Chapter 120: He Needs Her
“Do you really think I wouldn’t kill you?”
In a flash, Frederick pulled his gun from the holster and pressed it against Claire’s forehead. Claire raised her eyes defiantly, holding her head high as she stared down the dark barrel of the gun and the furious Frederick behind it. At this point, she was certain he wouldn’t actually pull the trigger. He needed her. Everyone in Kingstown knew she stood beside Frederick, especially now that he was in the crucial phase of his presidential campaign. There was no way he would harm her. If anything happened to her, his opponents would dig deep into the circumstances surrounding it. Any hint of scandal could ruin his chances of becoming president. Moreover, he needed to protect her; if she were harmed, he would be affected too.
She never wanted things to come to this. After all, this was the man she had loved for so many years—the one she had desperately chased in her early life. But now, she had no other choice; if she didn’t act this way, she might truly end up dead—either at the hands of those fighting for power or by Caroline’s schemes. Or worse yet, she might end up like in that dream where Frederick sacrificed her to protect Caroline.
“Claire, if you didn’t still have some value to me, you would have been dead long ago.”
Frederick held the gun against her forehead for what felt like an eternity. The veins on his hand bulged with tension, but eventually, he lowered the weapon. Claire couldn’t help but smirk; she had anticipated this outcome. Frederick was furious, and though he didn’t shoot her, he fired two rounds into the air to vent his anger.
No one expected what happened next: Caroline suddenly screamed. “Ah! No! Please! Claire, don’t hurt me! Please!” Caroline crouched down on the floor, clutching her head and shrinking back into a corner as if in immense pain. Frederick quickly lowered his gun and rushed to Caroline’s side. “Stay away! Don’t touch me! Ah!” Caroline flailed her arms wildly as if she were in shock; when Frederick approached her, she scratched and clawed at him. “It’s me, Frederick! Caroline, what’s happening?” Frederick knelt beside her, trying to speak calmly and patiently. After a while, Caroline finally seemed to regain some semblance of awareness. “Frederick? What… what just happened?” Seeing herself huddled in the corner seemed to snap her back to reality as she quickly stood up. “Everything’s fine; you’re okay.” Frederick reassured her as he noticed how disoriented she appeared. “Wait? Why was I sitting there?” Caroline looked around as if confused by her surroundings before quickly standing upright. “Frederick, I checked on Claire; since she’s fine, I’ll head out now.” As Caroline spoke, she scratched her head and left hurriedly, looking as if she were troubled by what had just occurred.
“Find out what’s going on with Carchine/Vroderid. Instruct Richard once Cardine was gone.”
“Yes, General.” Kichard nodded respectfully and began making arrangements for an investigation. However, before they could uncover anything significant about Caroline’s behavior that night, around eleven o’clock that evening, Frederick was awakened by his phone ringing. It was Richard calling. “General! It’s bad news. Caroline has attempted suicide.” Frederick shot up from bed immediately at the shocking news. “What?”