Aurther's Last Breath

Aurther's Last Breath
“Sir… Samuel is on his way to the mansion with the police. He has everything, evidence of your crimes, the corruption, and… and even the murder of Carter Beatrix.
Please, sir. Run. If possible… leave the country immediately.”
The assistant’s voice was tense, breathless, spoken in a hurried whisper.

Before Aurther could respond, the call abruptly disconnected.

Aurther stared at the receiver in his hand.

His assistant must have called him secretly, risking everything.
Even now, there were still people willing to stand by him.
But what was the point?
Where would he go?

Was there any place left for him other than this house… the same house he had sacrificed everything to claim?

To become the head of this mansion, to carry the Beatrix name, he had done countless unforgivable things. So many wrongs that he himself could no longer keep track.
He had killed his own brother.
He had abandoned the woman he loved and cherished most.
And for what?

His fingers trembled as he placed the phone back on the table.
That was when something caught his eye.
A stack of papers.
He froze.

He had seen those same documents before he left the mansion the last time.
Slowly, almost unwillingly, Aurther reached for them.

But the moment he picked up the papers, the frown on his forehead deepened into a painful crease.
The same papers,
but now signed.
Her signature.
Caser’s.

Without thinking, Aurther snatched the phone again and dialed the one number he almost never called.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then a cold automated voice: “This number is currently switched off.”

For a long moment, he simply stared at the wall.
Then he forced himself to open the wardrobe, a place Caser had kept so orderly all these years.
Half of it was empty.

Most of her clothes were gone.
Important documents missing, Her passport was gone too.

Aurther’s knees weakened.
He collapsed, falling onto the bed like a man whose last thread had snapped.
His mind emptied completely.

He tried to remember, when had he met Caser for the first time?
College?
High school?
Elementary school?

Their families had known each other forever.

Her presence had been so constant, every year of his life that he could not even pinpoint the moment she had first appeared.
He couldn’t recall the scene of her confessing her feelings to him, or how many times.

Caser… the only person he believed would never leave him.
And now she was gone too.

Aurther lay on his side of the bed.
There had been no “his” or “her” side when they first married.
But once Caser became pregnant, she quietly chose the side closer to the bathroom.

A trivial memory… yet remembering it made a faint, fragile smile form on his lips.
A sharp pain spread across his left chest.

He pressed a trembling hand over the spot.

He couldn't tell whether it was his failing heart or the weight of everything he had lost.
He felt tired… truly tired, for the first time in his life.

Not the exhaustion of work, not the fatigue of stress, but a bone-deep weariness that made him feel hollow.

A quiet thought crossed his mind.
Would things have been different if Caser were here with him right now?

The answer came instantly, painfully.
Yes.
Everything would be different.

She would be fighting for him, running from person to person, doing everything within her power to save him.

She would beg her father, plead with her brothers, use every connection she had to protect him.

The pain in Aurther’s chest sharpened, stabbing deeper each time he pressed his trembling hand over it.

He didn’t even realize it anymore, his entire mind was consumed by thoughts of the woman he had called his wife.
A wife not out of love, but out of convenience.

Aurther remembered the moment Caser had asked him for a child right after she heard he was planning to kill Carter.
Was he annoyed back then?
Yes.

Deeply.
He could still recall Carter’s voice, calm yet firm:
“Aurther, you should’ve come to me if you needed something. Not stolen. Not cheated.”

Carter had known that Aurther was gathering funds illegally, cutting corners, breaking laws.
He warned him that he would do what he believed was right.
Instead of killing him… should I have apologized?

The thought spiraled wildly in Aurther’s mind.
Then, as always, it drifted back to Caser.

A coldness spread through his body, despite the sweat soaking his skin.
His breathing grew shallow, erratic.

“Caser…”
He wanted to call out for a blanket.

But the moment her name left his lips, he remembered, she wasn’t here anymore.
Aurther curled into himself, because of pain and cold.

Darkness crept in around the edges of his vision. He could no longer hear properly.

The sharp whistles of police sirens outside the mansion, the pounding footsteps of officers entering his once-grand home…
all of it faded into a distant, muffled echo.

And in that silence, Aurther Beatrix took his final breath—
alone, in the house, he destroyed his life to control.

Caser and Mellisa were finally released from detainment.

Samuel’s men escorted them toward the airport, handing them their passports and the details of the next flight to their destination.
They moved through the boarding line quietly.

Then Caser froze, Her eyes locked on a television, the breaking news headline…
Her heartbeat stopped. Her legs rooted to the floor. Her lips parted but no sound came out.

Samuel’s man nudged her lightly, pulling her back from the verge of collapsing.
“Ma’am… Mr. Samuel said if you want to return, he’ll allow it. But you would also be placed under investigation.”

Caser looked down at Mellisa.
The girl’s fragile mental state was crumbling further
Caser swallowed the lump in her throat and took large steps further to board the flight