Chapter 192 - 191: The Fletcher Family is Behind the Angel Charity Fund

Chapter 192: Chapter 191: The Fletcher Family is Behind the Angel Charity Fund

I stared at Asher in shock. So it was true?

’Did that mean it was all true? That I had won first place in the genius competition in Germany and tutored those missing teenagers?’

My fingers went numb, and a sudden headache made me unsteady on my feet.

Asher rushed forward and caught me, whispering soothingly. "That’s not important... You were connected to their disappearances, but..."

Asher’s voice was hoarse as he looked nervously at Zeke Shaw. "That genius competition was just for show. They used a massive prize to lure in ordinary families desperate for their children to become overnight sensations... Cecilia Caldwell was a victim, too. She was just a commodity, like a puppet in a shop window. She had no choice, just put on display like some ornament. She did nothing wrong..."

Asher was so desperate to vindicate me that his body trembled as he held me.

"Cece..." Madeline Quinn stepped forward anxiously to check on me.

Zeke Shaw frowned as well, but said nothing.

Clearly, everything happening now proved it: Julian Fletcher, Madeline Quinn, and Asher all saw me as Cecilia Caldwell.

But in Zeke Shaw’s view, I was Silvia Lynch. How could a person suddenly change who they are on the inside?

It defied all normal logic.

"Cece..."

Suddenly, a scene flashed through my mind, accompanied by a familiar, ice-cold voice.

"Do you know the most brilliant way to deceive everyone?" In my memory, Victor Quinn circled me, smiling as he spoke. "It’s a lie... so convincing you even fool yourself."

"Ever heard of a montage lie? Every sentence I speak is a fact when taken individually, but when combined, they form a lie of jumbled truths."

"Cecilia Caldwell, your words must first convince yourself..."

"For instance, ’The woman I love is in that rich heir’s arms.’ Every part of that sentence is true on its own. But the real order of events is: ’I fell in love with the woman who was in that rich heir’s arms.’"

The same truth, expressed with a different turn of phrase, seemed to take on a completely different meaning in an instant.

"Tell me, how can you make him love you? Love you so much he would do anything for you... even give up his life? How do you make him believe in you, unwavering, certain that everything you say is fact?" In my memory, Victor Quinn suddenly moved closer, and the pain in my head intensified.

’Victor Quinn was teaching me,’ I realized. ’Teaching me how to lie.’

How to plot.

’This "he"... who was he?’

’Who did Victor Quinn want me to deceive? Asher?’

"Remember, the only person who can save this world is you," Victor Quinn said, patting my shoulder. "For him to believe you, you must first believe it yourself."

"You’re a genius. I’m sure you can do it. I want you to become the love of his life, his one and only. Make him marry you. Make him obey your every command, so he becomes nothing more than a puppet."

My head throbbed as I struggled to remember who Victor Quinn was talking about.

’Who was it?’

Finally, in my memory, I saw the photograph on the table clearly.

Julian Fletcher...

"Cece, your two families already have a marriage arrangement. He’ll marry you, but that’s nowhere near enough." Victor Quinn looked at the photo on the table and continued. "If you don’t behave, I’ll find someone to replace you..."

"Cece?"

"Cece!"

I snapped back to reality, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I scanned my surroundings.

Asher and Madeline Quinn were watching me in alarm, trying to see if I was all right.

I shook my head.

Leaning against the wall, I slowly sat down.

’Victor Quinn... he wanted me to get close to Julian Fletcher?’

’He wanted me to fool myself, make Julian Fletcher fall in love with me, and marry me?’

’He wanted to turn Julian Fletcher into an obedient puppet?’

’Was his goal to control the Fletcher family through Julian Fletcher?’

’The Fletcher family’s businesses were all legitimate—real estate, medical equipment, import-export... What could Victor Quinn possibly want from them through Julian Fletcher? He’s just a doctor.’

"Cecilia Caldwell, you have to aim high. It’s the only way to keep from being trampled, the only way to escape all this..."

Victor Quinn’s voice was like a curse, echoing endlessly in my ears.

’He’s a madman. A devil.’

’Of course. My amnesia was probably connected to him.’

"Is it possible... that with a combination of a car crash, hypnosis, drugs, and other treatments, you could make someone forget certain memories, and then... use hypnosis to implant false ones?" I asked quietly.

’I now strongly suspected that my belief—that Julian Fletcher was the man I’d loved for ten years—was entirely the result of Victor Quinn’s deliberate misdirection.’

’He took advantage of my amnesia to mislead me, corrupting my own memories.’

"We can’t rule out that possibility," Zeke Shaw said, his expression grim. "There was a case three years ago of incitement to murder. A psychologist goaded his patient into killing for him."

The psychologist had hypnotized his mentally unstable patient. He transferred his own hatred onto the patient, making the patient experience his rage and resentment as their own. The patient even developed the delusion that the target had harmed them and their family in the same way. In a fit of rage, the patient stabbed the person to death on the street.

I sat there, not saying a word.

’There’s something wrong with Victor Quinn. I was almost certain of it now.’

’So Julian Fletcher was just another bug caught in the spider’s web. He was never an outsider...’

’And Erin Whittaker’s appearance... could she be the ’replacement’ Victor Quinn mentioned if I didn’t cooperate?’

’Erin Whittaker was the catalyst.’

’Victor Quinn’s real goal was probably to use Erin Whittaker to warn and provoke me, to push me to complete my mission and get Julian Fletcher to marry me. But he never expected me to actually die.’

’It seemed Victor Quinn never anticipated I would die at the hands of a serial killer.’ ℯℯ𝑙.

’Hah. It had all spiraled into an unknown outcome beyond his control.’

"They actually closed the case," Lucas Grant muttered as he returned. "The guy’s confession was crystal clear. He said he found out his son’s disappearance might be connected to the deceased. He went to the victim multiple times trying to find his son, and after being rejected, he decided to kill him."

’It looked like a coincidence, but it was clearly staged.’

A case within a case, another case inside that, and yet another case behind it all.

No matter which way you looked at it, forward or backward, it was all rotten.

I looked at the web of clues Lucas Grant was drawing on the whiteboard and spoke softly. "Two cases—a serial killing and a dismemberment... The mastermind behind both seems to be using victims to do the killing."

"Because there’s no such thing as a perfect victim," Lucas Grant said, looking at me. "That year, there were six cases of teenagers with Asperger’s syndrome disappearing across the country. Do you know why only the parents of these two are still looking for them?"

I shook my head.

"Because the others saw it as getting rid of a burden. Asperger’s... autism, hah. In their eyes, a genius is a freak, an outcast. Besides, once their kid disappeared, they received a ton of donations from the public. Why wouldn’t they be happy about that?"

Lucas Grant sneered. "Take a guess why the Lancaster family never brought that illegitimate son, Sebastian Lancaster, home. You think they couldn’t afford it? Or that they cared too much about their reputation? Sebastian Lancaster’s mother and Marcus Lancaster were legally married in the Republic of M."

Asher frowned, shooting Lucas Grant a warning glance. Why was he bringing him into this?

Lucas Grant was just asking for a punch. "Because he was a monster, too. I heard that after he was born, he refused to speak. He was diagnosed with autism, and when he was abandoned at the orphanage, everyone thought he was mute."