Chapter 25: Don’t Empathize with a Murderer

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Don’t Empathize with a Murderer

Zeke Shaw frowned and let go of Asher.

Asher turned and ran, signaling for Madeline Quinn and Zeke Shaw to follow.

In a panic, I tried to stop Madeline Quinn. "Madeline, don’t trust him! He’s a murderer! Don’t go, don’t go!"

But how could Madeline possibly give up such a good opportunity? She was too desperate to find me.

"Stop!" Madeline Quinn chased after him, shouting for Asher to stop.

Panicked, I followed and yelled at Zeke Shaw. "You have to keep up! Protect her, I’m begging you."

Zeke Shaw snapped out of it and gave chase as well. The two of them followed behind Asher.

Asher wasn’t moving well. It was clear he was running with all his might. Blood streamed down his slender calves, a horrifying sight.

His pants were short—tattered and short, as if he’d picked them up from somewhere.

’Actually, I was a little curious. If he was really a Lancaster, and if the Lancaster Family truly treated him well, like a young master, how could they possibly let him live like a homeless person?’

’The Lancasters probably despised him too.’

’I didn’t know what kind of environment Asher had grown up in, and I didn’t want to empathize with a twisted serial killer. No matter what he had been through, murder was wrong.’

"You’re injured?" Zeke Shaw frowned, grabbing Asher’s arm. "Where are you taking us?"

As if startled, Asher recoiled in terror, shaking off Zeke Shaw’s arm. He fell to the ground, scrambled back up, and kept running forward.

His shoes had fallen off, revealing gruesome scars on the soles of his feet. They looked like burns from stepping on red-hot coals.

I watched in shock as Asher stumbled and fell every few steps. ’What in the world... has he been through?’

"His feet... what happened to them?" Madeline Quinn was also staring in shock at Asher, who insisted on getting up even after falling. His feet were covered in burns. Every step must be agonizing, like walking through Hell.

’What was he pushing himself for?’

"They’re burns," Zeke Shaw said with a frown. After Asher fell again, Zeke walked over and offered him a hand.

Asher looked at Zeke Shaw but didn’t take his hand. He seemed used to being alone.

He climbed up from the ground and continued onward with a limp, leaving bloody footprints on the road.

Madeline Quinn furrowed her brow. "How did he burn the soles of his feet?"

"I suspected he was the murderer before, so I tailed him and did some digging," Zeke Shaw said in a low voice.

I stared at Zeke Shaw in shock. ’He actually suspected Asher?’ "He is! He’s the murderer! Investigate more, look into it again!"

"Asher is a pitiful soul. He grew up in an orphanage. Master Lancaster never acknowledged this grandson, so he never thought about bringing him into the Lancaster Family. Maybe it was karma, but all of Master Lancaster’s sons and grandsons died. As an old man, he couldn’t continue the Lancaster bloodline, which is when he finally remembered Asher in the orphanage."

Zeke Shaw followed behind Asher, lighting a cigarette as he walked.

"I know one of the servants in the Lancaster Family. They told me that after Asher was brought there, he was very resistant and always tried to run away. His personality was withdrawn and strange; he was quick to anger and would even hurt people. To stop him from escaping and repeatedly shaming the family, the old master used many methods. He broke his legs, imprisoned him, and locked him in the basement like a wild beast, all to force him to produce an heir for the family."

"You mean..." Madeline Quinn covered her mouth in shock, staring at the limping Asher. "The burns on his feet... Master Lancaster deliberately did that to him to keep him from escaping?"

Zeke Shaw didn’t speak, but his eyes were filled with pity.

’So what if he was the young master of a rich family? In Master Lancaster’s eyes, the strange and withdrawn Asher wasn’t a person at all, but a machine for breeding the next generation.’

’Once he had a child with the woman the old master chose, he would be made to disappear from Meridia forever.’

I followed behind Zeke Shaw, my gaze fixed on Asher with complicated feelings.

"Don’t empathize with a murderer..." My voice was a little hoarse. "He may be pitiful, but the women he killed are even more so."

’I didn’t know what Asher was trying to do by luring Zeke Shaw and Madeline out using me as bait. I also didn’t know if he had an accomplice. But with Zeke here, things were at least a bit safer.’

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Asher stumbled back to the abandoned orphanage.

I looked around in shock. I had been drugged and knocked out in the Street Alley, and I vaguely remembered being dragged by someone... right here, at this orphanage.

’Was Asher really going to expose the crime scene?’

"What’s here?" Zeke Shaw frowned, looking around warily.

Asher ignored Zeke Shaw, forcefully pushing open one dorm room door after another.

There was nothing.

I thought he was just playing dumb, but then, in an abandoned dorm room on the second floor, I saw the figure of someone in a red dress.

The figure’s back looked just like mine. She was wearing a red dress, just standing there as if looking out the window.

My breathing grew ragged, and my whole body started to tremble.

I didn’t know if that was my body.