The Blame Game

The Blame Game
POV Celeste Winters

Vivienne and Elena froze, turning toward me with identical expressions of surprise. I kept my hands raised between them.

"Fighting each other isn't going to help Lyanna," I continued, softening my tone. "And it's not going to solve whatever went wrong."

Vivienne's face was streaked with tears. "But she—"

"I know you're terrified for your grandmother," I interrupted gently, touching her arm. "But Elena is also devastated. Look at her—she's shaking."

Elena wrapped her arms around herself, her phone clutched in white-knuckled fingers. Perfect. The more frightened she was, the easier this would be.

I turned to Elena. "You need to trust that the truth will come out. You did your best."

"I did," Elena's voice broke. "I swear I did everything right."

"I believe you," I said firmly, then looked at Vivienne. "And I think Vivienne believes you too, deep down. She's just scared."

Vivienne wiped her face. "I don't understand what happened. Everything was fine this morning."

"The doctors are handling it now," I said soothingly. "And with Dr. Rivers overseeing everything..." I paused deliberately. "With Dr. Rivers personally involved, Lyanna is getting the best care possible. Sage made sure of that when she asked him to arrange the medical team."

I watched both their faces, noting Elena's flinch and Vivienne's jaw tightening.

"Let's sit down," I suggested, gesturing toward the chairs. "We need to think this through logically."

They followed, settling into the uncomfortable hospital chairs with defeated postures. I positioned myself between them, the peacemaker.

Once we were seated, I let a thoughtful frown cross my face. "Elena, your formula—it really was based on proper medical protocols, right?"

"Of course!" Elena leaned forward desperately. "Everything I prescribed is evidence-based and safe. It's all standard nutritional support for stroke recovery."

"That's what I thought," I said, nodding. "You're far too professional to make mistakes." I paused, letting confusion enter my expression. "But if your formula was correct, how did Lyanna's condition deteriorate so suddenly?"

Elena's hands twisted together. "I don't know. Everything should have been fine. I checked for contraindications, interaction risks—"

"Could there have been a problem with the medications themselves?" I asked carefully. "If your formula was perfect, maybe the issue isn't with what you prescribed, but with the actual drugs?"

Vivienne straightened. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe something went wrong with the medications? A contamination during preparation, or..."

I trailed off deliberately, letting the suggestion hang.

"Or someone tampered with them," Elena finished quietly, her eyes widening.

Vivienne leaned forward. "Where did the medications come from?"

"The hospital pharmacy," Elena said, then her expression shifted as she worked through the timeline. "I went to pick them up myself, but when I arrived..."

"What?" I prompted gently.

"Dr. Rivers was there," Elena said slowly. "When he found out the medications were for Lyanna's recovery formula, he insisted on personally inspecting everything before releasing them to me. He said he wanted to ensure quality control for such an important patient."

Vivienne's hands clenched. "Caius Rivers personally handled your medications?"

"He checked every bottle, every label." Elena's voice was growing stronger as realization dawned. "He took them into a private room for nearly twenty minutes. I thought he was just being thorough, but..."

"He could have tampered with them," I said, letting shock and concern color my voice. "He had complete access and enough time to add something or make substitutions."

"But why would he do that?" Elena asked, confusion and fear warring in her expression. "What would he gain from sabotaging my formula?"

"Sage," Vivienne said, her voice cold and certain. "Sage is the one who arranged for Caius to oversee Grandmother's care. She specifically requested him."

Elena's eyes widened with understanding. "She asked him to tamper with my medications?"

"Think about it," Vivienne said, pacing now. "You were doing excellent work with Grandmother. The family was noticing. Sage couldn't stand having another healer getting recognition. So she had her mentor sabotage your formula, create a crisis that she could then swoop in to solve."

"That's..." Elena trailed off, then her expression shifted from doubt to disbelief. "But Dr. Rivers? He's a respected specialist with an international reputation. Would he really risk his entire medical license just to help his niece with some petty family politics?"

Vivienne turned to Elena, her voice dropping to something confidential. "Because they're not actually uncle and niece at all. Sage is Caius's mistress—those titles are just a cover to hide the truth."

Elena's mouth fell open in shock. "What? Are you serious?" Her voice rose slightly before she caught herself and lowered it again. "I've never heard anything about this. How is that even possible?"

"That's true." My voice sounded firm. "Sage is my cousin and my father adopted her when she was a child, I absolutely know what kind of person she is."

"Exactly," Vivienne said bitterly. "She's been playing these games since she arrived. She stole Thorne from me, twisted Marcus around her finger, made my father scold me for her sake—and now she's playing the same tricks all over again!"

She turned to face us fully. "And now she's doing it again. Same pattern. Create a problem, position herself as the solution, eliminate anyone who might challenge her status."

I let shock and reluctant understanding show on my face. "I don't want to believe Sage would go this far. But you're right that Caius had both opportunity and means. And if Sage asked him to do it..."

"Of course she did," Vivienne said. "Why else would she specifically arrange for Caius to take care of Grandmother? She needs everyone in the Ashford family to know that she was the one who saved Lyanna, not Elena. That way Thorne will love her more, and Marcus will trust her even more..."

"And then? No one will ever be able to shake her position in this family."

Elena grabbed my hand desperately, her earlier panic transforming into fierce determination. "We can't let that happen. We have to expose her. People like Sage—people who would poison an innocent woman just to eliminate competition—they belong in prison, not walking around free to manipulate whoever gets in their way."

"Elena's right," Vivienne said, her voice hardening. "If she's willing to go this far now, what will she do next? Who else will she hurt to protect her position?"

I watched them feed off each other's conviction, their fear and anger coalescing into shared purpose. This was exactly what I needed—two allies so convinced of Sage's guilt that they would pursue this conspiracy theory relentlessly, never questioning the narrative I had so carefully planted.