Chapter 304: No Brother Here
Suddenly struck by a thought, Owen stormed back into the hospital room, yanking Elsie’s arm. He demanded, “Were you really fainting, or just pretending?”
Elsie stared at him in shock, trembling with hurt. Laly rushed to her daughter’s defense. “Owen! What’s wrong with you? Why are you lashing out at everyone?”
“I just want to know why she always faints at the worst possible moments!”
“Fainting isn’t something she can control. Do you think Elsie wants this? If Yunice hadn’t stabbed her three years ago and worsened her condition—”
“Stop making things up for her!” Owen exploded. “I’ve taken her for checkups how many times? Not a single report said she had a condition that causes fainting! And if it’s really uncontrollable, then why didn’t she faint even once during those three years Yumice was gone?”
Lily insisted, “Today was different! She was triggered—”
“She brought it on herself!” Owen shouted, pointing at Elsie. “How many times have I told you to have some self-respect? Were all the men in the world dead that you had to go chase a married one like Paul!”
“And you got slapped by Taylor. Don’t you feel humiliated?”
Elsie had never been yelled at like this by Owen. She clutched her mouth and started crying, expecting her usual tactic to work. It didn’t.
Owen warned coldly, “You’d better cut Paul off completely. Now.” He turned to leave, then suddenly spun back around and roared, “And if you dare faint at one more of Yunice’s events—don’t blame me if I slap you!”
Elsie froze, eyes wide, tears streaking her face as she stared at Owen’s retreating back, unable to believe what she’d just heard. The moment he was gone, she burst into sobs and threw herself into Lily’s arms. “Mom, what’s wrong with Owen? He’s never talked to me like this before! I used to do the same things and he never minded—why is it not okay now?”
Before Lily could comfort her, someone else burst into the room. Without a word, the woman grabbed Elsie by the hair and dragged her off the bed.
“You little tramp! Where the hell did you hide my son!”
She climbed on top of her and slapped her across the face over and over. She wasn’t just angry that Elsie had lied to her—she was even more furious that her husband had loaned Elsie five million. Now Jason was in jail. She was broke, wandering from place to place with her child, while Elsie still held onto their money. Her money.
Jason’s wife hit and clawed at her, gripping Elsie’s throat with a snarl. “Give me my money back, or I’ll rip your mouth apart!”
Elsie couldn’t even speak, let alone fight back. She was completely overpowered.
Meanwhile, Owen had no idea what was happening back at the hospital. Lily tried to call him, but he hung up without a second thought. He slammed the car door shut and looked up at the glowing lights on the top floor of the Hotel Marcellus. It was clearly still hosting a banquet. He headed for the elevator but was stopped by security at the entrance.
“The top floor is fully booked. No one is allowed up,” one of the guards said.
Owen replied, “I’m the brother of the person hosting that banquet. I can’t even go up?”
The security guards looked him over and ignored him, acting like they hadn’t heard. Owen quickly realized what was going on—too many people had probably tried to sneak in by claiming to be Yunice’s relative, so security no longer believed anyone. He pulled out his phone, determined to prove his identity with a photo of him and Yunice. But after scrolling for a full minute, he couldn’t find a single one.
That’s when it hit him. It had been a long time since he’d taken a proper photo with Yunice. More than that, he couldn’t even remember the last time they sat down and really talked. He scrolled all the way back to five years ago—before Elsie had entered their lives, back when he and Yunice still had a good relationship. Sure enough, he found an old photo of them together and showed it to the guards.
Chapter 304: No Brother Here
Upstairs, in the banquet hall, Wyatt stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, taking a phone call. The manager crouched slightly and hurried over to Yunice, doing his best not to draw attention.
“Ma’am, there’s someone downstairs claiming to be your brother. Should we let him up?”
Oscar sat beside Yunice and heard everything. His gaze grew solemn as he looked at her. But this time, he didn’t try to preach about family is family.
Yunice smiled calmly. “I don’t have a brother. Thank you.”
With that, the manager nodded and relayed the message back downstairs.