Chapter 58: The Line He Crossed
Yunice rested her chin in her hand and, with a small, subtle movement, slipped an earbud into her ear, letting her hair fall to cover it. She’d planted a bug on Owen before they left. So, even though he’d gone into Maplecrest Manor without her, she wasn’t going to miss a single word of what went down inside.
Owen didn’t bother knocking. He stormed straight into Paul’s room and, without a word, slammed a punch right into his jaw. Caught off guard, Paul crashed backward onto the couch. He jumped to his feet, furious, and grabbed at Owen. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Sh*t, I’m bleeding!”
Owen didn’t even flinch. “That was just the start.” Owen landed another punch, this time to the other side of Paul’s face. “You laid a hand on Elsie? Beating the crap out of you would still be going easy.”
Paul hit the couch again, groaning. “F*ck!” he spat, but this time he didn’t fight back. “Are you insane? What the hell is your problem?” he snapped. “I’m dating Elsie. What, I’m not allowed to touch her now?”
Owen’s voice dropped low, dangerous. “You know exactly what I mean.”
Paul froze. At first, he hadn’t thought much of it—but now, with the way Owen was looking at him, something shifted in his expression. A flicker of guilt. Owen saw it. He lunged forward, grabbed Paul by the collar, and pulled him close. “What did you promise me? Huh? What did you swear to me?”
Paul’s face darkened. He didn’t say a word. But Owen wasn’t letting him off easy. “You slept with Yunice. I let it slide—but I warned you. If you ever touched Elsie, I’d come for you. You said she was the one you cared about most, the one you couldn’t bring yourself to hurt. And now? You’ve screwed around with both of my sisters.”
Paul’s jaw tightened, the vein in his neck visibly pulsing. He looked like he wanted to fire back—but the words caught in his throat. After a long pause, he finally muttered, “It wasn’t like that. Elsie and I… we care about each other. It just happened. I didn’t force her.”
Owen didn’t buy it. He punched him again. “Bullshit! You really expect me to believe that? You’ve always been like this. You probably pushed her into it. And she still covered for you this whole time. If she hadn’t, I would’ve been here a long time ago.”
Paul spat blood to the side and glared at him. “Wait—did Elsie tell you I forced her?”
“Spare me the excuses,” Owen snapped. “You touched her, now you take responsibility.”
Then he let go of Paul’s shirt and pointed toward the door. His tone was bitter, like he didn’t care how ugly this got. “I brought Yunice with me. She’s outside right now.”
Paul’s gaze shifted past him, through the open doors. There, beneath the canopy of red maples, sat Yunice—quiet and still. Her black hair draped softly over her shoulders as she sat in the pavilion, poised like a painting—elegant, distant, and untouchable.
“You hooked up with both of my sisters,” Owen said, his voice cold. “Now be a man and make a choice. Take responsibility.”
Paul’s temper flared. He jumped to his feet. “Are you kidding me right now? You think this is some kind of game show where I just point and pick a prize?”
Owen stepped in again, pressing harder. “So what is this then? If you won’t choose, was Elsie just a fling? Something easy to toss once you got what you wanted?”
“Hell no!” Paul snapped. He and Owen had grown up together—Yunice or not, they were close. Messing around was one thing, but not with Owen’s sister. That was a hard line he never meant to cross.
“Then choose,” Owen growled, stepping aside and pointing toward the courtyard. “Look at Yunice. Say it to her face. Let’s see if you can live with your choice.”
Paul couldn’t say a word. The truth was, he still felt too young to be tied down. He really did care about Elsie—but getting married now? That wasn’t in his plans. But after what happened, Owen wasn’t going to let this go. He wanted a clear answer. Right now.
His eyes drifted out to the courtyard. Yunice sat quietly in the distance beneath the trees, calm and unreadable. His chest tightened. Elsie or Yunice?
Owen’s eyes narrowed. “You’re hesitating. Unbelievable. Guess that says everything. If Elsie really mattered to you, you wouldn’t have paused for even a second.”
Paul clenched his fists. The words stung, and he fired back. “You think I’m like you? Just picking and choosing like it’s nothing? You left your own sister to burn and walked away like it didn’t matter!”
Owen went still. That hit hard. Paul saw it and didn’t let up. “You act like some protective big brother, but let’s be honest—you never really cared about Yunice. You brought her here to use her. To back me into a corner. You know she’s not ‘good enough’ anymore—her name’s ruined, her face is scarred. And you made her sit outside in front of the staff just to humiliate her. Just to make sure I’d feel too ashamed to choose her over Elsie.”
Owen’s eyes flickered—just for a second. But Paul caught it. He let out a bitter laugh. “Don’t play dumb, Owen. We both know how this works. I see right through you.”