Chapter 200 Escaping to a World Without Edith
Only then did Caroline see clearly that the child in her arms had a deep wound through the chest — the very spot Edith had pierced in the chaos. She had been completely unaware of it during her entire escape.
Another life was lost in this senseless tragedy — and it was her own daughter.
"No!" Caroline let out a broken laugh through her sobs. "It can't be... you're just hungry... just sleeping..."
Caroline frantically pulled open her blouse, pressing hard against her chest until the skin split and blood seeped out.
She pressed her chest to the baby's lips. "Drink... once you drink, you won't feel sleepy... please, wake up..."
But the tiny body in her arms showed no response whatsoever.
When Alexander, covered in blood, found this place, dawn had already broken.
His Caroline sat disheveled in the mud, her open collar in disarray, her chest stained with blood, clutching that small bundle tightly in her arms.
"Caroline..."
Alexander dropped to his knees with a thud, stumbling toward her.
Only when he saw her eyes still blinking slowly and weakly did his heart start beating again.
She was still alive.
He reached out to hold her.
But Caroline suddenly dodged away, murmuring, "Gone, all gone..."
Alexander's heart jolted. He lowered his gaze to the bundle in her arms.
The daughter he had only glimpsed briefly at birth and had never truly held was already still.
Alexander's heart turned to ice.
His hand trembling, he reached out a finger and gently touched the child's small hand exposed outside the blanket.
Cold. Stiff.
Alexander's vision went dark, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"No... it can't be..."
He incoherently reached out to hold Caroline, wanting to wake her from this nightmare, and himself as well.
"Caroline, look at me... it's me, I'm back... I'm sorry, I came too late... Let's go to Grandhaven, to the hospital, the child can still be saved, she will be..."
Caroline let him hold her, but her gaze went past his shoulder, staring into emptiness.
Those she had loved and who had loved her, those who had cared for her and whom she had cared for, those who had saved her and whom she had saved — all gone.
Then why should she keep living?
To atone for a sin that was never hers? Or to carry those heavy expectations and pretend nothing had happened?
No, nothing could go back to how it was.
Caroline suddenly laughed wildly. "Gone! All gone!"
"That's not true..." Alexander's tears fell like rain.
He held her even tighter, desperately trying to warm her gradually cooling body.
"You still have me, Caroline... look at me! You used to love me more than anyone, didn't you? You said you loved me! Even if you don't love me anymore, it's okay. I love you! I'll love you with my life! We'll leave this place, go somewhere no one knows us, and start over! Just the two of us! Okay? Please, Caroline, say something..."
Caroline lifted her head from his embrace. Her empty gaze suddenly gained a hint of focus, then slowly moved down, landing on Alexander's slightly open suit jacket.
Death was the only way to set herself free.
She would no longer have to carry the weight of Edith's death and drag herself through life.
Even if she truly was guilty, she could wait until she reached hell, until she faced those who had truly cared for her.
She suddenly broke free from Alexander's embrace with force. One hand clutched the child who had long grown cold, while the other quickly reached toward his waist, seizing the gun.
"Caroline!" Alexander cried out in alarm.
She raised her hand and, using the method Alexander had taught her when he forced her to kill, quickly released the safety, chambered a round, and pressed the muzzle against her temple.
"Alexander, I'm free..."
She was going to find heaven and reunite with those who had died for her.
Before Alexander's horrified eyes, she pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The gunshot rang out.
"Caroline!"
Caroline, holding the child, fell heavily to the ground.
In a daze, she felt herself becoming lighter.
All the pain, exhaustion, cold, and despair that had weighed on her life ebbed away like the tide.
She looked down and saw herself wearing a bright red dress.
It was her favorite dress from her youth, made of silk, cool to the touch, comfortable against her skin, always bringing a touch of coolness on summer days.
The scars on her body quickly faded, her skin smooth as new, her loose hair shining softly in the sunlight, draped over her shoulders, still carrying that familiar faint floral scent.
She lifted her head and found herself standing in a meadow full of small flowers.
This was not hell.
In the distance was a great bridge leading to the heavens.
On the other end of the bridge, several people were smiling and waving at her.
She squinted to see.
It was Liam.
He wore a clean, neat suit, his face bearing that familiar smile, as if he had just finished a day's work and was waiting there.
Felix had changed out of his blood-stained bodyguard uniform, wearing a sharp hunting outfit, standing tall with bright eyes, smiling and reaching out his hand to her.
"Miss, I've come to take you home."
Just like many years ago in the Neville family garden, when he had pledged his loyalty to her.
And there was Kenna, in the distance, holding a small bundle, her face wearing a loving smile.
"Ms. Caroline Neville, the formula is ready. Didn't you want to learn to feed Miss Hamilton? Come quickly! If you don't come, Miss Hamilton will cry again!"
A bright smile appeared on Caroline's lips, just like that summer when she was sixteen, looking up by chance to see a rainbow in the rose-filled courtyard — pure and carefree.
She lifted her skirt and ran joyfully toward the other end of the bridge, running toward that world without Edith.
"I'm coming!"