Chapter 324 - 322: Asher and Charlie’s Past

Chapter 324: Chapter 322: Asher and Charlie’s Past

"Sebastian Lancaster, do you still remember me? I’m Leo Abbott." The man who had rear-ended them completely ignored Lucas Grant and greeted Asher instead.

To be exact, he seemed to look down on Lucas. Lucas clenched his fists, standing rooted to the spot, radiating a dark and oppressive aura.

I wondered how someone as arrogant and sharp-tongued as him could just stand there and let someone else act so brazenly in his face.

"Disgusting. Even the air is disgusting," Lucas muttered. He pulled out an alcohol wipe, scrubbed his hands vigorously, and then put on his gloves.

I froze for a moment, observing him closely. He really was a germaphobe. When I first met him, he was aloof and always wore gloves no matter where he went. At first, I thought there was something wrong with his hands, like a burn scar, but I later realized he was just a pure germaphobe. Since when had he become less pretentious and stopped wearing them? His behavior today was definitely out of the ordinary.

"Sebastian?" Seeing that Asher was ignoring him, the man called out again, refusing to give up.

"I don’t remember," Asher replied coldly.

Leo’s expression shifted slightly before he smiled. "It’s normal that you don’t remember. You’re a great genius, after all. How could you possibly remember ordinary people like us? Wouldn’t you agree, Lucas?" Leo raised his hand, reaching out to pat Lucas on the shoulder.

"Don’t touch me!" Lucas snapped, his emotions spiraling out of control as he instinctively reached to snatch the gun from Zeke Shaw’s hand.

This scared the living daylights out of Zeke. It was his service weapon, and he couldn’t let anyone—not even a colleague—just grab it. Fortunately, Zeke reacted in time and dodged out of the way.

Leo smiled, looking at Lucas. "I really didn’t expect this. You didn’t show up to our genius class reunion a few days ago, which is when I heard you had become a cop."

Lucas remained silent, clearly suppressing his anger.

I observed him for a long while; he must have a hidden past of his own.

"You’re coming back with us for an investigation," Zeke said angrily, pinning Leo against the car.

Leo was very cooperative. He got into the car with a smile, giving Asher a meaningful look. "Not many people showed up to the reunion this time, but there’s another one in a few days. You all have to come!" he shouted.

Watching Zeke take Leo away, Lucas spoke in a low voice. It sounded like he was muttering to himself, but also like he was speaking to us. "Actually, when the serial killings first happened, I wondered if... if the killer could be Charlie. But later, I realized it wasn’t him."

"What?" I asked.

"If Charlie was the killer, if he wasn’t dead..." Lucas continued, "there’s no way he would miss the chance to torment me. He would have slaughtered all of those scumbags, too."

He looked deeply tormented. As a police officer, he was torn between justice and evil. Some say that the line between a demon and a saint is drawn by a single thought—that is the true nature of the human heart.

"Leo’s appearance is absolutely no coincidence," Asher said, his voice deep as he frowned.

Whether he belonged to The Genetics Organization or The Resistance, Leo’s presence definitely served an ulterior motive.

"He seems to be targeting you," I said, warning Asher to be careful.

Asher shook his head, looking in Lucas’s direction. "It looks like he’s targeting me, but in reality... he’s been intentionally and unintentionally provoking Lucas this entire time."

"But Lucas has nothing to do with The Genetics Organization," I said, my curiosity piqued. I waited until Lucas had gotten into the car, looking completely out of it, before speaking again. "Leo definitely came with a purpose. Why would he provoke an outsider like Lucas?"

"Perhaps his true target lies elsewhere," Asher said cryptically, taking my hand and leading me into the car.

I froze. A sudden realization hit me. If he was targeting Lucas, maybe he was actually targeting Charlie.

Felix Foster...

Felix was considered the only successful subject of Asher’s rebirth experiment. However, many people believed Felix was a fake—that he was just acting, and it was merely a memory transplant. Mrs. Fletcher, in particular, was far too desperate to prove the authenticity of the rebirth experiment.

So, this whole situation was aimed at Felix. To prove that Felix was indeed Charlie, they were going to conduct some kind of "experiment."

Something akin to an emotional experiment? Just like how they used me to test Asher, relying on Asher’s feelings for me to determine that I was Cecilia Caldwell.

"But that doesn’t make sense. You love me, which is why an emotional experiment holds value and meaning. Can hatred work the same way?" I was a bit confused. Felix and Lucas were bitter rivals, absolute nemeses, and both were men. "Aren’t they mortal enemies?"

"Ahem..." Asher coughed, stammering slightly. "You might not be able to understand it from your worldview, but feelings... are a collision of souls. It has nothing to do with gender."

I was a bit dumbfounded; this was definitely outside my realm of understanding.

"If... you were reborn in a man’s body, I would still love you," Asher added, the tips of his ears turning red.

"..." I opened my mouth but couldn’t formulate a response for a moment.

Sitting in the car with Asher, I watched Lucas, who was driving absentmindedly.

"Um... I think it’s a bit dangerous for him to drive in this state—"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Lucas slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the car shot forward.

"Ah!" For the first time, I experienced the terrifying G-force of a rollercoaster. Clinging tightly to Asher, my survival instincts kicked into overdrive. "Lucas, life is still beautiful..."

Lucas suddenly yanked the steering wheel hard. He was out of his mind.

"Ah! Officer Grant, you can’t do this! Let’s talk! Let’s just talk..." Burying my face in Asher’s chest, I mumbled, "What exactly triggered him?"

"I don’t know..." Asher was much calmer than I was.

Lucas drove like a bat out of hell. What was originally a thirty-minute drive took him exactly twenty minutes to complete.

I took a deep breath, stepping out of the car and whispering to Asher, "Do cops not get fined for speeding?"

"They do," Asher replied very seriously.

I looked at Lucas; something still seemed very off about him. "Will he be okay leaving like this?"

Asher took out his phone and called Felix Foster. "Lucas has lost his mind."

"Bro, I’m taking a test!" On Felix’s end, it sounded like he was taking a mock exam for the upcoming college entrance examinations.

"He ran into Leo Abbott from the genius class today," Asher noted.

Felix fell silent.

Not long after, I heard him hand in his paper early over the phone. "Teacher, these questions are too easy. It’s simply a waste of my time and my life. I’m leaving first. It’s a matter of life and death!"

Then, the call abruptly disconnected.

I looked at Asher, and Asher looked back at me.

"How did you figure out that Felix was Charlie?" I asked, incredibly curious about their past.

Back then, Charlie had burned to death while protecting Asher. He must have been in so much agony when he died. So how could Asher recognize that Felix was Charlie at first glance?

"His melodramatic antics and neuroticism are irreplaceable, just like how AI can never replace humans," Asher said profoundly.

In layman’s terms, he was basically calling Charlie a dramatic nutjob—something an ordinary person couldn’t fake.

"Besides, he escaped and found me himself." Asher looked at me, beginning to recount his history with Charlie. "That year... during the fire. It wasn’t that I refused to escape. It wasn’t... my selfishness that killed Charlie. It wasn’t..."

Asher lowered his head, delving back into his most terrifying memories.

I held his hand, silently telling him that he didn’t need to be afraid anymore—that it was all in the past.

After that incident, many people misunderstood Asher. They thought he was too stubborn, refusing to leave the orphanage and that room, which ultimately led to him burning to death and taking Charlie down with him.

As for what the truth really was, only Charlie and Asher knew.