Chapter 004
“…What?”
“Noah’s gone missing. He left for work five months ago, and no one’s seen him since after his shift ended. It looks like he was kidnapped. Miss White, please, help us!”
“…What…”
Is she lying to cover up Noah’s whereabouts?
If that were the case, Julia Ashford’s expression was too earnest. She even kneeled and tried to grab my hand.
The audacity of her action was infuriating, and I slapped her hand away sharply. The thought of her skin touching mine was revolting.
Still, I kept my gaze fixed on her. I needed to find out if she was trying to throw me off.
“Noah Ashford. Where are you hiding him?”
“I’m not hiding him. Please, help us find Noah. No matter how much we search, we can’t find him. He’s not the kind of kid who would just leave… Even the police won’t help, since they say it’s just a runaway case since he’s not a minor.”
Julia Ashford began to explain things in a fairly coherent manner. But I couldn’t hear a word she said because of the rage boiling inside me.
The rage kept building. As my emotions settled, hatred simmered beneath it all.
It didn’t matter whether what she said was true or not. The only thing that mattered to me was that she was begging me for help.
“Damn it.”
She should never, ever ask me for anything. How low did she think of me? How far had her morals fallen for her to ask me for this?
I’m the one who has to live with heart disease because of her. How dare she ask me to help find him?
“You can curse me all you want.”
Her blue eyes flashed as she raised her head.
“If you use the power of Kravitz, you could find Noah. Please, I’m begging you. He was definitely kidnapped.”
“What would anyone gain by kidnapping a nobody like him?”
“Legally, Noah is registered as your illegitimate child.”
“The law in Wieland doesn’t acknowledge bastards.”
“But he’s still—”
“Enough!”
I clenched my teeth. As I growled in anger, I could feel my breathing start to go irregular again.
But I didn’t want to show any signs of weakness in front of Julia Ashford, so I forced myself to hold back, my hands turning white from the effort of suppressing my rage.
Disgusting. The mother had toyed with me, and the son had killed me.
I grabbed the woman by the collar and slammed her against the wall. Her body hit it with a thud and tears streamed down her face. She barely managed to speak.
“I’m sorry… But Noah is his son.”
I felt my strength leave me.
“…Ha.”
My shoulders slumped. There was no point in getting angry at this woman.
Thud. Thud.
There was a loud knocking from outside. Scott, who was probably worried since I hadn’t come out for a while, was signaling me.
I took a shaky breath and released my grip on the woman’s collar. Leaving her anxious, trembling eyes behind, I reached for the door handle.
But before I could open it, the door swung open on its own. I squinted as the light from outside hit my eyes, and I called for Scott.
“Let’s go. I don’t know what I was expecting. You must be disappointed in me.”
I took Scott’s hand and started walking. The path to the carriage felt endlessly long. As my legs weakened and I stumbled, Scott couldn’t take it anymore and carried me on his back.
“Noah Ashford’s gone missing,” I said.
“He probably ran away. There’s no hope in this house. With the business failure, all they’ve got left is debt and illness. If he had any ambition, he’d have left, too.”
“Didn’t you say his grades in elementary school were abnormally high?”
Among the information Scott gave me was Noah Ashford’s school report. It said he was exceptionally smart and had a strong desire to study. The kid desperately wanted to learn.
“At least now we know for sure that he and I aren’t siblings.”
I hate studying, after all.
Scott frowned slightly at my words. I was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t work.
“Scott. Maybe he’s with his biological father. If his father’s someone important, it could explain why he’s hiding.”
“He’s probably not that important. Kravitz keeps track of all the powerful people, so we’d know. But why do you want to find him?”
“…Wait. I didn’t give her the medicine.”
“Medicine?”
“She has to stay alive until I fully take my revenge.”
Just like Isaac bled out and died in front of me, Julia and Noah Ashford would also have to bleed and die before my eyes.
We’d barely walked a hundred meters from Julia Ashford’s house when I left Scott behind and headed back to her place.
I wasn’t thrilled about having to return personally, but I wanted to hand her the medicine myself and give her a warning.
Just as you tore apart someone else’s family, I’ll be the one to destroy your life.
“Noah. Be careful.”
I froze when I heard a woman’s voice from inside. I held my breath.
“They’re looking for you.”
“They?”
The low voice was unmistakably a man’s. It was younger and healthier than Julia Ashford’s voice.
Fury boiled up inside me at the humiliation of being deceived. That woman had the nerve to kneel and beg in front of me with this act going on.
“Noah. Don’t come here anymore. They don’t know where you are. Changing your identity seems to have worked.”
“Did they cause any trouble when they came? Are you alright?”
“Nothing happened. It was lucky they came while you were at the neighbor’s…”
“Who was it? Was it the eldest from the White family?”
“…It was just a servant. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Why are they hiding him from me?
“Mother.”
I clamped my hand over my mouth when I heard the man—Noah Ashford—speak.
I wanted to call Scott right now, capture Noah Ashford, and make Julia scream in horror. My stomach twisted with rage so intense it made my insides ache.
‘Hold on. Now’s not the time.’
I’ll erase that hat (him) as if it never existed in this world at the most appropriate moment. And before they die, they’ll taste hell on earth.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better. Don’t worry. But you’ve lost weight. Is the work hard?”
“I think I’m still growing. The work is manageable.”
My heart pounded at the gentle voice. I could barely breathe from the tension that twisted my insides.
“Are you preparing well for the entrance exam—”
Her words suddenly cut off. I had shared secret conversations enough times to know they were conscious of me standing nearby.
I purposely stood right in front of the door. There was no need to worry since Scott was nearby. Soon, the door opened, and she appeared.
“…You’re still… here.”
Julia Ashford went pale the moment she recognized me. I could see her eyes shaking with anxiety, and she even bit her dry lips slightly.
Just a few steps inside, and the murderer who killed me was right there. My hands trembled, but I forced myself to act like I was fine.
“I forgot something.”
I pulled a small pill bottle from my pocket and tossed it to her.
“It’s medicine. We’ll see each other again.”
I should’ve looked around inside, but without realizing it, my body shrank, and my gaze dropped to the floor.
The sensation of being stabbed five times came back to me. That terrible feeling that I could never forget made tears well up in my eyes.
“…Miss White?”
I glared at the woman who had committed an unforgivable crime, my eyes wide. I pressed my words out, biting back the fury.
“Please, don’t die.”
Because the hell that comes after death isn’t the one meant for me.
***
“I’m thinking of enrolling at Iodes.”
At dinner, my bombshell announcement brought a variety of reactions from my family.
Susan was worried about my health, saying it would be too much for me. Scott, who had gathered the information I’d asked for, smiled calmly. My new sister-in-law Amanda jumped up, insisting it was absolutely out of the question, and Aaron…
“Haha, you want to go to school, huh? I’ll just give you one of the foundations I own, so think again about the whole school thing.”
He didn’t miss a chance to flaunt his wealth as the richest among the siblings. If the other siblings had been there, they probably would’ve reacted the same way.
“Auntie, are you going to school too? With me?”
“Isaac, Auntie’s going to a different school. Once I go, I won’t be able to play with you as much. Are you okay with that?”
“As if I’m Aunee.”
Isaac will always be my small, precious child, even when he’s twenty or an old man.
Tears pricked my eyes as I remembered the child trying to reassure me that he was fine, even as he bled from a slit throat.
“Oh my, Callie. Not being able to go to school isn’t something to cry about.”
Susan, clearly startled because I never cry—I’d always been the one to shout and raise a fuss instead—hurried over to me.
Since I was already tearing up, I decided to take advantage of it.
“I’m over eighteen. I want to experience school at least once. Just one semester. Why do you think I’m even creating the Scarlet White Foundation? It’s because I can’t go to school, so I’m doing it for a bit of satisfaction, at least.”
“Hmm.”
Aaron groaned as if troubled, then cautiously asked.
“Iodes is a top 1% school. How are you going to get in?”
“Through a donation, of course.”
In reality, all the administrative work was already done, and my admission to Iodes was settled. Telling my family now was just a formality. I’d worked so hard, keeping it all quiet, even from Scott.
“Just one semester. After that, I’ll quit right away.”
One semester was more than enough time to kill Noah Ashford.
“That’s not such a light matter. John might even get criticized in parliament over this.”
“It’s not a light matter for me either. This is something I want to achieve before I die.”
“Callie!”
Scott, ever the thoughtful one, quickly covered Isaac’s ears. I continued speaking as if it were no big deal.
“No one knows when my health will take a turn for the worse. Even a small illness could be fatal for me.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t go where there are lots of people.”
“But what’s the point of living if I stay home all the time? There’s no value in a life that’s just about survival.”
Amanda comforted Susan, who was starting to get upset. Scott’s face darkened, and Aaron crossed his arms, looking serious. Susan looked like she might break into tears at any moment. Only Isaac smiled vaguely in approval.
“That’s great! Auntie’s always been bored staying at home! If you go to school, you can play ball and sneak snacks with your friends, just like me, right? I’m all for it!”
“Of course, Apple Pie. Auntie’s going to school to do lots of fun things. Even more fun than you.”
In the end, I got permission from the whole family two days later.
Everything moved quickly. I arranged to stay at a nearby villa during the three school days and spend Fridays and weekends with my family.
***
When I arrived at Iodes, an assigned student helper was waiting for me.
Helpers at Iodes were students in the same grade who received special scholarships in exchange for assisting students with disabilities like me throughout the day.
My helper looked a bit nervous, her tan, healthy-looking skin turning pale.
He must’ve waited outside for a long time since I hadn’t shown up for the entrance ceremony. It didn’t matter. I’d planned it that way.
“So, you’re… Scarlett White.”
The low voice I’d heard in Julia Ashford’s house echoed in my ears. Despite his expression, there was no hint of nervousness in his voice.
The one who was actually nervous was me. If I hadn’t taken a tranquilizer in advance, I might’ve collapsed from shortness of breath.
Noah Ashford, after disappearing like smoke, had reappeared, not reclaiming his original identity but acquiring a new one.
He had taken the identity of a ghost—someone of the same age who had died long ago but was still alive in the records.
And that name was—
“I’m Theo Grisham.”
The moment I met Noah Ashford’s piercing blue eyes, I realized something in my freezing heart.
Killing this boy alone wouldn’t be enough.
It was time to think of a more brutal revenge.
