Chapter 125: Julian Fletcher Is Dying From His Critical Injuries

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Julian Fletcher Is Dying From His Critical Injuries

With the lead we had on the drugs, it was only a matter of time before the investigation led to Ash, difficult as it might be to trace.

Besides, I’d already seen him at ’Cecilia Caldwell’s’ apartment. He was the first one to be exposed.

It was inevitable that the police would find him.

But for him to be the one who almost killed Julian Fletcher, and to be caught by the police at this exact moment...

It all seemed a little too coincidental.

"He doesn’t have a red birthmark on his arm, does he..." I murmured to myself.

If Ash didn’t have one, then he must have an accomplice.

Even though I was starting to doubt my own memory, I was certain I had dug my nails into my killer’s arm right before I died. I saw the red birthmark on his arm.

There was no mistaking it...

Zeke Shaw patted Asher’s shoulder.

Then he left.

He had to get back to the interrogation room and see what kind of games Ash was playing.

"When did you start supporting Ash financially?" I asked quietly, taking Asher’s hand.

Asher looked down. "He had severe burns and was living on social welfare, but the orphanage was failing. None of the children who were innocently burned in the fire that year were wanted for adoption. They could only be transferred to welfare homes, with the institutions paying for their medical expenses."

"But... the world isn’t so black and white. So many donations and charities never reach the victims. They don’t solve the root problem. He was living in agony." Asher glanced up at me.

He wasn’t sure if I could empathize.

A wave of suffocation washed over me. Someone with burns so severe their organs were failing from infection, clinging to a miserable existence, so desperate they relied on medication just to stay alive and ease the pain...

"After I was rescued from the mental hospital, I went back to the orphanage to wait..." Asher trailed off before speaking again. "Ash also returned to the orphanage around that time. We were kindred spirits in misery. I would give him the money I made from collecting bottles and selling scrap so he could buy medicine. Later, when the Lancaster family found me, I made it a condition... that the Lancaster Family take care of him."

Asher was fundamentally a kind person. I had discovered this as I got to know him better.

In my existing memories, the childhood Asher would get into fights for me. He knew full well he would be severely punished, but he did it anyway.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and said softly, "It’s okay... As long as you’re not involved, it’s okay."

’If Ash’s soul was twisted by pain, and he wanted revenge on the person who started the fire, using me and Asher as cover, it’s not entirely implausible. The motive for the crime would be valid.’

But I still felt that something wasn’t right.

"The police have so many investigative techniques; they’ll definitely crack the case soon. And... Zeke Shaw is very capable," I whispered, ostensibly to comfort Asher, but really to comfort myself.

"Zeke Shaw... does have a brain," Asher said, a rare compliment from him.

Zeke was one of the smart ones in the police force. He had been investigating the orphanage on his own and knew many secrets and truths, but as a police officer, he couldn’t just say them.

Zeke’s existence was definitely a problem for the person pulling the strings.

His team was also the most persistent in finding the real killer.

With the serial murder case, his superiors were pressuring him to wrap it up quickly, telling him to just turn in someone who confessed, like Asher, to meet the deadline.

Zeke had argued with his superiors over it. He was a very responsible person.

Zane had hinted at this the other day, too.

"But not much of one," Asher added.

I blinked. "Huh?"

He had praised Zeke for having a brain, but not much of one.

"Still, with Ash captured, the others will be rooted out soon enough." I was still excited. Even if Ash wasn’t the one who killed me in the orphanage basement, the real killer would surely be caught soon.

Zeke Shaw was a responsible cop. He would definitely help clear my name, find my murderer, and let me rest in peace.

No... ’resting in peace’ sounded a bit ominous, considering I’d already been reborn.

"Julian... Julian!" While we were still waiting to find out if Julian Fletcher would survive, we heard wailing from down the hall.

I frowned. ’He’s not even dead yet. Is she already here to mourn him?’

Erin Whittaker’s tear-soaked performance was truly a sight to behold.

She was supporting a pale-faced Mrs. Fletcher, sobbing with every step. Not even professional mourners were as skilled as her.

I watched her with a frown. ’This woman is such a bad omen.’

"What are you crying for? He’s not dead yet," I said, my brow furrowed.

When Erin Whittaker saw me, she looked like a rabid dog spotting food and charged at me.

I was about to counterattack, thinking that if I didn’t knock her face crooked, I’d be doing a disservice to that funeral-ready expression of hers.

But before I could even raise my hand, a large arm pulled me back and sheltered me in an embrace.

Asher stared coldly at Erin Whittaker, his presence powerfully intimidating.

The hand Erin had raised, the tantrum she was about to throw—it all fizzled out the moment she saw Asher. She stumbled back in fear. "It’s him, Mrs. Fletcher, it’s him... He’s the murderer!"

Mrs. Fletcher glared at Asher with fury.

Erin must be good at sweet-talking elders. Mrs. Fletcher had already attributed the car accident to Asher as well. She strode forward and slapped him across the face.

Asher had been quick to protect me, but he took the full force of that slap.

When Mrs. Fletcher raised her hand to strike again, I stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Mrs. Fletcher, Erin Whittaker is one of the people who caused Cecilia Caldwell’s death. You shouldn’t believe a single word she says."

"I trust my intuition!" Mrs. Fletcher said angrily, her body trembling and her eyes red. "He is absolutely the murderer!"

"He’s the one who harmed Julian, and Cece too!" Mrs. Fletcher hated Asher. She wanted to kill him to avenge Cecilia and Julian Fletcher.

I stood in front of Asher, refusing to let Mrs. Fletcher hurt him again.

Erin was still crying. "Julian was only stabbed by that murderer because he was trying to save me! Mrs. Fletcher, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault."

Her performance had begun.

She was using every opportunity to get on Mrs. Fletcher’s good side, her goal being to get Mrs. Fletcher to agree to her marrying Julian Fletcher.

Back when she and Julian were all lovey-dovey, Mrs. Fletcher didn’t dislike her. But because Mrs. Fletcher knew that Julian was using the pretense of marriage to bully me, and because of my engagement to him, she never gave her blessing for him to marry Erin.

Erin knew that Mrs. Fletcher was the key to marrying into the Fletcher family.

"You’re such a jinx. Julian isn’t even dead, but your crying might just kill him," Madeline Quinn said, having returned after seeing Zeke Shaw to the elevator. She had heard Erin’s wailing from a distance.

"Mrs. Fletcher, open your eyes. This thing next to you isn’t a person, she’s a malevolent spirit. Julian wouldn’t have been seriously injured if she wasn’t so stupid. He was only stabbed because he was trying to save her."

Madeline Quinn gritted her teeth, looking like she wanted to tear Erin apart.

Erin was still sobbing. "Mrs. Fletcher, they’re all in league with the murderer! They’re still trying to frame me!"

Mrs. Fletcher seemed more inclined to believe that Asher was a murderer, a madman. She glared viciously at him.

If the operating room door hadn’t opened, it looked as if she might have tried to eat Asher alive.

Asher stood behind me the whole time, watching them warily.

"Why didn’t you dodge?" I asked in a low voice, looking at Asher’s swollen cheek.

"She... gave you a home." Asher was someone who clearly distinguished between kindness and wrongdoing.

Ultimately, Mrs. Fletcher had been good to me.

My grip on Asher’s hand tightened. "From now on, when people try to hit you, you have to dodge..."

The operating room.

The doctor came out and looked at Mrs. Fletcher. "Are you the patient’s mother?"

Mrs. Fletcher nodded, sobbing.

She was terrified.

I desperately wanted to go and support her, but in my current identity...

"He’s lost a lot of blood, and the wound is very deep. We will do our best to save him... but whether he lives or not is up to fate."