Chapter 2 Catherine Rosewood Never Existed

While Nicholas stayed with me during my IV, Andrew Rosewood—my oldest brother—called repeatedly. I rejected every single call.

He must have heard from Jason that I refused to donate blood to Sabrina.

Nicholas handed me a cup of warm water and asked, "Not taking those?"

I shook my head. My phone started buzzing with a barrage of text messages instead—coaxing, threats, invoking Uncle Herman who'd been dead for years, finally devolving into pure rage. The same tired playbook I'd seen a thousand times before.

[Think carefully about this.]

[Sabby needs you. If you won't help, don't bother coming back to the Rosewood family.]

I stared at the screen, a sharp, intricate pain blooming in my chest. But it was bearable. I could handle it.

Nicholas caught a glimpse and looked me up and down, asking with genuine confusion, "You're really a Rosewood? Not adopted?"

My lips twisted into something like a smile. Yeah, I'd questioned my origins countless times. Maybe Sabrina was the one who should carry the Rosewood name, and I...

"...I'm just a wandering ghost with nowhere to belong."

The whispered words came out broken as tears betrayed me, sliding from my eyes and splattering onto the phone screen in wet marks.

Nicholas watched me cry in silence. When I finished, he pushed the tissue box toward me.

"Thank you."

I wiped my tears and typed out a reply.

[Fine.]

Since they didn't want me first, I wouldn't want them either.

By the time the IV finished, darkness had fallen outside. I said I needed to make a stop at the Rosewood house. Nicholas offered to drive me himself.

He didn't ask why. I didn't explain.

When we arrived at the Rosewood estate, fireworks were going off in the yard. Congratulatory voices filled the air as Sabrina stood surrounded by my four brothers, the picture of familial bliss.

Oh, right. Tonight was also Sabrina's birthday.

My arrival shattered their celebration. The atmosphere turned rigid in an instant.

Jason moved Sabrina behind him, watching me with suspicion. "What are you doing back here? Come to throw another tantrum?"

Andrew's gaze remained cool and measured. "I thought you said you weren't coming back? Was that just you being dramatic?"

James and Michael didn't move, but their expressions weren't much better.

"Jason said you refused to participate in the trial for Sabby."

"Catherine. You're really disappointing all of us."

Each word cut deeper than the last, yet somehow I found myself thinking: Is that all?

I'd heard worse. Why should these bother me? My ears and heart had gone numb long ago.

"I came back to get something. Then I'll leave."

"When I was born, Mom and Dad had a sapphire pendant engraved for me—"

Mid-sentence, my gaze landed on my brothers' hesitant, shifty expressions. Following their line of sight, I spotted the pendant hanging around Sabrina's neck.

The very heirloom my parents left me.

Rage flooded through me in an instant. I lunged forward, shoving Jason aside and yanking Sabrina out from behind him. My hands found the pendant and I ripped it from her neck with all my strength.

Sabrina let out a cry. My brothers immediately moved to stop me. I fought back—punching, kicking, biting, scratching—grabbed Sabrina's hair and held on, forcing them to back off.

"Catherine!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Let go of Sabby!"

"Have you lost your mind?!"

The pendant was back in my hands. I stared down at the engraving. It didn't say [Catherine].

It said [Sabrina].

I cradled it, somewhere between laughing and crying, unable to believe I'd still come too late.

"This was the only thing Mom and Dad left me."

"—And you destroyed it? You destroyed my only keepsake of them!"

I stared at my four brothers, my eyes wide. Even experiencing this a second time, the betrayal felt impossible to comprehend.

"Why?"

"Why would you do this?"

I demanded answers, each word deliberate. My brothers' expressions shifted from initial guilt to explosive anger.

"If you hadn't run away in the first place, we wouldn't have had to give Sabby the pendant to apologize."

Apologize?

I lifted my red-rimmed eyes, the absurdity of it all hitting me fresh.

"You all love Sabrina so much—why use my things to make up for it?"

"That was from Mom and Dad! For me!"

James said calmly, almost casually, "Uncle Herman saved your life. Your things should belong to Sabby too."

"Ha—"

A bitter laugh escaped me. Looking at the self-righteous expressions on my four brothers' faces, something inside me died completely.

"You people make me sick."

I clutched the pendant in one hand. Watching Sabrina try to escape, I grabbed her hair viciously and yanked her back. I bent down, getting right in her face, ignoring my brothers' changing expressions.

My face pressed close to hers. "You want my things that badly?"

"My brothers."

"My identity."

"Even my parents—you want them too? Is that it?"

I squeezed the pendant hard in my palm, then hurled it against the ground with all my strength.

The pendant struck the hard surface and shattered into pieces. Sharp fragments flew up, cutting Sabrina's face. Her scream pierced the air as blood ran down her cheek in ugly rivulets.

Jason used my momentary distraction to pull Sabrina back to safety, his face twisted with concern for her.

My other three brothers stared at me in shock, clearly not expecting such an extreme reaction.

I looked down at the pendant fragments scattered across the ground, my feelings too tangled to name.

I'd destroyed it with my own hands. Because it wasn't mine anymore. The name carved into it was Sabrina's.

It felt dirty now.

Sabrina sobbed pitifully in Jason's arms. I glanced at her coldly before turning to my four brothers.

"I hope you and Sabrina live happily ever after. One big, loving family forever."

"From now on, pretend Catherine Rosewood never existed."

I turned to leave, only to spot Nicholas standing nearby, an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

"You were taking a while. Thought I'd check on you."

The tears I'd been holding back finally fell.

Nicholas approached and draped the coat from his arm over my shoulders. He steadied my arm, his voice low. "Come on. Let me take you home."

Home?

I froze. I didn't have a home anymore.

I leaned against Nicholas as we walked away slowly. Suddenly, Sabrina's tearful voice called out behind us.

"Catherine, I'm so sorry! I didn't know that was from your parents. If I'd known, I never would have accepted it! Catherine! Please, I'm apologizing!"

I looked back at Sabrina's pitiful, tear-streaked face. My gaze turned to ice. "What innocent act are you putting on now? Think playing dumb makes you clean? You make me sick. Even talking to you feels dirty!"

I left the Rosewood estate with Nicholas.

In the car, I rolled down the window and let the wind hit my face, saying nothing.

Nicholas closed the window. "You just got over a fever and you're letting cold air blast you? Even if you've got nine lives, that's not how you waste them."

I made a soft sound of acknowledgment, accepting his kindness.

Nicholas watched me sink into my own thoughts before speaking casually. "I've got a house near campus. The housekeeper just quit. Need someone to look after the place. Four thousand dollars a month, room and board included. You don't have to cook—just keep the place clean on a regular basis."

The housekeeper quitting might not be true. But Nicholas wanting to help me definitely was.

In my past life, he'd helped me many times. This time was no different.

"I can cook."

I turned to look at Nicholas, a glimmer of light returning to my eyes.

Because Sabrina and I didn't get along, I'd been in boarding school since middle school. Even during long breaks, I stayed in a house near campus with a housekeeper who barely paid attention to me. My brothers never checked in either.

Cooking was something I'd learned early out of necessity.

Nicholas considered this. "Five thousand then. I won't be home often, but when I am, you cook. I'll have ingredients delivered regularly."

I nodded, saying earnestly once more, "Thank you, Nicholas."

But why was he willing to help me?

To my unspoken question, Nicholas simply answered, "You looked pitiful."

Pitiful?

I touched my face.

Forced by family to donate blood to a stranger, to serve as a human lab rat. Thrown out when I refused. Even my parents' keepsake erased and given to someone else.

Yeah, I guess that experience was pretty miserable.

I let out a small laugh. "More than pitiful, I find it revolting."

I'd long since stopped feeling disappointment. Disappointment required having expectations first.

And my expectations had been ground to dust in my past life.