Chapter 425 A Family That Should’ve Broken Sooner

After Lily finished speaking, she waited nervously for Yunice’s response.

Yunice was silent for a few seconds, then gave a soft “mm”—and said nothing more.

Seeing that she didn’t object, Owen lit up. “I knew it! We’re all family–of course Yunice wouldn’t hold a grudge!”

“Yunice, since you’ve forgiven Mom, let’s put this all behind us. Today’s a good day. Why don’t you bring Wyatt home for dinner? We’ll officially welcome him into the Saunders family as our in-law!”

Then he quickly added, “Oh, right! I was so happy I almost forgot–make sure you go withdraw the lawsuit.”

Yunice toyed with her fingertips and said coolly, “Who said I was going to withdraw it?”

Owen froze. “Didn’t you just accept Mom’s apology?”

Yunice gave a dry laugh. “I accepted her apology. But the law doesn’t. The exam proctors don’t. The SAT officials don’t.”

Owen blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“The summons–you read it, right? The ones pressing charges aren’t me. It’s the exam proctors and the SAT administration. Do you think her slander only affected me? She jeopardized the integrity of the SAT. She stirred public opinion. This isn’t just between her and me.”

Owen’s face turned pale.

Lily looked frightened. “I just said a few things. Is it really that serious?”

Owen cut her off, turning to Yunice. “Then what if you write a letter of clemency?”

Oscar hesitated. “Yunice, is there any way to resolve this peacefully?”

Though Oscar sympathized with Yunice, he also knew this incident going public again wouldn’t look good for anyone.

After all, a daughter retaliating against her mother never plays well.

Yunice replied, “I can write the letter. But only if she makes a public apology to correct the damage.”

“A public apology?” Lily’s voice shot up an octave. To her, that was social suicide.

If she did that, the other socialites would never let her live it down.

Owen hesitated and asked cautiously, “So if Mom makes a public apology, she won’t have to face legal consequences?”

Lily instantly realized he was wavering.

She burst into tears and yelled, “I’ll never do it! That would humiliate me more than death!”

Yunice snapped, “Did you think about what public opinion would do to me when you spread your lies?”

Lily froze in shock at her outburst.

Owen forced himself to smile and said, “Yunice, just for Oscar’s sake, please let this go. Ask Wyatt to pull some strings and make it disappear.”

Owen actually thought this would be easy.

But Yunice let out a cold laugh and turned to Oscar, who’d been trying to play peacemaker. “Oscar, there are a few things you probably don’t know.”

“Do you know why, even though Elsie was infected, she got transferred to Wellinges Pharma for treatment, while I, completely uninfected, was locked in a high-risk ward?”

Oscar’s face changed. Was there something more to it?

Owen immediately realized what she was about to say. His expression tightened as he called her name, trying to stop her.

But Yunice was clear and steady. “It’s because Wyatt donated ten billion to secure one spot. And Owen forced my spot to go to Elsie. He was willing to trade my life for hers.”

“That’s not how it was!” Owen jumped to explain. “It was a carefully calculated decision! If you had left, Wyatt wouldn’t have cared if Elise and I died. But if you stayed, he’d have to protect all three of us. And it worked–we all survived, didn’t we-”

Before he could finish, he was sent flying.

Oscar had punched him square in the face. “You used Yunice’s life as a bargaining chip and thought that made you clever?!”

Owen ignored the pain, scrambling to explain. “Elise took a stab for me. She’s weak. If I hadn’t saved her, I’d regret it for life!”

Oscar shouted, “Then you pay that debt yourself! Yunice isn’t yours to sacrifice! What gives you the right to use her life like it’s yours to spend?!”

Oscar looked utterly disgusted. “I can’t believe I even tried to defend you… I actually hoped Yunice would forgive you… You people are-”

“Every time I try to help you, you somehow manage to stoop even lower. You make me feel like a brainless accomplice!”

Oscar shut his eyes, breathing hard.

After a long pause, he quietly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said, “I’m done trying. This family should’ve broken a long time ago. From now on, let’s all go our separate ways.”

He couldn’t go on.

His mind was in chaos–he had wanted to save this family, but now he saw clearly that he couldn’t change any of them.

All he could do was accept that it was already too far gone.