Chapter 200


    The sun shone brightly when Anna woke up early the next morning. When she felt a ray of sunlight


    falling on her face through the


    window, she instinctively raised her hand to shield it. Then, she sat up.


    At that moment, she heard something scratching the car outside.


    Anna then instantly got out of the car. And she saw Wayne standing in front of the car’s gas tank and


    fiddling with a stic pipe.


    She asked as she felt puzzled, “Hey, what are you doing?”


    Wayne looked at her and said, “Filling up the car, obviously.”


    The white tube connected the fuel tanks of the two cars and was transferring the oil from her’s to his.


    Wayne’s car had run out of gas, and Anna’s car had broken down. As a result, he intended to make the


    most of what was left of her


    Car.


    “Wow! Awesome!” Anna said.


    Anna froze as she discovered how he did it. She asked, “How did you do that? I remember that your


    car was far away from mine!


    How did they get so close together?”


    “Someone passed by us this morning, and I asked him to help me push it over,” Wayne said, looking at


    her again.


    “Is that so? It seems the local people are really kind!”


    “He asked me for two hundred dors.” He then said.


    Hearing his words, Anna immediately shut her mouth and couldn’t help but frown. She thought to


    herself, Gee, Wayne, why do you


    look so upset? You didn‘t even seem to want to talk to me. What exactly is going on? Did / irritate you?


    Wayne lowered his head and connected the tube. He then straightened up, cleaned his hands and


    said, “We can get to the town


    you mentioned if we drive a dozen miles down this road. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Are you


    hungry? I’ve got food and water in the


    Car.”


    Anna shook her head and said, “No, I’m good. It looks like we’re pretty close there. When we arrive


    there, I’ll treat you to breakfast.


    I’ve heard they have some very nice grilled fish over there.”


    Wayne smiled at that and replied, “Sounds good.”


    Anna had a difficult time recalling what had happened the night before, and she thought it was weird.


    She wasn’t drunk, but she just


    couldn’t remember anything that happened. She thought that maybe it was because the chilly breeze


    had overwhelmed her.


    Anna thought to hersell, How on earth did we ever make up? I remember that Wayne apologized to


    me. Well, never mind, since he


    condescended to apologize to me, I suppose I should simply let it go.


    Alter Wayne had filled up the car, they were on their way to Sea Town.


    Anna‘s phone finally received a signal just as they were halfway down the mountain and almost at the


    bottom.


    “Damn! I have a lot of missed calls!” Anna was terrified as she saw that Peace had called her several


    times.


    I‘m screwed; she must be worried about me! Anna thought.


    Then, Anna noticed that Karl had also called her. She paused for a moment before calling him back.


    Before Anna could think of anything to say, Karl quickly answered the phone and said, “Hello? Anna?”


    Kari’s voice was so but that she almost didn’t recognize him. Then she said, “Karl, hello there. We’re all


    right now, and Wayne is with


    me. Thank you very much!”


    “Anna, does Peace suffer from mental illness?” Kart asked directly and interrupted Anna.


    Both of them tell silent


    *Huh? What’s wrong? Why do you want to know that?” Anna looked serious and tried to sound as calm


    as she could.


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    Karl sounded as if he were in tears. He said, “Last night, she passed out right in front of me. She


    appeared to be apletely


    different person when she woke up. She imed that she was a knight, and that the doctor’s


    stethoscope was her sword…”


    As she listened to Karl’s description, Anna’s mind went nk. She froze for a long time beforeing


    back to her senses and


    exined, “Sounds like she had an episode.”


    Peace had severe schizophrenia, which was why she kept living her life with a casual attitude.


    And that was also why she admired Karl but was hesitant to marry him. Despite her love for him, her


    despair made her scared to take


    a step forward to further their rtionship.


    Few people knew that Peace had such a disease, and no one would have expected this.


    Anna sighed deeply after hanging up the phone. She’d been holding her breath for a long time. When


    she actually let out this breath,


    though, she didn’t feel very relieved.


    She had just given Karl a quick description of what it was like when Peace had an episode. Finally, she


    told him, “Could you look


    after her for a few days? I’ll be right back after I finish my business here.”


    Wayne did not ask her anything but just sped up the car.


    Anna sat silently in her seat for a long time before saying, “Actually, Wayne, I thought I’d be able to


    keep this a secret forever. But I’ll


    tell you that right now, and please tell Karl about it.”


    “Okay.” Wayne used his long, slender fingers to grip the steering wheel. He acted as though he were


    an outsider, aloof and


    uninterested in anything.


    That was why Anna trusted him and dared to tell him about Peace’s secret.


    “It took Peace quite a lot of time and effort to keep her schizophrenia under control. Still, she’s


    experienced the most severe attack


    twice before. She had the first one when she was fifteen. At the time, her parents had divorced, and


    she was living with her mother. Later,


    her mother remarried to a college professor…”


    Peace’s childhood was unhappy because her parents fought all day long. She lived that miserable life


    for more than a decade, so


    she supported her parents’ divorce. But she just didn’t realize that their divorce was just pushing her


    from one hell to another.


    Her stepfather was a college professor who had had brilliant achievements when he was young. He


    was forty years old and had


    already won many awards and honors. But, he would sexually assault Peace when her mom wasn’t


    home.


    “Peace had never had an episode in front of me, but she told me about it. At the beginning of her


    attack, she would fantasize that


    she was a warrior. And she would imagine fighting against the evil dragon and rescuing the princess


    with her sword. And, whenever a man is around her, she would be afraid. And she often suffers from


    insomnia all night because of it.”


    When Anna exined it, she purposefully left out some details. However, she thought that since


    Wayne was so clever, he must have known that Peace suffered from schizophrenia because her


    stepfather had molested her.


    “And then, as Peace couldn’t live like that anymore, she wanted to kill herself. She believed that only


    death could save her. And she


    wouldn’t listen to anything anyone said to her. At that time, the doctor had to stay by her side every


    second.”


    Anna sounded like she was about to burst into tears. She said, “Peace has a lot of tattoos because she


    tried to hide her scars with


    them. You know, I met her in a bar in America. At that time, someone tried to put drugs in my ss. But


    Peace saved me. She is such a


    brave girl! I really couldn’t imagine her having such a terrible disease at that time.”


    “Is that why she turned down Karl?”


    Anna closed her eyes, looked down, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, “Isn’t that enough7”


    Wayne sighed and felt heartbroken.


    “But it’s toote now,” he said as he handed Anna some Kleenex.


    Since Karl knew about it, there was no way he would leave Peace alone.