The next day, Chase returned home with Isla.

In a black tailored suit, tall and composed, Chase looked almost identical to Easton.

Isla wore a pink princess dress, her figure delicate and graceful. The two walked side by side, chatting and laughing, a perfect picture of elegance and charm.

Rosalie was slightly surprised. In the past, Chase had never brought Isla to their home.

Chase gave a direct order.

“Rosalie, Isla was badly frightened last night. She’ll be staying here for a few days; look after her.”

“Alright.” Rosalie turned to the maid. “Go prepare a guest room.”

Isla clung to Chase’s hand, her voice sweet and playful. “Brother, I’m not used to sleeping in a guest room. I want to stay in the master bedroom!”

Chase looked at Rosalie. After all, the master bedroom was their marital room.

Rosalie had intended to refuse. But then, her eyes drifted to the window. Snowflakes floated down gently from the sky.

Staring at the falling snow, she murmured softly, “The snow is beautiful…”

It was just like the snowfall from years ago, the same quiet scene when she and Easton had fallen in love.

She looked at Chase as if through him, seeing the man she had once loved. In the two years of marriage, aside from the goal of getting pregnant, she had spent every day searching for traces of Easton in him.

“Fine. But I have one request: you go into the snow…”

“To be a model for your painting, right?” Before Rosalie could finish, Chase cut her off.

In the past two years of marriage, she had painted Chase countless times, in different places, with different expressions, always asking him to appear in certain settings to match her vision.

Once, after watching her gently store away a snow portrait of him in the study and kiss it softly, Chase felt something stir in his chest. For the first time, his tone eased slightly. “Do you really love me that much?”

Rosalie’s eyes stayed on the painting.

“Yes. I love you very, very much…”

Your brother.

Chase’s heart skipped a beat as he remembered all the times she had stood by him.

His heart stirred in confusion, but the moment passed. As if recalling something, his tone turned cold again.

“Isla wants your snow pear cake tonight. In return, I’ll cooperate with whatever you want to paint.”

“Okay.” Rosalie, just like always, agreed without a pause.

For a second, Chase felt a strange ache in his chest as he looked at her.

Isla had always been spoiled and stubborn. After Rosalie married him, he asked her to do many things for Isla, like shopping with her, carrying her bags, cooking her food, and even driving her around.

As long as he agreed to pose for a painting, Rosalie would quietly accept it all.

His love for Isla had always stayed buried, never spoken. But as the woman who shared his bed, Rosalie must have known.

And yet, because she loved him, she endured it all. She watched him care for someone else and never complained.

She must have loved him deeply. So deeply it might have matched his feelings for Isla.

Warmth rose in his chest briefly, then faded just as fast.

At dinner, Isla sat smugly as Rosalie personally served her the snow pear cake.

“See?” she said proudly. “As long as I want something, even if it means turning you into a cook, Brother will say yes!”

Rosalie answered calmly, “Your brother has always cared about you the most.”

Chase glanced at Rosalie’s quiet face, and for some reason, a dull ache settled in his chest.

Isla smirked again. “Rosalie, I heard you can't eat spicy food. But since I’m here tonight, Brother made sure everything’s spicy.”

Chase’s brows knit slightly.

Rosalie only said, “It’s alright. I don’t have much of an appetite anyway.”

She stood up and walked away from the table.

Even after she had gone some distance, she could still hear Chase’s voice, gentle and thoughtful. “Isla, these are all your favourites. Have more.”

And Isla’s excited reply, “Brother! This necklace from that designer is so hard to find. How did you know I’ve always wanted it?”

Without stopping, Rosalie went straight into the study.

Isla stayed at the house for several days.

Each night, Chase stayed with her until one or two in the morning. Only after she fell asleep would he quietly step out of the master bedroom.

One night, as Rosalie passed by the door, she heard Isla’s soft voice from inside, “Brother, we used to sleep in the same bed too. Can you stay with me tonight? I’m scared.”

Chase gently pulled the blanket up around her and stepped back.

“Isla, that was when we were younger, back then, no one cared about what was proper. But now I’m married. If I stayed here overnight, people might talk. Get some rest. My phone’s always on, call me if you need anything.”

Isla murmured unwillingly, “Okay… But Brother, while I’m here, can you not sleep in the same room as Rosalie? I don’t like her scent.”

“Hmm…”

Rosalie didn’t listen any further. She turned and quietly went back to the guest room.

There, she noticed a photo of Chase and Easton.

Her gaze fell on the familiar face she had loved for so long, and in an instant, her eyes welled up with tears.

She gently traced Easton's eyes and brows in the photo, which were so much softer than Chase’s.

Suddenly, Chase’s voice came from behind. “Rosalie…”

He had seen the photo in her hands, and his face instantly paled. He took the photo away gently.

His voice trembled with emotion. “We met late in life, so you didn’t know I had a twin brother. But he died a few years ago in an accident. After that, everyone in the family hid anything that reminded them of him, afraid the memories would come back… I never thought there was still a photo of us here in the guest room…”

Feeling his control slip, he wiped tears from his eyes. “I remember, before he died, he kept saying he wanted to bring his girlfriend home; he wanted to marry her. He loved that girl for years. But in the end, he never got to meet his future sister-in-law…”

Rosalie trembled all over. She clenched her fists to hold back her emotions. “Didn’t Isla tell you not to come to my room?”

Chase looked at her, surprised. “You heard that?”

Rosalie nodded. “I was passing by and caught a little.”

Chase reached for her hand, trying to pull her into his arms. “She’s just being stubborn. I’ll leave early in the morning, and she won’t even know.”

Then he leaned in to kiss her.

Rosalie dodged him and pushed him away. “Since Isla is being stubborn and not feeling well, you should just go along with her.”

She was already pregnant; there was no need to share a room with Chase anymore.

Besides, seeing that photo of Easton tonight had stirred up painful memories; she just wanted to be alone.

But the next morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Isla standing by her bedside with a fierce look.

Before Rosalie could react, Isla shoved a cup of medicine into her mouth.

Isla shouted, “You vixen! It’s your fault! Brother has never disobeyed me before! I told him not to sleep in your room, so why was he here last night? Even his coat is still here!”

Rosalie tried to explain, but as the liquid went down, sharp pain exploded in her lower belly.

She pulled back the blanket and saw blood flowing between her legs.

Her eyes widened in horror. “No… no…”

Isla looked startled, but as Chase approached, she suddenly fell to the floor, grabbing his pant leg with tearful eyes.

“Brother! I asked Rosalie if you were with her last night, and she called me a seductress and accused me of incest. She even pushed me down. I was already scared because of the recent murders, and now my leg is swollen too...”

Sure enough, one ankle was clearly swollen.

Chase, distressed, lifted her up. “Don’t be afraid, Isla. I’ll take you to the hospital...”

Then his gaze turned cold as it landed on Rosalie, curled up in bed and clutching her abdomen in pain.

Rosalie cried out, “Chase, take... take me to the hospital...”

Cold sweat soaked her as the pain deepened, pressing down like a heavyweight.

She was terrified. She would rather suffer herself than lose the baby, James’s only hope.

With all her heart, she begged, “Chase, please save me. I don’t know what Isla made me drink...”

Before he could answer, Isla’s voice broke through in pain, “Brother, it hurts so much...”

Chase’s voice turned cold and sharp. “Rosalie, I told you long ago, you’re only my wife in name. You mean nothing to me. Now that you dared hurt Isla right under my nose, this pain you feel is your punishment.”

Without looking back, he carried Isla away.

Rosalie sank into deep despair as blood kept flowing from her lower body.

In her haze, she saw Easton smiling warmly at her.

“Rosalie, Rosalie, I love you so much. When we get married and have a baby... do you think the baby will look more like you or me? I’m really looking forward to our life together...”

Tears filled her eyes as she reached out, trying to hold onto that fleeting warmth, but pain overwhelmed her, and everything went black.

When she woke, she found herself in a hospital room; a servant had brought her there.

As the nurse gave her an IV, she scolded softly, “Ms. Rosalie, you’re still pregnant. How could you take poison?”

“Thankfully, you came in time for a stomach pump. You’re going to be okay, and the baby is safe, too. Where is your husband?”

Rosalie gently touched her belly, her eyes empty and full of despair. “The husband I knew is already in heaven.”

Outside the hospital room, Chase’s angry voice rang out, “When did I go to heaven?”

The nurse looked at Chase with clear disapproval. “Rosalie was poisoned this badly, and not a single family member stayed with her through the entire surgery. That’s incredibly irresponsible! Especially since she’s in a special condition—she’s preg...”

Rosalie cut her off softly, “It’s okay. I’m feeling much better now. Another patient probably needs you more. Please go.”

The nurse gave a few more instructions before leaving the room.

Curious, Chase asked, “Just now, the nurse said something about a special condition? She mentioned preg...”

Rosalie waved it off. “Nothing. I just happened to get my period.”

Chase didn’t press further and sat down beside her. “Rosalie, I know Isla has always been willful, but this time, she really crossed the line. I thought she was only being difficult with you. I didn’t expect things to get so serious. I’m sorry for what she did.”

“No need to apologize,” Rosalie said coldly, picking up her phone. “She poisoned me on purpose. I’m calling the police to have Isla arrested.”

Chase’s expression shifted instantly. He snatched the phone from her hand. “Rosalie, Isla already knows she was wrong. Do you have to be so unforgiving?”

Rosalie let out a cold laugh. “The doctor said if I’d come any later, I wouldn’t have made it. Do you think a simple ‘she knows she was wrong’ can fix this? You took my phone, but I have plenty of other ways to report this to the police.”

A flicker of coldness flashed in Chase’s eyes. His voice hardened. “Rosalie, I’ll have people erase every trace of the poisoning. Even if you report it, there won’t be any proof. Don’t waste your energy.”

Rosalie clenched her fists tightly. “What right do you have to do this?”

But after a long pause, she gave in wearily. “Forget it.”

After all, she was about to leave soon, carrying the baby with her. She didn’t want to stir up more trouble.

Chase noticed how she turned her head away, refusing to meet his gaze. A strange feeling stirred inside him, but he pushed it aside.

Isla, with only a mild sprain, was still admitted to the same hospital as Rosalie.

For days, Chase busied himself in Isla’s hospital room, bringing in the best medical team despite the minor injury.

Chase himself carefully prepared and fed every meal Isla ate to her.

Meanwhile, Rosalie recovered alone, but she often caught nurses whispering nearby with envy, “I wish I had a brother like him! So handsome, rich, and attentive. I heard his wife is here too, she had severe bleeding and needed a stomach pump. Her condition was much worse than Isla’s, but Chase barely visited her. It’s like he only truly cares about his sister…”

Rosalie didn’t pay attention to the gossip. All she wanted was to keep her baby safe.

One night, stepping outside for some fresh air, she passed Isla’s room and overheard her voice inside.

“Of course, I know Chase has been in love with me for a long time. But I never said a word. The only reason I stayed with the Hollis family was to take their fortune for myself. I’m just an adopted daughter. Money is the only thing that matters.”

“This whole drama was a test to see how much Chase really loves me. His wife nearly died because of me, but after a few tears, Chase was so worried only about me and ignored her completely. With a fool so blinded by love, I can definitely use him to destroy the Hollis family someday…”

Rosalie frowned slightly, never expecting Isla to harbor such deep malice toward the Hollis family. The poisoning wasn’t just a cruel act; it was a test of Chase’s loyalty. The love he poured out so freely had been wasted on someone so cold and calculating. It was almost laughable.

Just then, Chase’s cold voice cut through the air from behind her. “Rosalie, what are you sneaking around for? Planning to hurt Isla again?”

He reached out and grabbed her wrist, but then his eyes locked onto her hand, and he froze. “Where’s your wedding ring?”

Since they married, Rosalie had never taken that ring off. But now, her left ring finger was bare.

A hollow ache settled in Chase’s chest.

“I threw it away,” Rosalie said calmly, pulling her hand free, her voice light and distant.