helping Whitney to carefully drag Courtney out of the restaurant.
Joel's dinner date was completely stunned silent from her front row seat to the whole scene. She grabbed onto his arm, her face
full of fear.

"Joel, I'm scared. That woman is a lunatic!"
The girl shuddered, hoping Joel would pull around and comfort her.
Instead, her insult was the final straw for Courtney. Courtney snapped back around, her mind descending into a manic abyss.
With a loud shriek, she broke away from the grips of Whitney and Cassandra and launched herself at Joel, grabbing onto his
collar.
"You left me! Why? Why did you leave me? For her? You said I was the love of your life. Why did you lie? You liar!"
Courtney cried desperately. Joel did not know what to do, his body frozen with fear, his collars still clutched in a tight grip by
Courtney.
He could see the mania in Courtney's eyes.
He pulled her hands off his collars with definitive force.
"You are a lunatic. I have no idea what you're talking about."
Joel threw her hands away from him so forcefully that she staggered back and fell to the ground.
By a sick coincidence, she fell onto Cloris's legs as Cloris was trying to make her stealth exit out of the restaurant.
Cloris lost her footing and fell to the ground beside Courtney, the two women letting out a squeal as they hit the floor together.
Cassandra and Arthur both rushed forward to help them. Arthur carefully helped Cloris to her feet, while Cassandra was lending
a hand to Courtney.
"Cloris, are you alright?"
Arthur asked with concern as he saw the pure terror in Cloris's face as she got back up on her feet.
Courtney's eyes slowly fell onto Cloris.
"Cloris Qin? Is that you, Cloris?"
It was like she was in a terrible nightmare. Courtney's mind was going a hundred miles an hour as the agitation built up inside
her.

"You liar! You too, Cloris, you are liar! She cheated me too!"
The childhood memories began flooding back to Courtney and the rage on her face began to dissipate into childish fear.
"Both of you, liars, the pair of you! You both cheated me!"
Courtney started to wail uncontrollably as Cassandra held on to her, trying to calm her down.
"Shhh Courtney! Come on, be good. Let's go home. Let's go home with mommy."
Cassandra gestured at Whitney. With Courtney in this childlike state, at least, she was no longer aggressive.
Whitney had been standing there dumbfounded, at a loss at what to do. But at Cassandra's prompt hint, she immediately went
into action to help get Courtney out of the restaurant.
"My darling girl, let's go home! We'll get some snacks at home, whatever you want. Just tell mommy, okay?"
Whitney coaxed Courtney as if Courtney really were a child. Courtney began to slump into her hands, letting Whitney steer her
out of the place.
Every eye in the restaurant followed them out, their judgment being shared under their breath like a soft hum throughout the
place.
With the situation finally handled, Cassandra let out a sigh of relief. On to the next problem, she walked over to Cloris.
"Cloris. You know what? You owe Whitney and Courtney an apology."
Cassandra was anxious and apprehensive. Though Courtney's illness was much improved, this scene if anything proved that
she was still largely susceptible to triggers that would remind her of her painful past.
She'd worked hard to keep the memories locked away. But just like Pandora's box, once opened, the pain would rage within her,
destroying all her reason and logic and taking away any control she once had.
"Apologize for what? Stop being so preoccupied with the past. That was all so long ago! She's clearly sick. How can you blame
this on me?"

Cloris retorted. After all, they were just children back then and everything was nothing but pranks. How dare Cassandra go so far
to say that she owed them any apology?
"You saw what happened when she just saw you now. You both owe her an apology, if I may say so myself,"
Cassandra said, gesturing to Joel who had been there dazing silently.
Casting her eyes over to Joel, she couldn't help but wonder how the guy had been acquitted so quickly. Courtney hadn't even
had a chance to process what he had done to her.
"Cassandra, who do you think you are? Are you my sister or hers? Or are you just playing along so Mrs. Zheng would adopt you
and you could get your hands on their money? You do as you please but don't bring me into it and force me to butter them up,
just for your own sake,"
Cloris retorted bitterly.
"Watch your language, Cloris."
Cassandra's face tightened into a scowl. She couldn't help but feel the pang in her heart from her sister's words.
"Then don't listen to me if you don't want to hear what I have to say. What makes you think that you can boss me around and
compel me to do something I don't want to do? You're not my mother. Mind your own business!"
Cloris snapped back, rage filling her eyes. She'd always thought Cassandra was vile and hypercritical by nature and this just
proved her right again.
"Cloris, I don't understand what you have against me. I don't know what I have done wrong to deserve this,"
Cassandra scolded, feeling so hurt by her own sister's words. She'd always tried to be there for Cloris, paying the tuition and
expenses for her while going through a financially difficult time herself. She never imagined that she'd be repaid so cruelly.
With a sneer, Cloris continued, "Don't you act so innocent and noble, Cassandra. You make me sick with what you've done. You
count your lucky stars that I don't have any evidence against you right now or you would have another thing coming."
In a threatening tone, her voice dripped with malice.