The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 80

Chapter 80: [80 – The Haunting Echoes]
When Caroline did not respond, Asher picked up the soft toys in his hands and knocked at the door once again. This time he called out her name as well, the one that isn’t hers but she believes it is, “Caroline, it’s me, Asher.”

He heard the distinct sound of a sob before Caroline opened the door a few seconds later. Asher’s eyes widened slightly as he took in the disheveled state that Caroline was in. Her hair looked like a bird’s nest, her makeup was smudged, and tears had left streaks down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy, a clear sign that she had been crying for quite some time.

Asher felt a flicker of delight in his chest. This was how far he had distanced himself from his own family, severing every connection with all of those whom he shared blood ties with, that his biological sister’s misery brought him joy.

“Caroline, what happened?” he asked, his voice laced with a perfect mix of concern and surprise. He stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder while hiding the satisfaction that he felt at her misery.

Caroline sniffled and stepped closer to hug Asher but stopped when she noticed the soft toys in his hands. She flinched instinctively and hurried back inside her room, hiding away in a corner. Asher knew that she was scared of the toys, so he deliberately brought them with him as he stepped inside her room and towards her.

“What happened, Caroline? Why are you acting like this?” Asher made sure that his tone reflected sympathy and lack of understanding about why his sister was acting so scared.

Pulling her legs close against her chest, Caroline rested her head over her knees and crossed her arms over her head, covering her face as she yelled at Asher, “Take them away! Give them back to her else she won’t leave me!” her voice sounded muffled but there was an unmistakable tremor of fear in it.

Asher’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he stepped closer still holding the soft toys in his hands, “What are you talking about Caroline? I brought these for you! Why are you so scared and who is this ‘her’ that you are talking about?” Asher brought panic in his voice making sure that he sounded convincing.

Caroline’s body shook with sobs as she dared to peek out from behind her arms, her eyes wide in terror as she said, “It’s her!” she whispered, afraid to say the name, “It’s her!” she repeated and though Asher understood whom she was talking about, he pretended to be oblivious.

“Who, Caroline?” Asher repeated putting the toys at her bed before kneeling down in front of her and pulling her arms away from her face, “Who is it?”

Caroline’s eyes were wide and wild, tears rolling down her cheeks as she felt relieved on not seeing the toys in Asher’s hands. She leaned closer, still afraid as she whispered into Asher’s ear, “It’s her. Caroline.” her voice sounded like that of a scared child.

“She told me that if I did not give the toys back to her, she would come for me.” Caroline cried and stammered, “I -,” she felt choked up, “I don’t want them anymore Asher. Just give them to her and tell her to leave me alone!”

Asher sat down beside her, maintaining a façade of brotherly concern, “Sshh, it’s okay, sweetie. I am here now, you don’t have to worry about anything. We will sort this out together, okay.” he said, though his words were nothing but empty promises and fake concern.

“I will take the toys with me, so do not be scared, alright.” he patted her head gently like a parent would do to their child, “There is no need to worry as she cannot hurt you. Don’t you remember that she is dead?” Asher spoke through gritted teeth trying to keep the edge away from his voice.

Caroline shook her head hard, vehemently denying Asher’s claim, “She comes to visit me from time to time. She scares me, Ash.” she cried and moved closer to her brother, burying her face in his like she was trying to hide away from the reality.

Clutching the fabric of his shirt tightly in her fists, Caroline continued to weep, “She is always trying to hurt me, Ash. She comes to visit me whenever I am alone and – and -” was all that she muttered before losing consciousness.

Feeling her slump against him, Asher pulled her back and noticed that his sister had lost consciousness. Asher rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before picking her up in his arms and laying her down on the bed.

He wanted to leave those toys by her side but that would put just too much pressure on her brain and it might cause her to collapse again with some permanent damage. They cannot let that happen before Caroline plays her part in this game of revenge.

They need to weaken her to the point that she finally let’s go of this fake persona of Caroline Mae Sullivan that she had adopted and had been living with since years.

Grabbing the toys, Asher left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he could not help the smirk that crept across his face. He had managed to unsettle Caroline deeply once again. This time, she had at least accepted the fact that she is being chased by Caroline, the real Caroline which implied that the realization that she is not the real Caroline is settling inside her.

With a satisfied smile on his face, Asher made his way towards his bedroom but stopped in middle when he heard his cell phone ring and vibrate in his trousers’ pocket. Taking out his cell phone, Asher continued to walk towards his room.

The call was from the police officer who was also working with them and keeping them updated about Seraphina’s case, “Hello?” Asher answered the call once he was in his room.

Locking the door behind him, Asher placed the toys on his bed waiting for the police officer’s response.

“Hello, Mr. Sullivan. I called to inform you that Daniel Thompson has just been released and freed from all the allegations that were made against him.” replied the police officer.

Asher had expected that to happen, in fact, he was sure that Daniel would not remain in jail for long so he was not surprised on hearing the news. But he wanted to know what he did to walk free.

“Now, how did that happen?” he asked in a casual, unconcerned voice.

“Mr. Grayson’s lawyer found certain loopholes that he could exploit along with brining a couple of senior officers.” the police officer explained the details to Asher but the latter was concerned about only one thing.

“Mr. Grayson? You mean Elijah Grayson?” he frowned, trying not to think about the worse possibilities.

“No, Mr. Sullivan. The lawyer was arranged by Marcus Grayson, his son, Elijah Grayson was in fact persistent about getting the hardest possible punishment for Daniel Thompson. He was also attacked Daniel Thompson when the latter was implying that he would walk out of the jail in no time.” informed the police officer, Noah. He was one of the officers who was overseeing Elijah and Daniel’s confrontation.

Asher released a breath that he did not realize that he was holding. For a second, he had been worried that Elijah was playing them but it looked like that guy is being played instead, and that too by his own father.

“Okay.” Asher hummed before adding, “Gather the details about the people who took the bribe to let Daniel leave and also send me a digital copy of the whole case.” ordered Asher. It was quite ironic that, he too, was using the law enforcement as he pleased like his father and his father’s friends. But his case was different. He was using them for a good purpose unlike his father.

“Will do that, sir.” responded Noah.

After ending the call, Asher plopped down on the bed. He had spent the whole day looking for clues and he did end up finding a few that were in Elijah’s favor. He still could not believe that they had made such a huge mistake of misunderstanding Elijah.

It was good that Seraphina raised doubts about Elijah, otherwise they would have done some irreversible damage and the repercussions of it would have been worse, especially for Seraphina.

Rubbing his temples, Asher thought about the problem at hand. Everything can be delayed for some time but this new variable named Blake Anderson needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.

Pulling the Pikachu soft toy in his arms, Asher hugged it and closed his eyes to sleep. While, Caroline, on the other hand, was still struggling in her sleep with the nightmare that these simple soft toys had triggered.

As Asher slept soundly, Caroline ran for her life in her nightmare world, running away from the ghost of the real Caroline from whom she had stolen all those toys when they were kids.