Chapter 299: Turning Point
Oscar’s words went nowhere. Neither Lily nor Owen took him seriously. They always stuck together, acting like Oscar was too uptight, too soft. Anything he said, they either ignored or brushed off. Oscar could feel it. His expression darkened, but there wasn’t much he could do.
By now, hotel staff had searched every inch of the dressing and changing rooms. And yet, somehow, a three-year-old child had seemingly vanished into thin air. With nowhere else to look, everyone turned their attention to the one person who’d been in the room the entire time—Yunice.
“I didn’t see any kid,” Yunice said calmly. Then, after a beat, she added, “Unless he came in while I was in the changing room and left before I got back?”
The boy’s mother stormed up to her. “Security shows he never left. Don’t lie—you must’ve seen him. Did you hide my son on purpose?”
Yunice raised an eyebrow. “Hide him? You just said he came in and never left. I haven’t left either. You already searched the whole place—there’s no one else here. What do you think I did, make him vanish into thin air?”
If something had really happened to the boy, there would’ve been signs—blood, a body, something. She casually spun a small trinket on the vanity and said, “Why are you all still standing here? If your kid’s missing, shouldn’t someone have called the cops by now?”
The woman dropped to her knees in front of her. “What’s the point of calling the police?” she cried. “You’re part of the Cooper family! I know who you are—Mrs. Cooper. My husband… offended your husband, and now you’re taking it out on me—on my child. Please, if you’re angry, punish me. Just don’t hurt him. He didn’t do anything. Just please, let my baby go!”
Yunice adjusted her seat, looking utterly unbothered.
Owen grew impatient. “Can you just answer the question? Did you take the kid or not?”
Oscar cut in sharply. “Come on. The room’s not even big enough to hide a child. And doesn’t anyone else think it’s strange she didn’t even consider calling the front desk? She jumped straight to blaming Yunice.” He turned to her, suspicious. “Even your husband might not know the full story between Yunice and Wyatt. So how do you know?”
The woman stiffened. “Word gets around. Someone told me.”
Yunice glanced at her coldly. “Let me guess—Elsie?”
Owen looked like he was about to jump in to defend Elsie, but Yunice cut him off. “Save it. Don’t. He’s the one who loaned Elsie seven hundred grand in the VIP room—and signed a written IOU. Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”
Owen froze. He genuinely didn’t know—he’d been too drunk that night.
Yunice wasn’t surprised. She pulled out her phone and opened a video clip. In the video, the man was slumped over the table, signing the IOU that Elsie had written. Then he handed her a check for seven hundred thousand. At least ten mutual friends were there that night—any one of them could back it up.
Yunice held up the screen. “That’s your husband, right?”
The woman looked stunned. Completely blindsided. She had no idea her husband had given Elsie that kind of money. Seven hundred thousand. She spent weeks agonizing over a fourteen-thousand-dollar purse—and when she finally bought it, he tore into her for being irresponsible. But he handed Elsie 700 grand? Just like that? Sure, he said it was a loan—but who knows if he ever got that money back? Or if he even could?
Just minutes ago, the boy’s mother had been in tears—now, all that emotion turned into fury. She jumped to her feet, stormed over to Owen, and grabbed his arm.
“Where’s that manipulative brat Elsie? Get her out here! How dare she take advantage of a struggling mom and kid like us?”
Lily stepped forward, trying to calm things down. “Ma’am, please don’t—”
But before she could finish, the woman shoved her aside, shouting, “Oh, now it makes sense. She wasn’t being helpful—she set me up! She told me who Wyatt’s wife was. Told me to bring my son and start a scene, said if I caused enough chaos, Wyatt would feel pressured to let my husband… go!”
Yunice raised her eyebrows, startled. “Elsie actually said that?”
The woman snapped, “Why else would I be here looking for you?”
Yunice leaned back, her voice suddenly cool. “So let me get this straight. Now your kid’s missing…. and so is Elsie. You don’t think she took him? Set this whole thing up so I’d get blamed and have no way to defend myself?”
Owen had been in complete shock. He had no idea there was any connection between this woman and Elsie. But the second Yunice started pointing the blame at Elsie, he snapped. “Yunice, that’s enough. Shut up.”
Yunice gave a dry laugh. “What, struck a nerve? You weren’t in a rush to speak up when I was the…”