Chapter 182 - 181: Lucas Grant Says Cecilia Caldwell Is the Murderer

Chapter 182: Chapter 181: Lucas Grant Says Cecilia Caldwell Is the Murderer

"Cece..."

When Asher woke up, his face was terrifyingly pale.

"Cece!" Asher sat up in a panic, reaching to rip the IV needle from his hand.

"Sebastian Lancaster, are you crazy?" Lucas Grant stepped forward to stop him, his voice filled with anger. "You better stay put!"

Lucas Grant’s fingers were wrapped in gauze. It was obvious he had been bitten hard in the car.

"Get lost!" Asher shoved Lucas Grant away, yanked the IV needle out of his arm, and tried to charge out of the room, heedless of the consequences.

"Sebastian Lancaster, there’s a limit to this madness!" Lucas Grant shoved Asher hard.

Asher glared at Lucas Grant. "You promised... you promised you’d protect her for me! That was the only reason I agreed to your plan!"

Asher’s voice trembled. He grabbed Lucas Grant by the collar and, with a bloody hand, punched him in the face.

And now? Cece and his child were gone...

Lucas Grant fell to the floor. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he sounded guilty. "This... this is on me. You suddenly broke out of the mental hospital, and it caught me off guard. I didn’t have time to prepare. I never expected that a few words from Master Lancaster would be enough to make Brandon Lancaster go after you and Silvia Lynch like a madman..."

"You deserve to die too..." Asher had lost control. He grabbed Lucas Grant’s collar and punched him again.

Lucas Grant sounded aggrieved as well. "You were the one who wanted to prove your innocence! You used to risk your life for Cecilia Caldwell, and now you’re doing it for some impostor. This was your choice..."

"Stop hitting me... I was wrong, alright?! I owe you for this..."

"Not the face!"

I stood at the doorway, my fingers numb.

’So it was Lucas Grant who sent Asher to the mental hospital?’

’Asher, just how much has he done for me?’

"Asher..." I called his name softly, my voice hoarse.

Asher’s body stiffened. He looked up at me, lost and confused, before nervously lowering his head in fear.

He clearly wanted to rush over and hold me, but he was afraid I would blame him, so he kept his head down and didn’t dare to speak.

I walked over, ignoring Lucas Grant’s swollen face, and said through a sob, "Asher... hold me."

Asher’s eyes instantly turned red. He stood up, looked at me with my arms outstretched, and suddenly pulled me into a fierce embrace.

Lucas Grant tried to explain, but Zeke Shaw and Madeline Quinn each gave him a kick and dragged him out by the collar.

The door to the hospital room closed, leaving the two of us in the sealed, quiet space, listening to each other’s heartbeats.

"Cece... I’m sorry. It’s all my fault." Asher was blaming himself, his arms tightening around me. He hated himself.

He hated that he hadn’t protected me.

Accidents happen. You can never truly account for everything. Life is like that; the unexpected is always a possibility.

But we can’t let an accident keep us from moving forward.

"Asher, we have to survive..." I whispered, patting his back. "The baby... was just Master Lancaster’s first warning to us."

Experience really does count. For Master Lancaster to have come this far, to be willing to use one of his own worthless sons as a pawn despite the saying that even a tiger won’t eat its cubs, was a testament to his cunning and ruthlessness.

"Even if Master Lancaster has successfully taken over the Grant Group, as long as you’re okay, we still have a firm grip on our shares of the Lancaster Group..." I took a deep breath and looked up at Asher. "We need to find a backer."

I looked at Asher very seriously.

At a time like this, without an absolute backer and partner, we would be far too passive against Master Lancaster. "Owen Foster told me that the CEO of the Astraeus Group is someone Master Lancaster is trying to curry favor with. We hold shares in the Lancaster Group, and we’re easier to control than Master Lancaster. A man like him, with so many dark dealings behind him, is bound to have a fall sooner or later. If the CEO of the Astraeus Group is a smart man, he’ll know which side to choose."

I was confident that if I could just meet the CEO of the Astraeus Group, I could persuade him to work with us.

Instead of taking a risk by partnering with Master Lancaster.

Asher paused, then looked up at Owen Foster, who had appeared at the door at some point. "Cece, let Owen go."

I was taken aback, worried that Owen Foster couldn’t handle it alone.

"Trust Owen. He’s a professional," Asher whispered, his arms around me tightening. "Let him handle it..."

I glanced at Owen Foster. He nodded at me, a trace of guilt in his eyes.

’He must feel guilty for not protecting me on Asher’s behalf.’

"Sir, Madam, rest assured. I will handle the charity banquet," Owen Foster said in a low voice.

He stood outside the door and didn’t come in, but I could see he had injuries on his face and arms.

Ever since Asher went to the mental hospital, Owen Foster seemed exceptionally busy. I didn’t know what he was busy with, but I couldn’t shake the feeling... that he and Asher were hiding too many things from me.

’Was it like Brandon Lancaster said? That the Lancaster Family’s current situation was all part of Asher’s scheme?’

’Was it true?’

"In the short term, this is our only chance." I looked at Owen Foster again. I needed to be certain he could do it.

Owen Foster nodded. "Understood."

Seeing his confidence, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay..."

"You should be in bed resting, not wandering around! And another thing, why did you pull out your IV needle?" a young nurse said as she came in, furious at the sight of the dried blood on Asher’s hand.

"You’re a grown man, don’t you know to call a nurse to remove the needle?" the young nurse berated Asher.

Asher just held me tightly, refusing to let go.

"Be good... let them put the IV back in," I coaxed softly.

"No..." Asher’s voice was choked and stubborn. He was blaming himself.

"How about I stay with you?" I coaxed Asher to lie back down and sat beside him.

Once the young nurse was done and had left, Asher pulled me into his arms.

He didn’t say a word, just held me.

I didn’t speak either, letting him hold me.

I could feel a cool dampness on my forehead. He was probably crying.

"Asher..." I whispered his name, looking up to see that he had drifted off into a heavy sleep.

His moments of lucidity were brief, and he quickly fell back into a deep sleep.

The doctor said he had a large amount of psychiatric medication in his system, and it would affect his senses...

"Let him get some good rest. The more he sleeps, the better he’ll be when he wakes up," Lucas Grant said quietly, standing by the bed.

"Why did Asher go to a mental hospital?" I frowned, looking at Lucas Grant warily.

"Because of Cecilia Caldwell..." Lucas Grant hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I found some things out... Cecilia Caldwell might not be the perfect victim. I suspect she’s a murderer."

I frowned, staring at Lucas Grant as if he were insane. "Are you sick in the head?"

"Sebastian Lancaster said Cecilia Caldwell isn’t a murderer. He said the truth is hidden in the mental hospital, and that he would help me find it and show me who the real killer is." Lucas Grant glanced at the still unconscious Sebastian Lancaster. "For Cecilia Caldwell, he really... doesn’t care about anything else."

"What evidence do you have to suspect Cecilia Caldwell is a murderer?" I asked, watching Lucas Grant warily.

"I found some things out." Lucas Grant looked at me and frowned. "Do you really not care at all that Sebastian Lancaster is using you as a substitute?"

"Stick to the point!" I cut him off.

Lucas Grant shrugged. "Fine. Do you know about the case of the missing teenagers at the market all those years ago? The daughter of the murderer who jumped off that building also disappeared around that time."

"What does that have to do with Cecilia Caldwell?" I suddenly felt a surge of anxiety, and my fingers clenched unconsciously.