Brighton Mall
Today is a bright sunny morning and I have prepared for a journey to Brighton Mall in the easternmost of the city. I dress completely different from my usual style, putting on a pair of tight jeans and a skimpy top. Not something I would feel comfortable in, but this is what fits the purpose.
Deception.
I consider it my disguise.
I wear a curly dark wig over my medium-length hair, which I have coloured blue over the weekend, and add some spectacles to the mix. Even Uncle Dou is almost unable to recognise me as I get into the rented vehicle.
"So today you asked me to not wear my uniform and instead rent a vehicle, is because we are going for an early Halloween?" Uncle Dou asks, to which I just smile. He drops me off at the dropoff point as usual and then I go about doing what I came for. I have my mind set on something bigger than Halloween.
I stride confidently with my tall boots down the imaginary red carpet in the mall. The mall is far from where I would prefer to shop and is located at the other end of the city. Plus, there aren't many of my favourite brands and stores here in Brighton.
Yet, there is someone I would like to meet, but not with my actual identity. I have created an alter ego of mine called Jade Wen, an online alias I would at times like to use on forums and reading platforms.
Hours earlier, I have made a call to Jewel Xia's office to make an appointment, sounding depressed and requiring professional help. The receptionist immediately filled me up for an empty slot in the psychiatrist's calendar, which is fortunately at eleven-thirty. But why the pretence?
Simple, because Jewel Xia Yanfei is the older half-sister I am eager to know about and witness with my own eyes. I don't want to have to go through having a spy to investigate her, because I am capable of doing it on my own accord.
In this new life, my father, before meeting my mother, had been in love with Jewel's mother and dated for about four to five years before they had to go their separate ways. Jewel must have been conceived then. Two years later, my father likely met my mother, and I was born a year later. So, Jewel and I have about three to four years difference in our ages based on my estimation.
I am unsure if she knows about me, either, so rather than emerge before her out of the blue, I used my alias to create an alter ego. It is not unethical or illegal I consider it saving her from disappointment.
"Miss Wen, Dr Xia will see you now," the red-haired receptionist announces in a mild tone. I am sitting on the soft cushioned PVC couch in the waiting area. Surprisingly, working in such a place, the lady does not seem in the least stressed. She greets me with a sweet and positive smile. Do the staff there receive a free consultation?
I am about to answer her with my thanks but I remember that I am a 'patient'. I try to look as tense as possible as I stagger to the doctor's room.
A woman with a short bob is looking seriously at a folder, obviously empty, since I do not have any prior records. As I enter the room, she directs her gaze towards me and forms a very endearing smile.
Ah, psychologists and psychiatrists are known to be very charming people, so she must be no exception.
But looking at her just makes me think of the neglect from my father and depresses me more. Between me and her, who would be the perfect daughter in his life?
"Miss Wen, shall we start?" her soft voice clears the silence.
I just look at her.
"Let us begin with introductions," she continues. "You can call me Jewel. I am your psychiatrist." She then gives a short account to introduce herself.
"I am Jade," I just say. "Um, 21 years old student in Canning-U and studying uh-economics." I go on and cook up some false facts to ensure my situation is most believable. "I am here because of my breakup and parents' divorce. I feel useless and worthless. Why did they leave me? Why did he leave me?"
I pretend to bawl. It seems realistic enough, as I fill myself with emotions by recalling how Shan Hanyu had left me with a mountain of debt in my past life and how I lived my final moments in his absence. My tears began rolling as I recounted how my heart was broken and how lonely I felt.
She immediately offered me a wad of tissues and attempted to calm me down with words of consolation. "Jade, sometimes things happen and we can't prevent them. What we can do is face them with positivity."
Normally, psychiatrists would begin their first session by knowing the patient better before deciding if they require therapy, and I understand that she is trying to do the same. But the more she explains, the more I feel agitated, and losing control, I snap at her.
"What do you understand? Have you ever been left behind before? Did you even go through the experience of having your parents separate?"
She looks at me with a warm expression on her face, even though I have appeared to just lose my temper at her.
"I've always grown up without a father."
"And now? Are you still without a father?" I impale her eyes with one of the most intense interrogatory stares I have. As far as I have remembered, this method had always worked, and on different people in the university.
"I...." she thinks for a few seconds and clears her throat. "Yes. I've grown to be so used to not having a father, that no matter who my mother dates or brings home to meet me, I don't think very much of it."
So, did that mean she did not know my father is also her father, and just assumed he is one of her mother's boyfriends?
She realises she is acting unprofessionally and hastily corrects herself. I have stopped interrogating her and just looked at her nonchalantly.
"Sorry, I don't know why I said that. That was extremely unprofessional of me. Please accept my sincere apologies."
"It's fine," I said, and get up to go.
"If you're not in a hurry, Miss Wen, do take a seat and listen to me."
What was it that she wanted to tell me?
I sit down abruptly, and she tells me her deduction.
"I don't think you need a psychiatrist. I'll give you a referral to a psychologist."
There is nothing much for me to say now, other than accept her referral letter and to go on my way.
..................................
I was expecting to go into Jewel's office annoying her and detesting her with all I could, but in the end, I could not bring myself to. And especially the part that she did not know about my father, which confuses me.
There are many possibilities. One, she isn't my father's daughter, and two, was my father making things up? It didn't seem like him to lie to me, so why did he tell me he has a happy family now? And why hasn't he contacted me for the last few weeks?
This Jewel seemed quite a tough cookie, although she couldn't resist my interrogation method. I fathom that this was one of the unexplainable abilities given to me from my trade with Devil Cullen. I can't use it too often, as it takes up much of my energy.
Jewel doesn't seem to have many photographs on social media and seems rather distant from her family. I wonder if she may be a loner like me in my past life. Did she have any friends? Even her Vgram account merely contains a few photographs of herself. I close the Vgram app and move on to look into her academic qualifications and achievements.
She appears quite studious and has obtained numerous awards in competitions. This suddenly brought up a memory of me and my father from my past life. We were having a conversation where he told the sixteen-year-old me that he wished that I was more of a studier and had better grades.
In my life then, I had never been great at studying. But Jewel was on a different level. If not that I didn't need to study in my current life and was endowed with a photographic memory, she would probably have an advantage over me. But now, I need more answers. If even the events of 2011 have been altered in this new life of mine, what would be the outcome of 2018?
Would I still survive the events of 2018 and prevent the fall of Shengyi Corporation up to my suicide?