Veronica Hughes felt an uneasy shift in the air. She turned to look at Gideon, confusion clouding her eyes.

Gideon Hughes pressed his lips into a thin, grim line. "Shiloh is not a Hughes."

Veronica froze. She turned to her friend, Margaret Hayes, desperate for a denial. But when she saw Margaret nodding through her tears, the blood drained from Veronica’s face until she was deathly pale.

Gideon fought back the bitter knot in his throat and asked, "Does Caspian know?"

Albert Harrison shook his head, looking exhausted. "I don't know."

"Then he likely already does," Gideon sighed, a heavy, weary sound. He was his father; he knew exactly how the boy’s mind worked.

Veronica’s tears spilled over. She turned and pulled Margaret into a desperate embrace, the two longtime friends sobbing together. They wept for Caspian, and they wept for Rose. It seemed their fates were destined to remain apart.

"Sigh. If it’s come to this, let's just call the marriage off," Albert Harrison said, his voice flat. He couldn't force his friend into this mess. A businessman to his core, Albert saw the cold reality of their situation clearly.

Gideon remained silent. The Hughes line had been thin for generations; Caspian was the only son they had. If it had reached this point, there was no choice but to accept it.

When Caspian arrived at the hospital, the room was empty. A nurse informed him that Rose and Shiloh had been transferred. Panic gripped him. How could this happen? Why was he the last to know?

He turned on his heel to confront his parents, his heart hammering against his ribs, a suffocating sense of dread clouding his vision.

"Mom, why was Rose transferred? Where did they take her?" Caspian burst through the door, breathless.

Mrs. Hughes blinked, unable to meet her son’s desperate gaze. "Transferred? I... I don't know anything about that."

"Mom!" Caspian’s voice rose, frayed with agony. Something had happened. There was no way he would be left in the dark unless there had been a calculated decision made behind his back.

"Caspian, stop asking," Veronica said, finally deciding to rip the bandage off. "We’re all devastated by Rose’s condition. But Albert has already taken her away. He said... he said you should move on and find someone else."

"Why? Rose and I are married! We are husband and wife! I don't want anyone else. I only want her!" Caspian collapsed onto the floor, his control shattering as he shouted.

"Caspian!" Gideon descended from the study, his face flushed with frustration. "You are not a child! The Hughes family legacy rests on your shoulders!"

"No! Shiloh is my son! What do you mean 'the legacy'—we could have been a family!" Caspian retorted.

"Still lying to yourself?" Gideon’s chest tightened, a sharp pain radiating through his heart. He steadied himself against the railing before continuing, "Albert has handled it all. They’ve moved. They are never coming back. Give it up."

Moved? The words hit Caspian like a physical blow. Was there really not a shred of hope left? Albert had promised—he had promised to entrust Rose to him, and he had sworn he would love and protect her and the child for the rest of his life. How could everything have changed overnight?

"Someone, get the young master to his room," Gideon ordered, his voice hollow. "And he is not to leave the house until further notice."

It was all he could do. Fate was a cruel architect, and now, these two would have to pay the price.