Chapter 88

Thalia's irritation vanished, replaced by a bright smile. "Asher, you're here!"

Asher's eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you just mention Drake?"

Thalia answered honestly, "Drake was just knocking at my door."

Asher then noticed the breakfast bag. He lowered his gaze, his voice carefully neutral, "Bringing you breakfast?"

"Yes. Heaven knows what possessed him at this ungodly hour. I was sleeping perfectly until he woke me with his infernal knocking." The annoyance in Thalia's eyes was unmistakable.

Asher asked, "How did he know your exact floor and flat number?"

This question caught Thalia off guard. She had never told Drake, so how had he known? "I honestly haven't the faintest idea," she replied, genuinely confused.

Asher's brow furrowed. "Don't worry, Lia. I'll get to the bottom of this. Now, shall we go inside?"

Thalia stepped aside to let him enter. Inside, Asher removed his grey cashmere coat and hung it on the wall hook. Thalia retrieved a pair of men's slippers and placed them at his feet.

As Asher changed his shoes, Thalia casually asked, "By the way, you mentioned an urgent matter last night. What was it? Is everything sorted now?"

Asher paused momentarily. "It concerned Vanessa."

Seeing his straightforward response, Thalia's anxiety subsided. She exhaled almost imperceptibly, her tense body relaxing. She had been right about him; Asher was nothing like Drake.

"Vanessa?" Thalia continued. "Wasn't she being held in detention?"

Asher finished changing his shoes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Lia. I didn't want to worry you. A month ago, Vanessa falsely claimed to be pregnant. While being transported to the hospital for examination, she was abducted."

This aligned closely with what Drake had told her the previous night, the only difference being Asher's use of "falsely."

"Falsely? So she wasn't actually pregnant?"

Asher nodded. "No. After her abduction, we searched for her continuously. We eventually found her at a telecommunication fraud operation near the border of an Eastern European country. She admitted she had never been pregnant."

Thalia followed Asher into the living room. "Who took her? What was their motive?"

"That's precisely why I didn't want to worry you." Asher turned to face her, his expression serious. "The people who abducted her are rather formidable. My preliminary assessment is that they're targeting me."

His brow furrowed. "Last night, while on my way to pick you up, I received a call informing me that Vanessa had been killed." Thalia's eyes widened in horror.

"After we found her, we intended to discover who was behind this, but before we could learn anything, she was silenced."

Thalia was deeply shocked. Vanessa was guilty, and Thalia detested her, but she believed the law should punish her. Kidnapping and attempted murder wouldn't result in immediate execution. Even in the worst-case scenario, justice should come through the legal system—murder was too cruel a fate.

In truth, Asher had withheld the most horrific details: Vanessa had died from a slit throat. Her ailing father, Gary (the man used as a murder weapon), and Gary's elderly mother had also been eliminated by the mastermind.

Asher, having seen much darkness, could process these horrors. But Thalia, inherently kind and empathetic, would be deeply distressed by these details—too distressed to eat. Moreover, Vanessa's father and Gary's mother were innocent.

Asher pulled Thalia into his embrace, resting his chin in the crook of her neck. He took a deep breath and relaxed. "Lia, so much has happened recently. I've been constantly on edge. Only when I'm with you can I truly relax."

He held her close, closing his eyes. "Lia, you need to be careful as well. I'm concerned these people might target you. I'll assign two additional bodyguards for your protection. Promise me you'll take them with you whenever you go out."

Thalia, her head buried against his chest, murmured agreement. Unease rose within her. "Asher, do you have any leads? What kind of monster would do this?"

Asher considered briefly. "I don't have any concrete leads yet, but answers should come soon. Some actions inevitably leave traces. I've already notified the police, and they're investigating as well."

Thalia lowered her eyes, deep in thought. After a while, she spoke in a subdued voice, "Drake came to see me last night."

Asher's arms tightened around her. "What did he want?"

Thalia's voice was soft. "He came to tell me that you were with Vanessa last night. He also suggested... that you were the one who had Vanessa abducted from police custody. He deliberately misled me, trying to make me believe Vanessa was carrying your child."

Asher asked gently, "And what did you think?"

Thalia replied, "To be honest, for a moment I was genuinely anxious and upset—my hands were trembling. I was afraid you might have betrayed me... But then I realized he was simply trying to drive a wedge between us. I trust that you would never betray me."

Her voice took on a sorrowful tone. "I had no idea Vanessa had been killed last night..."

Asher gently rubbed her back. "It's all right, Lia. Even if you had doubted me, that would have been perfectly understandable. I would have come to explain everything personally. Of course, I'm rather pleased you trust me so much. As for Vanessa, I didn't expect things to end this way either."

Thalia asked in a muffled voice, "Vanessa... was she coerced? When she kidnapped Lucy, her hand was trembling as she held the knife. She looked nervous and frightened. She didn't seem inherently evil…"

Asher agreed. "She was indeed coerced."

Thalia hugged Asher tightly. "Asher, this mastermind is clearly a cold-blooded psychopath. You must be extremely careful."

The man's eyes sharpened, his jawline tense. "Don't worry about me. I'll be careful."