Chapter 682 The Final Setup

Yunice’s gaze slid over the tense standoff between Owen and Lily. She rose slowly and said to Owen, “Alright then, it’s settled. As long as you take back every kindness you ever showed Elsie, I won’t fight for the Saunders family inheritance, and I’ll never again mention that I was once your sister.”

Owen’s reply was firm, almost ringing. “Fine! Deal.”

“Wyatt, let’s go.” Yunice turned, and Wyatt shot Owen a brief, cool glance before following her out with ease.

As they stepped through the front door, it shut firmly behind them–followed at once by Owen’s furious roar from inside. “How much longer are you going to carry on like this? All you care about is Elsie–have you ever cared about this family?”

“It’s the Saunders family’s money, my father’s money. Why should I spend it on an outsider? I’m returning that plot!”

A crash rang out, the sharp sound of something shattering.

Yunice guessed easily–Owen had just smashed the urn Lily treasured.

Lily’s wail rose, echoing through the Saunders home.

Yunice glanced back once.

If Owen wouldn’t extend kindness to her, she would make sure he retracted his kindness from everyone else too.

Let them all taste betrayal together–no exceptions.

Wyatt opened the car door, watching her duck inside. “When are you going to wrap this up?”

He hated seeing her like this.

He knew she was playing with the Saunders family like a cat with a trapped mouse, tormenting them slowly. But he also knew the process brought her more inner ache than satisfaction.

He wanted the revenge to end sooner, for her sake.

“Not long,” Yunice said.

“Owen’s nerves are at breaking point. He’s afraid Lily will turn on him, afraid Peggy will take advantage, and most of all afraid Timothy’s secrets will be exposed. My guess is, within a few days, he’ll make his own move.”

Then it could all be finished.

Wyatt drove her back to Pavilion Hall. Outside, the night sky shimmered with stars, trees gliding past in shadowy green along the road.

The air was still–no insects, no birdsong.

Leaning her elbow on the window, Yunice rested her head in her hand and said suddenly, “The Saunders family might not make it to New Year’s dinner.”

Wyatt’s fingers tightened slightly on the wheel.

He was relieved for her, but a knot of unease twisted inside him.

He knew their marriage had been his own calculated design.

Yunice had only wanted to trade her value for an equal exchange–she’d never planned to spend her life with him.

And he had a deep, gnawing sense that once her revenge was complete, she’d be gone.

Once the Saunders family was dealt with, the next target would be Paul.

Meanwhile, at the Saunders house...

On the carpet lay a scatter of shattered porcelain and white powder.

Lily knelt amid the fragments, her hands smeared with ash, sobbing.

Owen sat stony-faced.

Peggy walked past with open impatience. “She’s dead–what’s the point of this show? It’s the modern day, and you’re still talking about souls and karma? If you’re so afraid of retribution, why didn’t you do more good while you were alive?”

“You slut! You don’t understand anything!” Lily shrieked back.

“Who’s the slut? You are! You let Timothy sleep with you for ten years–you’ve been rotten for ages!” Peggy fired back like a machine gun. “If you weren’t rotten, after all those years you spent fawning over Carl, why would he still ignore you?”

Lily’s face flushed crimson, then turned pleading and accusatory as she looked to Owen–wanting him to back her up.

But Owen was exhausted from the constant bickering in the house. His complexion was dark and sickly, and he gripped the table for support as he stood. “Enough, both of you. I was only putting on a show for Yunice just now. I never intended to actually take back Elsie’s burial plot…”

He sighed. “We’re all wound up. I’ll make some autumn pear syrup. We can each have a cup and cool off.”

It was an offered truce, and Lily and Peggy took it, falling silent.

After days of fighting, everyone was worn down–caught in a dull, stagnant atmosphere of resignation.

Each one of them had their eyes on Owen’s money, but with no way to get it, they remained trapped together in this gilded cage of a home.

In the kitchen, Owen poured medicine into three cups. A sudden deep cough wracked his chest, and when he pulled his hand from his mouth, his palm was streaked with blood.

His eyes darkened instantly as he stared down at the cups.

He couldn’t wait anymore–really couldn’t.

He poured in water and stirred until the medicine dissolved.

Then he carried the cups out.

“Drink up,” Owen said. “We’re the real family here. Don’t let Yunice’s games turn us against each other.”

Lily thought it made sense–Yunice might well be hiding somewhere, watching them fight.

So, with a defiant tilt of her chin, she lifted her cup and downed the medicine in one go.