Chapter 171 Cassidy Needs to Be Gone
After telling Anthony, Arabella felt strangely calm. Without waiting to hear his response, she hung up and immediately re-blocked his number.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to the driver. "I'm sorry, we're not going to Luxurious Beauty Apartments after all. Please take me to the pharmaceutical company."
The driver, who'd overhead enough to be curious, just grunted and turned the car around again.
On the other end, Anthony stared at his phone, expression darkening. He immediately tried calling back, only to hear the busy signal.
A laugh escaped him—bitter, disbelieving. She pulled him out of her blocked list when she needed something, then blocked him again the second she was done?
Three years together, and he'd never known she could be this shameless.
She was also the first woman who'd ever dared treat him this way.
He had to admit—if only to himself—his interest in Arabella had intensified. Again.
He'd liked the submissive Arabella well enough. But this post-divorce version, the one who cut him off completely and bore no resemblance to his ex-wife? This Arabella fascinated him.
Unable to reach her didn't worry him. They had time. Plenty of time. Eventually, he'd get her back.
Right now, what mattered was what she'd said on the phone.
Cassidy was going to kill Molly?
His brow furrowed. Arabella wouldn't throw that out randomly. She wasn't the type to manufacture excuses to contact him anymore.
So she'd actually received this information. But how? Had Cassidy called her directly?
Anthony's eyes went cold. He'd just gotten off the phone with Cassidy herself—she'd asked to meet one last time, promised to hand over Molly afterward. He'd been driving to her place when Arabella called.
If what Arabella said was true, Cassidy's intentions were crystal clear.
His expression went glacial as he floored the accelerator. The car shot forward with a roar.
He'd been relatively civil to Cassidy lately, trying to facilitate Molly's handover. Everything had been going smoothly until a few days ago when he'd discovered bruises on Molly. Under questioning, the child admitted Cassidy had been abusing her.
Cassidy had been acting the whole time. All her claims about treating Molly well—lies. Privately, she'd been beating the kid daily. Beneath Molly's clothes, her skin was a horrifying map of scars.
Remembering Molly's previous injuries while living with the Watsons, Anthony's patience had finally snapped.
After their falling out, Cassidy got bolder. She flat-out demanded three hundred thousand dollars or she wouldn't release Molly.
The adoption papers were in Cassidy's name. Anthony had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
He'd already wired her a hundred thousand yesterday as a deposit. Today's plan had been simple: pick up Molly, then quietly dispose of Cassidy. Problem solved.
Except now Cassidy had called Arabella. And apparently wanted Molly dead.
Obviously, she'd figured out his plan.
Rage simmered beneath Anthony's skin. As the pieces clicked together, his expression grew darker still.
How had he ever been blind enough to think Cassidy was innocent and kind? Better than Arabella?
A wolf in sheep's clothing. That's all she'd ever been.
Lost in turbulent thoughts, he arrived at Luxurious Beauty Apartments.
The complex consisted of several buildings. Two police cars were parked outside one of them, officers apparently conducting a search.
That would be Arabella's doing—the police she'd called.
Anthony parked at a building diagonally across from theirs, about six or seven hundred meters away in a straight line. Even if the search expanded here, it would take hours.
He got out and strode through the entrance. He'd been here several times recently because of Molly. He knew the route by heart, reaching Cassidy's apartment quickly.
Impatient, he pounded on the door with unnecessary force. "Open up!"
Inside, Cassidy stood in a black slip dress, hair tangled around her shoulders, eyes red and swollen. Her expression was a disturbing cocktail of numbness and mania.
Hearing the commotion, her lips curved into a smile—the kind that raised goosebumps. She rose slowly and went to let him in.
When the door opened, she smiled at him. Her voice came out eerily calm. "You're here."
Anthony barely glanced at her before shoving past, scanning the apartment. "Where's Molly?"
Cassidy leaned against the door, laughing softly. "Where's my money?"
Anthony's eyes went cold. In two strides he was on her, hand closing around her throat. "Where. Is. Molly?"
Shock flickered across Cassidy's face, followed by understanding. She laughed—loud, unhinged. "Arabella called you, didn't she? Told you everything? Hahaha... I really thought she'd come! I thought she was so righteous, so loyal. Guess not!"
She whirled toward the window, screaming, "You hear that, you little brat? She doesn't care about you! You were sitting here hoping she'd save you—how pathetic! I told you! You betrayed her—why would she give a damn if you live or die?"
Her beautiful features twisted into something demonic as she vented her spite, face contorted with contempt and bitter mockery.
Anthony shoved her aside and headed for the window. What he saw made his blood run cold.
Outside, a small figure dangled from a rope.
Molly hung from the exterior wall, hands bound. Cassidy lived on the 38th floor—the top of this building.
The child was trembling violently, covered in blood like she'd been beaten. Where the rope bit into her wrists, the skin was raw and bleeding.
She was so scared. So terrified.
Cassidy had lost her mind. No one was coming to save her. Even Arabella had refused...
She kept her eyes squeezed shut, too afraid to look down. One glance at the distance to the ground made her legs turn to jelly.
Was that Mr. Watson's voice? Or was she hallucinating?
Cassidy had said even if Mr. Watson paid, she wouldn't let Molly go. Cassidy wanted her dead. Would she survive this?
Molly felt panic, terror, and crushing regret.
If she'd chosen differently that day—gone back with Arabella instead of Cassidy—she'd be safe now. She'd be in that elementary school, studying hard. Maybe she wouldn't be a rich young lady, but she'd have food and clothes and a future full of hope.
Instead of this. Barely a few good days before being kicked around between the Watsons and Cassidy like trash. Nobody wanted her. She'd become Cassidy's maid just to survive, enduring daily beatings. Now she was Cassidy's stress ball.
She was about to die.
Anthony stood at the window, staring at the blood-covered child. His face could've been carved from stone.
He reached for the rope to pull her up. Pain shot through Molly's wrists. She looked up and saw him, joy flooding through her. "Mr. Watson! Did you come to save me?"
Anthony made a noncommittal sound. He had no real affection for this kid. Seeing her in this state didn't particularly move him. What mattered was that he still needed Molly to get close to Arabella. Therefore, Molly couldn't die.
As for Cassidy—she'd taken a hundred thousand from him yesterday. She'd promised that after collecting the remaining two hundred thousand today, she'd hand Molly over peacefully. Instead, she wanted the kid dead.
The fact that he'd planned to eliminate Cassidy today anyway? That didn't factor into his current calculations.
He reached for the knot with grim determination. Molly watched hopefully from below.
Then a cold voice cut through from the living room. "I rigged that rope. The release is with me. If you try to untie it manually, she'll drop."
Anthony froze. He turned slowly, eyes blazing with barely suppressed fury. "Cassidy. Don't play games with me. Get her up here. Now."
Cassidy had settled back on the couch, legs drawn up, arms wrapped around herself. She looked up at him. "If I bring her up, I'm dead. Right?"
Anthony's expression flickered.
Cassidy laughed—self-mocking, sardonic. "I know you, Tony. Your style. You'd never let me walk away with three hundred grand. I've always understood you. The moment I took that hundred thousand yesterday, I knew. You weren't planning to leave me breathing."
Anthony's voice came out flat, reasonable. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not some mobster. This is a civilized society. Murder gets you prison time. With all the eyes on me, why would I dig my own grave? You're being paranoid."
Cassidy just kept laughing, saying nothing.
When Anthony had come back into her life, she'd been so happy. Thought they might have another chance. But no—he'd come for Arabella. He didn't miss Cassidy. He didn't even miss Molly. He just needed an excuse to get close to Arabella. She and Molly were both pawns, nothing more.
Her hopes dashed, her hatred—who could possibly understand it?
She hated Arabella. Hated her with every fiber of her being. That woman had taken everything Cassidy once had, then dismissed it all like it meant nothing!
Since no one was letting her live in peace, fine. Nobody would. They could all die together.
She'd called Arabella today intending to make her watch Molly fall. But Arabella hadn't even shown up. Pathetic, really. Molly, Anthony—Arabella didn't care about either of them anymore. Only Cassidy was still holding on like an idiot.
Arabella must be so smug right now.
Cassidy bit her lip, cold laughter escaping.
Whatever. If she couldn't hurt Arabella, at least she could hurt Anthony.
He wanted Molly, didn't he? Molly was his ticket to Arabella, wasn't she? Well.
Let him watch that hope get destroyed.
Seeing the uncompromising madness in Cassidy's eyes, Anthony frowned. He didn't want his prize slipping away at the last second. He softened his tone. "Cassie, Molly's just a kid. Bring her up first. We can talk about us after. Okay?"
Cassidy hadn't felt tenderness from this man in so long. For a moment, she was stunned. Then she looked at Anthony with mocking amusement, smiling even as it looked more painful than crying. "Tony, did you ever love me?"
Anthony said nothing.
Cassidy laughed bitterly, shaking her head. "You never did. But we were so good together. You said you loved my kindness, my innocence. You said you'd give up everything for me. You promised to love and cherish me forever, give me the greatest happiness in the world... You said Arabella was like a block of wood, no passion. You said you were sick of women like that. You said she disgusted you..."
Her voice cracked. "Those were your words. All of them. How is it that in less than a year, everything reversed? I became the woman you despise, and she became what you're chasing... Tony, tell me why. What did I do wrong?"
Tears streamed down Cassidy's face.
Whatever vanity and calculation had colored her feelings for Anthony, the emotions had been real too. Otherwise, she would've set her sights on the Tucker family ages ago. Weren't they a hundred times more powerful than the Watsons?
Anthony had zero interest in listening to a crazy woman's rambling. Looking at Cassidy now was like looking at a dirty rag—he had absolutely no desire to engage.
But for Molly's sake, he forced patience into his voice. "Cassie, that's all in the past. Let's not dwell on it. We have our whole lives ahead of us, don't we? Just bring Molly up."
"You have your life ahead. You and Arabella." Cassidy's smile turned razor-sharp. "You don't need to say it—I can guess. Once you take Molly today, I won't see tomorrow's sunrise. You've gotten pretty good at this sort of thing, haven't you?"
Anthony's pupils contracted. His gaze went ice-cold. "What exactly do you know?"
Cassidy smiled at him like a woman losing her grip on sanity. "You've been so careful. What could I possibly know? If I said I was joking, would you believe me?"
Anthony took a deep breath, fighting to suppress the violence rising in his chest.
If she didn't know something concrete, Cassidy wouldn't have said that.
But his operations were always discreet, deliberately hidden from her. How could she know?
Either way, Cassidy had become a ticking time bomb.
He'd been involved in too much dirty work to let her hold leverage over him. Right now, she was a sword hanging over his head. If it fell, the entire Watson family would go down.
The best way to eliminate danger? Kill it in the cradle.
Something vicious flashed through Anthony's eyes.
Just as he was about to make his move, Cassidy spoke. "Do you want to save Molly?"
Anthony's expression grew guarded. "Bring her up. I'll give you four hundred thousand. Take the money, go anywhere you want. You can live well."
Cassidy seemed swayed. She stood from the couch. "Really? You'll really give me four hundred thousand?"
Anthony nodded. "Really."
Whether she'd live long enough to spend it was another matter entirely.
Cassidy appeared to believe him. She turned toward the entryway. "Wait here. I need to get the release switch. I have to disable the setup before I can pull Molly up."
Anthony relaxed slightly.
Thank god Cassidy was an idiot. Today's outcome would still match his original plan.