The Billionaire's Past

CHAPTER 14

8:00 pm Thursday, in Asia

Aliyah is already at home.

She is eating dinner together with her cousin Lena and her two friends- Maita and Celina.

She's renting a room together with her cousin and two friends.

Aliyah is lying on her bed now.

For she is very tired and lost appetite to eat dinner.

In addition to that, Aliyah is feeling down the whole day for her supervisor at work make her embarrassed in front of their co-workers.

The supervisor gave Aliyah a very difficult task and Aliyah failed to do it according to what the supervisor wants.

Because she is feeling down she got this feeling that she wants to talk to Atif.

For Atif always cheer her up with his good advices.

Aliyah decided to send message to Atif.

She get her phone on her bag.

Her cousin and her two friends still eating dinner.

While eating their dinner, Aliyah's cousin Lena and her two friends are very talkative.

They talking about their experiences at work for the whole day.

They work at the same company together with Aliyah.

"Our new supervisor is very strict to us." Said Lena in loud voice, with matching eyeball rolling in disgust.

"Yes, your right!" Celina agreed to what Lena said. She speak also in loud voice with frown emoticon. "And she is jealous with Aliyah." Exclaimed Maita with exasperation.

"I agree. You know why? Lena said.

"Of course." Celina answer.

"For her boyfriend is making friends with Aliyah." Celina continue to talk.

"Oh what's wrong with that? Aliyah doesn't even interested in making friends with that guy." Lena asked.

"You don't get it Lena? Aliyah is more beautiful and kind than our supervisor that's why "Miss Supervisor" is afraid that she might be replace by Ailyah in her boyfriend's life" Maita explained with a smile on her face.

"You see your cousin is beautiful. Especially if she will remove her eye glasses. Celina said with admiration in her voice.

"That's right. Look, Aliyah have a long dark brown hair. She is slim and with white skin complexion. With angelic face. Even though she is not that tall she looks cute in her height." Maita said. "But I noticed one thing Lena." Celina said.

"What is that?" Lena asked.

"Aliyah looks like European woman rather than Asian woman." Celina said.

Lena didn't answer. She knew what the reason behind why Aliyah looks like that. It's a family secret.

Lena can't tell it to anybody. Even to Aliyah for their grandmother will get angry if Aliyah's phobia will get back.

It's better not to mention it again to Aliyah than to remind Aliyah of the past.

Aliyah developed an amnesia according to the doctor that's why she cannot remember who she is and where she came from.

Lena remember the very first day when her grandmother Elsa found Aliyah lying down almost dead on the seashore.

For Lena's belongs to a family of fisherman, her grandmother used to go to the seashore.

At the seashore near the boat which uses by Lena's Uncle Peter and Lena's father Sam to catch fish, their grandmother Elsa found Aliyah lying beside the boat. She is holding a small bag in her hand. From that day, Aliyah became part of their family.

Lena's grandmother Elsa helped Aliyah to recover from trauma.

They guessed that Aliyah is came from a sunken ship somewhere.

But Aliyah got a temporary amnesia. She don't remember who she is and where she came from.

She don't even remember her name and why she got there.

Aliyah got a trauma. She developed phobia.

Phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.

She had a phobia about being under water.

She is afraid to go to the sea shore.

She fear anything related to water.

She felt she is drowning whenever she touched water.

Because later she partially remember what had happen to her on the ocean.

She recall the sinking ship, what had happened to her when she jumped into the ocean before the ship totally wrecked by the big waves.

She recalled what had happen to the sinking ship but not the place where it happened.

She recalled what had happen to her when the ship is sinking but not her name and where she came from.

For she don't know her name Lena's grandmother Elsa called her by name Aliyah.

Because of trauma she developed dissociative amnesia.

Dissociative amnesia is a condition in which a person cannot remember important information about his or her life. This forgetting may be limited to certain specific areas (thematic), or may include much of the person's life history and/or identity (general).

Dissociative amnesia has been linked to overwhelming stress, which may be caused by traumatic events such as war, abuse, accidents, or disasters. The person may have suffered the trauma or just witnessed it.

In some rare cases, the person may forget most or all of his personal information (name, personal history, friends), and may sometimes adopt a completely new identity. In all cases of dissociative amnesia, the person has a much greater memory loss than would be expected in the course of normal forgetting.

Severe trauma or stress can also cause dissociative amnesia. With this condition, your mind rejects thoughts, feelings, or information that you're too overwhelmed to handle, lead to amnesia as well as forgetting other details of your life.

That is the case of Aliyah.

Her mind rejects the thoughts, feelings and information caused by traumatic events that she suffered.

Dissociative amnesia is different from amnesia caused by medical problems, such as illnesses, strokes, or brain injuries. In medically caused amnesia, recovering memories are rare and generally a slow and gradual process.

While in dissociative amnesia often, when memories return, they do so suddenly and completely. Memory recovery may happen on its own, after being triggered by something in the person's surroundings, or in therapy.

In Aliyah's case, her memory didn't return for a long time for she developed or totally adopt a completely new identity and no one or nothing can remind her of her true identity.

And as time passed by she overcome her phobia and forget all about what had happened to her (her experienced) on the sinking ship.

BUT when time comes that something or someone in her surroundings trigger her mind to remember her past, her memories will return. She will remember who she is.

For in dissociative amnesia memory recovery happen on its own after being triggered by something in the person's surroundings.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐