Chapter 7: She Still Didn’t Speak

Yunice’s gaze remained calm. “What if I’m used to enduring pain?”

Owen was taken aback. What did she mean by being used to pain? If it hurt, she should say so. Why endure it?

Yunice continued, “Because saying it hurts doesn’t help. So I can only endure. And after enduring long enough, you get used to it.”

Owen was skeptical. “I sent you to a proper psychiatric hospital. They treat all patients the same. Many of our hospital’s cases are well cared for there.”

Yunice replied, “That’s because their families pay bribes and visit regularly. But for those of us with no one to look after us, even if we get beaten, there’s no consequence.”

Owen felt a deep discomfort. He accused her, “Are you saying all this just to blame us for not visiting you? If you want to make us feel guilty, at least make your lies believable! Even if you were bullied, how could that cause compression injuries? Did they run you over with a car?”

Yunice found it amusing. “A psychiatric hospital isn’t the same as a regular hospital. They have strict rules for managing the insane. We weren’t allowed chopsticks or forks—anything that could be a weapon. We squatted on the ground, eating with our hands. For showers, they locked us in cages and hosed us down with high-pressure water jets. There was no studying. Apart from eating and sleeping, we wandered the yard all day. There were no recreational facilities, so we invented our own games. Like pulling someone’s limbs in different directions. Grabbing someone’s hair and riding them like a horse. Tying someone to an electric fence and shocking them repeatedly. But their favorite game was stacking people—piling on top of each other, chasing the thrill of suffocation and dizziness. Last year, someone died playing this game. The first person jumped onto the pile and crushed the ribs of the one below. As more people piled on, broken ribs pierced his heart. It took ten minutes before they realized he was dead.”

Owen’s eyes widened in disbelief. He leaned back instinctively. Something clicked in his mind. A year ago, he had signed a death certificate for someone. He had even seen the body. The corpse had clear signs of internal organ punctures, a ruptured spleen, and multiple fractures in the pelvis and sternum. But what stood out was that the person hadn’t died from blood loss—but from mechanical asphyxiation. She had struggled for at least ten minutes, suffocating in excruciating pain before she died. Back then, he hadn’t paid much attention to the case. He only remembered that the family refused an autopsy and had received a large compensation payout. Could that unfortunate girl have been…

Lily clutched her face, trembling with fear. She sobbed uncontrollably. Her voice was hoarse as she asked, “Yunny, did they do that to you too?”

When Yunice had been sent to the psychiatric hospital, she had only been eighteen. A quiet and delicate young girl—how could she not have been bullied?

Owen’s eyes reddened, his throat tightening. The pain was suffocating. Seeing his conflicted expression, Yunice spoke for him. “You’re trying to say that’s just how psychiatric hospitals are, right? That crazy people don’t understand boundaries? That if anyone is to blame, it’s me—for being selfish and intolerant, for wanting to hurt Elsie, which is why I was sent there? That I should be grateful I wasn’t sent to prison instead?”

Owen opened his mouth, but when she hit the nail on the head, he felt defensive. “Isn’t that the truth?”

But Yunice ignored him and looked directly at Lily, her words carrying a deeper meaning. “Mom, was it really me who hurt your daughter?”

Lily froze. A flicker of panic flashed in her tear-streaked eyes. But she quickly covered her face again and broke down. “Stop arguing! It’s all my fault! If I had just died in that mountain, none of this would have happened!”

She sobbed so hard her body trembled, nearly collapsing. “Mom!” Owen and Elsie hurried to support Lily, helping her onto the couch. Yunice stood by the door without moving. She was in too much pain to walk. But to everyone else, she appeared cold and unfeeling.

Owen grew angrier by the second. He snapped at Yunice, “What did Mom ever do to you?! What did Elsie ever do wrong?! Was it Mom’s fault she was kidnapped? Was it Elsie’s fault she was born into that family?! You act like the victim, but in reality, you’re just resentful! Mom and Elsie had no choice in their lives, but you did! You have family, status, and wealth—everything good in the world revolves around you! Yet you insist on envying Elsie, who has nothing! You’re standing here perfectly fine, while Elsie has to take medication for the rest of her life! And you still think the whole world owes you!”

At these words, Lily lowered her head, while Elsie bit her lip, worried Lily might say something she shouldn’t. Yunice, however, kept her gaze on Lily, even though the woman refused to meet her eyes. Three years ago, Lily had seen everything. She knew Elsie had staged the incident herself. She knew Yunice was innocent. But she had chosen to stay silent—because she didn’t want everyone to hate Elsie, didn’t want her to be driven out of the Saunders family. So she had knelt before Yunice, begging her to take the blame for hurting Elsie. Lily’s exact words were, “You’re still a Saunders. Even if you make a mistake, you won’t be punished. But Elsie is different. If she leaves the Saunders family, she’ll have nothing.” Yunice refused. So Lily had testified falsely, claiming that Yunice had stabbed Elsie. With her statement, Oscar and Owen had believed it. Because in their hearts, both the palm and the back of the hand are made of flesh. Their mother would never take sides. But they had forgotten—palms are flesh, but the palm has more flesh than the back of the hand. And the palm is always protected. Elsie was the daughter Lily had personally raised for fifteen years, her dearest treasure. Yunice, on the other hand, had never even been held by her mother at birth. How could the feelings be the same?

Before long, Lily clutched her chest, gasping for breath. “Stop fighting. It’s late. Everyone, go to bed.”

Owen glared at Yunice before helping Elsie escort Lily back to her room. Only then did Yunice exhale deeply and curl up on her bed. She had long stopped expecting anything from them. She didn’t even hope they would take her to the hospital. Her injuries were chronic. Even if she went to a hospital, the scans might not detect them. And even if they did, she wouldn’t dare go on the operating table. Elsie wanted nothing more than for her to disappear. If she were sedated on the operating table, she might never wake up again. Fortunately, she knew some pharmacology. She could nurse herself back to health. Once she was healed, she would settle things with this family once and for all.

Yunice rarely left her room for the next few days. When Giana came to clean, she found Alphasirox pills under the bed. With a twinkle in her eye, she photographed the pillbox and took it to Elsie. In the evening, Owen, who had been socializing all day, drank some wine and was sent home by Paul. The two came in through the door and saw Giana, who was talking to Elsie, wipe her tears and end the conversation. Paul looked around and didn’t see Yunice, making him feel a little uncomfortable. In the past, Yunice would be like a cat, hearing the sound of movement and looking over to talk to him. But he had been coming to the Saunders mansion frequently in the past two days, but hadn’t seen her once.

Elsie noticed Paul’s absentmindedness, and she also noticed that he seemed to be coming especially often lately and would always be distracted. She couldn’t help but have a bad feeling in her heart. So she instructed Giana, “Go and pour a cup of honey water for Owen; he will feel better if he drinks it.”

Owen sat disheveled on the sofa, blocking his face with his arm. He was in a bad mood today as he was disappointed in the workplace. He was already annoyed; then a hot stream poured violently on his legs!