Chapter 311 The Price of Memory

But being sharp-tongued and clever didn’t always bring rewards.

Paul’s scandal had, after all, left the Powell family owing Taylor a debt. Her family background gave her power, and even if the old man disliked her, he had to show respect for the sake of her maternal family.

“I made an offhand comment, and you’re all treating it like a political statement?” the patriarch snapped, thumping his cane. “Not a single one of you knows how to show respect anymore!”

Taylor crossed her arms and ignored him.

Paul, on his knees, stiffened his neck and tried to resist the servants holding him down.

The old man glared at everyone. The sight of Yunice sipping tea and Wyatt slouching like he didn’t care only made him angrier.

Nothing had been decided about Yunice’s stay, and Paul—the one in disgrace—refused to cooperate.

“I’m not going to the Northvale project, and I’m definitely not working under the Cooper family!” Paul shouted. “I’ll make my own way, succeed on my own terms. I don’t need him!”

Jensen visibly winced. Paul? Succeed on his own?

If there weren’t so many people in the room, he’d have gotten up close and said it to his face. Absolutely not happening.

Paul continued to wail, drowning out the room with his tantrum.

Taylor had enough. She covered her ears and snapped, “Shut up already! Do you have no self-awareness at all?”

The patriarch and Jensen began chastising Paul in turn.

Wyatt leaned toward Yunice. “Want to go for a walk?”

He had no interest in listening to the circus anymore.

Yunice nodded. She’d stirred the pot enough for one day. Time to make a graceful exit.

Wyatt led her on a stroll through the Powell estate.

The grounds were expansive, steeped in a century of legacy, but to Wyatt, there wasn’t a single corner worth reminiscing about.

Still, he thought Yunice might appreciate it.

She had spent her childhood running around these paths with Paul. Maybe she had fonder memories than he did.

But as they walked, it became unclear whether it was coincidence or fate that led them where they ended up.

They stopped in front of the courtyard where Wyatt had lived as a child.

It was a fenced-off section of the estate—a barren patch with an old well, infamous because someone had once died in it. The area had been sealed since.

The place wasn’t even as nice as the servant quarters, yet this had been assigned to Wyatt and his mother.

It was from this very house that his mother had fallen to her death.

The flat-roofed building wasn’t even three meters high, but it had still managed to claim her life.

Yunice hesitated. She figured Wyatt wouldn’t want to come back here.

After nearly a decade, the stone tiles showed no trace of blood.

Yunice stood behind Wyatt. She still remembered where she was standing the day his mother fell.

At the time, the woman was still alive. Yunice had slipped her a life-saving pill.

She had always wondered about that day. “Did you… see her before she died?”

She knew that Jackson had deliberately kept Wyatt away. The family had been holding a banquet that day.

Yunice had been dragged off by servants. When she last saw the woman, she still had a faint breath in her. But Luke had ordered her wrapped up in a straw mat like she was already gone.

Wyatt said calmly, “I saw her. We talked.”

His voice was steady, like the pain had been smoothed over by time.

“She told me you gave her medicine. Said you were a good kid. Told me to protect you.”

Yunice froze at those words.

Wyatt added, “Since we’re already here, pay your respects to your mother-in-law.”

“What?”

Before she could react, Wyatt gently pressed a hand to the back of her neck and bowed with her toward the old house.

Her mind spun as she followed through with the motion, slowly understanding what he meant.

His mother asked him to protect her. Was that why he married her? Why he treated her so well?

All because she once gave his dying mother a pill?

It was a strange feeling. As she stood upright again after the third bow, her head spinning, Yunice couldn’t help but recall the young Wyatt—and the woman who raised him.

The seed sown in childhood had finally borne fruit ten years later.

They left the courtyard and locked the door behind them.

Back in the reception hall, the shouting had stopped.

The patriarch and Jensen had failed to convince Paul. With no other option, they decided to let Taylor step in and work at the Cooper family on Paul’s behalf.

But Taylor was still an outsider, so the Powell family remained cautious.

As for Paul, he would remain locked up until he yielded.

When Yunice heard the news, she was delighted.

As they were about to leave, Wyatt turned to the patriarch and asked, “So… should Yunice stay behind to serve the Powell family or not?”