Caitlin shook Joyce's shoulders violently as she asked, “Hurry up and answer me! Do you know how old you are?”
“I'm twenty-seven years old,” Joyce replied while trying to fight off the dizziness caused by her mother shaking her.
Caitlin paused. “So, you do know that you're twenty-seven?”
Joyce burst out laughing. “What has gotten into you, Mom? Why would I not know my own age?”
Caitlin fell silent after hearing that.
And here I thought the shock had caused her mental age to regress to when she was a teen! Judging by her
response, I'm guessing that didn't happen.
“Is something the matter, Mom?” Joyce asked with a look of puzzlement on her face.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtCaitlin shot her a fierce glare. “What do you think, Joyce? I should be asking you that question instead! How did your
mood change so much all of a sudden?”
“Ah, that's what you're talking about? My mood improved significantly after I forgot those unpleasant memories!”
Joyce replied with a chuckle.
“Forgot those unpleasant memories?” Caitlin froze.
What does she mean by that? If I'm not mistaken, Stanley is the one that gave her those unpleasant memories. He
broke her heart and forced her to get an abortion. Is that what she meant by unpleasant memories? Hmm... The
more I think about it, the more it seems to be the case. Even so, I can't be entirely sure what she actually means
unless I confirm it with her.
With that in mind, Caitlin frowned as she asked, “How did you forget, Joyce? Also, what exactly did you forget?”
“I forgot about that person and what he did to me,” Joyce replied.
“Who is that person?” Caitlin pressed on.
“I think his name was Stanley or something. I'm not too sure, though. Hang on, let me check...” Joyce said as she
returned to her chair and rummaged through her drawer, completely oblivious to the change in Caitlin's expression.
What? Joyce has forgotten about Stanley? How is that possible? I've been wondering if she actually did forget about
him, but it looks like that really is the case here! She barely even remembers his name!
Caitlin was snapped out of her train of thoughts when Joyce found the item she was looking for, which turned out to
be a letter.
“Found it!” Joyce read through the letter excitedly and continued with a nod, “Yup! His name is Stanley, all right!”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Caitlin looked her straight in the eyes as she asked, “Joyce, have you really forgotten about Stanley?”
“Yeah,” Joyce replied with a nod.
“H-How did you forget?” Caitlin felt a wave of uneasiness sweep through her body.
Joyce was just crying her heart out over Stanley yesterday. I know she intends to forget about him, but there's no
way she could have done that so quickly! Even if she has given up on him completely, that doesn't mean she has
forgotten about him. Could this be some kind of coping mechanism? I remember seeing such things in TV shows.
When a person gets too upset, the brain selectively removes unpleasant memories to help them cope with the
trauma. The proper term for it is dissociative amnesia. Is that what Joyce has developed?
“Here you go, Mom. The answer is written right here,” Joyce said while handing her the letter.
“Answer?” Caitlin snatched the letter over and quickly read through it.
Wait, this is Joyce's handwriting! She's the one who wrote this letter!