Chapter 358 Scandal on the Brink

Elsie was practically seething inside. She could’ve managed both men perfectly—if not for that damn paparazzo.

Why hadn’t he blackmailed her directly? Why go behind her back and approach Owen?

How am I supposed to explain my way out of this now?

But Owen didn’t have time to dwell on her expression. He glanced at her as he turned the wheel, assuming her stunned look was just embarrassment.

He warned, “Don’t let Paul find out about this. You two just broke up—not long enough for him to believe anything else. With his temper, he’ll assume you cheated.”

Elsie had dodged a bullet—for now. But it felt like there was a blade hanging over her neck.

Because Paul already knew.

What he didn’t know was that she’d slept with Morgan. But if the paparazzi leaked the footage, she’d be finished.

Tears welled in Elsie’s eyes as she clutched Owen’s sleeve, voice trembling with sorrow. “Owen, please help me. Mr. Morgan came on so strong. I… I didn’t know how to say no…”

Owen exploded. “That bastard forced you?!”

Elsie just kept crying.

Owen slammed his fist on the steering wheel. “If we hadn’t been in such a rush to arrange Yunice’s engagement, we never would’ve crossed paths with that lunatic! He’s doing this out of spite over the canceled marriage. He’s using you to get revenge. He’s not to be trusted. Once we clean this up, stay away from him.”

Elsie nodded quickly, all wide-eyed obedience.

Back at the Saunders estate, Owen ignored Lily, who was sitting in the living room, and took Elsie straight to the study.

The fewer people who knew about this, the better. He didn’t plan to tell Lily anything.

Once the door closed, Elsie sat down and opened the email from the paparazzi. The moment she saw the files, her legs nearly gave out.

She’d known the pictures might be bad—but she hadn’t expected them to be this graphic.

Her voice trembled. “Owen, this is fake. It has to be. This is a malicious edit, I swear! I would never… I couldn’t…”

She wanted to crawl into a hole.

Thankfully, she’d always played her role well. In Owen’s eyes, she had a strong moral compass.

That’s why he hadn’t believed the woman in those explicit photos could be Elsie—and why he dragged her home to confirm.

Her grades were always excellent. Her professors praised her constantly. The report even claimed she faked her academic credentials, but Owen dismissed that outright.

Now that he had her confirmation, he was furious. “Then we’ll sue them!”

Elsie panicked. “No!”

Owen looked over, confused, as she burst into tears. “Have you forgotten what happened to Yunice when she got doxxed online? The internet is brutal, Owen. If this leak spreads, even if it’s fake, my reputation will be destroyed… I might as well disappear.”

Her voice dropped into a hopeless whisper. “I should just find somewhere quiet and end it.”

If money were that easy to come by, Owen wouldn’t be sweating.

What little savings he had left had already gone into plugging the hospital’s financial holes. The family hadn’t brought in income for months.

A million? He couldn’t even scrape together half that.

Elsie collapsed against the desk, sobbing quietly.

Owen’s head throbbed. The last time she cried, he’d warned her he’d slap her if she did it again.

And now, here they were. Another crisis.

She kept her sobs muffled, and he was too agitated to yell. After all, this wasn’t entirely her fault.

They were siblings. If Elsie’s name got dragged through the mud, the entire Saunders family would go down with her.

He sat down with a grim face. “Stop crying. I’ll figure something out.”

At that, Elsie wiped her tears and asked softly. “Owen... do you think Yunice might be behind this? Why else would Morgan suddenly start hitting on me, and then paparazzi just happen to be right there filming us…?”

She wanted to redirect the blame to Yunice.

But Owen shook his head. “It’s not her. Morgan’s never been a decent guy. I should’ve never considered marrying Yunice off to him. He’s barely human.”

Elsie was irritated. He was blaming Morgan—but not Yunice?

Yunice was his real sister. No matter how horrible she got, Owen would always feel something for her.

But Elsie couldn’t swallow it. She was convinced Yunice had orchestrated the whole thing.