Chapter 260 - 259: I Will Disappear in Exchange for Asher’s Lifelong Peace

Chapter 260: Chapter 259: I Will Disappear in Exchange for Asher’s Lifelong Peace

I instinctively looked toward Asher.

When Erin Whittaker was pretending to be Cecilia Caldwell, I wasn’t really that panicked. Only a fool like Julian Fletcher would fall for it...

But when even Julian Fletcher stopped believing her, I knew Erin Whittaker’s acting skills were just too poor.

Victor Quinn used Erin Whittaker to impersonate a ’reborn’ Cecilia Caldwell, hoping to fool Julian Fletcher and Asher. But her acting was terrible, and she wasn’t smart enough...

’Logically, someone with Victor Quinn’s intelligence shouldn’t make such a basic error. And yet, he still had her go through with it.’

And Lynn had said her father was a good person, that he was on Cecilia Caldwell’s parents’ side, that he was protecting Cecilia...

’Thinking about it now, it’s almost like Victor Quinn was a whistleblower. He deliberately used someone as inept as Erin Whittaker to get our attention... He wanted to leak a message in advance: the organization has more than one "Cecilia Caldwell."’

I instinctively glanced at Asher and gripped his hand nervously.

’Erin Whittaker was no real threat. But what if there truly is another Cecilia Caldwell?’

’Cecilia Caldwell was a test subject herself. With identical twins, the genetic similarity would be even greater.’

"I want to see her." Asher spoke, saying he wanted to meet her.

Meet that Cecilia Caldwell.

My fingers went rigid, and I slowly let go of Asher’s wrist.

Nathan Lawson smiled, gesturing for Asher to follow her. "Let’s go."

Asher glanced at me, his eyes reassuring.

I grabbed his wrist again and looked at Nathan Lawson. "I’m going too."

Nathan Lawson didn’t try to stop or refuse me, as if she had expected this all along.

Zeke Shaw and Lucas Grant exchanged a look, then frowned. "We’re going too."

Nathan Lawson glanced at Zeke Shaw. "Apologies, Officer Lowell, but my car is full."

Zeke Shaw placed his extinguished cigarette butt in Lucas Grant’s hand and said in a low voice, "My car is bigger. Sebastian Lancaster and Silvia Lynch can ride with me. We’ll follow you."

"I want to go too!" Felix Foster shouted, raising his hand like a grade-schooler.

Nathan Lawson just smiled without arguing and got into her car.

Jude Lynch started cursing, about to say more, but Master Lancaster stopped him.

Asher and I got into Zeke Shaw’s car.

Just then, Lucas Grant realized what had happened. Staring at the cigarette butt in his hand, he started fuming. "Zeke Shaw! You’re getting way out of line! I’m your superior—your direct supervisor!"

Zeke Shaw shot him a look. "Sorry, chief. I must have forgotten. Thought your hand was the ashtray."

With that, Zeke Shaw got straight into the car.

Lucas Grant looked about to explode, but Felix Foster grabbed him by the back of his collar. "Knock it off. Get serious and get in the car."

Getting dragged by his collar, Lucas Grant turned to look back at this high school pipsqueak.

So much younger than him, yet using a tone one would use to pacify a child? Lucas Grant was taking a lot of hits to his ego today.

"Felix Foster, let me ask you something..." Lucas Grant dropped his usual bravado. Before getting in the car, he asked Felix, though it sounded more like he was asking himself. "While investigating the organization’s base, I found plans for experiments on the feasibility of soul transmigration and memory transfer... Do you think souls can really be reborn?"

Felix Foster paused, looking at Lucas Grant. "Theoretically, it’s possible for a soul to continue existing in another form after it leaves the body."

Lucas Grant shuddered and pressed his palms together. "Amitabha."

Then he made the sign of the cross—up, down, left, right. "Amen..."

"Protect me, don’t let me get haunted by a Vengeful Spirit," Lucas Grant muttered under his breath. "That master who changed my name... it has to work. Protect me from getting haunted by Charlie."

Felix Foster stared at Lucas Grant like he was a complete moron, then opened the passenger door and shoved him inside. Then, he nonchalantly hopped in himself, plopping down right between me and Asher.

I froze for a second, glancing from Asher to Felix Foster.

Felix Foster, however, seemed completely oblivious.

Asher seemed distracted, his gaze fixed on the view outside the window.

I had wanted to switch with Felix so I could sit next to Asher, but with him so distracted, a wave of unease washed over me.

’Is he starting to doubt me?’

’Or does he believe what Nathan Lawson said?’

"After Cecilia Caldwell’s body was found, the medical examiner confirmed the features Julian Fletcher mentioned..." Zeke Shaw began, carefully watching Asher’s reaction in the rearview mirror, afraid of upsetting him. "A mole on her left breast, and a birthmark on her perineum."

Asher’s fists visibly clenched, and the atmosphere in the car became ice-cold.

"Even identical twins who look exactly alike won’t have the exact same minor birthmarks. You knew Cecilia Caldwell since you were kids. Did she have those marks?" Zeke Shaw asked, probing gently.

Asher remained silent.

I averted my gaze as well, staring out the window.

’Asher cherished "Cecilia Caldwell" too much. Back then, he’d never even touched her. How could he possibly know about a birthmark in such a private place?’

’This gave Nathan Lawson the perfect opening, lending credence to her claims.’

’That the Cecilia Caldwell who died wasn’t the real one at all.’

’That the real Cecilia Caldwell lost her memory in the car crash four years ago and was taken by the organization.’

"Asher, do you believe what Nathan Lawson said?" Felix Foster voiced the question I was afraid to ask.

Asher didn’t answer. He just glanced at me.

The bridge of my nose tingled with the threat of tears. I felt so insecure.

After a long pause, Asher finally spoke, his voice low and dangerous. "Why are you sitting between me and my wife?"

I looked up instinctively, my eyes already welling up.

I saw Asher give Felix Foster a light kick and reach for my hand. "I want to sit with Cece."

From the passenger seat, Lucas Grant curled his lip and mockingly imitated Asher in a singsong voice, "I want to sit with Cece..."

Felix Foster was forced to switch seats with Asher, who then sat in the middle.

"I was just thinking," Asher began in a low voice, "why would the organization suddenly trot out a ’matriarch’ figure like Nathan Lawson and try to replace Cece with a new test subject... Their goal must be to retrieve the ’Silvia Lynch’ specimen, release a new version, and then... temporarily cease operations. They’ll go dormant for a while, and when the time is right, they’ll start up again."

Lucas Grant gave Asher a thumbs-up. "My thoughts exactly."

Asher’s hand tightened around mine. "Which means... Cece is in danger."

They’ll use any means necessary to take me.

"I think... what Nathan Lawson said might be true," I said, looking out the window again. "That Cecilia Caldwell wasn’t really Cecilia Caldwell... that the one she has is the real one. Asher, the Cece you loved... maybe she never fell in love with anyone else. Maybe she’s still just... Cece."

’If this is how it ends, it would be the best possible outcome for Asher.’

"Cece..." Asher’s grip on my fingers tightened again.

I glanced at him, my heart a tangle of complicated emotions.

...

Nathan Lawson’s car pulled up to a villa in the suburbs of Meridia.

It was on a mountain, in a beautiful, secluded area.

The moment I stepped out of the car, I saw a figure standing on the second-floor balcony.

She was wearing a white dress, her long hair fluttering in the wind.

My chest seized, and my legs felt heavy as lead. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

It wasn’t a matter of resemblance. She looked exactly, completely, like Cecilia Caldwell.

She looked over in our direction, and her gaze finally settled on me.

Our eyes met, and my heart began to race.

’Cloning, plus being an identical twin...’

’Heh. What a terrifying specimen.’

Asher was clearly stunned as well. Drawn in unconsciously, he walked toward the courtyard.

Zeke Shaw let out a shocked curse, staring at Lucas Grant. "Holy shit... If I hadn’t seen Cecilia Caldwell’s corpse with my own two eyes, I’d swear that was her."

Lucas Grant frowned. "Isn’t that terrifying? If her body hadn’t been found, and they found this girl instead... even the DNA would match. No one would ever believe the real Cecilia Caldwell was dead."

’If Julian Fletcher hadn’t seen Cecilia’s body and had instead met this woman, he would have been the first to declare that she was still alive.’

The implications were truly horrifying.

’Is that why Cecilia had her body put on public display in a glass case after she died?’

’She didn’t want to die an unknown death? She didn’t want to be replaced?’

"What if Cecilia planned all this herself? Is it possible she committed suicide..." Lucas Grant whispered. "No... Could Cecilia herself really have been the mastermind behind the serial killings? What we found in that ruined building was enough to..."

"Shh!" Zeke Shaw interrupted him with a sharp frown.

Lucas Grant froze and said no more.

Felix Foster also tagged along behind, his eyes fixed on the woman on the balcony.

"She is Sebastian Lancaster’s Cece... You’re already wavering, aren’t you?" Nathan Lawson whispered from behind me. "Sebastian Lancaster’s Cece should be pure. Pure in soul and body. Not someone who fell in love with Julian Fletcher and had his child..."

"Shut up!" I admit, she had gotten to me. My emotions were spiraling out of control.

My whole body was trembling.

But I couldn’t refute her, and I felt a hot flush of shame and anger.

"A defective product is being recalled by the company. You should just disappear quietly and give the beautiful, pure Cecilia Caldwell back to Sebastian Lancaster. The organization will stand down and go dormant globally. Sebastian Lancaster and Cecilia Caldwell will live out their lives in peace. This is the chance the organization is giving you... Sacrifice yourself. Come with us. The organization will let Sebastian Lancaster go, and they will give him a pure and whole Cecilia Caldwell."

Nathan Lawson spoke again, and the terms she offered were deeply tempting.