To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 30

Isaac fully recovered the next day and got out of bed.

Even so, Scarlett’s brothers were worried she might catch his illness, so they tried to send her to the villa quickly.

While Scarlett had some time before leaving for the villa, Scott quietly called her over.

“When are you planning to keep hanging around Noah Ashford?”

“Until my revenge is over.”

“If you really want revenge—”

“They say forgiveness is the best revenge. My revenge isn’t about breaking and tearing things apart.”

“Carly.”

“Scott. You said you would support me.”

Scott couldn’t bring himself to say that the other brothers had already ruined the Ashfords, and were only letting her play with the leftovers.

Before their father’s affair broke the family, the White family had been happy. It had been a model, beautiful family.

Their home was peaceful, the siblings loved each other, and they respected their parents from the bottom of their hearts. That’s why the shock of their family falling apart had been so great.

Each of the siblings had been hurt, big or small, and needed their own way to heal.

John chose to stay indifferent to the Ashfords, Aaron buried himself in the business, Susan focused on building her own family, and Scott chose revenge.

“Right. I did. I’ll always support and cheer for you.”

Because they remembered those beautiful days, they pitied Scarlett deeply. She had never once had a proper family. She had never even really had a father…

That’s why the siblings were endlessly soft when it came to Scarlett.

“If you want to forgive, then forgive. If that’s easier for you, then you should.”

Revenge was the brothers’ burden. If Scarlett wanted to forgive, she could. If she wanted to throw them into hell, the brothers would dirty their own hands for her.

At the very least, they wanted to protect Scarlett’s purity, even if it was only half-intact. That was their last way of showing love to their youngest sibling, who had never had a real family.

“I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Scarlett sat down across from him. Scott took a deep breath. His sculpted face grew shadowed. Scarlett thought he looked exhausted.

“Do you really believe that boy is your brother?”

“What kind of answer do you want? No, before that, what are you trying to say? If he’s not my brother, what difference does it make? Even if Noah is my brother, he’s just a bastard no one will ever truly accept. I’m tired of the topic of whose son he is going in circles.”

Scarlett shot back sharply, but a lot of thoughts ran through her mind.

Most of all, she wanted to know what it meant that her father’s affair had been planned by her mother.

Of course, Scarlett didn’t think she was the result of an affair. She resembled her father quite a bit, and her red hair came from him too.

“I don’t want to know.”

No matter whose son Noah was, he had to remain a target for her revenge. He also had to stay someone she could persuade. She couldn’t allow any other feelings to seep in.

“It’s about Mother’s letter.”

“A letter?”

“There are a few problems.”

“Was it forged? Why do you keep trying to tell me about his secret birth? What do you want from me, Scott?”

“Nothing. It’s just… I thought you might want to know the truth. I don’t know the full truth, but other than John, I’m probably the one closest to it.”

As Scott spoke, Scarlett twisted a lock of her long hair. She wanted to ignore the truth—but at the same time, she desperately wanted to know it.

Maybe then she could understand why she had been killed. Maybe she could uncover a secret she had missed.

Scarlett decided to be brave. Abigail was safe, Isaac had recovered without serious problems. She wanted to believe that the future had already started to change.

That this time, she would die of illness, not by murder. That was her hope.

“Fine. Tell me.”

“As you know, Mother was very skilled in law.”

“Yes. I don’t know much about her, but I’ve heard that. That’s why John, who takes after her, became a lawyer.”

“That’s right. The law is all about exact words. A tiny mistake in pronunciation or writing can completely change a case. Mother would have known that better than anyone. But in her letter, she wrote something strange. It’s… Oh, Carly, are you okay?”

Scott quickly handed her some water. He looked a bit regretful as he watched Scarlett drinking and calming down.

Sensing that, Scarlett said,

“Better to die holding the truth in my hand than to die knowing nothing.”

“Carly…”

“You know. I’m going to die. Anyway, I’m fine now. Keep going.”

“…Mother said she acknowledged Noah Ashford as Father’s son.”

“So what?”

“It’s wordplay. It’s not clear whether she meant ‘he’s not biologically Father’s son but she acknowledges him’ or ‘she acknowledges he is biologically Father’s son.’”

Scott pulled Mother’s letter from his coat. Scarlett, who didn’t remember her mother’s handwriting, read it carefully and confirmed what Scott said.

[…That child, under the status of bastard, shall have no right to claim anything from the White family, and this is legally binding.
However, I acknowledge Noah Ashford as the son of my husband, Alex White, and declare that his safety and minimum honor will be protected under the White family name…]

“…There’s… no other information?”

Her thin voice trembled.

Why had Mother orchestrated Father’s affair? For what gain?

Did she acknowledge Noah’s blood relation, or just his legal standing?

“There is something strange.”

In fact, in Wifland, bastards had no real rights.

Even if a parent admitted the child was theirs, bastards couldn’t inherit property or social status. At best, they could hope for some small living allowance and minimal parental support.

Sure, if it was the White family, even the “allowance” would be a fortune. But there was no reason for Mother to acknowledge him.

Especially when having that child had caused her to nearly die in childbirth. So why leave such a letter before dying?

“What is it?”

“Julia Ashford. Her identity is completely fake. It was so well made that even Cravitz almost got fooled. If not for the handwriting on the medical records over several years.”

“Her identity is fake?”

“Yes. From being from the Kingdom of Cersia to her medical records—everything was fabricated. If you check the government offices, there’s no trace of her past. It means she smuggled into the country. And Father gave her a perfectly made identity.”

“What country is she from? Why did she sneak in?”

“I got curious too and put people on her trail. I found something strange. Suspicious men were hanging around her. They were highly trained, with information networks as good as Cravitz. They noticed us first and disappeared. But I did find out—they’re from Natalia.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. So what if she’s from another country? That doesn’t change what happened to me. Are you trying to rewrite the past?”

At her cynical question, Scott wiped his face tiredly. Scarlett’s patience seemed to be wearing thin as the mystery grew deeper. She didn’t have time to gather all the missing puzzle pieces.

“I’m going now. I have somewhere to be.”

Scarlett tried to act as if she was fine, so she wouldn’t seem in a hurry.

But in truth, ever since Scott had mentioned the letter, she had been desperate to go to St. Bernard General Hospital. Lawyer Nicholas, who had notarized Mother’s will, was there.

She barely said goodbye to her family before getting into the carriage. Feeling the wheels shaking, Scarlett thought about the Ashfords.

He had killed her, so he was surely her enemy.
Still, the thought that maybe Noah wasn’t guilty made her heart feel heavy.

Noah’s face appeared vividly in her mind. His innocent, boyish look. His shy, awkward manner.

Before long, she arrived at St. Bernard General Hospital. She headed straight for the VIP room. There were dozens of things she wanted to ask.

Did it really matter whether she and Noah were siblings? No, for her, surviving was the most important thing.

And if they weren’t siblings…

Scarlett thought she would feel very, very wronged.

Because of a boy who wasn’t even her blood, and his lying mother, her health had fallen apart.

“So annoying…”

Scarlett endured the emotions bubbling up, emotions so unstable that even the slightest touch might make them burst.

Why did she have to struggle with this kind of worry?

She couldn’t afford to be angry. If she gave into anger, it would be like setting off an explosion inside her.

“Nicholas?”

Scarlett knocked and carefully entered the hospital room. There wasn’t even a caregiver inside. An old man with white hair and a white beard was breathing heavily.

“Nicholas?”

Scarlett went closer and called his name again. But he only barely continued breathing, so faint it seemed about to stop.

At her third call, the old man finally opened his cloudy eyes. Scarlett felt a chill looking into those dying eyes.

“Hello… Nicholas. It’s been a long time.”

“…Haah. Scar…lett…”

“Yes. I’m Scarlett White.”

“…Why… are you here…”

“Are you feeling alright?”

It was meaningless to ask someone dying of old age if they were okay. Still, Scarlett hoped he would somehow recover. He was one of the few who remembered her mother.

But her hope did not come true. The old man rolled his dull eyes a few more times and looked at her, then gave a faint smile. That was the last of him.

“N-Nicholas…”

Death was so close. Scarlett stood blankly, not knowing what to do as she looked down at him. Then, like a dam bursting, she suddenly screamed.

“Ahhhhhhh! Doctor!”

Even with her scream ripping through the air, a high-pitched ringing filled her ears.

When Scarlett came back to her senses, she was surrounded by doctors and nurses.

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