Chapter 258 - 257: Cece, I Should Hide You

Chapter 258: Chapter 257: Cece, I Should Hide You

"Sebastian Lancaster, you’re a psycho, an idiot! You’re legally incompetent, so you have no right to sell the company!" The one leading the charge was that so-called great-aunt’s daughter.

Her husband probably didn’t dare to come. After I stabbed him those few times, he likely hasn’t fully recovered yet.

These people were clearly scared too. They hid behind their bodyguards, not daring to get too close to the iron gate, because a sign hung on it: "Beware of Vicious Dog."

Stella bared her teeth at them, looking ready to attack and bite at any moment.

I stepped outside for a look and saw that, surprisingly, Jude Lynch and his wife had come along this time.

Noelle Lynch didn’t come. I heard her face was disfigured and her engagement with the Abbott Family was called off. She must be in a miserable state right now.

But she brought it all on herself.

"Sebastian Lancaster is mentally ill and needs a guardian. Silvia Lynch, the child in your womb is gone! Without an heir to the Lancaster Family, you have no right to continue being Sebastian Lancaster’s legal guardian!" Miranda Lancaster shrieked, pointing at me. "You lunatic! I think you’re mentally unstable too! I’ve already applied for a psychiatric evaluation. I’ll show you’re just as crazy!"

’Miranda Lancaster has gotten smarter. Someone influential must be advising her.’

’She plans to make me undergo a psychiatric evaluation too, to brand me as mentally ill. That way, Sebastian Lancaster’s so-called guardianship would fall into Master Lancaster’s hands.’

’Once Master Lancaster has guardianship over Sebastian, he could use Sebastian’s legal incompetence as grounds to reclaim the shares sold to Astraeus.’

’A well-laid plan.’

’I guess even if I’m not mentally ill, they’ll have the hospital slap that label on me anyway. They’re planning to have me committed...’

"Silvia, your behavior has been abnormal since you were a child. As your parents, we’re very worried about you. You even set your dog on your own sister. You’re aggressive!" Jude Lynch quickly chimed in. He was using his parental status to spread rumors that Silvia was mentally ill.

I glanced at the people behind them. A van from the psychiatric hospital was already parked back there. Their next step, I figured, was to provoke me and then forcibly take me away.

"Master Lancaster’s IQ suddenly went up today," I said, looking at Asher.

"His genius son is back, isn’t he? Someone’s playing the role of armchair strategist," Felix Foster said, scratching his ear, clearly annoyed by their clamor.

Killian Lancaster was forcing Asher to make a choice.

’Once I’m taken to the psychiatric hospital, Asher will have no choice but to cooperate with him.’

’Master Lancaster and his cronies only know how to fight for power and pursue petty, short-term gains. But Killian Lancaster has his eyes on the prize: the interests of the organization behind it all.’

’He wants to climb the ladder and replace the person in charge of the organization.’

’He wants to cut off the source of the gene editing, becoming one of the few geniuses in the world to monopolize its benefits.’

"Silvia, dear, your mental state is unstable. Come home with Mom and Dad. Would we ever harm you?" Jude Lynch began trying to coax me home.

’Go home, let them drug me into a stupor, then ship me off to a psychiatric hospital and lock me up.’

’So cruel.’

"Dad, I think your emotional state isn’t too stable either. Could it be our family has bad genes? Oh... my apologies, I forgot. I forgot you were born with azoospermia. How can you pass on any genes without sperm? Isn’t that right?" I retorted with a smile at Jude Lynch.

Because of his azoospermia, he had no viable sperm, which is why he begged ’Cecilia Caldwell’s’ parents to help his wife with in-vitro fertilization.

Sure enough, my words hit a nerve. Jude Lynch pointed at me furiously and started screaming obscenities. "You little bitch, get the hell out here! You think Sebastian Lancaster can protect you? Without his Lancaster Group shares, what is he? Nothing!"

With that, Jude Lynch began furiously kicking the iron gate.

Stella sensed he was a threat to me and started barking loudly at the gate, lunging forward as if to bite him.

Jude Lynch was so frightened he fell to the ground, but he kept pointing at me and cursing.

"Hey, you guys from the psychiatric hospital back there! Take a look! We’ve got someone having a psychotic episode right here! You’re really slacking on the job. Hurry up and drag him away." I looked at the people standing behind Mrs. Lynch; they were all from the hospital.

Mrs. Lynch quickly helped him up and scolded me angrily. "Silvia, how can you speak to your father like that? Even if your genes aren’t from us, I carried you for ten months and gave birth to you! How can you be so ungrateful? The debt of raising you and giving you life is immense! You’re utterly inhumane!"

"Humanity is reserved for humans. You don’t qualify," I said coolly.

Master Lancaster glanced at Jude Lynch and his wife, then said in a low voice, "Alright, enough talking. Just grab her and take her away. It looks to me like she’s having an episode."

’Master Lancaster was going to take me by force.’

’Even a sane person would be driven mad if they were locked up in a psychiatric hospital.’

The iron gate was forced open. They had come prepared and were determined to take me away.

’Separate me from Asher, then focus on dealing with him.’

"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you’re doing? In broad daylight, in a society governed by law, do you think we police are just decorations?" Just as Master Lancaster’s men rushed into the yard, Zeke Shaw’s battered old SUV screeched to a halt, blocking the way.

He got out of the car, lit a cigarette, and watched them with a lazy air, shooting a look at me, Asher, and Felix Foster that said: ’As long as I’m here, they won’t lay a finger on you.’

From the car, a pale-faced Lucas Grant stumbled out, crawled over to the flower bushes, and started throwing up.

Asher frowned in disgust and glanced at Felix Foster. "Get him out of here. It’s too embarrassing... I’m a neat freak."

Felix Foster pointed at himself. "Why do I have to be the one to get him?"

"Didn’t you two pledge your lives to each other?" Asher said blandly.

"..." Felix Foster’s eyes widened. "When did that happen? How come I don’t know about it?"

Asher leaned lazily against the doorframe and spoke again. "You’re living off me right now. Your school, your food, the clothes on your back, the shoes on your feet—it’s all my money."

Felix Foster gritted his teeth. "Fine. Just wait until I get into college, until I start my own successful business. I’m going to bury you in money."

With that, Felix Foster sulkily walked over to Lucas Grant and hauled him up with a look of disgust.

Lucas Grant turned his head and started laying into Zeke Shaw. "This piece of junk car of yours—can you please replace it! Even if it didn’t fall apart, I was about to!"

Master Lancaster’s expression was grim. He spoke coolly, "Officer Lowell, you may be a police officer, but you shouldn’t be interfering in the Lancaster Family’s private affairs, should you?"

Miranda Lancaster quickly chimed in. "That’s right, this is our family’s private business! This woman is mentally ill. She set her dog on her own sister and stabbed my husband. It’s only right and proper that we take her for a psychiatric evaluation."

"Whether she’s mentally ill or not requires a health certificate from a proper hospital," Zeke Shaw said with a frown.

"I’m her biological father! It’s perfectly natural for me to take her to the hospital," Jude Lynch said angrily.

"An immediate family member has the right to request a psychiatric evaluation for her. If the results show she has no mental illness, then the family has no right to commit a sane person to a psychiatric hospital. But what if... the evaluation shows that she *does* have a mental illness?" A woman got out of a car behind them.

The woman was dressed in a professional business suit. When she smiled... she bore a strong resemblance to me.

If you could say Silvia Lynch and I were seventy percent alike, then this woman in front of me seemed to be an even closer match.

But she was dressed in professional attire and wore rimless glasses, giving her an air of competence and confidence.

A smile played on her lips as she pushed up her glasses, seemingly confident that if I were to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, I would definitely be found to have a problem...

Because Cecilia Caldwell... was born with a mental disorder.

She has no feelings, doesn’t understand emotions, has no empathy, and cannot comprehend sorrow or joy.

’She thinks it’s impossible for me to pass a psychiatric evaluation.’

I took a deep breath, my palms growing slightly sweaty.

’To be honest... I don’t have any confidence in myself either.’

’If these people insist on taking me for a psychiatric evaluation...’

’I’m afraid... the result won’t be good.’

"Cece..." The atmosphere around Asher suddenly dropped to freezing. Like a provoked beast, he bristled with sharp spines, pulling me behind him and into his arms.

He stared warily at the woman who looked so much like me, his voice trembling. "Cece... I should have hidden you away, killed them all..."