Chapter 261 - 260: Asher Abandoned Me for ’Cecilia Caldwell

Chapter 261: Chapter 260: Asher Abandoned Me for ’Cecilia Caldwell

I ignored Nathan Lawson, looking up at ’Cecilia Caldwell’ who stood on the balcony.

She was like an empty shell, her eyes lifeless and hollow.

But her gaze remained fixed on Asher.

’Asher is standing down there. His eyes are probably just drawn to the face of the woman he loves, an unconscious attraction...’

"Asher..." After a long moment, she suddenly spoke, calling his name.

I clearly saw Asher’s body stiffen, his fingers slowly clenching into fists.

Nathan Lawson seemed quite confident. This was, after all, a perfect one-to-one clone of Cecilia Caldwell—genetically identical.

’It’s inevitable that Asher would be drawn to her.’

"Charlie..." ’Cecilia Caldwell’s’ gaze shifted to Felix Foster. With that same hollow, numb expression, she called out Charlie’s name.

Felix Foster frowned. He stood his ground, his burning gaze fixed on her.

Lucas Grant, on the other hand, was so scared the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He nervously ducked behind Felix Foster. "Who’s she calling? Where is she even looking? She’s giving me the creeps. Which way is she facing to call for Charlie? How can it be so cold in the middle of the day?"

Lucas Grant was truly afraid of Charlie, and it was painfully obvious.

I wondered what guilty thing he’d done to Charlie; his fear was just so obvious.

"She’s calling me," Felix Foster said coolly.

Lucas Grant stared at Felix Foster, scrutinizing him for a moment before letting out what looked like a sigh of relief. "You scared the hell out of me. But now that you mention it, you do look a little bit like that psycho Charlie."

Felix Foster frowned but said nothing.

"The two psychos from our class, a pair of idiots... All they knew how to do was prank me... They were so clueless they didn’t even realize they were being led to their deaths." Lucas Grant cursed, still visibly angry. "If there really are ghosts, then they should know that every injustice has a source. They should go after the people responsible..."

"Aren’t all those people already dead?" Felix Foster said meaningfully, clearly intending to scare Lucas Grant.

But Lucas Grant’s body stiffened, and he snapped his head up to stare at Felix Foster.

’He’s right... The people who hurt Charlie, who got him killed, they’re all dead... That serial killer case, every single victim was one of the people who’d hurt Charlie...’

’Yes, they were all dead. The only ones left were Erin Whittaker, who had hurt Cecilia Caldwell, and Tim Zane, who was barely clinging to life.’

’A death game in that ruined building had eliminated all of them.’

"She and Cecilia Caldwell are practically identical," Felix Foster said, looking at Asher. "But Cecilia’s body was put in that glass display case for a reason. It was to tell everyone that she was dead, that no matter who showed up later, it wouldn’t be her. She was unique... irreplaceable."

Felix was guessing that Cecilia had chosen to have her body displayed in that glass case for all to see, precisely to prove that she was truly dead.

’From Felix’s perspective, did this mean Cecilia knew all along that the organization might try to replace her?’

A sharp pain throbbed in my head. There were gaps in my memory, especially concerning how I was killed—I had no recollection of it at all.

But memory fragments would surface from time to time, and I couldn’t piece them together into a coherent whole.

I was even starting to doubt myself. ’Am I really Cecilia Caldwell... or not?’

"In a way, she is Cecilia Caldwell, but at the same time, she isn’t," Asher said, looking up at the woman on the balcony. "Her genes, her appearance, even her memories... they might all be Cecilia’s, but she’s just a test subject..."

The ’Cecilia’ on the balcony suddenly chuckled. "Everyone’s a test subject. How can you be so sure that the Cecilia Caldwell who died was the ’real’ one?"

As she spoke, her gaze transformed from hollow to ice-cold.

It was clear that she felt no emotion.

She was like the person I used to be in my memories, numb to everything.

The look she gave Asher held no tenderness, no fondness, not a trace of emotion to be found...

’Leaving a ’Cecilia’ like this for Asher offers him nothing, aside from a physically pristine body.’

"She is your Cecilia. She was swapped out after the car accident. If you insist on investigating further, consider this the organization’s final warning—a courtesy, since you’re Marcus Lancaster’s son," Nathan Lawson said, stepping up to Asher. "I can tell you with absolute certainty: she is Cecilia Caldwell."

Asher frowned, looking at Nathan Lawson.

"The one who died wasn’t the real Cecilia, nor was she the one you grew up with. The supposed amnesia and memory confusion are side effects—a phenomenon of chaotic memory transference and shared consciousness that occurs between clones when one of them dies. It’s an area our experimental data can’t yet fully explain or control," Nathan Lawson said, glancing back at me.

He spoke again. "So, Sebastian Lancaster. Between Cecilia Caldwell and the Silvia Lynch behind you, you can only take one. You understand the horrors of the organization... This isn’t a negotiation. You don’t have the power to fight the organization right now."

Nathan Lawson was forcing Asher to choose between taking the Cecilia Caldwell on the balcony and taking me.

I looked at Asher, and he turned to look back at me.

Neither of us said a word.

After a moment, Asher pointed at the woman on the balcony. "I’m taking Cece."

He was pointing at the woman on the balcony, but his gaze was fixed on me.

My eyes welled with tears, but I stood my ground and didn’t make a sound.

Nathan Lawson glanced at me, full of confidence, as if this was the outcome he’d expected all along. "As your biological mother, I have the right to take you for a psychiatric evaluation."

I stared at Nathan Lawson for a long moment before letting out a sharp, humorless laugh. "Hah..."

Lucas Grant and Zeke Shaw exchanged a look, completely unable to follow what was happening. "What’s the deal? Silvia, what are you agreeing to?"

I didn’t say anything, offering no explanation.

’Nathan Lawson said that if I sacrificed myself, the organization would let Asher go...’

’Selfishly, all I want is for Asher to live the rest of his life in peace.’

’He wasn’t wrong for choosing the woman on the balcony.’

’The organization needs to retrieve its failed test subjects, and I’m the most valuable of them all. That’s why... they have to take me.’

’And going with Nathan Lawson is the fastest way to get access to the organization’s top leadership.’

"A one-for-one trade... He chose Cecilia Caldwell," I said quietly, my voice choking with a sob I couldn’t suppress.

Felix Foster stared at Asher for a long moment. "Are you sure about this?"

Asher shook Felix Foster’s arm off. "She is Cecilia Caldwell..."

Felix Foster pointed at me. "Then what about her?"

"Just Silvia Lynch, who happens to possess some of Cecilia’s memories," Asher said, his voice hoarse. He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

I averted my gaze and let out a sarcastic laugh. "So, all you ever wanted was the cold, emotionless Cecilia Caldwell..."

Asher lowered his head. "I’m sorry..."

"You don’t need to apologize to me." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Even if you hadn’t made a choice, I would have. I just want you to be okay."

’I just want you to be okay...’ That was once Asher’s greatest wish for Cecilia.

Now, my wish for him was the same.

I just want him to live well, to live in peace and safety.

The Cecilia from the balcony came down. She gave me a cold glance, as if she could smell the shared genes between us, and sneered in contempt. "Just a defective product..."

As she walked past me, she whispered in a voice only we could hear that I was a defective product.

"The moment you develop feelings, you gain a weakness, a flaw. The organization runs these experiments on us time and time again. You have to deceive yourself before you can deceive anyone else. So, Silvia... have you actually developed feelings, or is this all just an act?" she murmured, leaning in close to my ear.

I didn’t answer, just stared at her.

She gave a cold laugh, then walked up to Asher. "Was it a hard choice?"

Asher took her hand. "I’m sorry... I should have found you sooner."

"It makes no difference to me," ’Cecilia’ said with indifference. "As long as I can be hidden away, it doesn’t really matter if it’s you or someone else."

Asher’s hand flinched, but then he led her away.

Felix Foster frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut.

Zeke Shaw, clearly confused, looked back at me. "Silvia, come back with me for now."

I took a step forward, but Nathan Lawson raised a hand to stop me.

He looked at me and smiled, quickly lowering his hand. "I’ll be right here, waiting to hear from you."

He was confident I would be back for him soon.

Because now that Asher had taken ’Cecilia,’ he would surely no longer keep me by his side.