The Poisoned Patriarch

"Mom, take Gideon to the hospital. I’ll deal with this."

After a brief, heavy silence, Sienna made her decision. She stared at the drops of blood staining the pavement, her expression hardening.

"Sienna, you must defend your brother! Don’t let that bastard off so easily!" Beatrice cried out. She clutched her son’s ruined shirt, glaring at her daughter with tear-filled eyes.

"Don’t worry. I know what I should do." Sienna nodded to the nearby security personnel. She gestured for two guards to escort her weeping mother and battered brother into a waiting vehicle. They loaded Gideon into the backseat, his groans echoing until the car doors slammed shut.

Sienna stayed behind, rubbing her temples. A sharp headache threatened to break through her usual composure. She turned to her secretary. "What do you think, Vera?"

Vera stepped closer, her eyes flashing with eager judgment. "It’s obvious, isn’t it? It was Kaelen who assaulted them first. The security guards were right there as witnesses. That simple fact can’t be a lie."

"But my mother’s not exactly an honest person," Sienna murmured, her brow furrowing. She knew her mother and brother well. They were a ruthless, instigating duo who never hesitated to provoke a fight if they thought they could win.

"Either way, it’s still wrong for him to throw the first punch!" Vera insisted, her tone dripping with self-righteousness. "Even if there was some sort of misunderstanding, why couldn’t he just talk it out? He resorted to violence. Moreover, it was Gideon that he beat up. Your own brother! He didn’t stop for a single second to think about how you would feel when he attacked your family. This alone is proof that he’s a terrible person!"

Sienna’s frown deepened. Her lingering doubts vanished. Vera was right. She understood Gideon’s toxic temperament, but that did not excuse brutality. There was no valid reason for Kaelen to assault them physically, nor was there any justification to leave Gideon bleeding on the concrete. The brutal violence convinced her. Her decision to divorce him had been right.

"You can’t just let this go, Ms. Caldwell. You have to teach him a lesson!" Vera pushed, seizing the opportunity to fan the flames of discord.

Fueled by a burning, self-righteous anger, Sienna pulled out her phone. Her fingers jabbed harshly at the screen as she dialed Kaelen’s number.

Miles away, Kaelen sat quietly in the plush backseat of Valeria’s silver Bentley. The leather interior was silent, a stark contrast to the chaos he had just left behind. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, his brow creasing when he saw Sienna's name flashing on the screen. Reluctantly, he swiped to answer the call.

"Kaelen, I need an explanation!" Sienna demanded immediately. Blistering hostility laced every syllable.

He kept his voice steady. "What explanation?"

"Did you hit my brother just now?"

"I did. But—"

"So it was you!" Sienna cut off his attempt at an explanation. "I hadn’t expected you to be such a person! Are you taking petty revenge on my family just because I divorced you?"

Kaelen fell silent, taken aback by her sheer hostility. A wave of bitter disappointment washed over him, settling deep in his chest. After three full years of marriage, this was what it came down to. He had cooked for her, cared for her, and endured endless humiliation from her family. Yet, the moment a conflict arose, she treated him like a hostile stranger. It stung deeply that she wouldn't even give him a single moment to explain his side of the story.

"Sienna, is that what you really think of me?" Kaelen asked softly. "You know that I hit your brother, but have you even stopped to think about why I hit him?"

"No matter what he did, you still shouldn’t have resorted to violence!" Sienna snapped, refusing to listen to reason. She stood her ground, her heels digging into the pavement outside her office building.

Hearing her blind defense, Kaelen let out a short, bitter laugh. He felt exhausted. It didn’t matter who threw the first insult or who lied. She clearly favored her toxic family over the man she had called her husband.

"Kaelen, I’ll give you one last chance," Sienna delivered her cold ultimatum. "Go to the hospital right now and apologize to Gideon. Do that, and I’ll pretend that nothing happened today. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Kaelen retorted, his patience finally snapping. "Are you going to call the police on me? Or maybe hire hitmen to take me out?"

"Kaelen! Are you really going to throw away my goodwill like this?"

Kaelen scoffed loudly. "Goodwill? Are you sure it’s goodwill that you’re extending to me? Let's get one thing straight. I did beat up your brother. You can do with that information what you will."

He promptly hung up the phone.

On the other end of the line, Sienna stared at her darkened screen. Her chest heaved. She clamped down on the intense urge to throw her expensive device across the pavement, her knuckles turning white from the strain. She had always prided herself on controlling her emotions, but Kaelen's defiance rattled her.

"How rude of him," Vera chimed in, eyeing the phone. "Ms. Caldwell, do you need me to use company resources to arrange for someone to teach him a lesson?"

"No need," Sienna said firmly, rejecting the eager offer. She took a deep, shuddering breath to quell her anger. "We’re done now."

"But..."

"That’s enough," Sienna interrupted, forcing herself to shift her focus. She shoved the phone into her pocket. "I need to work on much more critical business matters. We need to prepare for the charity ball with the Sinclair family."

"The charity ball?" Vera blinked, caught off guard by the sudden pivot. "Has that got anything to do with our upcoming partnerships?"

"It does. I just received news that the Sinclair family has shortlisted Aegis Group. If we secure a lucrative partnership at this influential event, our standing in the city will skyrocket. Go make the arrangements right now."

Meanwhile, the silver Bentley navigated the bustling city streets, arriving smoothly at the prestigious Eldridge Primary Hospital. Valeria led Kaelen out of the car and guided him deep inside the sprawling medical facility. They headed straight into a heavily guarded VIP ward.

The atmosphere inside the spacious room was thick with tension and the sharp scent of antiseptic. At the center of the room, Alistair Sinclair, the powerful patriarch of the Sinclair family, lay in a wide bed. His face was a sickly, ashen gray. His lips were cracked and dry, and his chest barely moved with each shallow breath. He looked perilously close to death. A large team of medical experts surrounded his bed, holding clipboards and whispering in frantic, helpless tones. None of them offered a single shred of optimism.

"Valeria! You’re finally here!"

A fiery young woman with a high ponytail stormed toward the doorway the second they stepped inside. It was Cecilia Sinclair, the old man's protective granddaughter. She shot a withering glare at the huddled doctors before turning her attention to the newcomers. "These doctors are useless!"

"Ms. Sinclair, we’ve already done everything we could," one of the older specialists pleaded helplessly, wiping sweat from his forehead. "There’s nothing else we can do for him."

"If there’s nothing you can do, then step aside and let someone else take over," Valeria commanded coldly, stepping further into the room. "Mr. Vance will handle this."

"Mr. Vance?"

The surrounding doctors exchanged skeptical, sideways glances. They scrutinized Kaelen from head to toe. He wore plain clothes and held no medical bag.

Cecilia balked the moment she truly registered Kaelen’s presence. She planted her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing with indignation. "Are you kidding me, Valeria? Is this some kind of sick joke? This is Mr. Vance?"

She pointed an accusing finger at Kaelen. "He looks to be about the exact same age as I am! Is he really a doctor?"

"Don’t judge a book by its cover, Cecilia," Valeria defended him, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Mr. Carmichael was the one who recommended him to me. I trust him."

Cecilia adamantly refused to back down. The stakes were simply too high to let an unproven, suspicious youth anywhere near her dying grandfather. "Could Magnus Carmichael have been conned too? Hey, you!" She glared directly at Kaelen, doubting his credentials. "Are you actually a doctor?"

"I know a little about medicine," Kaelen replied calmly.

"Just a little?" Cecilia mocked, her voice rising in disbelief. "You should know that we only let the best doctors into this room. Everyone standing behind me is a known expert in their specific field. None of them can figure out this illness. How are you so confident that you can save him?"

"Cecilia! Watch your manners!" Valeria scolded sharply.

"He doesn’t look reliable, Valeria! I’m just worried that he might make Grandfather worse!" Cecilia fired back.

"Watch your words," Valeria warned, her patience wearing thin.

"I don't care! I won't believe in him unless he can instantly prove his alleged medical skills to me," Cecilia declared, tilting her chin up in sheer defiance.

"How should I prove myself?" Kaelen asked. He remained unfazed by her hostile attitude.

"Diagnose me on the spot," Cecilia challenged, stepping into his personal space. "Tell me what ails me right now. If you get it right, then I’ll believe in you!"

"Really?"

"What’s wrong? Are you scared? If you can’t do it, then please leave. Stop wasting our time!" Cecilia snorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Stick out your tongue," Kaelen instructed.

Cecilia frowned but begrudgingly complied, opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out for him to see.

Kaelen leaned in slightly. After merely a quick, piercing glance, he straightened up. He rattled off his precise findings without a single shred of hesitation.

"Your hormones are imbalanced," Kaelen stated smoothly, his voice carrying clearly across the quiet ward. "Because of that, you experience irregular periods and intense migraines."

Cecilia’s arms dropped to her sides, her eyes widening a fraction.

"Furthermore," Kaelen continued casually, "you are showing distinct signs of mild food poisoning. It has directly affected your digestive system. You've been having diarrhea for the past few days, haven't you?"

Before she could respond, Kaelen delivered the final blow.

"Oh, and another thing. You have hemorrhoids."

The more accurate and intimate details he spoke, the tenser and more rigid Cecilia became.