Chapter 25 Confirming Identity
Nicholas agreed to help investigate.
I told Melissa about today's breakthrough and asked her to keep an eye out. I even grabbed a photo from that girl's social media and sent it to her.
Melissa's reply came instantly. [OMG!]
I was still puzzling over that when our chat showed a new video. Just sent by Melissa.
I had this weird feeling the video contained exactly what I needed. I opened it.
The Rosewood estate. Same familiar setting.
In Sabrina's room, three brothers stood around watching her waste away in bed, their faces tight with worry. Andrew walked in with a huge smile on his face.
He went straight to Sabrina's bedside. "Sabby, we found a solution."
Michael jumped in immediately. "Andrew, did you find someone to test the medication for Sabby?"
Andrew nodded. "I did. I got my hands on medical records from various colleges—entrance physicals. Filtered for people with Sabby's blood type, then investigated their family situations."
"There's this girl, around Sabby's age. Orphan. Desperate for money."
Andrew had arranged for a middleman to contact her.
My brow furrowed. I clearly remembered that girl saying the payment was ten thousand dollars per trial. But in the video, Andrew said he'd offered twenty thousand.
That bastard middleman! Just playing telephone and pocketing ten grand for himself.
I filed that away and kept watching.
On screen, Sabrina's expression turned complicated. I smirked bitterly.
Nicholas had told me the Rosewood family's current situation wasn't looking good. Calling them a shell of their former selves would be generous, honestly.
Most of what Andrew made from the company went straight into funding James's research on Sabrina's heart condition. Add to that their battle with Nicholas, plus the money and effort they'd burned trying to partner with DI—profits were still questionable, but their operating funds had taken a massive hit.
Before the Rosewood family adopted Sabrina, she'd had it rough. After her father died and the Roosewoods fell on hard times for a few years, Sabrina had developed an incredibly materialistic streak.
Staying alive? Sure, she could get her brothers to pressure me into helping with that. But money? She couldn't live without it.
Just thinking about how much cash they'd dropped finding someone to test drugs had to be killing her inside.
How did I know? Because I'd caught Sabrina stealing our mother's jewelry multiple times!
At first I thought she just liked it. Then one day I followed her and discovered she was selling it! I'd gotten into a huge fight with my brothers over it.
Little me hadn't been cunning enough—Sabrina turned it around and accused me of stealing the necklace. Andrew had nearly kicked me out of the family.
Meanwhile, Sabrina used that money to buy herself a bunch of pretty dresses. When the brothers asked about them, she claimed I'd given her money and asked her to keep it secret.
Her story made zero sense, but not one person questioned it. Of course, I got another beating.
Things like that happened all the time. Too many incidents to count.
Right now, Sabrina's greed had to be eating her alive, right? I laughed coldly. Then I watched her launch into her performance.
She grabbed Andrew's sleeve. "Andrew, don't spend so much money on me. I'm not worth it."
"I know you all want me to get better, but I don't want you living poorly because of me. We're a family—we barely made it through those hard times together."
Sabrina had finally gotten to live like a rich person. Because I'd run away, they suddenly had this huge expense. Even if her health improved, the brothers wouldn't have any spending money left for her.
That wouldn't do at all.
But to the four brothers, Sabrina's words translated as her preferring death over seeing them suffer.
"Sabby, we can always make more money. But if we lose you, what would we do?" Michael spoke up first.
"Exactly." Jason looked pained. "Sabby, don't worry. You're going to get better, and I'll work hard to make money so you can be the happiest little princess!"
Their reassurances didn't ease Sabrina's mind. Her face showed the right mix of moved and guilty—but I knew better. Inside, she was scoffing at them.
What Michael and Jason earned in a month wouldn't cover a fraction of the cost of one of her dresses! Sure, occasionally they'd have a big payday, but could Sabrina wait? She didn't want to wait even one more second.
On screen, Sabrina's face clouded over with worry. "Mike, Jason, I know you mean well."
Then her tone shifted as she squeezed out some tears. "But I don't want to drag someone else down. You've already done so much for me. Testing drugs is really hard—that's why Catherine... We ignored her for too long."
That calculated pause left so much unsaid, giving people's imaginations free rein.
I let out a cold laugh. Here it comes.
I'd steeled myself, and the video didn't disappoint.
"This is all my fault. If it weren't for me, Catherine wouldn't have turned out this way."
She broke into quiet sobs.
Andrew's brow creased. "Sabby, this isn't your fault."
"Catherine's selfish. Sabby, don't overthink it. Right now the most important thing is getting your health back." Even James chimed in with rare words of comfort.
Michael looked furious. "Sabby, you're in this condition and still defending Catherine!"
"Yeah, Sabby, you're too kind-hearted. Catherine doesn't deserve you speaking up for her."
With that sanctimonious speech, Sabrina successfully manipulated all four brothers. My stomach churned. Absolutely disgusting.
"Sabby, you think about everyone else—about Catherine. Why won't you think about yourself?" Andrew said helplessly.
He held Sabrina's hand. "I promised the tester generous compensation. This is a business transaction, a fair exchange. Don't put so much psychological pressure on yourself."
"Andrew, why isn't Sabrina our real sister?" James said icily.
"Sabby's so kind. And Catherine? Unreasonable, selfish. How did we end up with a sister like her?"
Michael chimed in agreement. For once, Jason stayed quiet, just watching Sabrina with concern.
Hearing they still planned to spend her money made Sabrina anxious as hell. She kept trying to redirect the conversation to me.
"Don't talk about Catherine like that. I'm the outsider here."
"Catherine must hate me, right? I thought since we shared a blood type, we'd understand each other. Ha... I was being naive."
That little speech earned Sabrina another round of comfort from the Rosewood brothers.
After hearing enough of this, my heart had gone numb. I calmly closed the video and organized the information in my head.
Seeing I hadn't replied for a while, Melissa had sent several more messages trying to comfort me. I responded to her last one.
[Cate, seems like Sabrina still hasn't given up on making you her drug tester. Be careful, okay? Maybe hire a bodyguard!]
[Don't worry, I'll protect myself.]
I had Nicholas watching my back.