Chapter 359 Smoke and Schemes +8 Pearls

Owen might've helped smooth things over today, but only Elsie knew the truth—the exposé was real. And sooner or later, it would blow up again.

Ever since Yunice married Wyatt, Elsie's own luck had gone straight downhill. Meanwhile, Yunice was thriving—her glow practically radiated luxury.

If things kept going this way, Yunice would end up burying her.

Elsie glanced at Owen, who was on the phone frantically trying to scrape together money. Then she quietly stepped out and made a call of her own.

Standing at the second-floor railing, she talked on the phone while casually watching the first floor below.

She spotted Lily answering a call, then walking over to open the front door.

A delivery man handed her a thick envelope.

Elsie raised an eyebrow, curious. Lily looked up toward the second floor cautiously.

But since Elsie was leaning behind a column, Lily didn't see her.

Elsie frowned. What's Mom being so sneaky about?

Then she saw Lily do something even weirder—she didn't even open the envelope before pulling out a lighter and setting one corner of it on fire.

But the rising smoke triggered the fire alarm.

With a yelp, Lily quickly doused the burning papers with a glass of water, tossed the soggy mess in the trash, and hurried off to the kitchen to turn off the alarm.

The second Lily was out of sight, Elsie rushed downstairs, pulled the half-burned document from the trash, and unfolded it.

The text was still legible—it was a court summons.

Defamation, false accusation, malicious slander… The letters SAT jumped out at her. Suddenly, everything clicked.

She remembered Yunice saying in the hospital that whoever falsely accused her would be receiving a court summons.

Which meant… the person was Lily.

Hearing Lily's footsteps coming back from the kitchen, Elsie quickly composed herself and slipped back upstairs like nothing had happened.

But as she turned her back to Lily, a smirk curled across her lips.

Elsie had always thought Lily was protecting her out of favoritism. Even when she did something wrong, Lily would lie for her, cover for her, play the doting mother.

Now she saw it clearly. Lily didn't love her—she just hated Yunice.

Watching Yunice struggle was Lily's favorite pastime. She was jealous of her own daughter.

The Saunders family had never been hers to manipulate. Everyone in it had their own dark side. And once you were no longer useful, you ended up just like Yunice.

In the study, Owen had finally begged and bargained his way to securing the million-dollar payout. He made the deal with the paparazzi, kept the evidence, and stored it safely.

That's when Elsie's voice called from the hall.

Elsie’s eyes were red. “Word just came from the Powell family. Wyatt beat Yunice. She was rushed to the ER in the middle of the night!”

“What?!” Owen shot up from his chair, shock written all over his face.

He grabbed his coat and bolted for the door.

“Which hospital?”

Elsie followed closely behind. “Wellinges Pharma only sponsors one hospital, it’s got to be that one! Wyatt’s gone too far. No matter what Yunice did, he had no right to hit her so hard she ended up hospitalized! And it’s been hours—why hasn’t anyone told her family?”

Owen’s expression turned grim. He suddenly stopped at the door and blocked Elsie’s path. “You’re not coming. You’ve caused enough trouble lately. Just stay home for now.”

That kind of tone had always been used on Yunice. Now, it was being turned on her?

Elsie immediately picked up on it—there was a subtle shift in Owen’s attitude toward her.

“I’m worried about Yunice too,” she said quickly. “And besides, you’re all men. If she’s really hurt, wouldn’t it be better to have a woman there to look after her?”

Owen hesitated, clearly moved by the reasoning.

“You’re right. If she really was injured, we need to bring her home. Our family should be taking care of her.”

With that, he strode out the door.

Elsie hurried to catch up, and once they reached the hospital, Owen called Oscar and Carl to come as well.

He had a plan—and this was only the beginning.

Meanwhile, Yunice sat up in her hospital bed, a small tray table across her lap as she worked on a research proposal.

Lately, Wellinges Pharma had caught wind of a rare new infectious agent appearing overseas.