While the two brothers talked downstairs, Rosalind—who had heard Callum’s sports car pull in earlier—quietly opened her door and slipped over to the stair landing to listen.
Broderick told Callum about Rosalind forging the formula.
Callum did not think it was serious enough to make such a fuss over.
He even defended her.
“Rosalind was trying to do something good for the Weston family.
She rushed it and made a mistake, that’s all.
Give her a talking-to and let it go.
Don’t forget how much she’s done for us.”
Broderick looked at him.
“Couldn’t the same be said of Elara?”
The moment Callum remembered the slap, his expression hardened.
“Why are you bringing her up again?”
Broderick pressed his lips together, then said, “Alexander’s condition isn’t looking good.”
Callum’s anger vanished.
He straightened, alarm flashing across his face.
“What happened?
Didn’t Rosalind bring in that specialist?
Wasn’t the new treatment supposed to help Alexander?”
“It didn’t.” Broderick exhaled, picked up his wine, and took a long drink.
“Genevieve Crane’s treatment didn’t help Alexander.
He went critical today.
The latest tests show he’s in much worse shape than he was when he was taking the medicine Elara gave him.”
Callum froze.
“You’re saying the doctor Rosalind found couldn’t help him?”
Rosalind’s stomach dropped.
Anger at Genevieve flared almost immediately.
Genevieve had been praised as one of the capital’s youngest and most promising doctors, and Rosalind had spent weeks trying to win her over before she finally agreed to treat Alexander.
Now his condition was even worse.
Broderick could not stop thinking about what had happened earlier.
Genevieve had failed to recognize the fake formula, while Elara had seen through it immediately.
For the first time, he found himself wondering, “Was I wrong about Elara?”
Callum still hadn’t caught up.
“Wrong her about what?”
Broderick lowered his eyes.
“Think about it.
The medicine Elara gave Alexander made him cough up black blood, but his condition never deteriorated.
He could still live almost normally.
We changed his medication, and in barely any time at all, he’s ended up in critical condition.”
The timing was impossible to ignore.
Alexander had begun getting worse only after Rosalind accused Elara of poisoning him and persuaded everyone to change his medication.
Even Callum began to waver.
“Was that really what happened?”
Suddenly, a maid screamed from upstairs, “Ms.
Pryce!
What are you doing?
Put the knife down!”
The shout cut off the conversation.
Both men raced upstairs and found Rosalind sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, tears streaming down her face.
She had a utility knife in one hand and was dragging it toward her arm while a maid desperately tried to stop her.
“Don’t stop me!
This is all my fault!
If I’d never come back to the Weston family, none of this would have happened.
Alexander wouldn’t be getting worse, and Elara wouldn’t have been driven out.
Just let me die!”
Callum rushed forward, snatched the knife away, and pulled her tightly into his arms.
The sight of her shaking like that made his chest ache.
“No one is blaming you.
You were trying to help the family and your brothers.
Stop punishing yourself.”
Callum looked at Broderick.
“Everyone makes mistakes.
If Elara can be forgiven when she gets something wrong, Rosalind can be forgiven too.
She’s our biological sister.”
Broderick remembered how attentive Rosalind had always been to the family, and his anger softened.
He sighed.
“It’s your birthday.
Mom and Dad are already on their way back to celebrate with you.
Don’t do anything like this again.
We love you.”
Rosalind cried harder.
“I’m sorry, Broderick.
I really am.
I’ll learn from Elara.
I’ll ask her to come back and teach me how to make the compounds properly.
She was the one showing me the wrong methods in the lab before, and I followed them.
I should have known better.”
Callum’s expression hardened at once.
“So Elara set you up.
She really went out of her way to make you fail.”
Broderick had a feeling it was not that simple, but he had nothing concrete to challenge Rosalind with.
Then he noticed the red mark on Callum’s face.
“What happened to you?
Did someone hit you?”
Callum nodded, and his temper rose again at the memory.
“I asked Elara to race with me.
I even offered to share the prize money so she’d have something to fall back on if she went back to the countryside.
She turned me down and slapped me.”
Rosalind’s eyes immediately reddened.
She caught Callum’s sleeve and looked anxiously at the mark on his face.
“Does it hurt?
I’ll get something for it.”
Callum softened at once.
“At least you still care about me, Rosie.
Elara can turn down the race if she wants.
With that attitude, she’ll make her own life difficult soon enough.”
Rosalind looked up at him.
“Callum, let me race.
I’ll work harder than ever, and I’ll even give Elara all of my prize money.”
Callum’s expression softened further, his protective instincts winning out again.
“That’s the sister I know.”
A stubborn certainty settled over him.
He refused to believe his team needed Elara to win.
Rosalind was his biological sister; surely the two of them could work together just as well.
This year, he was determined to win the Global Relay Racing Championship with Rosalind.
Once Rosalind had finally calmed down, Broderick remembered the other matter their parents had called about.
“Elara has an engagement with the Merritt family.
They’re coming tomorrow to end it.
Both Elara and Rosalind need to be there.”
Rosalind felt a flicker of satisfaction, but she kept her expression blank and innocent.
“Me?
Why do I need to be there too?”
Broderick frowned.
“Sebastian wants to end his engagement to Elara and marry you instead.
You didn’t know?”
Rosalind’s face fell immediately.
“Broderick, I never planned to marry Sebastian.
He was always upset because of Elara, so I talked to him more and we got a little closer.
That’s all.
I never meant to take my sister’s fiancé away from her.”
As if to prove it, Rosalind pulled out her phone.
“I’ll call him right now and tell him not to end the engagement.
Elara is the one he should marry.”
“Forget it.” Broderick lowered her hand with a sigh.
“You’re the Westons’ biological daughter.
Mom and Dad think you and Sebastian are the better match.
If the two of you agree, they won’t stand in the way.”
Rosalind bit her lip.
“I’ll listen to you.
But I don’t want Elara accusing me of stealing her fiancé.
Let me explain it to her myself.”
Broderick nodded.
“Fine.”
The Weston family was already in decline, and offending the Whitmores had only made their position more precarious.
The Merritts, meanwhile, were doing better than ever.
Rumor had it they had established business ties with the Ashfords, the wealthiest family in Y Country.
A marriage between Rosalind and Sebastian would give the Westons a badly needed alliance.
Elara would be the one left humiliated.
Once the engagement ended, Broderick knew the capital’s social circles would have plenty to say about her.
The day before the Weston family banquet, a group of distinguished visitors arrived at the military compound and went straight to Wesley Drummond’s office.
“I heard you have a blood sample from a young woman named Elara.” The elderly man leading the group had sharp features and a commanding presence.
Despite his composure, urgency edged his voice.