Elsie wept. “Yunice, stop being stubborn. Owen’s only trying to help you.”

Owen snapped. “You always put up a front like you’re strong, but you’re nothing but a bully behind closed doors. If you had the guts to bite someone, why didn’t you bite Wyatt when he hit you?”

He was convinced Wyatt had lost patience with Yunice. Now, Owen was set on dragging her back to the Saunders family.

“Get up. You’re coming home with me.”

He grabbed her by the arm, trying to pull her out of bed.

Yunice screamed and fought him off. “Get away from me!”

“Owen, help me tie her down,” Elsie said, pressing her to the bed. “You’ve completely lost it. You need to go back to the psych ward. Once you learn how to behave, then you can come back.”

Elsie rushed over, grabbed the IV tubing, and began wrapping it around Yunice’s wrists.

The two of them were actually trying to restrain her and send her back to a psychiatric facility.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

A sharp voice cut through the chaos behind them. The moment Owen heard it, he froze.

He turned and saw Carl and Oscar standing in the doorway.

Owen shifted to the side, revealing Yunice behind him.

Her hair was a mess, her wrists tied with IV tubing. She’d collapsed to her knees on the hospital bed, her gown disheveled from the struggle.

Her eyes were red with humiliation, but she refused to shed a single tear.

The sight made Oscar snap. He let out a furious yell, lunged forward, and grabbed Owen by the collar–then slammed him to the floor.

Elsie didn’t even have time to react before Oscar turned and kicked her hard, sending her sprawling to the ground.

Then he ripped off his jacket and gently draped it over Yunice’s shoulders.

He knelt down and began untying the IV tubing from her wrists. It had been wrapped so tightly, it had sunk into her skin.

Yunice looked at Oscar silently, her throat tightening. At least someone still stands up for me.

Carl didn’t move, but his mere presence was overwhelming.

His gaze landed on Owen like a death sentence.

Despite Carl’s long-standing friendship with the Saunders family, he was a man even Wyatt treated with respect. His fury wasn’t something Owen could handle.

Owen didn’t dare look Carl in the eye, but he refused to back down completely. He had to explain himself.

“Mr. Carl, it’s not what it looks like! Wyatt’s the one who hit Yunice. I was just trying to take her home because I was worried about her!”

As expected, his words shifted the focus. Oscar and Carl’s faces both changed.

“Wyatt hit Yunice?”

Owen straightened his back, his voice righteous. “Why else would she be in the hospital? Why do you think I’m here?”

At that moment, Joe–the nurse responsible for Yunice–finally heard the commotion from her room.

He came rushing over, but when he saw the scene inside, he froze at the door.

“Holy crap… this is bad,” he muttered, turning and running off to notify Wyatt.

Back inside, Carl’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Yunice, fists clenched behind his back. “Did Wyatt lay a hand on you?”

Yunice shook her head. “No.”

Owen erupted. “You’re insane! He beat you so badly you ended up here and you’re still defending him? You think you’re his great love or something? One of these days he’s going to beat you to death and no one in your family will even know!”

Yunice looked at him. “So you brought Elsie here to protect me?”

“What do you think?” Owen replied.

Then he turned to the others and started ranting again. “And this is how she thanks us. She bit Elsie for no reason, didn’t even try to explain herself!”

He pulled Elsie forward, presenting her like evidence. “Look what she did to her. Does that look like something a sane person would do to someone who cares about her?”

Elsie let her robe slip slightly, revealing the bite on her pale shoulder–a deep, purplish-red imprint.

Clearly, it hadn’t been a gentle nibble.

Oscar stood abruptly, placing himself protectively in front of Yunice.

Elsie cast a sorrowful glance at Carl, eyes shimmering with unspoken appeal.

She knew Carl never liked her. But if this wound could earn his sympathy, maybe it would finally change his opinion.

Carl furrowed his brow and replied coldly, “If you know you’re not welcome, why show up and hang around someone who’s sick? You deserved to get bitten.”