Chapter 90: I Drove Julian Fletcher Mad

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: I Drove Julian Fletcher Mad

Erin Whittaker shot me a venomous look, a silent warning: ’If you won’t let me live in peace, I won’t let you either. I’ll take you down with me.’

She was overly confident about her plan to frame me by linking me to a murderer.

So confident, in fact, that it was making me nervous.

Silvia Lynch truly had far more secrets than I ever imagined.

I knew it myself; Silvia Lynch had absolutely made some kind of deal with a murderer.

And I just had to be the one reborn into her body.

"In that case, I’ll ask you both not to leave Meridia for the time being. Please cooperate fully with our investigation and be available for questioning whenever summoned." Zeke Shaw glanced at me, then paused as he was about to leave. "You said you and Cecilia Caldwell were good friends. Did you know she was nearly assaulted at Nocturne some time ago?"

’I knew Zeke Shaw was testing me.’

I shot Julian Fletcher a cold look. "Cece told me. That day, Jake Abbott sent her a message saying Julian was wasted at Nocturne. It was raining heavily, and Cece was frantic when she talked to me about it. I even tried to persuade her not to go, telling her it wasn’t safe in such a downpour."

Julian Fletcher’s body went rigid. ’He’s feeling guilty.’

He hung his head, hands clenched tightly. "Don’t..."

He didn’t want to hear it.

But I was going to say it anyway.

"Cecilia got soaked to the bone, rushing to Nocturne in a cab, only to discover that Julian Fletcher wasn’t drunk at all. He and his degenerate friends had made a bet to see how long it would take Cecilia, his pathetic little lapdog, to get there."

’That day, they were all laughing at me.’

’They called me Julian’s lapdog. Someone guessed I’d be there in ten minutes, another said twenty. In short, they used every vile word and tactic to provoke and mock me.’

’Back then, I foolishly believed Julian was really drunk, that he wouldn’t be safe in such a terrible storm.’

’The rain was pouring, lightning flashing, thunder booming. On a night that filled me with my deepest fears, I overcame that terror to go to him, only to be met with shameless humiliation.’

"Stop talking..." Julian Fletcher was trembling. He stumbled backward, as if begging me to stop.

"Cecilia is terrified of the rain! She’s scared of thunder, and she’s scared of riding in cars on rainy days because her parents died in a car accident during a thunderstorm!" But I wouldn’t stop. I had to say it!

"She was obviously terrified, on the verge of tears when she called me, but she was afraid something would happen to you, so she went anyway! And what happened? You let Brian Morgan assault her! You let your pack of degenerate friends cheer and laugh at her expense! You let them trample her dignity, rip her clothes, and pin her to the sofa, trying to..."

"STOP!" Julian Fletcher screamed, his breathing ragged, on the verge of a complete breakdown.

’Perhaps I was being too descriptive. It must have struck a nerve.’

He lunged forward to silence me but was cut off by a punch from Sebastian Lancaster.

Sebastian Lancaster was like an enraged beast, staring intently at Julian Fletcher, ready to rip him to shreds at any moment.

I laughed. I should have felt satisfied... but my eyes grew moist.

’I hated it. I hated my past self for being so spineless, cowardly, ignorant, and blind.’

’And I hated Julian Fletcher for everything he’d done to me.’

"Please, stop," he begged. He was sitting on the floor, covering his ears helplessly, a far cry from the arrogant, superior man he usually was.

He was like a lowly beggar, pleading for me to go no further.

I just stared at him and cruelly continued, "Julian Fletcher, have you forgotten what you did to Cecilia after you kicked those people out? You ignored her pleas and protests and forced yourself on her right in front of a waiter from Nocturne. Then you just walked away, leaving the half-clothed Cecilia there like trash!"

I squatted in front of Julian Fletcher, tore his hands away from his head, and roared, "You said a prostitute is worth eight hundred yuan, but that she wasn’t even worth that! So after you left, that Nocturne waiter grabbed Cecilia and asked for her price! That’s why she stumbled out of Nocturne in a disheveled state, only to be dragged into an alley by a group of drunks! If someone hadn’t saved her, she would have died that night!"

"Silvia Lynch!" Julian Fletcher screamed, shoving me away in a frenzy.

Sebastian Lancaster caught me and pulled me into his arms, his entire body trembling as he held me tight.

His eyes were bloodshot, threatening to lose control at any moment.

I clutched Sebastian Lancaster’s arm tightly. "Asher... take me home."

Sebastian Lancaster hugged me forcefully, his voice trembling as he spoke. "Julian Fletcher... I will kill you."

At the doorway, Zeke Shaw watched me with a complicated expression, not saying a word.

Erin Whittaker was also sitting on the bed in shock, momentarily unsure how to comfort Julian Fletcher.

Madeline Quinn’s eyes were red-rimmed, her face already wet with tears.

’She didn’t know. She didn’t know what her Cece had truly endured.’

Sebastian Lancaster lifted me into his arms, trying desperately to control his emotions.

’He’s mentally ill; reining in his emotions is a hundred times harder for him than for a normal person.’

"Let’s go home..." he whispered, carrying me out of the hospital room.

Madeline Quinn lunged forward and slapped Julian Fletcher hard across the face, screaming and hitting him. "Julian Fletcher, you bastard! Give me back my Cece! Give me back my Cece! Give her back to me!"

I cried, burying my face in Sebastian Lancaster’s arms. Whether he was acting or not no longer mattered. At that moment, all I wanted was someone to lean on.

"Asher... can we take the subway back?" I murmured, my voice hoarse as I rested my head on his shoulder.

Sebastian Lancaster continued walking without breaking stride, his voice laced with indulgence. "Alright."

I smiled.

’He’s such a good actor. How can he be so emotionally stable?’

’Is he really mentally ill?’

"Sebastian Lancaster, I’m not Cecilia Caldwell..." I wanted to see what it would take for him to finally go crazy again.

’I don’t want to be Cecilia Caldwell anymore. Being her is too hard.’

Sebastian Lancaster’s steps faltered for a moment. He looked down at me. "Mm, I know..."

’He said he knows I’m not Cecilia Caldwell?’

’So why isn’t he going crazy?’

"Didn’t you say you’d kill me if I wasn’t Cecilia Caldwell?" I asked in a muffled voice.

He didn’t say anything.

He just kept carrying me, not even putting me down as we got into the elevator.

’I couldn’t be bothered to walk anyway. The reason he still protects me, even after realizing I’m not Cecilia, must be because I’m carrying his child, right?’

’Men... they’re all the same.’

I didn’t call him out on it and just rested quietly on his shoulder.

"Why... do you want to take the subway?" he asked in a low voice as we entered the station.

I didn’t explain. He had been carrying me this whole time, and people were staring at us. We were surrounded by the curious gazes and murmurs of onlookers.

But Sebastian Lancaster was Sebastian Lancaster; he couldn’t care less what other people thought.

After all, this was the man who had wandered around for so long in ill-fitting, filthy clothes. He was mentally ill—why would he care about other people’s stares?

It probably wasn’t rush hour, as the subway wasn’t crowded. I slid out of his arms on my own and leaned against a nearby pole.

My blood sugar was probably low from all the emotional agitation.

As if performing a Magic trick, Sebastian Lancaster pulled a lollipop from his pocket, stuck it in my mouth, and then began scanning the car for a seat.

Finally, he spotted three empty seats next to a middle-aged man.

The man had his legs spread wide, occupying all three spots.

A young woman went up to reason with him. "Sir, you’re taking up three seats by yourself. Could you let us have them?"

The young woman pointed to me. "Look, this pretty lady can barely stay on her feet."

The man snorted. "I sat down first, so these are my seats! Mind your own business. And dressed so indecently, you’re obviously no good yourself."

Sebastian Lancaster led me over. He’s a man of action, not words. He simply lifted his hand and gave the man a tap on the forehead, sending him sprawling to the floor.

And so, in utter shock, I sat down, feeling as if I were sitting on pins and needles...

Sebastian Lancaster then very gentlemanly pointed to another seat, offering it to the young woman.

The young woman sat down slowly, her eyes filled with a mixture of admiration and awe at his good looks. "Hey handsome, are you a model? You’re so beautiful..."

The man on the floor simply lay there and started feigning illness. "ARGH! Somebody call 911! I can’t... my heart hurts! He hit me! You all saw him hit me! I’m calling the cops!"