The Ginkgo Trace

The Ginkgo Trace
POV Sage Winters

Caius strode in, his sharp gaze sweeping the frozen tableau. Thorne's fist hovering inches from Drake's face. Jason and Edwin straining to hold him back. Vivienne's tear-streaked, bloodied face. Celeste's carefully arranged concern. Elena watching coldly from the corner.

And me, standing in the center of it all.

"Ah, you're back." Relief flickered across his face before shifting to bewilderment. "How come you didn't return my calls? I sent you messages about—"

He stopped. His medical instincts kicked in, reading the tension like vital signs on a monitor.

His expression hardened. "What's going on here?"

I drew in a deep breath and let a bitter smile curve my lips. "Just some minor family conflicts and a few creative rumors." I turned to Celeste, holding her gaze. "Someone has been telling people that I'm your mistress. That we've been having an affair. That together we poisoned Lyanna's medication."

The color drained from Caius's face.

His jaw clenched, the muscle jumping beneath his skin. When he spoke, his voice came out as a dangerous growl that made even Drake step back. "What?! Who the hell would dare say such a thing?!"

His eyes swept the room like a searchlight. Drake. Vivienne. Celeste. Elena. Edwin. Jason.

No one met his gaze.

The silence stretched taut, broken only by the soft beeping of medical monitors.

Elena moved forward, her steps hesitant.

"Dr. Rivers." Her voice carried both reverence and fear. "I don't believe these rumors, I truly don't, but could you please clarify your relationship with Sage? Just so we can put this matter to rest."

Caius turned his full attention to her.

She took a small, involuntary step back.

His voice was ice-cold and precise. "I am Sage's uncle. Her family. That's all there is to it."

Vivienne let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Her uncle? She's an orphan! She has no family except for Celeste's father, Ronan!" Her voice rose, taking on a shrill quality. "Where would she get an uncle from? You're lying!"

Caius's head turned toward me slowly. "You never told them?"

I met his gaze steadily. "It's my privacy. My personal history isn't something I feel obligated to share with people who have done nothing but judge me." I paused. "Besides, no one ever bothered to ask."

Thorne's hand found mine, his fingers intertwining with mine. "I know everything about Sage's past." His voice carried absolute certainty. "Every painful detail. Every triumph. And none of it involves romantic entanglement with her uncle."

Drake's cold laugh cut through. "Of course you do. She's got you so completely under her spell that you'd believe anything."

I felt Thorne's body tense, his Alpha authority building like storm clouds. I squeezed his hand gently and took a step forward.

If they wanted my story, I would give it to them.

"Since you're so desperate to know, let me tell you exactly what happened." I paused, gathering memories I'd spent years trying to bury. "When I was six years old, Ronan sent me away. He told everyone I was going to stay with relatives in the countryside. But that was a lie."

I saw Jason's expression shift from skepticism to dawning horror.

"There were no relatives. What he sent me to was hell."

Edwin's face went pale.

"The people he left me with weren't family. They were strangers who saw me as free labor. They beat me when I was too slow with chores. Starved me when they felt like it. Locked me in dark rooms for days at a time."

My voice remained steady. Clinical. "I was six years old, and every single day I wondered if I would survive to see seven. No one cared if I lived or died."

Jason's hand came up to cover his mouth.

Edwin took a step toward me, his expression crumbling, but I held up a hand.

"One day, I found a moment when they weren't watching. I ran." My voice softened slightly. "I made it maybe five miles before my body gave out. I collapsed on the side of a road, starving, dehydrated, covered in injuries. I should have died there."

I felt Caius shift beside me.

"Elara was an old woman who ran a small pharmacy. She found me unconscious by the roadside and brought me home. She gave me food, water, medicine. Safety." I paused, emotion threatening to crack my composure. "And when I was strong enough to stand again, she did something I never expected. She went to Ronan's relatives and paid them a monthly sum to let me stay at her pharmacy as an apprentice."

The room was utterly silent.

Even Vivienne had stopped crying.

"Elara taught me everything. She was a master herbalist, knew plants and their properties better than anyone. She taught me to heal, to observe, to think critically." I looked at Caius. "Her daughter, Calla, became my sister. We studied together, grew up together, became family."

I met Caius's eyes, feeling gratitude swell in my chest. "And Caius—Dr. Rivers—is Elara's older brother. When he saw my aptitude for medicine, he began teaching me as well. Advanced techniques, complicated diagnoses. So yes, Caius is my uncle. Not by blood, but by choice. By love. By the family bonds that actually matter."

Jason's voice came out hoarse. "My God, Luna... I had no idea. I'm so sorry—"

Edwin's voice broke. He turned to Vivienne with profound disappointment. "Do you understand now? Do you see what kind of person you've been accusing?"

Vivienne bit her lip, eyes dropping to the floor. But the resentment still burned in her expression.

Celeste's hands clenched into tight fists. When I looked at her directly, jealousy flashed across her face.

Caius's voice rang out with authority. "Everything Sage just told you is the absolute truth. Elara was my sister, the most compassionate and skilled healer I've ever known. Sage is my niece, my student, and someone I'm proud to call family."

Thorne stepped forward. "Sage told me all of this within days of meeting me. She trusted me with her story, her pain, her truth. I know exactly who Elara is and what she means to Sage."

Drake made a dismissive sound. "A convenient story. One that can't be verified. You could have made up the entire thing."

Caius's laugh was sharp and humorless. "By all means, Drake. Please, share with us your alternative explanation."

Drake opened his mouth, then closed it. His jaw worked silently before he turned away.

Caius's demeanor shifted. This was the doctor now, not the angry uncle.

"I came here because I have critical information." He paused, letting the weight settle. "My analysis of Lyanna's bloodwork revealed something troubling. I found traces of ginkgo biloba extract in her system. That's what caused her sudden crisis this morning."

Must be Celeste. No doubt. First Marcus, and now Lyanna, but why did she change her object?

Elena's face went chalk-white. "Ginkgo biloba?! That's not in my formula! I would never use ginkgo biloba, especially not for someone on Lyanna's medication regimen!"

Edwin's voice came out as a roar. "So it's true? She was actually poisoned?!"

Vivienne's composure cracked. "That's impossible! This doesn't make sense!"

A strange calm settled over me. I looked at Drake, at Vivienne, at Elena, and finally at Celeste's carefully blank expression.

"Now do you understand? Everything I said before was true. The poisoning. The lies. The manipulation."

I took a step forward. "Since Vivienne seems unwilling to expose the friend who's been feeding her lies, let me walk everyone through a logical deduction."