Chapter 141: Silvia Lynch’s Death, Everyone Is a Villain

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Silvia Lynch’s Death, Everyone Is a Villain

Based on the clues so far, it was a fact that Silvia Lynch was deliberately imitating me. It was also a fact that she planned to marry Sebastian Lancaster by doing so.

So if she went to all that trouble, why would she kill herself with pills on her wedding day?

’Asher doesn’t seem as surprised as I am. Does he know Silvia Lynch was going to kill herself?’

"Silvia, I’m heading to work. Call me if you need anything." I watched an acquaintance head up to the second floor, giving her a nod.

"Aren’t you surprised?" I whispered to him. "Why did Silvia take so many pills?"

Asher looked down, his hand tightening around mine. "What normal person would be willing to marry me?"

I froze for a moment. I’d almost overlooked that question.

’Before I was reborn... Asher had been nothing more than a filthy, mentally unstable homeless man. It was true, what girl would have been willing to marry him?’

"But she..." I trailed off. ’What I don’t understand is, Silvia Lynch clearly went to so much trouble to imitate me. Wasn’t her whole goal to get close to Sebastian Lancaster?’

I took Asher back to his room and made the excuse that I was going to buy dinner. In reality, I went to the second floor to see that acquaintance.

She was right at the nurses’ station and looked a little surprised to see me. "Silvia, you haven’t gone home yet?"

"Um... actually, those pills I got the other day... I took them," I said quietly.

The nurse’s face went pale with fright. "You... Don’t you dare say I helped you get them! The doctor only prescribed those because your grandmother has a heart condition. Don’t you get me in trouble!"

I waved my hands. "That’s not what I meant. I forgot a lot of things when I woke up. Do you know why I wanted to end my life?"

The nurse’s mouth hung open. After a long moment, she lowered her voice. "Silvia, you have amnesia?"

I nodded.

"You said your grandma was forcing you to do things you didn’t want to, that your biological parents were forcing you to marry someone you didn’t want to marry, and that everyone was threatening you... But you never told me the details."

I froze for a second, then nodded. "Thank you."

"Silvia... it’s not the end of the world. Don’t take it so hard. Didn’t you say you like to write in your diary when you don’t have any friends to talk to? Just write down everything that’s making you unhappy. Relax. This will all pass," she whispered, trying to soothe me.

I forced a smile. "Okay."

「After leaving the hospital, I went back to the Lynn residence.」

Jude Lynch was sitting on the sofa. He glanced up from his newspaper and asked nonchalantly, "What brings you back today? How are things with the Lancaster family? Why haven’t you been answering my calls? Did you know your sister was sent by the Lancaster Group to oversee a project site?"

’Noelle’s skin is so delicate. I can’t believe Assistant Foster actually sent her to a project site. She’ll probably shed a layer of skin within three days.’

I ignored Jude Lynch and went to the room, only to find that Silvia’s room had been emptied out. It was now piled high with Noelle’s clothes and shoes.

My brow furrowed. I came back out. "Where are my things?"

Jude Lynch answered, completely unconcerned. "Oh, you’re married off now, so your sister is using your room. Your mom had someone move your things to storage."

’A knot formed in my chest. The way these people treated Silvia... was just unbelievable.’

’No wonder she chose to kill herself.’

’I just need to figure out who forced her to imitate me, what was going on with those homeless kids, how she knew Ash, and whether any of it was connected to the killer.’

"Well, well, if it isn’t my dear sister who married into a wealthy family." Noelle had just returned and was standing at the doorway.

She clicked in on her high heels, a shade darker from the sun, and spoke with an air of superiority. "You and that idiot Sebastian Lancaster still haven’t found your footing in the company. People give me grief just for mentioning that fool’s name! You’re completely useless."

"Our Noelle has been so exhausted lately." Silvia’s mother had clearly been out shopping with Noelle; a maid trailed behind them, carrying bags filled with luxury goods—compensation for Noelle, it seemed.

’No affection for her biological daughter, but so much for her adopted one. How ironic.’

This woman who called herself a mother walked right past me as if I were thin air.

I took a deep breath. Afraid my volatile emotions would trigger my hypoglycemia, I unwrapped a few pieces of gum from my bag, popped them in my mouth, and headed for the storage room.

Amidst a pile of junk, I finally found Silvia Lynch’s diary.

Month X, Day XX, Year XX. Overcast. Grandma told me to take dumplings to my younger uncle. I was too scared to go. When no one’s around, he tries to make me take my clothes off. I ran away in fear and told Grandma, but she just told me never to mention it to anyone, or a girl like me would be worthless in the future.

Month X, Day X, Year XX. Light rain. Grandma said she’s going to take me to Meridia City. She said she’s going to find my biological parents and demand money for raising me all these years.

Today, Grandma took me to give food to the homeless children again. She acted so gentle, like some great humanitarian, but I know she’s a monster. A demon. The kind that eats children.

Grandma said those kids are all sick and worthless. She said they were bad luck and she wasn’t going to give them food anymore.

I pinched every penny, using what I saved to buy them food myself.

...

Month X, Day X, Year XX. Sunny. Grandma suddenly said she found my biological parents and that she’s sending me to them. I’m so happy. I can finally escape this place. It’s so terrifying here.

Month XX, Day X, Year XX. Sunny. My biological parents don’t seem to like me. They look down on me because I’m from the countryside.

My sister doesn’t like me either. She despises me. She said she doesn’t want to ride in the same car as me because her classmates would make fun of her.

She and her classmates ostracized me.

Today, Noelle had people corner me in the bathroom again. They tore off my clothes and tried to force me to drink water from the toilet. They laughed and called me a stupid piece of trash from the countryside.

Just have to endure it. Just a little longer. It’ll be okay once I graduate. I don’t want to go to college. I just want to leave this house.

I thought the countryside was Hell, but I never imagined this place would be even more terrifying.

...

Today, Noelle had the maid give me a spoiled rice ball. She was eating a nutritionally balanced meal prepared by a chef, while I was given something that had gone bad. I was so hungry... I told Mom and Dad, but they just said that I was used to coarse food from the countryside, and now I was being picky about having a rice ball at all.

To get back at me for telling on her, Noelle and her friends cornered me in an alley after school.

She had several male students with her. She told them to strip me, record it, and make me get on my knees and beg for mercy.

I was so scared.

...

Today, someone found out I’ve been secretly giving food to the homeless kids. He told me he could help me escape this Hell. He said he could kill the people who hurt me. He said all I had to do was obey him, do exactly as he said, and go observe and imitate a woman named Cecilia Caldwell. Then, he would help me.

He told me to give him a list of names. He said he would kill everyone on it. I only had one chance.

I didn’t believe him, but I thought I might as well try. I casually wrote down the name of a boy in my class who always bullied me.

Harvey Holt.

...

Today, Harvey Holt didn’t show up for class. After school, I heard the news. He was dead. He’d been walking down the street when an eighty-year-old man with dementia dropped a flowerpot from his apartment and it hit him. It was ruled an accident.

I’m so scared. Did this happen because I gave that man his name?

...

He came to me again. He told me to imitate Cecilia Caldwell. To replace her.

Cecilia Caldwell seems a lot like me. She’s pitiful, too. I’ve been secretly following her for a long time. I don’t want to hurt her.

...

Today, I heard Cecilia Caldwell is missing. I knew he was going to make his move. I’m so scared. I want to go to the police. I went to the station three times today, but I couldn’t find the courage to go inside.

Is Cecilia Caldwell going to die? He wants me to take her place and marry some fool from the Lancaster family. I’m so scared.

I don’t want to replace anyone.

Did I get Cecilia Caldwell killed?

I don’t want to hurt anyone, so why does it have to be me?

Is death the only way to be free?

I really want to die.

...

Silvia Lynch’s diary filled an entire, thick notebook. Every page was a record of human cruelty.

In an avalanche, no single snowflake is innocent. The Lynns, Noelle, the person pulling the strings in the background... they were all part of that evil.

"What are you doing? Already a wealthy man’s wife, and you’ve still come back to my house to dig through the trash?" Noelle’s mocking voice came from the doorway of the storage room.

I turned to face her, my gaze turning icy.

I stalked toward her, grabbed a handful of her hair, and slammed her head against the wall.

A nail was sticking out of the wall. It tore across Noelle’s cheek, and blood began to well up.

’For a split second, a terrifying thought crossed my mind. If I kill her right now, I have to turn her into a specimen...’

My hand suddenly loosened its grip. I stumbled back in alarm.

’What am I thinking?’

"Mom! Silvia’s gone crazy! Mom!" As I stood there in a daze, Noelle started screaming and crying, trying to scramble away.

Almost unconsciously, I grabbed her hair again, forced her to the ground, and picked up a rusty nail, wanting nothing more than to shut her up for good...

Noelle stared at me in terror, as if she were looking at a demon.