Chapter 33 Miracle Drug
Blake and Nicholas had my back completely. Last time Sabrina managed to cause trouble at the office was because the receptionist checked and saw I was just an intern, so they let her through.
After the Rosewood family's scandal broke, Blake, always thinking ahead, gave strict instructions that anyone looking for me needed to be transferred to him first. Just yesterday, Blake had another heated argument with Michael and literally cursed him out of the building.
Michael and Jason got smart about it. Instead of waiting downstairs at my apartment, they snuck in when other residents entered, thinking they could ambush me at my door with no way out. Too bad Nicholas had the foresight to station bodyguards in the stairwell.
After wasting an entire day, the two slunk back to the Rosewood house empty-handed. When I filled Melissa in on everything, she laughed so hard she nearly fell over. Her mood was infectious—I felt absolutely delighted.
"Lisa, don't get too cocky."
Melissa didn't tone it down one bit. "Cate, are they part of a circus? Total clowns!"
She cracked me up. And honestly? She wasn't wrong. Online buzz about the Rosewood family hadn't died down at all. They wanted to confront me but couldn't even get close. Michael got verbally destroyed multiple times. Oh, and the beatings. Those happened too.
Melissa threw in updates about Sabrina while she was at it.
"That afternoon after they brought Daisy to the Rosewood house, Sabrina went back to the hospital to wait for new treatment. But when none of the brothers showed up, she called home and found out what happened." Her tone dripped with schadenfreude. "The auction was already Sabrina sneaking out when her condition improved. When she heard the whole family got arrested, she literally had a relapse from the stress! If James didn't have serious clout at the hospital and arrange for nurses to look after her, she probably would've died."
Melissa suddenly added, "Cate, Sabrina must absolutely despise you by now, right?"
I caught the teasing in her voice and shrugged it off. "It's not like she started hating me today."
"True that."
I smiled. I could pretty much guess what was going through Sabrina's head. Not only had I refused to be her obedient test subject and save them money, I'd also snatched away the replacement they'd found. That meant their clinical trials would keep getting delayed.
The longer the delay, the more she'd suffer during her episodes without effective treatment. Worst of all? The Rosewood family might be broke now. Andrew had to compensate his business partners for their losses. The other three brothers had to throw money at damage control for the PR disaster.
Where would they find spare cash for her treatment? Of course Sabrina hated me. She didn't want to die. But wasn't this exactly what they all deserved?
Just when I thought they'd finally stay quiet for a while, Melissa sent me a new video. It showed Sabrina carefully standing outside the study door, eavesdropping. Only a few seconds long. Right after, she sent an audio file.
I quickly pieced it together. The bug Melissa had planted in the study was working. I had to hand it to her—she was definitely a woman of action.
After the whole Daisy situation, Nicholas's claim about hiring private investigators, plus the ongoing PR nightmare, the Rosewood family had no time to deal with me. Naturally, no one noticed Melissa either. Things were going surprisingly smoothly.
I sent Melissa a thumbs-up and hit play on the audio.
The Rosewood family study. Andrew's voice was heavy with distress. "The Rosewood family is on the verge of bankruptcy. What are we going to do about Sabby's health?"
In my memory, Andrew was a stern, humorless person. But in business, nobody responds well to a cold attitude. So the longer he ran the Rosewood family enterprise, the more he'd transformed into a smiling tiger.
Now, for Sabrina's sake, he wasn't hiding his emotions at all.
Michael's voice followed immediately. "Andrew, Catherine went way too far this time! There's no way I'm ever forgiving her."
Jason chimed in. "I thought she was just throwing a tantrum before. Didn't realize she couldn't tell what actually matters."
The three of them sighed heavily.
James's cool voice cut through. "Andrew, my contacts abroad sent word recently. They've developed a miracle drug for Sabby's condition."
"Really?"
Andrew, Michael, and Jason spoke in unison, their eyes lighting up with fervent hope as they stared at James.
I couldn't help feeling moved again. I hadn't spent much time around James. When we were young, he'd been gentle and refined, treating everyone equally. The few times Sabrina complained to him, James was the only one who'd actually ask for the full story.
But then something changed. I never knew what. When James came back from his studies, he was a different person—cold, like Andrew used to be. Except with Sabrina. He stayed gentle with her.
I pushed down the feelings and kept listening.
James confirmed his answer, then added, "But since it's a miracle drug, a single pill costs two hundred thousand dollars."
Audible gasps filled the audio. All four brothers fell silent.
On one side, an astronomically priced miracle drug. On the other, Sabrina, who could die at any moment. What choice could they make? Saving Sabrina meant draining every last cent the Rosewood family had. Their parents' legacy would be destroyed in an instant.
But if they didn't save her—
Guilt, regret, frustration—countless emotions engulfed them.
Melissa's message came at the perfect moment.
[Cate, when Sabrina heard there's a miracle drug but it's crazy expensive, she snuck away looking all shifty. Based on her expression, I think she's cooking up another scheme.]
A plan formed in my mind.
[Thanks for keeping an eye out.]
Sabrina's schemes? I thought back to when we were kids and she'd stolen Mom's belongings. The necklace and other jewelry—she'd sold them all ages ago. Dad's watch and stuff, who knew if those were even still around. If those were gone too, where would Sabrina turn her attention next?
The conversation in the recording continued.
James's tone grew serious. "Andrew, even if we pool our resources to buy the miracle drug, it has serious side effects."
He rattled off a long list. I mulled it over. Miracle drugs were usually pharmaceuticals that hadn't gone through proper refinement trials yet. The side effects would fill at least two pages, right?
Whether taking it would cure Sabrina was uncertain. She might end up with completely different diseases instead.
Deep exhaustion seeped into Andrew's voice. "Reserve two pills for now, but we can't let Sabby take unnecessary risks."
The other two nodded in agreement.
Thinking of Daisy, the test subject I'd saved, Andrew slammed his fist on the desk. "Catherine, damn you to hell!"
He'd spent a fortune screening tens of thousands of people to find one match. Where was he supposed to find another now? Most importantly, the Rosewood family was broke.
The recording ended there.
I thought it over carefully and came up with a new idea.
"Sabrina, let me help you out."