Chapter 26 I Want You to Be Happy
Melissa also shared another interesting tidbit with me.
"Catherine, I noticed Sabrina keeps sneaking into Michael's studio and Jason's photography room."
"What's she doing in there?"
Confusion washed over me. I tried digging through my past life memories for answers, but came up empty. In that life, after I started donating blood to Sabrina, my health had spiraled downward fast. James would give me medication to keep me alive. It wasn't like I didn't tell them I was suffering.
What they'd said was:
"Catherine, be good. Just hang in there a little longer. Sabby will be cured soon."
"This is the price for killing Mom and Dad and Uncle Herman. Catherine, this is what you owe Sabby. It's your karma."
"Suffering? Faking illness again. You pulled this stunt as a kid, and you're still at it. Catherine, you're so childish."
"Can you not be so difficult? Sabby's suffering a thousand times worse than you, and she never cries or throws tantrums. Catherine, can't you be more sensible?"
My heart felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand tiny needles.
On the phone, Melissa's voice turned mysterious as she continued. "Guess what she's up to?"
"Cate, you'll never believe this—Sabrina's been secretly getting Michael's paintings appraised!"
"And she's listing Jason's equipment on resale sites."
"How desperate for money is she? Going after brothers who worship the ground she walks on."
Melissa sounded incredulous. I pushed down the emotions churning inside me. "She only cares about herself."
Melissa hummed in agreement. But the tide of feelings wasn't done with me yet.
I closed my eyes. Everything that had happened since my rebirth played through my mind like a highlight reel. Every successful stand against the Rosewood family had given me strength. I wasn't afraid of them. Without them, I could live better. I was Catherine—not Sabrina's personal blood bank.
After hanging up with Melissa, I spent a long time pulling myself together. Memories from my past life became stepping stones, over and over, hardening my resolve for revenge.
Andrew, James, Michael, Jason—this time around, I'm the one walking away from you.
My apartment doorbell chimed twice. A message from Nicholas popped up on my phone. [Catherine, got it.]
I let Nicholas in, and he made himself comfortable on the couch.
"It's complicated."
Nicholas handed me a file with detailed information about the girl. Daisy Smith. Orphan.
My chest tightened.
"Give me the full story."
Nicholas let out a heavy sigh. "Daisy's mother was from out of town—trafficked and forced to have a baby. She was sharp, though. Once Daisy was old enough to understand, her mother worked with the police to raid that village."
"The villagers fought back hard. They all died. Only Daisy survived."
"She became an orphan. After she turned eighteen, the guy who'd done business with that village tracked her down. Wanted to pull her into his operation."
I was lost for a moment, but finally caught the thread.
"So Daisy needs money fast to get away?"
Nicholas nodded. "She got accepted to a prestigious university overseas. If she can study abroad, she'll be out of reach."
But my eyes stayed glued to the documents. Nicholas had kept it brief. In reality, that village had been mixed up in the organ trade.
And the reason this guy wouldn't let her go? The villagers had racked up massive debts. The boss had given Daisy two options—either donate all her organs while she was still young and they were viable, or work off the debt.
The debt with compounding interest was impossible for her to handle. Right when a foreign school offered her a way out, she wanted to scrape together money fast and run. Unfortunately, she'd stumbled into the Rosewood family instead.
I filled Nicholas in on the middleman pocketing half the payment.
Nicholas pulled out another file. "Already verified—Daisy's the test subject the Rosewood family recruited."
The file included Daisy's medical exam results and her chat logs with the intermediary.
My blood felt like ice in my veins.
"Nicholas, do you think I should still help her?"
If I helped Daisy, I might bring that boss's wrath down on myself. The Rosewood family situation might not even get resolved, and I'd be shoving myself into an even more dangerous corner. Could I really handle all of this?
Nicholas looked almost proud. "Catherine, you're thinking clearly."
The first rule of helping anyone was keeping yourself safe.
Dejection crept over me. Living a second life, and aside from refusing to be Sabrina's blood bag, what had I actually accomplished?
Nicholas's voice cut through my thoughts. "Catherine, are you giving up?"
Silence stretched between us. If Daisy fell into the Rosewood family's clutches, would she really survive long enough to take that money and leave the country?
The memory of being thrown out of the Rosewood estate in my past life, body broken and failing, flashed before my eyes. If it were Daisy, she'd die faster and suffer worse.
Could I really just stand by and do nothing?
"Nicholas, if I help Daisy, you'll get dragged into this too. What would you choose?"
I lobbed the question his way. Deep down, a secret hope flickered to life.
Nicholas was a businessman. Would he do something that hurt his own interests?
Because of the Rosewood family, I'd stopped believing in genuine feelings. Nicholas, this is a little test. Can you pass?
Meeting my gaze, Nicholas fell quiet, lost in thought.
After a while, he answered firmly.
"Catherine, I'm not afraid of danger."
Nicholas's words hit like a stone dropping into the still pond of my heart, sending ripples spreading outward.
Heat pricked behind my eyes.
"If you're not scared, then neither am I!"
We decided to help Daisy. Once she escaped the Rosewood family's grip, we'd get her out of the country. As for the boss lurking in her past, Nicholas had already dispatched people to track his movements the moment he'd dug up the information.
Turned out he'd already made his choice.
After Nicholas left, I reached out to Daisy.
"Has the buyer contacted you lately?"
"I'm sending you some photos. If you run into any of these people, you need to tell me immediately."
I fired off the Rosewood family members' information, rambling through message after message, drilling it into her head not to let them sweet-talk her.
Daisy didn't reply until late. I worried I'd annoyed her. Reading her message, relief flooded through me.
[Miss, should I just turn them down?]
She was already wavering. Thinking of other scenarios, I quickly shut that down.
"Don't do anything rash yet. What if they just grab you by force?"
My words clearly freaked Daisy out. She called me, crying.
I rushed to calm her down. That's when I learned that after our first conversation, Daisy had done her own research. She'd discovered the legitimate drug testing process matched exactly what I'd described. The unease had been eating at her ever since.
She'd also dug up tons of information online. Plenty of people had talked about the dangers of testing medications—risks way worse than what I'd even mentioned.
"Miss, I don't want to die."