Chapter 148: Nothing Left to Say

Elsie shivered, but her terrified gaze slid past Yunice, locking instead on Wyatt standing behind her. Yunice caught that small detail instantly.

She straightened up and spoke clearly, “You may have scraped together 4 million dollars, but as the victim, Mr. Quinton hasn’t agreed to settle.”

Owen, reminded of this, glanced at Quinton with growing unease. Four million dollars could be raised, sure—but they couldn’t buy back a jade bracelet that rare. Whether or not to accept the settlement was still Quinton’s call.

Quinton took in the wrecked courtyard and the bruises on Yunice’s body. He knew she wasn’t doing all this to make things hard for the Saunders family; she was waiting on his stance. After all, the gifts had to be returned to him through Yunice.

Quinton said, “Then, for Ms. Saunders’ sake, I’ll let it go.” He said it skillfully—and slapped the Saunders family in the face even harder. The one they’d always called the most useless had now become the only reason they were being forgiven.

Owen’s pride was crushed. He stayed silent, seething, waiting to see what Yunice would throw at them next.

Yunice stood tall. “Since Mr. Quinton has spoken, then Mr. Owen, please take charge and deposit this money into the bank. Transfer it to Mr. Quinton’s account so both parties have a record, yes?”

Paul glared at Yunice, fuming. So now we have to clean up this mess too? Yunice threw him a mocking look, as if to say: Sure had fun throwing it, didn’t expect you’d be the one stuck picking it all up, huh!

She could guess Paul’s original plan: toss the money, then sit back and watch her crawl on the ground, picking up every single bill while begging for mercy. Too bad for him—it didn’t go that way.

Yunice shifted her gaze and added, “Also, the coins Mr. Cooper lost on the Saunders property—please collect those and send them to the west wing courtyard.”

Owen snapped, “What gives—” He was about to ask what gave her the right, but Yunice raised a finger to her lips. Owen turned red as a beet but bit his tongue. Yunice lowered her hand and smiled. “I’m sure Mr. Owen wouldn’t want a reputation for keeping other people’s property.”

No one said a word. Even if the coins had been dumped in the Saunders courtyard, as long as Wyatt hadn’t said they were a gift, they weren’t theirs to keep. And even if the Saunders family technically had a case, Wyatt could make sure they lost anyway. This defeat left no room for debate.

Yunice took Gill’s phone and said, “Also—”

Owen canned, “Are you ever shine in he done?” Elue’s face turned ghostly pale. Owen frowned, torn. “You were friends once. If you do this, how’s Elsie supposed to make friends in the future?”

Yunice couldn’t tell if he truly didn’t see the truth or was just covering for Elsie. Not that it mattered. She treated his words like a fart—not worth hearing, let alone catching the stink.

Before he could finish, Yunice turned her back to him and raised the phone slightly. “I’ll be watching for that apology.”

As Wyatt and the others left the Saunders mansion, Elsie’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground. She stared at the home ruined by money that was never hers, at the people dragged down because of her—regret flooded her. She’d thought smashing Yunice’s jade pendant would leave her no choice but to suffer in silence. She never expected things to escalate like this…

Yunice! If Wyatt hadn’t helped you, today’s win wouldn’t have been yours! Rage and frustration overwhelmed her; her eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold.

Being taken to the hospital gave Elsie a brief reprieve, but Owen and Paul—the two who had to face the consequences—were left behind to deal with the aftermath. The money scattered across the courtyard was a disaster to clean up.

Paul considered hiring help, but Owen stopped him. “What, you want to make the Saunders and Powell families even more of a joke! All that cash lying around while they had to clean it up themselves—it would just confirm for outsiders that they’d tried to show off and ended up humiliating themselves.”

Paul snapped, “So what, who’s gonna clean it? Don’t expect me—I’m in pain head to toe!”

Owen was still fuming. “And whose fault is that? You could’ve just wired the money if you wanted to help Elsie. Why the heck go through all this to get it in cash—” He stopped mid-sentence. Something clicked. “…You weren’t here to help Elsie. You were here to humiliate Yunice.”

If Wyatt hadn’t shown up and flipped the script, this mess would’ve been Yunice’s burden. Paul didn’t deny it. He said nothing. Because Owen was right—Paul had planned it exactly that way. He just hadn’t counted on Wyatt ruining everything.