A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 121

Cassandra felt warm sleeping in her comfortable bed. However, her blood froze when she caught sight of a figure in the dark from the corner of her eye!

It was looming around the corner. She could not recognize who it was. It was just sitting there quietly, not moving.

Cassandra dared not do anything boldly. She covered herself with the quilt carefully while staring at that figure anxiously.

After what seemed like an eternity, the figure suddenly moved and stood up slowly.

Its shoulders moved up and down in a heave of sigh. Then it turned its head from left to right, and walked out of the room at a very slow staggering pace.

Through the dim light from the corridor outside, Cassandra saw its face all of a sudden.

It was Courtney!

Her skin seemed to be paler, and her face bore no expression. There was something odd in the way she walked. It was really slow, rigid and unnatural as if she was a puppet.

Then an idea occurred to Cassandra. She covered her mouth to stop herself from making any noise.

Courtney was sleepwalking! On the back of her mind, she recalled that sleepwalking happened in one's dream and the sleepwalkers were unconscious and didn't know what they were doing.

Cassandra was both surprised and curious. She remained silent and watched Courtney walk out of her room silently.

After Courtney left, Cassandra rolled out of bed. A precarious idea haunted her. She wondered why Courtney sleepwalked to her room and where she would go next.

With that thought in mind, Cassandra tiptoed and opened the door. Courtney went to the next room. She opened the door and walked in.

Cassandra followed her carefully. She didn't enter that room. Instead, she crouched down by the door and peeked inside.

Courtney walked to the walk-in wardrobe and opened the door. A ginormous closet filled with countless pieces of gorgeous garments surprised Cassandra.

"Not this one, nor this one..."

Cassandra heard Courtney murmuring. Her pale and thin hand stroked through the rows of fancy dresses.

'Is she looking for a special dress?' wondered Cassandra.

Finally, Courtney closed the door and turned around.

She continued murmuring, "No, no...not here. It's not here..."

Cassandra saw her walking towards the door of the room. She didn't want herself to be discovered. So she hurried to her room secretly.

Courtney repeated her act going into one room after another. She would open the door and walked inside to search for something.

Sometimes, she would open the cosmetic drawer, or stroke the mirror by the bedside.

She staggered to her feet during the whole process, which made Cassandra quite anxious, afraid that she might fall down.

Suddenly, Courtney walked downstairs. Cassandra followed closely behind her.

She was so nervous all the way that even her palms sweated. What she hated the most were horror movies, but with what was happening now, she felt like she was playing one of the roles in a horror film.

Midnight, inside the dark mansion, a young lady was sleepwalking. These were the classic elements in a horror movie.

Courtney reached the first floor and opened the door of the house.

The cold wind blew in, and a surge of tiny chills met Cassandra's tensed face.

However, it seemed that Courtney didn't feel the cold at all. She stood at the gate for a long time before she closed it and walked to the stairs again.

Cassandra hid while watching Courtney eagerly. Her mind wanted to do something to help her, but her body was so afraid that she did nothing but hide in the shadows.

Courtney continued walking stiffly to the third floor, returned to her own room, and then lay on the bed again as if nothing had happened.

For a moment, Cassandra was not sure what she should do next. However, her tension ebbed a little when she noticed that Courtney was lying still in the bed. She must have fallen asleep.

Courtney sleepwalked! Sleepwalking was not a thing that must be taken for granted. She needed some serious medical treatments. Cassandra felt sorry for the young lady.

What if she just walked outside? Wouldn't it be very dangerous? What if nobody saw her? She might hurt herself.

Relieved to see Courtney lying in the bed, Cassandra returned to her room to rest her troubled mind. She drowsed into a nap. However, she woke up from time to time. She could hardly fall asleep at the thought of Courtney.

The daylight seeped through her room's window panes. Cassandra refreshed herself up before she went downstairs. Whitney had already prepared the breakfast and was waiting for her.

"Good Morning, Auntie, I'd like to tell you something."

Cassandra was eager to tell Whitney what happened to Courtney last night.

"About what?"

Whitney looked at her in a puzzled face, her hand still holding the milk.

"It is about Courtney. She sleepwalked last night and went on opening and entering every room in the house. And she didn't look well either,"

Cassandra said carefully and anxiously while watching Whitney's reaction.

"Oh! It's okay. When you see her next time, just don't wake her up. She was just dreaming."

To Cassandra's surprise, Whitney replied calmly. But deep inside, Whitney's heart ached when talking about it.

Cassandra was shocked at Whitney's response. She assumed that Whitney must've known it and just took it for granted.

"But she opened the gate of this house. What if she went outside? That would be dangerous."

Cassandra could not help but be nervous at the thought of Courtney's behavior last night.

"Oh, don't worry, Cassandra, she wouldn't go out. I've sent some people to watch her. She'll never leave this place."

Whitney lowered her head and picked up her salad with a fork. However, she was unable to open her mouth the moment the fork touched her lips. She was held frozen.

Cassandra suddenly saw that tears fell down on the edge of Whitney's plate.

"Auntie Whitney... Are you alright?"

Cassandra had never anticipated that Whitney would cry out all of a sudden. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked so sad.

Whitney raised her head. With tears still resting in her eyes, sorrow and pain were painted on her face.

"Cassandra, I considered you a family. So I can just be honest with you about everything. Courtney is sick. She started sleepwalking several years ago. I've taken her to many hospitals. But the doctors said she couldn't recover completely. She needs ample quiet rest every day to get better and she mustn't go through enormous mood swings. That's why I've been keeping her inside the house all this time. I'm trying to make a peaceful environment for her."

Whitney's voice was hoarse as tears kept on welling up in her eyes.

Cassandra was baffled at what she had learned. 'Courtney needs a peaceful environment to recover? That means that she has a mental problem.

No wonder she doesn't like to talk to me and is always so distant.

Moreover, she always has meals alone in her room and doesn't sit with others on the dining table.

So that's why she's doing strange things while sleepwalking?' thought Cassandra.

"Auntie, I'm sorry...You must have been living a hard life all these years,"

Cassandra muffled in a sorry tone. She took the tissue and pass it to Whitney to wipe her tears.

Whitney lost her husband, and her daughter was sick. She must've struggled hard and lived a difficult life for these years.

She was a timid person, the type that didn't cry out loud, which made people feel even sorry for her. Yesterday, she was an extremely proud dowager in Cassandra's eyes. However, at this time, Cassandra discovered that she was just a weak and vulnerable woman.

Whitney burst into tears from the moment she narrated about Courtney's disease. She had been holding the burdens to herself for a long time. She was grateful since Cassandra was there to listen and empathize with her.

They moved abroad. Both of them always stayed at home and were rarely seen outside. They completely detached themselves from the outside world, all for Courtney's safety.

'Such a lonely life, ' Cassandra imagined herself in Whitney's shoes. She had to be very strong to endure it all. Cassandra adored the woman in front of her.

All the while Cassandra thought that she was the most unfortunate woman in the world for having been married to a man she didn't love, being born in a family that didn't treat her well as a daughter, and being in love with a man whom she was forbidden to be with. However, now looking at Whitney, she felt she was way luckier than her.

Whitney stopped crying. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and pulled herself together. She became all of sudden a more resolute woman who seemed to have risen from a fall, ready to fight back.

There were no traces of tears on her face except for her slightly red eyes.

"Oh, have your breakfast, please. It's getting late. You can talk to the steward if you need anything. He will help you. The vegetables of the salad are from my own farm. They are organic."

Whitney's retaliation surprised Cassandra. She, however, understood why Whitney had a sudden change of attitude.

Whitney had been strong to endure for a long, dark, and depressing time. It was her love for Courtney that was supporting her. She would do anything she could to help her daughter out. She was a mother who was willing to sacrifice everything just for her child. No mother could bear seeing her child unwell.

All these years she was thinking about Courtney's welfare. She even built a castle with all the safety features to cater to her needs. Whitney's thoughts were immense with her lovely daughter. She had been taking a good care of her beloving daughter. Most especially, she wished Courtney would have a normal, healthy life.

Suddenly, a loud noise sounded from the upstairs as if something heavy was knocked over.

With the sound of a loud thud, Cassandra shivered with fear. She stared at Whitney with her eyes opening wide with shock.

"Auntie, is... there anything happening upstairs?"

Cassandra felt restless. Judging from the sound, an extremely big bang, something or someone must have fallen down.

Whitney sprang up from her seat immediately. She was not calm and reposed anymore. The table mat was pulled out by her sudden action. She threw the fork and the knife onto her plate, spilling the salad out forming a messy smudge on the floor.

The rumbling sound upstairs made her so restless that the elegance she once had was not evident with her now.

Whitney rushed to the stairs and shouted towards the steward who was just following her, "Call Smithers, now!"

Then she fled upstairs lightning-fast.

Cassandra was taken aback, for a moment her mind went blank and did not know what to do. Pulling her senses together, she immediately left her seat and followed Whitney upstairs.

Whitney ran so fast that Cassandra could hardly catch up with her. Obviously, she was extremely worried at this moment.

She barged in through the half-opened door and dashed into the room where the loud sound came from.

"Courtney!"