Chapter 235: Chapter 234: Julian Fletcher Has Genuine Feelings for Cecilia Caldwell
"I didn’t feel it before, but I can really feel the pain now." Julian Fletcher leaned against the wall.
Erin Whittaker’s eyes turned red as she said angrily, "That’s a lie... You were clearly hit by a stray bullet protecting her!"
Erin Whittaker glared at me viciously, as if to say I was a curse.
I looked at Julian Fletcher, and he looked up at me. His eyes were red, and the pain made him lean against the wall, taking deep, constant breaths.
"We need to stop the bleeding, then get out of here as fast as possible." I started to go check on Julian’s wound, but Asher grabbed the corner of my shirt.
He gave me a pitiful look, not wanting me to get involved with Julian.
’And I actually... didn’t want to get involved anymore.’
"It hurts..." Julian cried out in pain as Erin tried to touch his wound.
"Madeline Quinn isn’t here, and no one else studied medicine. You’ll have to bear with it," Lucas Grant said, patting Julian’s arm.
"Cece... you minored in it. Help me stop the bleeding." Julian was insistent that I be the one to help him.
I walked over and took a close look at his wound.
"It’s a graze from a stray bullet. I thought you were a goner." Asher was still tugging on my clothes, and I had practically dragged him over. He rolled his eyes in disgust.
Julian was simmering with anger. I had a feeling the two of them would come to blows sooner or later.
"It’s on his arm. The wound isn’t deep enough to hit the fascia. He won’t die." I started tearing a strip from Erin Whittaker’s clothes to bandage Julian.
Erin looked at me, shocked. "What are you doing?"
"Don’t you love him? You should be happy to use your clothes for his bandage," I said flatly, deliberately tying it extra tight.
Julian almost collapsed from the pain. He looked at me with red-rimmed eyes, a hurt expression on his face.
Erin turned away angrily and walked off by herself.
Worried she might get into trouble, Zeke Shaw and Lucas Grant followed her.
Claire Lawson glanced around, then hurried after them as well.
"Cece... I only kept her around because I want to know the truth..." Julian grabbed my hand, trying to explain. "Can you forgive me just this once..."
"No!" Asher smacked Julian’s hand away. "You’re shameless."
I had a feeling that if Asher had their marriage certificate on him right then, he would’ve thrown it in Julian’s face.
"Sebastian Lancaster! Don’t push it." Julian looked ready to fight Asher.
I quickly threw my arms around Asher. "Let’s go. Is this really the place for a fight?"
"Cece, you’re biased. You’re holding me back." Asher’s acting was on point; his eyes even turned red.
"I’m holding you back because I’m afraid you’ll kill him..." I sighed, pulling Asher away.
I don’t know what was wrong with Julian, but he just stood there, refusing to move.
He looked as if he wouldn’t budge unless I went back and dragged him along.
"Are you coming or not?" I asked, looking back at him.
"Cece... you still love me, don’t you?" Julian asked in a low voice.
"No." I shut him down immediately.
"I don’t believe you." He simply wouldn’t believe it.
"Believe what you want." I pulled Asher along. "If you’re not coming, you can live here."
That line was a surefire way to cure any stubbornness. Julian quickly caught up.
Asher gave him a provocative look, as if mocking him for not knowing his own limits.
"Cece, do you love him then?" Julian asked deliberately.
I paused. ’Love... what did that feel like again?’
’Right now, all I knew was despair and pain.’
’I’d grown numb to the feeling of love.’
’I only knew that I had to protect Asher. I only knew... I was starting to rely on him.’
’I found myself unconsciously wanting to be near him, not wanting him to leave my sight.’
"She loves me!" Asher answered for me.
Julian sneered, raising a confident eyebrow. "We’re six of one, half a dozen of the other. Let’s compete fairly."
"Are you nuts? We have a certificate." The way Asher looked at Julian was like he was looking at an idiot.
Julian took a deep breath and said in a hushed voice, "You can get a divorce."
"I won’t!"
The two of them were butting heads.
’They were both being so childish.’
I pulled my wrist out of Asher’s grasp and walked quickly over to Zeke and the others.
Julian and Asher were still arguing behind me. ’It’s good that they’re bickering... it makes the oppressive atmosphere feel a little less tense.’
"Is this the thirteenth floor?"
Zeke looked at the solid wall in front of us and patted it. "They’re not letting us in?"
The solid wall had "Thirteenth Floor" written on it.
But there was no way in.
"Where’s Tim Zane? He ran off earlier, where’d he go?" Claire Lawson asked curiously.
Lucas Grant examined the wall closely. "It’s definitely a solid wall. No seams, no way it can move. It’s completely sealed."
I patted the wall and looked back at the stairs leading down the emergency exit. "Can’t we just go down normally?"
’The thirteenth floor is sealed off, so we go straight to the twelfth?’
’Is the game over?’
"She’s my wife."
"You can get a divorce."
"I won’t."
Behind me, Asher and Julian were still arguing about the divorce...
I sighed, my patience wearing thin. "Get over here!"
Asher scampered over. "Honey..."
"Take a look at this situation." ’I feel like my IQ is lower than Asher’s right now. My memory hasn’t fully returned, and my head is still in a fog.’
Asher was very happy, after all, that I needed him.
"The thirteenth floor is sealed. There must be something in there they don’t want us to see. Let’s just go down to the twelfth. Our goal is to get out of here, not to see what’s on every floor." Asher took my hand and led me downstairs.
The emergency stairwell led straight to the twelfth floor.
But everyone seemed curious about what was on the thirteenth floor and why it was sealed off.
’As expected, human curiosity is a major factor in courting death.’
"What’s on the thirteenth floor that it needs to be sealed?" Lucas Grant asked curiously.
"The thirteenth floor has a secret passage directly to the first floor. How do you think the mastermind got up here? It’s the control room for the entire building, the source for the fourteenth floor’s holographic projectors and AI, and it’s also the landing spot for the people who fell through the floor," Asher said in a low voice.
A building this tall would certainly need a control room, especially with the fourteenth floor’s AI and advanced holographic technology. The required equipment would take up an entire floor.
Zeke Shaw seemed to have caught the main point. He looked at Asher, pleasantly surprised. "So you’re saying Madeline Quinn and Felix Foster might not actually be dead? They just fell, and this was all just to make us despair?"
"I can’t be sure. I can only say that the innocent won’t die," Asher replied, shaking his head.
At that time, everyone was under the influence of a drug. If everyone had crossed the red line and fallen, the ones who deserved to die would have been killed by the people waiting below, while those who didn’t would have been released beforehand.
If Felix Foster and Madeline Quinn were innocent, they wouldn’t have to worry about their lives being in danger.
But as things stood, Asher didn’t trust anyone anymore...
"So, our mission now is to get out of here alive as quickly as possible," Lucas Grant nodded. "Once we’re out, we can have the police surround this place and investigate. They’ll definitely find some clues."
"Hahaha..." Suddenly, all the lights on the twelfth floor turned on, and that eerie voice spoke again. "How naive."
"Welcome to the twelfth floor. You must all be tired and hungry. The food on the table has been prepared just for you."
Now that he mentioned it, I realized I was thirsty and hungry. When you’re in survival mode, your adrenaline skyrockets.
But with that eerie voice’s reminder, I was suddenly starving.
"Some of the food contains a deadly poison. Eat it, and you’ll die. So, who’s going to be the first to test the food?" the eerie voice asked with a laugh.
I looked over at Tim Zane, who was lying motionless on the floor. He must have run in and started eating right away, and now he was dead from poisoning.
The food he ate must have been the poisoned ones.
’Based on probability, the remaining...’
"Cece, eat." Before I could even start calculating the odds, Asher had already walked over, picked up a piece of bread, took a bite, and then handed it to me once he was sure it wasn’t poisoned.
"..." Everyone was stunned. Lucas Grant gave Asher a thumbs-up. "Bro... my man, could you test this one for me?"
Asher gave Lucas a cool glance. "You’re not worthy."
Everyone else hesitated, standing frozen as they stared at the table of food, not daring to take a bite.
"Miss Whittaker, don’t you love Julian Fletcher? Won’t you test the food for him?" The eerie voice laughed, actually calling out Erin by name.
Erin looked flustered, glancing nervously at Julian.
Julian was so hungry he could barely stand. Coupled with his blood loss, he slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
"It seems Miss Whittaker doesn’t love Mr. Fletcher after all," the person behind the voice laughed out loud.
"Mr. Fletcher, are you willing to test for poison for the one you love?" the voice asked Julian.
Julian glanced at me, then reached out, picked up a waffle from the table, and took a bite.
Confirming it wasn’t poisoned, he offered it to me.
"You can have it," I said through clenched teeth.
"Mr. Shaw, what if I told you... that if you eat something at random, I’ll grant you one wish? Would you eat?" the voice came again, this time asking Zeke.
Zeke Shaw frowned and picked up an apple from the table. "Bring Madeline Quinn back."
"Of course. As long as you eat it."
’They’re gambling their lives to prove their love.’
The amount of safe food was dwindling, which meant the probability of picking a poisoned item was getting higher.