The Prison-Made Queen novel Chapter 912

Josiah wasn't nearly as collected as he appeared. Clive had contracted HIV!

Once you caught something like that, your life as you knew it was effectively over. Josiah's voice trembled with a lingering terror he didn't even fully recognize.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? When Dad saw your face all over Twitter, he passed out! He's in the operating room right now!"

What?

"But Dad just got discharged!" Clive stammered.

Josiah's rapid-fire accusations caught Clive completely off guard.

"Exactly! He just got out!" Josiah roared. "The doctor made it perfectly clear last time. He cannot handle another shock. One more incident, and he might not make it off the table!"

"I've been walking on eggshells around him every single day, terrified of stressing him out. And look what you did!"

Clive had dropped a nuclear bomb on the family, sending their father straight back into the ER.

Clive was totally unglued. He had no idea Hackett's condition was so fragile.

He babbled incoherently, "Dad... Dad will be okay, right? Josiah, you have to believe me! The people on Twitter are making things up! This disease... it doesn't just spread casually like a cold!"

"Besides, since my career tanked, I've barely been home! I haven't even been around you guys, so how could I have infected you?"

Clive was drowning in his own twisted sense of victimhood. Even now, he didn't think any of this was his fault. If anyone was to blame, it was Winifred, Luke, his management agency, and Leilani. They were the ones who had forced him into this corner.

"It better be exactly as you say."

Otherwise what?

Would they disown him? Erase him from the Sloan family entirely? Or would it be something even worse?

Josiah had never spoken to him with such raw venom. Clive knew the truth. His older brother was molded by their father. Deep down, Josiah was just like Hackett—cutthroat, image-obsessed, and driven by self-interest.

Now that Clive had brought this apocalyptic shame to their doorstep, cutting him loose was the most logical business move.

Clive opened his mouth, desperate to shout his excuses into the void. He wanted to tell Josiah that he was the victim here, that he didn't ask for this, that someone else had ruined him.

But who would believe him?

Faced with Josiah's chilling warning and the insurmountable weight of reality, Clive's urge to defend himself crumbled into dust. His pathetic little excuses felt utterly laughable.