Chapter 80 PRESUMPTION
\[B&R ELITE HOSPITAL, LORRAINE'S WARD\]
"You are in love with Drexton?"
His eyes were wide with shock, and they hadn't stopped moving from Drex to Lorraine.
"Oops, I've been busted." She smiled and pressed the button behind Drex's neck.
It went shut.
"Lorraine, you—"
"Yes," she snapped. "Everything you heard over the phone is the truth. I had my womb removed just so that I won't get pregnant again. I have to keep myself fit for Drexton, and for the surgery, they are all true. I will be leaving for China next month," she confessed, shamelessly.
Caius could have fallen if not for the wall behind him. His face was still clouded in shock as he stared at the wife whom he had done nothing but love.
Lorraine was the only woman whom he swore to love until death.
He was able to get over a series of temptations from other women only because of his endless love for Lorraine.
He wouldn't deny, he had seen the signs—the way she always defended and stood for Drexton, but he thought she was just being overprotective of him. What he didn't know was that he had been living with a robot like Drexton in his house.
"For how long?" he managed to ask.
Lorraine chuckled. "Since the day he returned to New York. I mean, I didn't expect him to grow so handsome being apart from us. I couldn't stop the obsession, and you know what..." She strode to him and trailed her nails along his chin.
"I never tried to fight it," she whispered.
"How could you?" he muttered.
"What?" she spread out her hands, not looking remorseful. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to see him claiming and obsessing over Ixora. The one that caused him pain. We took him in and have cared for him since he was 11, only for him to protect Ixora as if she's the precious jewel he'd never let go."
"You've gone mad. You have no idea why he's doing the things he does."
"And that's because you refused to tell me!" she snapped. "I kept asking you, and even tried doing my own findings, but found nothing. I stooped so low as to keep an eye on them! If you had told them, my shamelessness would have been limited."
Caius stared at his wife, wondering if she was the same woman he had married. The same woman he loves passionately.
He batted his lids, strengthening his posture, refusing to let any tears fall from his eyes.
He taught the boys not to cry, no matter the situation, he shouldn't cry either.
He let out a broken chuckle. "You are shameless. I should have questioned you the moment I grew suspicious of you, but I didn't. My mistake. And do you know the reason why I didn't want to tell you about his story..." He paused. "Because you are a whore. I met you at a nightclub, stripping. I should have known you'd never change. I took Drexton in as my son, and you fell for a person young enough to be your child."
His voice showed he was deeply hurt, no matter how he tried to show he was unaffected.
"Don't call me that." Lorraine charged towards him and grabbed his collar. "You have no idea the things I've done."
He jerked her hand away and landed a blinding slap across her cheek.
To Lorraine, time froze. She could swear she saw tiny stars and herself dead because of the slap.
Caius just slapped her.
"You destroyed your body, that I know. Or is it how you set the mall on fire?" he smirked, forcefully gripping her chin.
"I might have found out today, but don't be under the impression that Drexton doesn't know. He's not as dumb as you think. And for your mad obsession over Drexton, I'd prefer he fall for Ixora than let you win him. You deserve to suffer, and I'll be the start of it." He pushed her away, and she fell with a loud thud.
She stared at Caius with a shocked expression. She didn't expect this side of him. To even lay his hand on her, but he did.
And is he trying to accept Ixora? Something she'd rather die than agree to.
She took her hand behind Drex.
"I hate you," he spat, glaring at Lorraine.
Before he could turn, she stood with a heavy pant.
"I'm working so hard to have Drexton to myself, and I won't let even my daughter ruin it. Why do you think I'll let you?" She drew out a dagger and rushed to him, aiming for his stomach.
Caius was fast to change his position, and she stabbed the wall.
"You can't kill me that easily." He grabbed her hand and twisted it.
Lorraine let out a scream, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
Suddenly, she smiled. Caius might be stronger, but she's definitely smarter.
"Oh yes, I can." Like that, she sank her manicured nails into his eyes.
Caius groaned, letting go of her.
She used her heels and marched him on his length.
He fell to his knees, with another rippled groan.
She rushed to the fallen dagger and picked it up.
"Goodbye, Caius, my dear husband." She lifted her hands high up in the air and drove the dagger deep into his heart.
"Argh!" He fell to the ground as she twisted the dagger.
The door pushed open, and Clara walked in.
Her eyes widened beyond horror as she let out a horrifying scream.
Lorraine immediately snapped her gaze at her before she could run out.
"Take a step more and have your family pay for it," she threatened.
Clara halted in her strides, shaking visibly.
"A maid who poked her nose." Lorraine removed the knife from Caius' chest, and kept it in her ward rope together with Drex.
She walked to her.
"M... I'm sorry. I... didn't..." she stammered.
"You came from a poor family living in the countryside. You are the breadwinner of your family. Your husband and daughter depend on your salary for food."
"I promise, ma'am, I saw nothing. I won't tell anybody. I-I will take my family and go away, please spare their lives." She rushed her words, hot tears streaking down her cheeks.
"That's more like it." Lorraine smiled and used her eyes to signal the fruit basket.
"Get the knife."
Clara did with trembling hands.
"Now, I want you to stab him in the stomach, and me as well, but in my arm and lower abdomen."
"Ma — I can't do that. I."
"Your morals are more important than your family's life." She took her phone, ready to make a call.
"No ma, please..." she pleaded. "I — I'll do it."
She knelt beside Caius and, just as instructed, she stabbed the already dead Caius in his stomach. Her tears poured out the more as she felt stranded.
"My turn." Lorraine lay on the floor beside Caius.
Clara first stabbed her in her left arm.
Lorraine screamed out while ordering her to do the same to her abdomen.
Clara shook her head tearfully.
"Now!!!"
Clara stabbed her and instantly shifted away with her bloodied body.
"G... get my phone, and call the hospital." She said in her weak and half-conscious state.
"Call the police as well."
\--
\[REALITY\]
Lorraine burst into hysterical laughter as she finished remembering the incident. She traced her finger along her bandaged arm, laughing like a madwoman.
Who'd have thought the almighty Caius would die by her hands? And to think she got away with the crimes so easily.
"Where's my phone?" she muttered and looked around to see it in the drawer.
She stretched out her hand, groaning in between because of the pain.
The things she does just to be with Drexton.
She turned on her phone.
Countless notifications began popping up.
A smile appeared on her lips as she read the new headlines.
"This morning, Clara, the maid responsible for Caius and his wife's death, was found dead. Investigations are still ongoing as the reason for her death is not quite clear. Traces of red lines were found on her neck. Some said she committed suicide, others say someone killed her. One thing the police are sure of is that she died by her handcuffs."
Lorraine's eyes widened at first as she scrolled through the news. Her eyes spotted another one, and that drew her attention.
"The inmates confirmed to have heard her scream at some point in the middle of the night. And that has led to the question: was the attack on Caius' family plotted beforehand, or did she kill herself with the cuffs?"
Lorraine had to drop her phone at this point, racking her brain into action.
Not like she wasn't planning to kill Clara—no one survives after knowing her secret.
But somebody else got to her.
She couldn't have committed suicide because she herself had promised to bail her out and send her out of the city. She was willing to give her family the money, but Clara's death was certain.
Could Drexton have killed her?
She immediately shook off the thought.
Drexton killing her means he'd found out the truth, or he killed her out of anger.
The creaking of the door brought her back to earth.
She blinked repeatedly, forcing tears out of her eyes.
"Bonnie," she sobbed.
Bonnie ran and hugged her.
"M... mum dad, he's... he's," she sniffled, burying her face in her chest.
Lorraine cried harder, wrapping her arms tightly around Bonnie.
The way she was crying, no one would think it was an act. Her acting skills are high.
Despite the drama going on in Lorraine, her head was in a state of mess. Confusion.
Clara's death was troubling her deeply. She hated to admit it, but she was scared.
What if—
Her eyes went to the door, and as if the door had ears, it squeaked open.
The people she least expected to walk in did.
Their steps are slower than normal. Their eyes were unreadable as usual, and she could feel her grip tightening against Bonnie.
They didn't kill Clara. They know nothing. It's only a presumption in my head.
She kept repeating those phrases while her eyes remained on them.
"How are you, Aunt?" Drexton asked, voice firm, maybe concern, but laced with something unknown.