Chapter 6: Finding Lucas Rothwell
1265 Words
So everything she had done earlier had been completely pointless.
At least she had learned one useful piece of information.
The man's name was Aiden.
Ashley immediately grabbed Camille's arm.
"Mom, let me handle it. My foot isn't feeling that bad. What if Aiden doesn't recognize Mrs. Parker and something goes wrong?"
Camille thought about it for a moment.
Ashley had a point.
"Fine. Just be careful."
Ashley nodded.
"Leave it to me."
She would make sure this plan failed completely.
Ashley quietly opened the front door and stepped outside.
The estate grounds were brightly lit.
Garden lights illuminated almost every corner.
Almost.
One section remained shrouded in darkness.
Squinting into the shadows, Ashley spotted a figure standing behind a large tree.
Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she hurried over.
"Aiden?"
The man looked suspicious enough.
He wore a black hoodie, and a long scar stretched from his eye to the corner of his mouth.
The moment Ashley saw his face, she knew she had found the right person.
Lowering her voice, she spoke quickly.
"Plans changed tonight."
"Go home for now. I'll contact you later."
Before he could respond, she shoved a thick stack of cash into his hands.
Aiden's eyes immediately lit up.
Getting paid without doing any work?
What could be better than that?
He quickly stuffed the money into his pocket and left without another word.
Ashley watched his retreating figure and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked toward Charlotte's room on the second floor.
Warm yellow light glowed behind the curtains.
The heroine she had written wasn't stupid.
Ashley had left water stains in the room.
The door had been mysteriously locked.
Too many strange things had happened.
Charlotte would definitely be suspicious.
Even if Mrs. Parker had replaced the water, there was no way Charlotte would drink it now.
Stepping out of the shadows, Ashley walked back into the warm glow of the estate lights.
Now she just needed an excuse for Camille.
Back inside, Camille had already returned to her room.
Ashley sent her a message.
Mom, Aiden had an emergency and never showed up! Also, Charlotte didn't drink the water Mrs. Parker brought her.
Lying in bed, Camille stared at the message.
Her expression darkened.
Beside her, Edward noticed immediately.
"Camille? What's wrong?"
Camille quickly typed a reply.
Then we'll leave it alone for now. Go back to your room and get some rest.
She set her phone aside and settled against Edward's chest.
"It's nothing."
"I was just thinking that Charlotte's finally home."
"I'll make some of her favorite dishes tomorrow."
Edward looked at his elegant wife with satisfaction.
"You work too hard."
Ashley waited anxiously until Camille's response arrived.
Only then did she finally relax.
What a day.
—
All Ashley wanted was to wake up in her own apartment.
To open her eyes and find herself back in her familiar bed.
Instead—
The next morning, she woke beneath an enormous crystal chandelier.
Ashley let out a long sigh.
She headed downstairs for breakfast.
Only Charlotte was seated at the table.
Ashley sat down with a sandwich and casually studied her.
Charlotte appeared completely normal.
No signs of anything unusual.
Ashley decided to test the waters.
"Sis, did you sleep well last night?"
Charlotte took a sip of coffee before setting the cup back onto its saucer.
"Pretty well."
Then she returned to her breakfast without another word.
Meanwhile, Ashley mentally reviewed the original plot.
In the novel, Charlotte had been drugged on the very day she returned home.
Fortunately, Aiden's plan had failed.
Charlotte remained unharmed.
Charlotte had a childhood friend named Claire Watson.
After her family's financial collapse, Claire had ended up living in the Blackthorn District.
Today, Charlotte would visit her.
And through that visit—
She would meet Lucas Rothwell.
Charlotte would find him covered in blood and barely conscious.
She would take him out of the district and bring him to a hospital.
That was how the male and female leads first became connected.
Ashley finished her sandwich and washed it down with milk.
Then she asked casually,
"Sis, where are you going today?"
Charlotte's expression didn't change.
"Blackthorn District."
Ashley nodded.
"I want to go too."
"Can you take me with you?"
Charlotte stared at her as though she were looking at a stranger.
Ashley smiled brightly.
A small trace of milk lingered at the corner of her lips.
Her large eyes blinked innocently.
Everything about her appearance seemed harmless.
But Charlotte knew better.
Ashley Hawthorne was selfish.
Manipulative.
Hypocritical.
She had always looked down on poor people.
She believed anyone without money or status was beneath her.
And she certainly never visited places like the Blackthorn District.
Charlotte hadn't forgotten the strange events in her room yesterday.
Who knew what Ashley was plotting now?
Her voice remained calm.
"Do you even know what kind of place the Blackthorn District is?"
"And what about your foot?"
Ashley replied immediately.
"I just want to look around."
"My foot's much better today. I can walk."
Charlotte gave her a cold look.
"I have things to do."
"If you want to go, go by yourself."
In the original story, Lucas never stayed where he had been beaten.
Ashley had hoped to follow Charlotte and use the heroine's luck to find him.
But she didn't push any further.
Her relationship with Charlotte was bad enough already.
After Charlotte left, Ashley quietly followed behind her.
She watched as Charlotte entered the Blackthorn District.
Ashley had been there twice already.
The security guards recognized her immediately.
Terrified she might cause trouble again, they assigned several bodyguards to accompany her.
Entering the district, Ashley still found the place unsettling.
Traffic was chaotic.
Garbage covered the streets.
Dirty water pooled along the roads, filling the air with a foul smell.
Every few yards, someone slept on the pavement beside a sack containing all their possessions.
Ashley looked completely out of place.
So why had the original Ashley ordered Lucas to be beaten in the first place?
The answer was absurdly simple.
Ivy had dragged her into the Blackthorn District out of curiosity.
While there, Lucas had glanced at Ashley once.
Just once.
Ashley Hawthorne considered the look offensive.
So she hired people to beat him.
A remarkably ridiculous reason to hate someone.
As Ashley walked through the district, she looked around at the misery surrounding her.
The sight left her feeling conflicted.
She had typed these scenes onto a keyboard without much thought.
Now they were real.
As the creator of this world, every hardship here existed because she had written it.
Keeping her distance, Ashley watched Charlotte enter a relatively clean apartment building.
Charlotte climbed to the fourth floor and opened a door.
That was probably Claire Watson's apartment.
The moment Charlotte disappeared inside, Ashley immediately began searching for Lucas.
Eventually, she found him.
He was lying on a patch of dry ground.
Motionless.
His eyes were closed.
The blood on his face had already dried into dark cracks.
He looked even worse than before.
Ashley crouched beside him.
Carefully, she reached out and poked him.
"Lucas?"
She called softly.
Then she realized his ears were empty.
His hearing aids were gone.
Which meant he probably couldn't hear anything.
Ashley leaned closer and held her fingers beneath his nose.
A faint breath brushed against her skin.
Alive.
Relieved, she pulled her hand back.
The next second—
Lucas's eyes snapped open.
Like a wounded wolf on the verge of death.
Although injured and exhausted, he still radiated an overwhelming sense of danger.
- Writer
