Chapter 309 - 308: Asher Says He Is the President of Astraeus Group

Chapter 309: Chapter 308: Asher Says He Is the President of Astraeus Group

"Cece?"

"Cece..."

In a daze, I heard that familiar, hoarse voice calling my name.

Asher...

My vision slowly focused, and I could clearly see the person beside me. It was Asher. He was always like bright moonlight, illuminating me when the darkness threatened to drag me into the abyss. He felt like my antidote, giving me the drive and hope to keep living.

"Asher..." I murmured. I shook my head, only taking in our current situation after I was completely awake.

I had been tossed over to Asher’s side. He and the other "suspects" with hand injuries—the ones who could potentially be the CEO of Astraeus Group—were all locked together in an operating room within the medical bay. I counted them. Including Asher, there were thirteen men in total. That meant those lunatics had narrowed down the list of over three hundred suspects to the thirteen most likely candidates. In other words, they were highly confident that the CEO of Astraeus was among this group.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Asher looked at me nervously, checking my head.

Getting knocked out from a blow to the head certainly hurt, but it didn’t seem too serious. "I’m fine."

Afraid he would worry, I reached up and hugged him, nestling into his embrace. "Let me lean on you for a bit."

Asher obediently leaned back against the wall, sitting on the floor so I could lie in his arms.

"Asher... you’re the CEO of Astraeus Group, aren’t you?" I asked in a low voice, fraught with worry. If his hand healed and The Resistance discovered his identity, he would be caught in a terrible dilemma. The Genetics Organization wouldn’t fully trust him, and neither would The Resistance. When that happened, Asher’s entire plan would be ruined.

As usual, Asher didn’t give a direct answer. He just rubbed my head. "Don’t be afraid."

"Owen Foster... is a member of The Resistance. You already knew that, didn’t you?" I asked again. Asher was so smart; how could he not have known about Owen?

Asher looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately just made a hushing gesture. Sometimes, walls had ears, and no one could be fully trusted. We could only firmly place our trust in each other.

"I found the murderer... the one who killed Cecilia Caldwell," I said hoarsely, looking into his eyes.

Asher’s body noticeably stiffened. His breathing hitched as he stared back at me. "Who is it?"

"The creator of this cruise ship game, who is also the mastermind behind the serial murders. It’s the leader of The Resistance—the one wearing a human skin mask, with a voice so hoarse it sounds like vocal cord damage... She’s not a man; she’s a woman. I didn’t see her face, but I spotted a birthmark on her arm," I whispered.

I watched the shift in Asher’s eyes. It seemed he genuinely hadn’t known. Anger brewed deep within his gaze. He appeared calm, but the veins bulging on his forehead and temples betrayed his true emotions.

I remembered Asher saying that he would find the person who killed me. Now, she had been found.

"I’ll kill her," Asher said, his voice dropping low. It didn’t matter to him if the person was a man or a woman.

"The law will punish her... She’s murdered so many people. Once the police have the evidence, she’s guaranteed to die." I slowly closed my eyes, snuggling deeper into his arms.

"No... What if she also has a mental illness?" Asher asked, looking down at me. His breathing was erratic. It seemed he already knew who she was. The moment I mentioned she was a woman, Asher’s pupils had visibly constricted.

"Do you know who she is?" I asked him.

Asher was just about to answer when the door opened. Several people dressed as doctors walked in, treating the hand injuries of everyone in the room one by one.

Most of the men’s injuries were almost fully healed. Their wounds had closed over, meaning there would be no problem having them perform the safe-cracking experiment. However, Asher’s hand was far more severely injured, the wound still looking rather gruesome.

"Don’t let the wound touch water, and don’t scratch it," a doctor said as he and a nurse applied medication to Asher’s hand. "This will help it heal faster."

But it seemed Asher didn’t want it to heal faster.

"It’s bleeding again..." an eerie voice echoed from the doorway. The masked figure sneered. "Sebastian Lancaster, are you trying to stall for time by doing this?"

Asher’s gaze locked onto her. She was still wearing her usual disguise, but the look Asher gave her was now brimming with fury and killing intent.

The masked woman chuckled, her sharp gaze landing on me. "It seems she told you everything. You must be dying to kill me right now."

Moving with incredible speed, Asher shot to his feet. Before anyone could react, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat. His grip was overwhelmingly powerful. In a split second, her face turned bright red as she grimaced in agony.

Yet she didn’t beg for mercy. Instead, she let out a bizarre, twisted laugh. "Sebastian Lancaster... you are truly pathetic. You’re destined never to have the person you love, just like me..."

The muscles in Asher’s arms flexed taut. He continued to squeeze. Just one more second, and he could probably snap her neck.

But her subordinates had already pressed the muzzles of their guns against my head. "Let her go, or we kill her."

Asher looked back, glaring coldly at the men. Afraid they would actually hurt me, he let go. Whenever my life was on the line, Asher never dared to gamble. He gave everything for me, unconditionally.

WHACK!

"Asher!"

The men took the opportunity to punch Asher in the stomach. Several of them ganged up, beating him mercilessly. Asher collapsed to the ground, grunting in pain but enduring it. He propped himself up on the floor, letting them beat him without fighting back—all because I was still in their hands.

"Asher!" I shoved past the gunmen and rushed over to shield him. He was always so foolish. He knew full well these people wouldn’t actually shoot me.

"Heh..." The masked woman looked down at us condescendingly, sneering. "Sebastian Lancaster, stop playing smart and trying your little tricks. If your wound isn’t completely healed by tomorrow, I’ll kill her."

She pointed at me, her deep voice dripping with a heavy threat. "I killed her once, and I can kill her a second time... Try me, if you don’t believe it."

Asher’s hands were clenched tightly into fists. He looked like an enraged beast, desperate to tear her to absolute shreds. I hugged him tightly. Now was not the time to meet them head-on; they had guns. No matter how formidable Asher was, he wasn’t bulletproof.

"Enjoy your final moments together... If you are the CEO of Astraeus Group, you’ll die too," the masked woman muttered darkly, then turned and left.

"Asher..." I looked nervously at his injuries.

Asher gripped my fingers and shook his head.

"Hey man, are you the CEO of Astraeus Group or not? If you are, just confess already! Don’t drag us down with you—we got kidnapped and brought here for no reason!" one of the other men shouted.

"Yeah, exactly! We don’t know anything!"

The rest of the men began to clamor, demanding that Asher turn himself in. They were terrified that once they were ruled out as the CEO, these lunatics would simply kill them.

"He’s not—" I tried to explain angrily.

"I am," Asher suddenly called out toward the door. "I am the CEO of Astraeus Group. I will agree to all your demands—just let my wife and these people go."