Chapter 376

A sudden realization dawned on Rosalind, her expression shifting subtly. "Evelyn, don't you dare try to frame me without proof!"

"I'm not framing anyone." Evelyn's face blossomed into a radiant smile. "What makes you think I'd do that? Even if that man acted alone, he claimed to know you. I was merely asking."

Evelyn made to enter the office but paused dramatically. "Come to think of it, do you recall that man had rough, scarred skin?"

"That's impossible—"

Rosalind's throat constricted mid-sentence. Her shoulders trembled visibly as the color drained from her face.

As Evelyn stepped inside, Rosalind grabbed her arm urgently. "You'd better explain yourself clearly—"

The sight of Nathan sitting in the office chair made Rosalind's stomach drop with terrifying clarity.

"Nathan, I—"

"Seems he really was working for you after all."

His casual remark turned Rosalind's complexion ghostly white. The trap had been set, and she'd walked right into it. That old fool's survival had sealed her fate. She couldn't let them win. Her fingers tightened around her phone, secretly dialing a number.

"Nathan, I swear I'm not involved!" Rosalind rushed forward desperately. "I don't know why Ms. Vanderbilt would accuse me like this. Nathan, please believe me, I would never—"

"Never do this?"

Nathan's icy interruption froze her words. The office atmosphere turned oppressive, thick with tension. Rosalind's breathing grew erratic.

Her fists clenched until her nails bit into her palms. Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Nathan lounged in his chair, his amber eyes darkening dangerously. "You know exactly what you've done."

A single crystalline tear traced down Rosalind's cheek.

"Vivian confessed everything," Nathan stated calmly. "She mentioned 'Lady Wolfsbane,' not Rosalind Summers." His tone made clear he'd never trusted her.

Rosalind shuddered violently. "Yes, I helped Vivian escape. But what does that prove? I let her out, but she's the one who sought revenge against Evelyn! How is that my fault? I admit I learned about Evelyn's connection to the de Armas from Vivian and told Grandfather, but it was for his own good!"

Nathan's gaze remained frigid. "So you manipulated Grandfather's trust. Used him to approach Richard and assist Vivian's attack—just to pin everything on him?"

"Nathan, no! I wasn't using him! Vivian hated Evelyn! How can you blame me for her actions? You're believing the wrong person!"

A humorless chuckle escaped Nathan. "I've reduced Vivian to a limbless cripple. She confessed everything to stay alive. Do you honestly think I'd spare her if she lied?"

Rosalind's entire body shook.

Nathan's expression hardened like tempered steel. "You've been trying to manipulate me since The Jade Store auction. I stopped trusting you the moment you brought me that photo of Zoe and Felix."