Chapter 171: Scapegoat in Scarlet
Yunice and Lily locked eyes for a long moment. The more Yunice saw the blame burning in Lily’s gaze, the stiffer her body became. She wanted to look away, to escape those eyes filled with displaced anger, but her muscles refused to move, frozen in place.
“Have you sorted out your mess? Or is it my turn to speak now?” Taylor’s voice cut through the silence.
She could no longer stomach the Powell family’s twisted narratives. She didn’t know Elsie or Yunice well, but she knew one thing for certain… Paul was far from the innocent man they painted him to be. Still, she was younger. The Powell family’s actions were not for her to question, so she stood her ground, speaking only from her own position.
No one objected. Taylor gave a discreet signal to someone behind her. At once, her trusted aide stepped forward and handed a stack of A4 papers to Owen.
“Here is all the evidence proving Elsie deliberately poisoned Ms. Taylor. Mr. Owen, please review it.”
Owen took the documents, and Lily quickly broke free from those restraining her to read them with him. It was a thick file, more than twenty pages, detailing the altered medication’s composition and the potential damage it could cause. There were surveillance images showing Elsie accompanying Taylor to the Virtue Hall, and even a statement from the pharmacy runner who had been caught. Owen’s expression shifted to one of utter shock. For a moment, he could not accept that Elsie could do such a thing. But no matter what she had done, as her brother, he had to protect her.
Leaning on the goodwill he still held with Taylor, he began, “Ms. Taylor, there has to be some misunderstanding. Please give me some time to investigate this properly. I swear on my integrity. I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Taylor frowned slightly. She had once admired Owen, maybe even liked him a little. Sensing her hesitation, he pushed further. “Elsie didn’t even know about your relationship with Paul before this. She had no motive to hurt you! Ms. Taylor, surely you wouldn’t want to wrong the innocent and let the true villain walk free?”
Even Gerardo and Kyla began to furrow their brows. His words made sense. They were not fools. The Powell family had hidden the truth from both women. If Elsie didn’t even know who Taylor was, why would she try to hurt her?
Just as the tide began to shift, Yunice let out a quiet, derisive laugh. Or… is it possible that Elsie didn’t need a motive? That she was simply rotten to the core, that she was unable…
The room’s mood shifted again. Linda exchanged a glance with Jackson beside her, as if receiving silent permission. Her eyes glinted as she spoke. “I think Mr. Owen raises a fair point. Compared to Ms. Elsie, perhaps the one with the real motive here… is Ms. Saunders.”
“It’s no secret that Ms. Saunders and Paul were once engaged. She probably heard about his engagement to Ms. Taylor through Wyatt and grew bitter. What if, out of jealousy, she lashed out at Ms. Taylor?” She turned her eyes on Yunice, her gaze sharp and probing, like she truly believed she had found the culprit.
The Kendall family members looked toward Yunice as well, some of them clearly considering the logic in Linda’s accusation. But the Kendall family had never been hasty in judgment. Without solid proof…
“It was her! It was her!”
Suddenly, Lily, who had been all but invisible in the commotion, screamed and sprang to life, gripping the evidence papers in one hand and shoving Yunice forward with the other. Her voice was shrill and furious. “You did it! You tried to frame your sister for your own crime!”
Yunice stumbled, completely unprepared, and fell hard to the ground. Her palm flared with pain. She turned it over to see streaks of blood where her skin had been scraped. But she did not immediately speak. Maybe it was all too sudden, too surreal. She did not rush to defend herself. Instead, she sat there in silence, brows faintly furrowed, eyes fixed on the blood in her palm.
The Kendall family and Owen stared at Lily in shock, unable to comprehend her sudden outburst. Even Owen was dumbfounded. “Mom… you…” Why had she pushed Yunice out like that? He could not understand, but the Powell family could.
Someone had to take the fall for the poisoning. That was already a certainty. And the Powell family, who had dealt with the Saunders family for years, knew exactly how this would go. Yunice would be the sacrificial pawn. The Saunders family would shield Elsie no matter what. Pushing Yunice forward now was a tactical move. Normally, she meant nothing. But now she was tied to Wyatt. Her fall would drag him into the fire too. Diverting the disaster, they would turn the Kendall family against Wyatt, and the Powell family could wash their hands clean.
Owen leaned close to his mother and whispered, “Mom, Yunice’s here to help us. Don’t you think you’re breaking her heart? And besides… this won’t work.” Taylor’s evidence was too solid. No amount of denial would undo it.