Chapter 217
Owen couldn’t sit still. “Mr. Carl, there’s no need to insult anyone!”
“You get this fired up just because I called her a little brat, but you haven’t heard a thing about what people are saying about Yunny out there?”
Owen tried to defend himself. “I’ve said it already—Elsie only used Yunice’s name to protect her reputation. Technically speaking, Yunice should be grateful to Elsie for preserving her status…”
Carl cut him off. “And now that Yunny’s back, how come none of you have given her name back?”
Owen stood his ground. “Because changing someone’s identity isn’t easy. Elsie’s been using Yunice’s name for years—her connections and social ties are already established. It’s not something you can undo overnight. Yunice has already caused a huge stir over this; she’s practically blown the house up. Haven’t I given in enough?”
Carl let out a cold laugh. “You people are really full of it. Fine, say you can’t switch it back—what then? Yunny’s wedding is coming up. What identity is she supposed to show up with? As the daughter of some human trafficker from the mountains?”
Carl jabbed a finger at Owen’s nose, yelling, “This is beyond ridiculous! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Don’t you care how badly you’re disgracing your father’s memory? Who’s your real sister here? And who’s the one that tore your family apart? Use your damn brain for once!”
“Ahh!” Lily suddenly let out a piercing scream, clutching her ears like she was losing it. “Can you all just stop? Don’t bring up that brat again…”
Owen rushed to cover Lily’s ears. His face twisted in resentment, and he turned to Carl. “Mr. Carl, I’ve respected you because you’re a senior to me, but that doesn’t give you the right to hurt my family! My mother suffered severe trauma during the fifteen years she was taken. Please don’t provoke her—if anything happens to her, you won’t be able to live with the consequences!”
Elsie watched Lily in pain, then stood up, dazed and shaken, her tear-streaked face full of guilt.
She murmured, “It’s not Mom’s fault… it’s mine… If I weren’t such a burden, no one would bring up memories that hurt her… Mom, I’m sorry. I failed you.”
She gave Lily one last longing glance, then lifted her dress and ran out the door.
Yunice saw it and immediately shouted, “Freya, shut the door!”
Freya snapped to attention, but she was a beat too late—Elsie shoved her aside and bolted out. As Elsie rushed away, Owen was the first to chase after her. “Elsie, don’t do anything stupid!”
A long time passed, and neither Owen nor Elsie came back. It looked like he hadn’t caught up to her. Lily, looking worried, stood up and called weakly for Elsie—but the emotional strain was too much; she suddenly collapsed onto the table.
That was when Carl realized things were getting serious. Freya caught Lily and frowned. “Boss, she’s passed out. Should we get her to a hospital?”
If anything happened to Lily, Carl would have a hard time explaining it. He didn’t hesitate. “Take her to the hospital.”
Yunice figured Lily was faking it, but she couldn’t risk looking too cold in front of Carl—otherwise, she’d just be playing into Lily’s hands. So she followed Carl and helped get Lily into the car.
On the way to the hospital, Carl sat with a deep frown. “That girl’s pretty intense. You don’t think she’s really going to do something drastic, do you?”
Yunice glanced at him, then lowered her eyes. Elsie was a master manipulator, and ruthless with herself too. She’d used this same trick plenty of times before. Every time someone mentioned she was the daughter of traffickers, she’d threaten to kill herself. No one wanted to be blamed for driving someone to suicide, so eventually, people just stopped bringing it up. Now even Carl had fallen for it.
Yunice said quietly, “Mr. Carl, maybe just let it go.”
Carl didn’t catch it. “What?”
She looked up, her tear-bright eyes calm as she said, “You don’t have to fight for me anymore. So what if I don’t have a name or an identity? I’m still my dad’s daughter. No matter what anyone else says, that’ll never change.”
Carl was taken aback, then slowly furrowed his brow again. Seeing how calm and resigned Yunice was made his blood boil. “Your identity came from your father—if he never gave it up, no one else has any right to touch it. And Elsie? What even is she? The Saunders family fed her, housed her—she should be thankful she had a roof over her head. What right does she have to steal what’s yours? That little leech is living in your place like she belongs. She’s the one who should be ashamed, not you!”
He was cursing her out, but in his heart, something else hit him. For a second there, he had actually felt sorry for Elsie. No one got to choose where they came from. If she had a choice, Elsie probably wouldn’t have wanted to be born into a trafficker’s family either.