Chapter 225: Chapter 225

There used to be a rumor that circulated around about Steven. People said that he was a lunatic who liked collecting animal corpses and putting them in glass cases.

Back then, I hadn’t believed it. But what lay before me shocked me to the core.

There were countless glass cases on the shelves in the basement. Each of the glass cases contained many different types of dead butterflies. They were essentially taxidermied.

I could see butterflies of many colors. There were blue ones, black ones, and colorful ones.

And the glass case at the very bottom of the shelf contained a taxidermied cat. The cat- lying inside the case seemed peaceful.

There were also puppies, snakes, hamsters…

“Scared, are you?” Eason asked. He saw that I had stiffened up and sweat was starting to form on my forehead.

Then, he sneered and continued, “He’s a pervert. He loves turning things he likes into taxidermy and specimens like these and putting them in glass cases. You understand now how Stephanie died, don’t you?”

Eason firmly suspected that Steven was the person who killed me.

I knew Eason had taken on this case to beat Steven at his own game. He was here to find clues.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect murder. As long as what happened to Stephanie was a homicide, there will definitely be clues and evidence to prove it. If that lunatic really did kill someone, I won’t show him any mercy,” Eason said in a solemn tone.

He wanted to lock Steven behind bars himself.

“No way. Steven wouldn’t have killed Stephanie. He said that he loved her…” I muttered softly. I started to feel panic well up inside of me. I couldn’t stop shaking my head.

Eason let out a cold chuckle and replied, “You’re still so naive. Stephany, why do you think I brought you here to see all this? I’ve investigated you before. You’re not beyond saving just yet. But if you keep staying with Steven Lincoln, you’ll die.

“Don’t delude yourself into thinking that imitating Stephanie will make him develop feelings for you.

If he does end up liking you, you’ll be doomed to die at his hand!”

around to leave.

However, Eason managed to grab the back of my collar and forced me to take a closer look at the butterflies in glass cases.

He said, “Do you know how these taxidermy animals and insects are made? They were trapped in these glass cases before they eventually died. I followed that lunatic here out of curiosity when I was 15. Do you know what he was doing?

“He trapped a butterfly in one of these glass cases and watched it flap its wings desperately to escape. The excitement and thrill in that lunatic’s eyes terrified me!”

Eason had been truly frightened by Steven at the time.

“He kept going on about how he had succeeded. He had just trapped an insect he liked in a glass case to death. Was that really something worth celebrating?” Eason continued. He couldn’t understand Steven, nor could he forgive and forget.

“He’s nothing but a lunatic…” Eason said with a low voice.

“I’m not going to believe you,” I replied.

Then, I forcefully pushed Eason away from me and turned to run.

But just as I ran out of the basement, a person wielding a knife suddenly charged at me.

I let out a scream and shut my eyes. I figured I was going to die again. However, I ended in an embrace that felt secure and familiar.

up Soon after that, I could smell the metallic scent of blood.”

“Stop right there!” Eason rushed out to tackle the assailant to the ground when he saw that someone was attacking me.

I opened my eyes while trembling and met Steven’s worried gaze.

“Stephie…” Steven looked at me with a panicked gaze. He cupped my face with his hands and looked into my eyes as he asked, “Are you hurt?”

At that moment, I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the immense shock. I burst into aggrieved tears.

Steven hugged me tightly in a hurry. His arms wrapped around me protectively.

“Fucking hell…” Eason, who was restraining the assailant, cursed with irritation and guilt in his tone, “Stop being all lovey–dovey with each other. You’re injured, you lunatio..

Only then did Steven realize that he was hurt. He lowered his head to look down at the side of his stomach, which was soaked in crimson blood.

In order to protect me, he ended up getting stabbed. Even so, Steven seemed to feel no pain at all.

My eyes redirected toward his wound. I panicked and tried to press down on it with my hands. “Steve, does it hurt? Come on, we have to get you to the hospital right now.”

Instead of worrying about his own injury, Steven seemed more concerned about my wellbeing.

He covered his wound with one hand and held me close with the other.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to be scared. The knife didn’t hit anything vital, and the stab wound isn’t very deep. The bleeding is not severe either, so the police and ambulance will arrive before I faint.”