Chapter 262 - 261: Entering the Game in Person Is Not Necessarily a Dead End

Chapter 262: Chapter 261: Entering the Game in Person Is Not Necessarily a Dead End

On the way back, Asher and ’Cecilia Caldwell’ sat in the back. I wanted to get in the car, but there was no room for me.

’Cecilia Caldwell’ was very aloof, her presence heavy and oppressive. She glanced at Felix Foster and gave a natural lift of her chin.

She was gesturing for Felix Foster to close the car door for her.

Felix Foster almost instinctively closed the door, then paused, taken aback.

I said nothing, just stood where I was.

"My driver will take you back," Nathan Lawson said, walking out.

Felix Foster looked at me. "I’ll go with you."

Lucas Grant got into the passenger seat, and Zeke Shaw drove away.

I watched Asher, but he never looked back at me.

’He and ’Cecilia Caldwell’ look so good together.’

’But who is the real Cecilia Caldwell?’

"What do you make of that Cecilia Caldwell?" Felix Foster asked once we were in Nathan Lawson’s car.

"Right now... I can’t tell who the real Cecilia Caldwell is." I shook my head, glancing at the driver in the rearview mirror.

Felix Foster didn’t press the matter. After all, this was someone else’s car; it wasn’t safe to talk.

"But Asher seems convinced she’s Cecilia Caldwell," I said in a low voice, my fingers drumming lightly on my leg. "Nathan Lawson knows Asher well. It’s like she knows that whenever Cecilia is involved, Asher will lose control and choose her unconditionally, no questions asked."

Felix Foster watched my fingers, not saying a word.

Nathan Lawson’s driver dropped Felix Foster and me off at the entrance to Asher’s villa. Zeke Shaw had already arrived with the others.

Asher got out of the car. ’Cecilia Caldwell’ naturally held out a hand, wanting Asher to help her.

Asher raised his hand, took her by the wrist, and helped her out of the car.

In the yard, Stella was barking frantically, clearly agitated, but the moment she saw ’Cecilia Caldwell’, she fell silent.

She seemed a bit stunned, sitting on the ground and staring intently at ’Cecilia Caldwell’ before looking over at me as I got out of the car.

"My Shaun?" ’Cecilia Caldwell’ asked Asher.

Asher didn’t answer.

"An offspring, or a clone?" ’Cecilia Caldwell’ asked again.

"A clone," Asher replied.

’Cecilia Caldwell’ wasn’t surprised. It seemed she knew all along that Asher would do something like this.

But I was stunned for a long time.

’Stella... is actually a clone?’

"Are you sure you want her to live here with me?" ’Cecilia Caldwell’ challenged Asher, forcing him to make a decision.

Asher looked at me, his gaze deep. "I’m sorry. I have another house in Westeria. You can stay there for now. Give me some time, and we’ll deal with our marriage."

He wanted to divorce me.

I stood frozen, clenching my fists.

"No need... We can get a divorce right now," I said, my voice hoarse.

"I don’t have time today." Asher looked back at ’Cecilia Caldwell’.

I gave a sarcastic laugh. "Fine. I’ll wait."

I turned away, refusing to let my tears fall.

In Nathan Lawson’s car, the driver had been watching everything.

I pushed past Felix Foster and got into the driver’s car. "Excuse me, could you take me to The Wavecrest Hotel?"

The driver nodded and drove away.

Sitting in the car, I watched Asher shrink away in the rearview mirror... and the tears flowed uncontrollably.

"We’re here, miss."

The driver said, having brought me to The Wavecrest Hotel.

I snapped back to reality, wiped my tears, and quickly got out of the car.

The driver glanced at me once more and drove off.

I watched the car go, then turned and walked into the hotel, wiping away tears as I went. Because my eyes were red and my expression was mournful, the young woman at the front desk gingerly checked me into a room.

I clutched the room key and got into the elevator, tilting my head back to stop more tears from spilling out.

’Asher... and Cecilia Caldwell look so good together.’

Once in the room, I sat numbly on the sofa. I had the front desk send up a bottle of red wine and chugged the entire thing, letting the numbness take over my senses.

I started to lose it. I flew into a drunken rage and called Asher. "Is it just because... she’s more like Cecilia Caldwell than I am?"

I sobbed, demanding an answer.

He answered the call but remained silent the whole time.

I cried and asked him why he believed that woman, but he still said nothing.

’In the face of reality, reincarnation is just a guess. With a complete, real Cecilia Caldwell right there, who would care about a hypothetical case like me?’

I hung up, still crying, and smashed the wine glass and bottle in a frenzy. I stepped on the broken glass, smearing blood across the floor.

I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower to wash myself off.

My senses were infinitely heightened. I started to spiral, feeling like there were cameras everywhere.

I began smashing things in the hotel room. I shattered the mirror, wrecked everything in sight, and stared at the hidden camera behind the glass with a cold smile...

’The organization... they really are everywhere.’

I slept at the hotel for a full day and night. The next day, I used Asher’s card to pay for the damages and then left.

Asher was waiting for me at the entrance to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

He wanted to divorce me.

"Are you sure?" I asked, exhausted. "Sure that she’s Cecilia Caldwell?"

"I’m sorry... She is Cecilia Caldwell." Asher looked at me, his voice firm.

"You told me with that same conviction that I was Cecilia Caldwell," I said, looking him in the eye.

He avoided my gaze. "I’m sorry... I was lying to myself."

I let out a cold laugh. Asher and I signed the divorce agreement, only to be told there was a one-month cooling-off period. We could come back in a month to finalize it.

"Can’t we just skip the month?" I asked.

The staff member shook their head. "No, that’s the regulation."

I said nothing more, signed the papers, and turned to leave.

When I left the Civil Affairs Bureau, it was raining outside, the sky a gloomy gray.

Walking down the street, I suddenly felt I had no reason to live anymore...

’Rather than live every day in a world where I’m constantly being watched like Truman, it would be a relief to just die.’

I walked to the edge of the lake and, with almost no hesitation, jumped right in.

SPLASH! The moment I hit the water, the icy cold enveloped me.

I couldn’t breathe. My survival instinct made me struggle, but my conscious mind told me to sink.

SPLASH. The sound of someone else hitting the water.

I looked toward the shimmering surface. It was Asher, reaching for me, pulling me into his arms, and kissing me... giving me air underwater.

’I think he did it on purpose.’ I deliberately kept my mouth shut.

The look in his eyes was one of helplessness.

COUGH, COUGH, COUGH... Finally, he pulled me out of the water. I gasped for air, my ears ringing.

"You’re overacting..." Asher seemed a little angry, glaring at me where no one else could see.

Lying on the lawn, I started to laugh.

’To fool everyone else, you first have to fool yourself.’

Asher had once told me, ’You have to firmly believe you are Cecilia Caldwell. Whoever you believe you are, that’s who you are. Don’t let anyone interfere...’

’The people from the organization... they really underestimated Asher and me.’

"Stay alive," Asher said to me before he left, two simple words.

’Stay alive.’

"Sebastian Lancaster!" I shouted his name, lying limply on the grass, awaiting a new beginning.

He stopped, his back to me.

"Stay alive..." I choked out.

’We both have to stay alive.’

’And then, we’ll let those people know that we are human! We are living, breathing people with rights, with flesh and blood, with emotions and weaknesses, but also with unshakeable convictions.’

I lay on the lawn for a long time. The rain hitting my face only made my thoughts clearer.

’When did Asher and I... reach a point where we could understand each other without having to speak?’

’That life-or-death escape from the ruined building seems to have made me open my heart to him completely.’

’I don’t know if this is good or bad for me, but at least for now, I’m willing to trust him. Completely and unconditionally.’

...

「Nathan Lawson’s Residence.」

It was dark by the time I reached Nathan Lawson’s villa in the mountains.

She seemed to have been expecting me.

"I can go with you... but I need to know the truth," I said to Nathan Lawson, looking utterly disheveled.

"Not going to wait until you get the divorce certificate in a month?" Nathan Lawson asked with a smile.

I sneered. "As long as I don’t get divorced, the position of Sebastian Lancaster’s wife... can only be mine."

Nathan Lawson nodded and said with a smile, "The truth... where would you like to begin?"

"With the cause of my parents’ and Marcus Lancaster’s deaths."