Hiding Behind Her Superficiality by Kyla Olson

Chapter 556

Chapter 556

Chapter 556 Took His Own Life

“As long as I promise you, you’ll let her go, right?”

Arthur nodded, appearing honest and trustworthy. “Of course. As long as you’re willing to promise me, I will listen to you and release her.”

“Then let me take you upstairs to sign the contract.”

“Why are we going upstairs to sign the contract? Just print out the contract and bring it down.” Arthur became impatient and his tone was aggressive with a hint of anger.

Everyone did not notice that Jethro, who was being low-key, had quietly moved behind him, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Callum pretended not to notice and continued to calmly ask him, “Can we negotiate? You release her first, and then I will go to the company to give you the transfer of shares contract.”

“Why should I trust you? What if you go back on your word after I release her?” Arthur was not stupid and knew that this was just a trick to deceive him.

“But the transfer of the CEO position is not that easy; it requires the entire Winthrop Family to vote and decide.”

Arthur didn’t care about those things, and his smile was vicious as he said, “That’s your own business. As the CEO, I’m sure you’re smart and can definitely make these things happen.”

Just as he finished speaking, Jethro, who had been silent, suddenly rushed forward, aiming to knock the knife out of Arthur’s hand. Even though Arthur’s reaction was fast, he was still one step too slow. He watched the knife fall to the ground and was momentarily distracted. At that moment, Elspeth bent

her arm and used her elbow to hit him hard in the abdomen. This was one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body, which her self-defense trainer had emphasized before.

Sure enough, Arthur bent over in pain and groaned. Elspeth took advantage of this to run toward Callum. Feeling the warmth of his embrace, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Callum held her tightly, savoring the feeling of reclaiming something he had lost. He was determined not to be careless again and positioned himself protectively in front of Elspeth. Meanwhile, Jethro had already withdrawn, and the rest of the group watched Arthur’s contorted expression. All of them had different thoughts.

In the end, it was Blake who said, “Arthur, turn back.”

With a hopeless look in his eyes, Arthur gazed at the people before him, though deep down he knew his heart had already died. At this moment, he was already beyond redemption, so how could he turn back?

“I can’t turn back anymore.”

“No, you can turn back. You can surrender yourself and apologize to Max and Callum. I believe they will forgive you eventually.” Despite everything, Blake still clung to the hope that Arthur could change for the better, as long as he was willing to do so.

“What’s the use of telling him all of this? How could he possibly change? To him, he’s never wrong.” Edmund knew Arthur better than anyone else. Arthur was an extremely selfish and twisted person with a pathological mindset. It was a waste of breath to talk to him. This naturally reached Arthur’s ears. He chuckled, picked up the knife from the ground, and played with it in his hand. There was a hint of pride in his smile as if he had never lost.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’ve never done anything wrong.”

Just when everyone thought he was going to hurt someone, he suddenly stabbed himself in the chest. When blood spurted out, everyone panicked.

No one expected that he would end his life in this way. Arthur had studied medicine and knew where to strike to ensure a sure death. With too much blood loss, even if an ambulance arrived, he couldn’t be saved. They watched in horror as Arthur collapsed onto the pool of blood beneath him, his eyes remaining wide open.

Arthur’s gaze swept past Callum and landed on Elspeth. He curled his lips and spoke weakly, his voice almost inaudible. “Elspeth, even in death, I want you to remember me.”

Elspeth didn’t understand what he meant; she only saw his eyes slowly close and finally, he could no longer speak.

Arthur was dead. On such a beautiful spring afternoon, he died in Winthrop Group.

The blaring sirens of police and ambulance echoed in the background as a crowd rushed in, setting up the police tape and administering first aid. The scene became a blur of activity, with only Elspeth and Callum standing motionless like statues. Elspeth couldn’t help but think that Arthur must have known today was going to end in tragedy, which was why he had a knife with him.

Arthur was a germaphobe, so he carried a sterilized surgical knife. It wasn’t until a police officer came over to persuade the two of them to leave that Elspeth finally looked up and saw Callum’s face.

Callum didn’t look relieved as expected. Instead, his gaze became even deeper. “Let’s go out,” he said.

“Okay.”

The two of them walked out without looking back.

Arthur had already been buried for a month when Elspeth suddenly received a letter and a package signed by Arthur. The package was large and heavy, and she didn’t know what was inside. She planned to throw it away, but she changed her mind at the last minute.

Elspeth opened the letter first. There was only one line written on it: “Remember to open the package.”

Elspeth put the letter aside and opened the package. To her surprise, it was filled with letters and photos. She picked up the first one and read it in detail. It was about the first time she met Arthur. When she was in her teens, she saved a chubby little boy.

She picked up the second letter, then the third… Without exception, each letter recorded how they met, how they got to know each other, and how they became familiar with each other. Each letter was accompanied by a photo, and almost every experience was recorded with photos. There were professionally taken and edited photos, as well as blurry ones taken casually. It was obvious that Arthur had put in a lot of effort. Elspeth couldn’t describe what she was feeling as she looked at these things. She could almost imagine how Arthur took these photos and packaged them to send to her.

To be honest, this behavior was somewhat pathological, but Arthur was indeed a sick person. He couldn’t come back to life, and there was no point in blaming him at this point. However, she was inexplicably a little sad. In the end, she decided to burn all of these things. She packaged them up and took them to an open area to burn them. As the flames rose, she vaguely saw Arthur’s face having a gentlemanly smile, but the image was fleeting.

As she watched the fire burn, she thought about the last letter that contained the line, “Elspeth, I know I was wrong, but if I had been sincere to you from the beginning, would you have fallen in love with me?”

She didn’t know if she would have fallen in love with him, but she knew that she would never be able to tell him her answer.