Chapter 497 The Man No One Knew

“What you do out there is none of my business,” Victor warned coldly, “but if your mess drags Yunice into it, the Crawford family is not the Saunders family. We won’t stand by and do nothing. Don’t think you can turn into the next Paul.”

Wyatt gave a faint, indifferent smile. After a pause, he said, “You’re so thoughtful–then you handle the cleanup. I’m going home to my wife.”

Victor frowned as he watched Wyatt leave. There was no reasoning with a man like that.

At the Saunders residence.

Elsie lay in bed with a fever.

She’d jumped into the pool to save Paul last night and inhaled too much water. It led to a lung infection, and now she was burning up.

Carl hadn’t taken it out on the Saunders family last night. He’d vented all his fury on Paul, then let Owen and the rest go home.

Even after a full night, Owen still looked pale, shaken by what had happened.

They were really willing to kill Paul…

Outside her room, Peggy was crouched at the door, eavesdropping.

But the door was shut–she couldn’t hear a thing.

She turned and glanced downstairs at Oscar, who was sitting on the sofa.

Last night, when Oscar brought Owen home, Peggy finally realized–he was the eldest son of the Saunders family.

“He’s so cold and antisocial. He doesn’t talk much. Hopefully he won’t compete with me for the inheritance…”

Arms crossed, Peggy scowled. One more competitor to worry about.

Inside the room, Owen’s phone buzzed with a news alert.

He stood up in shock. “A fire at the Crawford estate? The whole place is gone!”

“What?” Lily jumped to her feet and snatched the phone from his hands.

Her face shifted as she watched the footage of the Crawford mansion burning. “How could this happen?”

“Could it be revenge from Jackson?” She paused for a moment, then murmured, “Could it be revenge from…”

Jackson wasn’t the type to take things lying down. After what the Crawfords did to Paul, would Jackson just let it go?

Burning down their estate–it sounded just like something he’d do.

“But let’s not jump to conclusions. I’ll call Freya and ask.”

She picked up her own phone and dialed.

At that moment, Wyatt had just returned to the west wing.

Freya was still in Yunice’s room. When she saw Lily’s name on the screen, her face wrinkled in disgust.

“That Lily… Always acting superior just because she’s an old friend of Mr. Carl’s. Bossy and full of herself. So annoying…”

She wasn’t even trying to hide her feelings from Yunice.

Yunice gave her a strange look. Freya caught it and stiffened. “What are you looking at me like that for?”

“I just find it strange,” Yunice said. “You come off pretty strong with other people. Why are you so patient with Lily?”

Even as her own daughter, Yunice couldn’t stand Lily’s shameless, manipulative games.

Freya looked irritated. “She’s Mr. Carl’s old friend. I’m his secretary. If I have to kiss up to someone, I pick my battles.”

Yunice’s expression turned playfully sly. “You like Mr. Carl, don’t you? You want to be my stepmom.”

“Pft!” Freya nearly spat out the water in her mouth. She smacked Yunice on the shoulder. “You little brat! What kind of nonsense is that?”

Yunice hugged a plush doll. “You think you’re good at hiding it? Anyone with eyes can see how you look at him.”

“And Mr. Carl knows too. He’s just pretending not to.”

Freya’s smile faded.

Carl had always been sharp. He could see straight through people. There was no way he didn’t know how Freya felt about him.

But if he hadn’t acknowledged it, that meant he didn’t return it. And that was exactly why Freya never dared bring it up–afraid even their polite working relationship would be destroyed.

Yunice hesitated, then said, “Actually…I don’t think you really understand Mr. Carl.”

Freya looked at her, puzzled.

“Do you know why he never married?” Yunice asked. “Why he decided early to adopt children?”

Freya’s expression grew serious. She voiced the suspicion that had gnawed at her for years. “Because he loved someone he could never have?”

She had always believed that person was Lily. Carl had shown a strange amount of patience with her– more than Freya had ever seen him show anyone else.

Even when Lily repeatedly lashed out at Yunice, Carl always handled it gently, letting things slide.

Yunice shifted on the bed, leaning comfortably against the headboard.

“When Lily gave birth to me, three days later she had a fight with my dad. Then she got kidnapped by traffickers and taken into the mountains. My dad searched for her nonstop, and eight years later, he died of heartbreak. Never saw her again before he died.”

“Everyone said it was my dad’s fault–said he drove Lily away while she was still recovering from childbirth. Who could believe a new mother would abandon her baby unless the father had been unbearable?”

“My dad blamed himself for years. He thought it was his fault. He thought Lily’s postpartum hormones made her unstable, and he should’ve been more considerate. If he’d just agreed to what she wanted, maybe she wouldn’t have stormed off…”