Chapter 234: Chapter 233: Asher is Incompatible with Normal People?
Julian Fletcher was leaning against a nearby wall, looking injured.
"Julian..." Erin Whittaker called his name nervously.
I glanced up at Julian Fletcher. His burning gaze was fixed on me, as if he also wanted to know my answer.
"Just go. Julian’s hurt," Erin Whittaker said, glaring at me angrily. She seemed to think I was intentionally making the two of them fight to the death at a time like this.
I looked back at Asher and asked, bewildered, "Why wouldn’t I choose you? You’re my husband. We have the license to prove it."
Asher froze for a second, then his eyes lit up as if they were filled with shining stars.
He glanced at Julian Fletcher smugly, showing off like a dog about to wag its tail.
Julian Fletcher’s fingers clenched, and his face turned a little pale. He sneered. "You heard her. She only chose you because of the marriage license."
"We’re not getting divorced," Asher said gloatingly, pulling me into his arms. He was acting nothing like a man who had just escaped the jaws of death.
My heart felt numb. I frowned at Asher but said nothing.
Julian Fletcher seemed to notice the shift in my mood and spoke up deliberately. "Madeline Quinn was her best friend, and Felix Foster was one of your people. You’re truly cold-blooded. They just died down there, and all you can think about is this stuff. You’re a psycho."
Julian Fletcher was trying to sow discord.
Zeke Shaw’s spirits, too, were crushed.
Nearby, Claire Lawson was still crying. Everyone was drowning in sorrow—even me, it seemed.
Lucas Grant opened his mouth but said nothing more.
This time, no one stood with Asher.
And it was true, Asher showed no sign of sadness.
"What a psycho. An emotionless monster," Erin Whittaker muttered darkly.
Asher looked at Julian Fletcher, his eyes filled with anger; it was clear Julian was deliberately stoking everyone’s emotions.
Claire Lawson spoke through her tears. "Peach... is gone, too. So are Felix Foster and Miss Quinn."
With those words, the grief in the air reached its zenith.
All eyes turned to Asher, who was showing so little grief.
In that moment, I understood how ’Cecilia Caldwell’ was seen as an outcast in this world.
’It’s as if being unable to show sadness makes you a monster.’
"Let’s go..." Lucas Grant said, breaking the stalemate and trying to get everyone to leave.
Asher glanced back at me again. It seemed I was still the person whose opinion mattered most to him; he wanted to see what I thought.
’Does he deserve to be condemned and ostracized just because he isn’t grieving along with everyone else?’
He didn’t care what anyone else thought, but he cared what I thought.
I didn’t offer any words of comfort, but I squeezed his hand tightly.
"Sebastian Lancaster, do you really not care at all whether Felix Foster lives or dies?" It was Lucas Grant who suddenly broke the silence with the question.
"I only care about Cece," Asher said, as if in a pique, pulling me into his embrace.
He knew that saying this would make the others judge him.
"Hah... What a psycho," Erin Whittaker sneered, supporting Julian Fletcher as she prepared to leave.
"You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone," I whispered, reaching up to pat Asher’s head.
’There’s no need to say things out of spite.’
’When you’re faced with doubt and dissent, explaining is pointless.’
’They just wouldn’t understand.’
Asher’s grip on my hand slowly tightened. His eyes, fixed on me, were glistening with moisture, as if he’d been deeply wronged but was trying his best to hold it in. "Why should we be sad? ...They’re not going to die."
"They’re only grieving because they’re stupid," Asher muttered under his breath.
Julian Fletcher frowned and looked back at Asher.
Zeke Shaw’s gaze shot over as well, and he grabbed Asher’s wrist anxiously. "What do you mean by that?"
"Felix Foster... isn’t going to die. He has his own plans. He just wanted to verify something." Asher pulled his hand free and, under the tense stares of the others, looked at me. "Cece, let’s go. I want to go home."
He didn’t want to explain, nor could he be bothered to.
I understood. In the eyes of normal people, difficult personalities like Asher’s and mine were an anomaly.
Our very existence was an anomaly.
Asher knew that Madeline Quinn and Felix Foster probably weren’t dead, but he couldn’t explain why. They weren’t on the same cognitive wavelength, and even if he did explain... it was unlikely any of them would believe him.
They would only truly understand once we escaped this place and they saw the others were still alive.
"Madeline Quinn isn’t going to die?" Zeke Shaw asked Asher nervously. "Asher, you need to be clearer."
"If she’s innocent, she won’t die," Asher said, looking at Zeke Shaw. "Are you completely confident that she’s innocent?"
Zeke Shaw’s brow furrowed. "She has to be innocent."
"The people brought here fall into a few categories. First, the culprits from the orphanage incident. They’re all villains, and none of them will escape. The second category is the police—you, Lucas Grant, Madeline Quinn. You’re all witnesses. As long as you aren’t foolish enough to walk right into the line of fire, the person behind this... probably won’t touch you."
I glanced up at the camera and continued Asher’s explanation. "There’s also a third type: the masterminds behind this whole affair, or people who can influence the grand scheme of things."
My gaze fell on Erin Whittaker. "Take her, for example. The reason she’s still alive isn’t because she’s lucky or hard to kill. It’s because she works for Victor Quinn. The key to this whole horror game isn’t murder. It’s provocation. Provoking the person backing Erin Whittaker. Provoking the financial power behind the kidnapping, human trafficking, genetic modification, and possibly even more criminal enterprises."
"At the same time, it’s a mockery. The creator is revealing the truth piece by piece to ridicule the inaction of so-called ’special case experts’ like Lucas Grant." I frowned and looked at Lucas Grant.
Lucas Grant opened his mouth as if to argue, but he must have felt he had no ground to stand on, because he just lowered his head again. "No one thought to connect human trafficking and genetic crimes..."
"Idiot," Asher added, twisting the knife.
Lucas Grant gritted his teeth. He wanted to curse Asher out but was afraid of getting hit, so he swallowed his anger.
"So... Asher isn’t sad because he trusts that Felix Foster and Madeline Quinn are innocent. He believes they’ll both survive in the end. They’ve just left the game early, which means they’re safe before the rest of us," I explained, squeezing Asher’s hand.
To be honest, before Asher pointed this out, I had also been fooled by the mastermind’s Blinding Technique.
Now that he’d said it, I felt like I was seeing things clearly for the first time.
"Then what about Peach?" Julian Fletcher asked. "Wasn’t she innocent? We saw her with our own eyes—impaled by a chainsaw and disappearing into the machinery."
I froze, unable to answer.
Peach... Her death had indeed been outside my calculations.
"Peach was innocent," Claire Lawson sobbed. "She was a good person. She’s been protecting me all these years."
"In this building, everything we see is what the game’s creator wants us to see," Asher said grimly. He took my hand and started walking forward. As we passed Julian Fletcher, he said in a low, commanding voice, "Move."
Julian Fletcher glanced at the wide-open path. He wasn’t blocking the way at all; Asher was clearly just picking a fight. "Sebastian Lancaster!"
"Let’s just go," I said, tugging helplessly at Asher’s arm. "Why do you always have to pick on him?"
"I just don’t like the look of him," Asher said, his cheeks puffed out in a sulk.
Exasperated, I had only taken a few steps when I heard Julian Fletcher hiss. He was leaning against the wall. "Cece, I’m hurt."
’So he’s started putting on an act, too.’
"He’s been shot!" Lucas Grant exclaimed in shock after looking at the wound. "Why didn’t you say so sooner!"