Chapter 115: Asher Is Still Waiting for Me at Home

Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Asher Is Still Waiting for Me at Home

"Our people have gone to question Asher."

After hanging up, I looked at Sebastian Lancaster. ’If he was really the one who hired the driver, would the guy give up Sebastian Lancaster’s name so easily?’

’Besides, Asher usually has Assistant Foster handle things for him, and Assistant Foster would never mention the name Sebastian Lancaster. For the driver to insist that Sebastian Lancaster told him to hit Julian Fletcher’s mother... it’s all too obvious.’

Zeke Shaw must have known this was a blatant frame-up, which is why he called me beforehand.

Julian Fletcher will be out in fifteen days at most. Mrs. Fletcher clearly had no reason to take such a huge risk.

’Is someone trying to escalate the conflict between the Lancaster and Fletcher families?’

"Julian Fletcher’s mother was in a car accident. I need to go to the hospital. You wait for me here." I was worried. Asher couldn’t leave the Lancaster estate right now. It wasn’t just the misinformed public out there, but also the person pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

If the Fletcher and Lancaster families truly became enemies because of Asher, his position in the Lancaster family would only become more difficult.

No matter how you looked at it, the beneficiary was Master Lancaster. He would be able to deal with Asher openly without facing any criticism.

"Cece..." Asher wanted to follow me.

"Be good. You’re not going anywhere," I repeated, then said again, "Asher, you have to wait for me at home."

Asher’s eyes darkened, and he seemed panicked. "You... you won’t lie to me this time?"

’You will come back, right?’

I froze for a moment, then shook my head. "I’ll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay." Asher nodded obediently. "Then I’ll wait for you at home. And I’ll keep waiting."

An inexplicable tightness gripped my chest. I turned and asked the butler to arrange for a car. I had to get to the hospital.

Julian Fletcher was still locked up. If he found out his mother was seriously injured in a car accident after he got out, he would definitely lose his mind again.

I had just come downstairs when I saw Assistant Foster heading up, his face grim.

I glanced back. The light on the second floor was dim. Asher stood in the shadows, his expression unreadable, but the aura around him was terrifyingly oppressive.

My shoelace had come undone. I squatted at the bottom of the stairs to tie it.

"Master Lancaster has been living too comfortably lately," Asher said, his voice low.

Assistant Foster nodded. "Yes."

’This whole thing was obviously deliberate.’

"Have someone protect her. If even a single hair on her head is harmed..."

From downstairs, I could faintly hear Asher’s conversation with Assistant Foster. His voice was hoarse and icy, as if he were a completely different person from the one who spoke to me.

I thought I must be hearing things. I stood up on my tiptoes to look, but Asher and Assistant Foster were already gone.

’Asher... is he really insane?’

"Young Madam, the car is here," the maid called out to me.

I left the house, but before getting into the car, I subconsciously glanced into the corner.

It wasn’t my imagination; someone had been watching me lately.

I could guess, really. Master Lancaster wouldn’t let the child in my belly grow up safely. I’d been waiting for them to make a move and was fully prepared. But it was strange. Why was it that I often felt someone watching me... yet no one ever actually jumped out to hurt me?

I had a strong premonition: someone wanted me and my child dead, but someone else was secretly protecting me.

Otherwise, with the personalities of Master Lancaster and Brandon Lancaster, they would have made a move against me long ago.

...

「Meridia Hospital.」

Mrs. Fletcher had already been moved to a hospital room. She was still unconscious, but her life was no longer in danger.

I let out a sigh of relief and asked the doctor worriedly, "Doctor, when will she wake up?"

"She might wake up as early as tomorrow. Don’t worry. But a concussion is nothing to take lightly," the doctor explained, gave a few more instructions, and left.

Zeke Shaw was waiting outside, a concerned look on his face. "This is obviously a setup. But the driver is sticking to his story about Sebastian Lancaster. Even without evidence, I’m afraid Julian Fletcher will believe it."

When Julian gets out, he’ll definitely hate Sebastian Lancaster to the bone.

"If he had a brain in his head, he’d know this is a deliberate frame-up," I said, a little angry.

"If he had a brain, Cecilia Caldwell wouldn’t be dead," Zeke Shaw retorted, frowning.

I froze. I didn’t say anything. Zeke was right.

"Thankfully, she’s okay," Zeke said, glancing toward the hospital room.

"I looked into that kid, Ash. He’s definitely done a lot of petty theft, but he’s probably not the murderer. Without concrete evidence, we had to let him go."

Zeke looked at me apologetically.

"But I still feel like something’s off about him," I said quietly. "He’s only in his late teens, but he seems much more composed than other kids his age. And..."

There was an indescribable sense of dread about him.

I couldn’t tell Zeke that I was sure I had seen him before I died. I didn’t even trust my own memories anymore.

In my semi-conscious state, my memories might not be real.

"The kid definitely has a lot of suspicious points. I’ll keep an eye on him." Zeke glanced at me. "That doctor from the mental hospital, the one Asher knocked out—he said Asher does have a mental illness, a very dangerous one. He said Asher would use extreme methods to hold onto the things or people he likes. From what we can see, there’s more than one murderer; it’s an organized crime. The possibility that Asher is the mastermind has never been completely ruled out."

I fell silent.

"If the evidence ultimately points to Asher, if he really is the mastermind behind it all, what will you do?" Zeke asked me.

"I don’t know..." I was avoiding the question.

I didn’t know what I would do if the investigation really did lead back to Asher.

Before, it was because of insufficient evidence. But what if the evidence was all there?

"If this Ash kid is really one of the murderers, and Asher has been secretly supporting him, then Asher can’t escape suspicion." Zeke glanced at me, hesitating to say more.

I knew that as a police officer, there were many things he couldn’t tell me, especially details of their investigation.

Even if there were many truths and pieces of evidence I didn’t know about, he couldn’t tell me everything.

The fact that Zeke was specifically telling me all this today was actually making me panic.

’Could it be... is there really evidence pointing to Asher?’

"Did you find something?" I asked, looking at Zeke nervously.

Zeke didn’t answer.

After a long moment, Zeke spoke. "This case is a serial murder that our superiors are taking very seriously. With so many people dead... all of our heads are on the line."

I clenched my fists, unsure of what Zeke meant by that.

’If they find any evidence that Asher was at the crime scenes, will they pin all the blame on him?’

"A lot of people’s careers are riding on this. We can’t have anyone else die." Zeke leaned against the door to the emergency exit. He reached for a cigarette but glanced at me and thought better of it. "Asher was a victim back then. He has a strong motive."

"He has a motive, but he also turned himself in. He’s not that stupid!" I didn’t even know why I was defending Asher.

’He was the person I suspected the most at the very beginning.’

Zeke hesitated again. He didn’t seem to trust even me. "Silvia Lynch, you should know that you are also one of our primary suspects."

It was true. Zeke had probably done a thorough background check on me.

"Silvia, I hope... you have nothing to do with this," Zeke said, giving me a sudden, meaningful look and sighing.

I instinctively looked at Zeke with alarm, knowing they must have found something.

"Silvia Lynch? You need to come with us to assist with the investigation." When the police arrived, my mind went blank, but I had expected this day would come.

’I had been secretly funding those stray orphans, like Kyle. After Kyle’s brother failed to assassinate Erin Whittaker, it was inevitable that it would all lead back to me.’

"Zeke..." I began quietly. "Can you let me contact Asher? He’s still waiting for me at home."