Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
However, to Casey, this scene appeared profoundly absurd. A mask!
Davey and his mask!
“How does it feel?” Davey inquired with a knowing tone. He intended for her to relive those harrowing years, yet now he posed the question “how does it feel” as if he were a pitifully merciful figure.
Casey’s teeth audibly clenched, longing to consume his flesh and blood. “It should be you experiencing something,” she uttered through gritted teeth.
“Davey, you murdered my parents solely to imprint this into my mind, didn’t you?” she asked sarcastically. “Certainly, I remember it. You’re the individual responsible for my parents’ demise, and I’ll never forget it.”
After masquerading as an innocent fool for so long, Casey could finally unleash her hatred without inhibition, no longer compelled to conceal it. She fervently wished for Davey’s demise a thousand times!
Davey’s lips subtly contorted downward. Evidently, that was not his intent. He desired for Casey to recollect it was him who had supported her during those dark times when her parents died. He aimed for her to acknowledge that she couldn’t exist without him.
Davey proceeded to untie her ropes.
In truth, at this juncture, Casey lacked the strength to resist.
Davey had merely bound her hands and obscured her vision to acquaint her with the sensation of darkness. He regarded her tenderly and remarked, “Casey, you’ve always been too impulsive, unable to recognize that I’m acting in your best interests.”
Casey nearly succumbed to laughter. Gazing at his hypocritical countenance, she questioned, “Are you suggesting that you murdered my parents for my benefit?”
“Indeed. They couldn’t provide you with any strength, only suffering. I was merely helping you.” Davey slid a report across the table, stating, “You’re unaware, but both your parents were battling cancer at the time, their lives already fleeting. I acted only to spare you the agony of their passing.”
Casey’s gaze was fixed on the yellowed medical report, the faded print revealing the physician’s name, Isaac Nguyen. This doctor had treated her family, but the report’s validity was in question.
Davey knocked over a stack of old letters, saying, “These are Hutton’s last words to you. He wrote these eighteen letters for you, knowing his time was limited. He finished them just before the tragedy occurred.”
With trembling hands, Casey opened the letters, and the familiar scrawl of her father’s handwriting leapt out at her. Every word, every sentence, revealed his anguish at leaving her behind and his profound worries for her well-being.
Hutton wasn’t worried about himself, but about Casey’s future. He feared who would care for her, if anyone would take advantage of her kindness, and who would keep her safe.
Casey devoured the letters, tears streaming down her face as she read, until she was consumed by racking sobs, her grief threatening to engulf her. The grief spread like a dark stain, seeping deeper into her soul.
Davey, not fully grasping the depth of her sorrow, offered an insensitive remark. “You should find comfort in knowing they passed away peacefully. After all, your mother was spared the burden of knowing she had cancer until the very end.”
Casey’s gaze fell upon Davey with a mix of shock and disgust, her eyes wide with incredulity as if beholding a soulless creature devoid of empathy. “How dare you claim you ended their lives to spare them suffering, yet expect me to be thankful for your twisted mercy?”
“I took that pain upon myself, to spare you the agony of their loss. I was helping you!” Davey declared, his eyes narrowed.
“Ahhh!” Casey’s composure shattered, and she could no longer contain her anguish. She felt a crushing guilt. Her parents’ fate was her fault. If only she had kept her distance from Davey, they wouldn’t have been murdered by him. His twisted “help” was a direct result of her involvement with him.
Even if her parents had been sick, at least she would have had the chance to say goodbye, to hold them one last time.
She could have spent those precious moments by their side, helping them tick off their final bucket list, creating cherished memories, instead of being torn away from them in such a sudden and cruel manner. However, Davey’s murder changed everything. They left without a goodbye, leaving only regret that would last a lifetime.
“Casey, you’re not strong enough. I was honest with you, but even after all this time, you still can’t face the truth,” Davey sneered.
Casey retreated, her eyes fixed on him with a mix of fear and revulsion, whispering, “You’re not human, Davey. You’re a monster.”
Hearing that, he loomed over her, his voice dripping with false sincerity. “Casey, I did it all for you, to protect you. Why can’t you see that?”
He seemed quite troubled.
Casey’s heart skipped a beat as she spotted a figure sitting silently in the chair behind the glass partition.
That person… That was her doctor, Jimena!
Jimena’s lifeless body was frozen in a silent scream, her eyes wide with a vacant stare. Her face and body told a horrific story of unbearable suffering in her final moments.
“Ah!” Casey screamed as she pointed at the glass.
Davey turned back, his expression indifferent, and said, “That doctor was an error on my part. I didn’t thoroughly investigate her character.”
“You!” Casey’s throat tightened in a painful grip, her voice frozen in her constricted airway, leaving her unable to utter a word. Fear overwhelmed her, threatening to take over.
Casey’s body wracked with pain as she realized Davey would brutally destroy every single person around her.
“You should have kept her out of this. But her greed sealed her fate. That sapphire pendant has become a permanent accessory, a deadly souvenir from me to her,” Davey said lightly. He enjoyed Casey’s fear, taking pleasure in her suffering. He sought to instill a deep-seated fear in her, ensuring she’d be too terrified to ever attempt escape again.
The mention of the sapphire pendant and the gruesome sight of Jimena’s mutilated mouth sparked a horrific realization in Casey.
A violent wave of nausea hit her like a ton of bricks, leaving her reeling. She convulsed in a violent fit of vomiting, spewing a torrent of acidic liquid laced with blood, her body wracked in agony.
But Davey’s cruelty was far from over. He knew that mental anguish would inflict a deeper and more enduring scar than physical brutality, and he was determined to exploit this to the fullest. He sought to etch a lasting memory, a constant reminder of the consequences, to ensure Casey would never again dare to cross him.
His thin lips twisted into a cruel smile as he said, “Erick, your precious son. Your love for him wasn’t in vain. He swiftly hunted down Jimena. But alas, by the time he found her, she was already gone, silenced forever.”
“Don’t you dare harm him!” Casey grabbed Davey’s collar, her eyes flashing with anger. “Don’t touch him! I’ll kill you if you try!”
But her bravery was short-lived, as Davey quickly subdued her, pinning her to the ground with ease.
Davey pressed on, his words dripping with cruelty, “Because he searched for Jimena to locate you, he took a bullet.”
Casey’s voice froze all of a sudden, her screams trapped by horror and despair.
Her world shattered, leaving her with nothing but ruins. Davey had brutally murdered her parents, exploiting their illness. Jimena was murdered for delivering messages for her, caught in the crossfire of a deadly game. Erick laid critically wounded on his search of her whereabouts, his life teetering on the edge of oblivion.
The innocent people she loved, who had selflessly tried to support her, had all been unjustly punished by Davey, their lives ravaged by the cruel consequences. Casey was consumed by desperation and grief.
Her heart was shattered into a million pieces.
“It’s all my fault,” she thought, consumed by guilt and self—blame.
“They suffered because of me.”
She curled up into a tight ball, as if trying to physically contain the anguish that threatened to consume her. But it couldn’t.
The pain came from deep within her, a constant reminder of her own self-hatred. Yes. She was consumed by self-loathing, feeling like a toxic presence that didn’t deserve to exist. She felt utterly unworthy of life itself.
Davey stood up and said, “Casey, with time, you’ll figure out what’s right and wrong, and regret what you’ve done.”
Casey’s eyes went blank as she whispered, “It’s all my fault, I.”
She barely whispered, “I deserve to die.”
But before Davey could react, a sickening “plop” sound echoed through the air, and blood began to pour from the corners of her mouth. It was like a faucet that was stuck open and couldn’t be shut off.
Davey’s eyes widened in terror as he dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around Casey in a desperate embrace, and screaming her name, “Casey!”
But Casey in his arms was still and silent. She bit down on her own tongue, choosing death over captivity.
After a deafening silence, Davey scooped Casey up and sprinted out of the room.
This was the second time his heart had been gripped by terror. The last time was when Casey had attempted to take her own life by jumping off the balcony.
Casey’s Limp body hung in Davey’s arms, her eyes closed, looking Like a broken doll.
“Casey, no… Please don’t leave me! Say something, anything!”
Davey’s voice trembled with anguish. He had never felt fear like this before, a dread that gripped his heart.
On the third day, Erick regained consciousness.
Just as Stefan had forewarned, the assailant’s intention was to terrorize, not kill. The attack was a thinly veiled warning. Back off from digging deeper, or they would face the devastating consequences.
But Erick was secretly delighted, as it meant they were getting closer to the truth. The hope of finding Casey grew stronger by the minute.
Audrey noticed her brother’s intense focus on unraveling Jimena’s connections and gently encouraged him to take a break and have some rest.
Considering the severity of the injury, Audrey reckoned that even with optimal care, a full recovery would be a lengthy process, possibly requiring up to three months.
Erick maintained an outward appearance of attentiveness, but his true focus lay in the ongoing dialogue with Stefan.
Their inquiry shifted to the esteemed aristocratic families Jimena had been acquainted with, and after meticulous scrutiny, their suspicions zeroed in on Davey as a person of interest.
They had no idea about the secret connection between Davey and Casey.
Erick’s curiosity prompted him to reach out to his father, and after a tense phone call, the silence was finally broken, unveiling a long hidden truth that had been waiting to be told.
As the truth poured out, Audrey and Erick were stunned into silence.
It turned out that Davey had a profoundly intricate history with their mother.
Given the circumstances, the connection between Davey and Casey’s disappearance was undeniable. It was entirely possible that, at this very moment, Casey was being secretly harbored by Davey in the secluded town of Aurora.
As soon as this possibility dawned on Audrey and Erick, they were ecstatic. They were finally close to reuniting with their mother.
Yet, their joy was short-lived, as the harsh reality set in. How could they possibly search Davey’s villa?
Aurora was a unique place, and even in Ardlens, the law was clear.