Chapter 209 He Is Using You as a Tool
She slowly lowered her hand, straightened her back, and looked at Alexander with a proud, contemptuous gaze.
"But you don't need to say these meaningless things to me anymore. Now that you know the truth, go and take your revenge. I don't have time to waste here. Linus is still waiting for me on the other side."
However, Alexander did not move.
After a long silence, he suddenly asked a question that caught Edith off guard.
"Back then at the dock, why did you have to kill Caroline? Was it just to vent your anger?"
Edith's eyes flew open, a flash of surprise crossing them.
But soon, she smiled again.
"Since we've come to this point, there is no need to hide it anymore. Anger? Of course there was. But I had also designed a very thorough plan. After Caroline died, I would kneel before you as her heartbroken sister, begging you to find out the truth and avenge my tragically dead sister. With your blind devotion to me at the time and your capabilities, you would definitely agree, then step by step walk into the trap Linus carefully arranged for you, and eventually die at his hands."
At this point, Edith's eyes turned vicious, her face gradually showing a poisonous expression.
"What a shame—I never expected Caroline would be so tough and actually survive. Even more unexpected was that idiot Celeste would interfere. The people she bribed ran into the people I arranged, the scene got out of control. Not only did I fail to kill Caroline, but I got injured myself, went through an explosion, and became what I am now. Linus's plan was completely ruined, and he could only fake my death and escape overseas with me."
She suddenly turned her head, staring at Alexander with eyes full of malice.
"What I expected even less was that, Alexander, your foolish love for me could last so long. You loved me so much that you tortured Caroline until she wished she was dead. Only after she died did you realize your true love was actually her. That's karma. Complete karma. You deserve it. You all deserve it."
Alexander showed no reaction to her curses, just continued questioning.
"Why did it have to be Caroline to lure me in?"
Edith froze for a moment, then let out a short laugh and answered without hesitation.
"No reason. I just found her unpleasant, that's all."
She suddenly stepped forward several paces, the hatred in her eyes almost overflowing.
"Why could she seem so quiet normally, yet do everything so well, so perfectly? While I was always in her shadow—my grades were not as good as hers, and even though we had the same face, people said she was more beautiful than me."
"Why did I have to act like a performer, pretending to be sunny, cheerful, lively, and cute just to get people's attention and affection? I never wanted to be like that. I hate pretending. I was exhausted to the extreme. Only Linus... only he saw through me. He understood the darkness and resentment in my heart. He was willing to accept the real me."
Her emotions grew more intense, her breathing rapid, tears rolling down again.
"But why did you have to compete with Linus? Why did you have to push him into a corner? Why did you have to kill him? You destroyed the only light in my life. You destroyed the only person who understood me."
She screamed, struggling again, trying to lunge at Alexander, but he held her down firmly, leaving her unable to move.
Edith shouted until she was exhausted, finally collapsing again.
She closed her eyes, tears sliding down silently, her voice low.
"I'm done talking. Kill me and let me go be with Linus. Please."
Alexander suddenly spoke. "Linus isn't dead."
Edith's sobbing stopped instantly.
Her eyes flew open, and those eyes that had lost all hope suddenly lit up the moment she heard Linus was not dead.
She stared at Alexander intently, her lips trembling as she demanded, "You... what did you say? Linus isn't dead? Where is he? What did you do to him?"
"He barely survived that disaster," Alexander said coldly.
"But from the moment he sent you to that island, he never planned to bring you back."
"Impossible!"
Edith screamed almost without thinking.
"Alexander! You're lying! Linus would never abandon me!"
She shook her head desperately, covering her ears, unwilling to hear Alexander's voice.
However, the panicked expression on her face clearly revealed that she had already guessed the truth but had been deceiving herself all along.
"He wouldn't. He promised me. He said he would take me away. He said once this was all over, we would go somewhere no one knows us and start fresh. You're lying. You just want to see me in pain, see me break down. Alexander, you despicable coward. You couldn't kill Linus, so you're torturing me with these lies."
"Whether I'm lying or not, you know very well, Edith. You just don't want to admit it."
Alexander stepped forward, looking down at her from above.
"Although Linus's power isn't what it used to be, he's been patient for years and has accumulated considerable resources and manpower in secret. At that time, all my attention was on Caroline. She had just given birth, her body was weak, her mental state unstable, and I still had to deal with my father. The pressure from all sides left me unable to focus."
His gaze fell on Edith like a blade, as if trying to see through her heart that was trembling violently with fear.
"If I hadn't been a split second faster than Linus in that shootout, I would be the one lying there, blown to pieces. And Linus would have taken my corpse to the Hamilton family to announce my defeat and force them to choose sides again. If he dared to come back, he must have had a good chance of winning and the ability to arrange for people to meet him and rescue you."
Edith's breathing suddenly stopped, her lips trembling as she looked at Alexander.
"Shut up."
But Alexander continued. "Even if we assume Linus is now in my hands as a prisoner, the loyalists he's cultivated over the years could not have all disappeared overnight. He was able to arrange for people to approach the island right under my nose and execute the explosion precisely. This kind of capability and infiltration is enough for him to have arranged people and an escape route to meet you in advance."
He leaned down slightly, moving closer to Edith.
"Bottom line, Edith—he's been using you as a weapon from the start."
"Whether or not you succeeded in killing Caroline, the moment I found out you were still alive, I would fall into chaos. For him, if he could take the chance to kill me, that would be the best outcome. If I managed to escape, he would use the time while I was hunting you to deliver a fatal blow. Even if that failed, he would have time to arrange his retreat. You were just a target to draw fire—whether you lived or died had nothing to do with him."