Chapter 917: Chapter 916
Down in the basement of Reflections Villa, Hunter and Sean stood before a bank of monitors, their gazes fixed on the grace of their little sister as she wielded a scalpel with an expertise that belied her years.
Once again, they marveled at her medical prowess and steely nerves.
Most girls would’ve been petrified at the sight of such a scene.
But there she was, calm and methodical, looking for all the world like a seasoned veteran who’d spent decades in an operating room.
The most surprising part? She was every bit as confident as she was beautiful, as intelligent as she was capable.
Their very own sister—such a girl was a real gem in the Collins family. It seemed the heavens had been overly generous to them.
They waited in silence at the monitors, not wanting to interrupt her dissection, only appearing once she had finished.
"Our own sister, a genuine prodigy. Is there anything you can’t do?" Sean said, ruffling Rosemary’s hair affectionately as she emerged from the room. "You tired? I’ll brew you some coffee."
"Well done," Hunter said, surprised at how quickly she had completed the task. Her slight smile hinted at promising leads.
"Hunter, Sean, let’s discuss this upstairs," Rosemary suggested, wary of prying ears.
She instructed two servants to stand guard outside the room where Erik’s body lay.
The servants were uneasy, not only because guarding a dead body wasn’t exactly comforting, but also because they worried about the body decomposing.
"I’ve applied preservatives. There’s no need to worry about decay for a week," Rosemary assured them.
"Don’t let anyone in except for us."
"Yes, Miss."
Though they were frightened, they would fulfill Rosemary’s orders without fail.
No sooner had Rosemary left the basement than her phone vibrated with another incoming call—from an unfamiliar number.
She didn’t plan to answer until the screen showed 11 missed calls from the same number, and almost immediately, the 12th call came through.
Only then did she pick up, her voice cool and detached. "Who’s this?"
"Rosemary, it’s Martin."
Perhaps fearing she would hang up immediately, Martin hastily added, "Please, don’t hang up."
"I won’t save her," Rosemary cut in, likely anticipating the reason for the call.
Martin’s voice became more urgent,"Rosemary, I know Serena has done unforgivable things, hurt you. I have no right to ask this of you, no right to even call you, but the doctors are helpless."
He choked up then.
"They say Serena’s wound is badly infected; the bacteria have entered her bloodstream, causing sepsis. Her organs are failing. Can’t you help? Please, save her. I’m begging you. Whatever you want,
I’ll give it to you."
He’d give everything he owned—his savings, shares, resources—whatever it took, as long as he had it, he’d hand it over.
"What I want, I can get myself. Besides, with the support of my family and Romeo, there’s nothing I can’t access in this world," replied Rosemary, her tone dripping with conviction. "To me, you have no value. You’ve clearly asked the wrong person. I have no interest in helping you—Serena’s fate is irrelevant to me."
Martin’s voice became desperately urgent as he spoke, "Rosemary, they say saving a life is the greatest deed, greater than building the grandest cathedral. You’re a healer at heart, and if you could save her,
I’ll agree to any terms you set!"
"I know when you returned to your birth family, Serena didn’t welcome you with open arms. Instead,she provoked and hurt you over and over. She was wrong, truly wrong. I realize that saying ’I’m sorry’ a
thousand times over won’t undo the pain she’s caused you, but I can’t just stand by and watch her die.
Please, Rosemary, you can direct all your anger at me. I’ll beg on my knees, crawl if I have to, just to save her life."
His voice was choked with emotion, barely recognizable.
"The doctors say her body’s vital functions and organs, all have been seriously affected, though to varying degrees. I’m out of options."
Hearing this, Rosemary simply said, "I gave her plenty of chances, and she squandered each one. She tried to take my life, time and again. Who was there to save me then?"
Had it not been for her quick thinking and timely avoidance, Rosemary couldn’t know how many times she might have died by Serena’s hand.
"Her condition isn’t a big problem for me to fix, but I won’t save her." Rosemary’s voice was cold and detached throughout. "All your kneeling and pleading won’t make a difference. The problem isn’t with you; it’s with her."
If Serena hadn’t harbored such malice from the start, if she hadn’t schemed behind Rosemary’s back repeatedly, Rosemary might have considered her salvation.
But Serena was cruel enough to try and carve her hatred into Rosemary’s skin, to wish a gruesome death upon her.
Why save someone like that?
Was she supposed to set a trap for herself?
Rosemary ended the call without another word, not willing to waste her breath.
Hunter and Sean showed concern. "Was that Martin?" they asked.
"He has the audacity to ask for your help?" Sean was itching to teach Martin a lesson.
"He must be really desperate to come to me," Rosemary admitted, feeling a twinge of sympathy for him.
"His love is wasted on the wrong person," Hunter noted, believing Serena to be unworthy of Martin’s efforts.
"No, seriously, she’s been sick this long and hasn’t died? Has he lost his mind? If you save someone like that, won’t they just cause more trouble?" Sean couldn’t understand such blind devotion, to someone so blatantly undeserving.
"Who he loves or wants to save is his business," Rosemary said, not wanting to dwell on it.
When the three of them approached Rosemary’s parents, they waited until they were alone before sharing their insights.
"Let’s try to piece together the timeline Martin gave us," Rosemary said calmly.
"He left our house the night before last and summoned seven or eight renowned doctors to his place overnight. By early morning, as the dawn broke, he had the doctors leave one by one, to let Erik know
that Serena’s injuries were too severe for treatment. According to him, not long after, he got a call from an unknown number."
Louisa and Kenneth nodded in confirmation, "Yes, that’s exactly what Martin told us."
"Erik couldn’t have gone far, and trusting Martin, he would have arrived at Martin’s place quickly. That would have been around noon, maybe one or two in the afternoon."
"Martin claimed his men knocked Erik out cold, and indeed, there was evidence of a blow to the back of his head. To capture Erik, he also used a sedative incense. My autopsy confirmed Erik had inhaled an
excessive amount of it, but,"
Her gaze met everyone’s, "The scent of the incense would only render someone unconscious for a couple of hours. If I’m not mistaken about the timing, Erik would have awoken before sunset. Logically,
with Martin’s urgency to save someone, he could have brought Erik straight to us after he was knocked out. So why wait until after 8 p.m. to bring him to our place? What was the delay for? Did Erik wake up
and they struck some sort of deal? We have no way of knowing."