Dr. Stewart grasped his meaning and said, “So, you’re sure your twin brother is dead, meaning the man Estelle was with after your breakup was still you and not your twin brother.”
“Yes, that’s the only possibility,” Cristofer said, his excitement growing. He had been gripping his hands so tightly that his knuckles were white, but he didn’t notice.
With hopeful eyes, he continued, “If my theory is correct, then I might have a chance to win her back.”
“You believe Estelle was in love with you when you were in your split personality?” Dr. Stewart asked.
“Yes, and if that’s the case, it couldn’t be better. But I need to investigate further to confirm. Dr. Stewart, what circumstances can lead to a split personality?”
After some thought, Dr. Stewart replied softly, “There are various factors that can trigger a split personality, but it’s commonly associated with experiencing significant emotional trauma.”
“What are the symptoms of someone with a split personality?” Cristofer inquired.
“The symptoms are often compensatory. For example, a person who endured childhood trauma may develop a child-like personality to relive their trauma-free childhood. Regardless of their age, when in their secondary personality, they’ll believe they’re a child and forget everything about their primary personality. Mr. Hans, did you…”
Before she could finish her question, Cristofer nodded and said, “Yes. Something terrible happened to me, and I went through a major ordeal. Several years ago, my parents died in a car accident, and shortly after that, Estelle left me for some unknown reason. These events led to me having bipolar disorder. I believe I might have had a split personality during that time.”
Dr. Stewart then asked, “You were seeing a psychiatrist before we met, correct?”
“Yes…” Suddenly, Cristofer stopped speaking as something dawned on him.
‘It was Dr. Cruise who treated me before. He must know whether I had a split personality. Wait, Uncle Nelson asked me to change a psychiatrist before. Did he do that because he knows I have a split personality?’
Cristofer felt a jolt in his heart when he thought about this.
“Mr. Hans, are you alright?” Dr. Stewart asked with concern as she noticed Cristofer falling silent.
“I’m fine. Let’s continue,” Cristofer replied after refocusing his thoughts.
Dr. Stewart nodded and spoke gently, “Alright, Mr. Hans, I don’t want to be blunt, but even if you had a secondary personality and could prove it, that personality seems to have disappeared.”
“…”
“Estelle loved you when you were in your secondary personality because she believed you were your twin brother. In other words, she still doesn’t love you.”
“Is there any way to bring back my secondary personality?” Cristofer quickly asked.
Shaking her head, Dr. Stewart explained, “A secondary personality appears and disappears randomly. It’s beyond your control. Since Mount Cloud and the Malus Halliana tree are crucial triggers for your secondary personality, you can visit Mount Cloud frequently to see if it helps bring it back. Or if you remember anything else related to your secondary personality that might mentally stimulate you, you can try that. However, I strongly discourage it.”
****
In her bedroom, Estelle had a restless night. She knew Cristofer had left around four in the morning, but she didn’t ask where he was going because she felt it wasn’t her business, and she had no right to ask about his private matters. She wanted to respect his boundaries.
It wasn’t until two hours later that she managed to fall into a light sleep. During that time, she had several dreams. First, she dreamt of a wedding with Mr. Mysterious under the Malus halliana tree. Then, she dreamt of the moment when Cristofer held her at Gary’s lively birthday party. Later, she dreamt of herself as a teenager, happily sitting on the back seat of Cristofer’s bicycle.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Her phone suddenly chimed, waking her from her dream. She picked up her phone and opened the text message she had just received.
‘Estelle, I’m waiting for you in the Rose Garden.’
Seeing the message, Estelle immediately sat up, and her eyes widened in surprise. She exclaimed in her heart, ‘Rose garden! Is it Mr. Mysterious who texted me? Or… Did Cristofer get Mr. Mysterious’ memory and pretend to be him again?’
Holding her phone with her hand trembling, she looked at the sender’s phone number. It was an unfamiliar phone number, neither Cristofer nor Mr. Mysterious. When Estelle was in confusion, a second message came.
‘Do you still remember our white puppy? I’ve kept it all the time since you went abroad.’
****
After washing up and changing her clothes, Estelle went out in a hurry and took a taxi. It was seven o’clock in the morning, and there were not many cars on the road. Soon, she arrived at Rose Garden.
Before she got out of the taxi, the driver kindly reminded her, “Miss, the buildings in this neighborhood will be demolished soon. No one lives here now. It’s dangerous for you to be here alone. You’d better not stay here for too long.”
With a smile, Estelle nodded, “Thank you. I have something to do here, I’ll leave soon after I finish that.”
“Be careful. Call the police if you are in danger.”
“Okay. Thank you for your reminder, Sir,” Estelle smiled.
It was the first time that Estelle had been here in the past three years. The neighborhood environment was still the same as before, and she felt a sense of familiarity.
A few minutes later, she walked to the building where she used to live from memory and looked up at the balcony window of her apartment. At this time, her phone beeped again, and a text message came.
‘Have you arrived?’
Estelle replied to the message. ‘Yes, I’m downstairs.’
Then she thought to herself, ‘What the driver said just now was right. It’s dangerous to stay here alone. It’s still uncertain whether the person who texted me is Mr. Mysterious or not. What if it’s a trap set up by Nelson? I must be vigilant.’
Estelle thought the message sender would text her and ask her to go upstairs. However, to her surprise, his next message said, “Okay, I’ll go downstairs to see you.”
When she had just finished reading the message, she heard a faint dog barking from the building. The next moment, a white dog rushed out of the building. When she saw Estelle, she paused for a second and then quickly wagged her tail and ran to her as if she finally saw her master, who she hadn’t seen for a long time.