Chapter 156: I Burned Erin Whittaker with a Lighter

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: I Burned Erin Whittaker with a Lighter

Julian Fletcher and Victor Quinn walked in through the door.

Erin Whittaker cried out for Julian Fletcher to save her. "Julian, she’s crazy... Save me."

Julian Fletcher was clearly panicked. "Cece... put the lighter down."

Victor Quinn was also startled and stepped forward. "Cece, calm down. Put down the lighter. Take a deep breath. You don’t want to hurt anyone, right?"

I glanced at Julian Fletcher and Victor Quinn, then sneered. "Wrong answer... What I want to hurt isn’t human."

The moment the lighter’s flame neared Erin Whittaker’s hair, the liquor ignited.

Erin Whittaker screamed in terror, raising her hands to beat at the flames in her hair. She was so scared she fell to the ground, crying out for help.

I stood rooted to the spot, watching coldly as Erin Whittaker screamed and begged for help.

I watched as Julian Fletcher rushed over and smothered the flames with a damp cloth. I watched as Erin Whittaker collapsed crying in his arms.

Victor Quinn frowned, his eyes fixed on me for a long time.

"Julian, she’s trying to kill me! She’s trying to kill me! Julian, save me, save me..." Erin Whittaker was still wailing. Her hair was a burnt mess and her face was flushed red from the heat, but unfortunately... she wasn’t disfigured.

"You lunatic! You’re a lunatic!" Erin Whittaker screamed madly at me. "Lunatic! You’re all lunatics!"

I brandished the lighter in my hand, about to light it again, but Victor Quinn rushed forward and snatched it away.

Victor Quinn was angry. It was as if he was trying to hypnotize me. "Cecilia Caldwell! Do you think your parents would be proud of what you’re doing? If they could see you like this, how heartbroken do you think they’d be?!"

Suddenly, a ringing filled my ears. The moment Victor Quinn touched me, my whole body felt like it was being pricked by needles. My vision went black, and my consciousness began to fade.

"Cece?"

"Cece!"

Before I completely lost consciousness, I saw Julian Fletcher, who had been anxiously holding Erin Whittaker, rush over frantically, as if to catch me.

’How ridiculous. Madeline Quinn was right about him—he really does want to have his cake and eat it too.’

’Holding Erin Whittaker in his arms, yet he wants to rush over and hold me? How disgusting...’

"Julian, it hurts so much. My face hurts," Erin Whittaker cried, clinging tightly to Julian Fletcher and not giving him a chance to get near me.

She shot me a provocative look, her eyes filled with a hatred so intense it was as if she wanted to devour me whole.

Finally, my consciousness vanished completely.

Everything before me went dark.

"Cece..."

"Cecilia Caldwell..."

...

「In my memories.」

After losing my parents in the car accident, I became quiet and withdrawn.

I moved out of my house and into the Fletcher family’s home.

"Julian, Cece will be living with us from now on. She has to prepare for her college entrance exams this year, so you need to help her out."

The way Julian Fletcher looked at me was complex, and I couldn’t understand it.

"Do you really not remember the people from the orphanage?" I still remember that his first words to me back then were full of suspicion.

"What orphanage?" I looked at him blankly.

He didn’t say anything, just turned and left with a grim look on his face.

"Julian... when you said you liked me before, does that still count?"

From that day on, I started paying attention to Julian Fletcher, my eyes following only him.

I don’t know why I thought Julian Fletcher had once said he liked me.

He frowned at me. "What do you mean, ’liked’?"

"You said it when you were a teenager... that you liked me. You said that when I grew up, you would marry me..." I said, dejected.

At the time, I thought I was dejected because Julian Fletcher had forgotten his childhood promise.

It turns out, that wasn’t it at all.

Because the one who made that promise to me was never Julian Fletcher.

"Are you nuts? We were just kids back then. How could you take words like that seriously?" Julian Fletcher cursed before turning and walking away.

After that, I began to quietly do nice things for him.

I would make his favorite desserts, like the mango sago he loved.

"Julian, I made mango sago. Have a taste..."

He slapped my hand away in disgust, looking at me angrily but saying nothing.

The housekeeper looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

My eyes welled with tears. I asked nervously and cautiously, "Do... do you not like it anymore? Have your tastes changed?"

Julian Fletcher opened his mouth, but in the end, he swallowed whatever he was going to say. "Give it to me."

Overjoyed, I handed him the mango sago.

He gave it a cold glance, snorted, and walked away.

The housekeeper spoke up in a small voice, "Miss, the young master is allergic to mangoes."

I was shocked. "That’s impossible. Mango sago is his favorite..."

The housekeeper hesitated again. "Miss, the young master said... you should go to school by yourself. He said you’re not one of the Fletchers, so you shouldn’t get special treatment. The driver... he was told to pick up Miss Whittaker."

I froze, standing there dejectedly as my eyes welled with tears again.

’He had clearly told me he loved me before. Why did all those youthful feelings change the moment he met his so-called true love?’

I slung my backpack on and walked out of the house by myself.

"Did you tell her?" I hadn’t gotten far from the house when I overheard Julian Fletcher talking to the housekeeper.

"Young Master, this is very hurtful to Miss Cece," the housekeeper sighed.

Julian Fletcher asked, a sense of urgency in his voice, "You said I had the driver pick up Erin Whittaker. Was she upset?"

"The young miss seemed very sad."

Julian Fletcher snorted. "She’s faking it. I’d like to see how long she can keep up the act. Since she was a child, she’s had a bite worse than a viper’s. Now she’s trying to act like an innocent little lamb?"

Then came the housekeeper’s panicked cry, "Young Master! Why is your face breaking out in a rash? Did you eat the mango? Oh my god... hurry, take your allergy medication!"

...

It was a full forty-minute walk from the Fletcher family’s villa to the high school.

"Hey, little miss, all alone today? Got any pocket money? Your big brothers here are short on cash for the internet cafe."

On the small road outside the school, local delinquents often harassed students on their way to class.

I looked at them, trembling all over as I tried to back away.

’I always thought I was a coward, that I was trembling out of fear...’

’Thinking back on it now, I must have been suppressing my own excitement.’

’The excitement of wanting to fight back.’

"I don’t have any money..."

My eyes welled with tears. I turned to run, but one of the thugs blocked me. He reached out and slapped my butt. "Not bad lookin’."

"Hahaha, you like what you see? How about you be Tiger’s girlfriend?" the other thugs jeered.

I backed away in fear, but they snatched my backpack.

"This necklace must be worth something, right?" They took the money from my backpack and also snatched the necklace from my neck.

I burst into tears, crying and begging them to give it back. "That was a gift from my mother."

They just laughed, holding it high out of my reach, teasing me with their cruel prank before finally getting on their motorcycles and speeding off.

I squatted on the ground, crying as I picked up my books one by one.

A boy in a baggy sweatshirt with the hood up walked over. He didn’t say a word, just bent down, wanting to help me pick up the books on the ground.

My gaze fell on the hideously scarred back of his hand, and I sank to the ground in fright.

He panicked and hid his hand behind his back. He opened his mouth, but his voice was hoarse and unpleasant, and in the end, he didn’t say anything. He just stood up and ran away.

I stared fearfully at his retreating back, then snatched up my bag from the ground and fled.

At that time, I didn’t remember that he was Asher...

I had forgotten him completely.

I only remember that after school that day, he was waiting for me at the gate, wearing gloves.

He was covered up completely, but his trembling eyes were fixed on me. He had gotten back all of my stolen things and returned them to me.

I looked at him, too scared to take them.

He didn’t speak, just shoved the things into my hands and ran off.

I didn’t even know who he was. I thought he was just another passerby in my life, one not even worth remembering.

I even... ignored the bloodstain at the corner of his mouth.