Chapter 8: Taking Without Asking Is Stealing

Owen hissed sharply, startling Paul and Elsie mid-conversation. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded. Giana, eyes red, apologized profusely, frantically wiping up spilled water. Owen impatiently pushed her aside. "Move," he said.

Elsie gently interjected, "Owen, Giana didn't do it on purpose. Don't blame her." Turning to Giana, she asked, "You've seemed distracted lately. I've even seen you crying. Is something wrong?"

Giana sobbed, covering her face. "I haven't been able to reach my family for days. I miss my child…"

Elsie was puzzled. "How haven't you reached them? Haven't they called?"

Giana hesitantly glanced at Owen before whispering, "I'm afraid to say…"

Paul, leaning back on the sofa, watched with amusement. Elsie frowned. "Stop playing riddles, Giana. Just tell us."

Finally, Giana cried out, "Mr. Owen, Ms. Yunice stole my phone! She flushed it down the drain when I confronted her! My son must be so worried!"

Paul narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Giana. Yunice stealing a phone? It seemed preposterous. Even if unstable, Yunice wasn't destitute. Why steal a maid's phone and then react so violently?

Owen likely had the same thought, yet doubted Giana would fabricate such a lie. "Do you have any proof?" he asked.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Giana sobbed.

Paul scoffed. "Your word isn't enough. Any other evidence?"

Elsie subtly glanced at Paul. Owen hadn't even spoken, yet Paul seemed to be defending Yunice.

Giana suddenly exclaimed, "If we check the drainage system, we'll find my phone!"

Digging up pipes? Even if the phone were there, who knew where it would be by now? Elsie offered, "It's just a phone, Giana. I'll buy you a new one." She started to order one, but Giana protested, "Ms. Elsie, it's not the phone—I need the contacts!"

Increasingly irritated, Owen ordered, "Check the surveillance footage."

Giana persisted, "There are no cameras in the bathroom! Ms. Yunice used that."

A brief silence hung in the air. Paul suggested, "Let's ask Yunice."

Owen agreed, "Call Yunice."

Minutes later, Yunice emerged from her room, her hair in a ponytail, dressed simply. Paul was reminded of their school days. Nostalgia softened his expression, but Yunice ignored him. His smile faltered.

Owen, before Yunice could sit, demanded, "Have you gone without food or clothing? Why did you steal Giana's phone?"

Yunice's steps faltered. She realized Owen hadn't given her a chance to sit, while everyone else was comfortably seated. "I didn't steal it," she sighed.

"So you've been falsely accused? Why would Giana accuse you?" Owen pressed.

Yunice remained silent. Owen continued, "You stole it because I didn't provide you with a phone, to humiliate me!"

It struck Owen then: he hadn't arranged for Yunice's necessities. His voice grew colder. "After three years, your resentment is still this strong? You'd rather destroy something than not have it."

Elsie patted Owen's back, addressing Yunice with concern, "Yunice, Owen works hard. He's just been busy. Don't be angry with him."

Owen sighed. He wished Yunice were half as understanding as Elsie.

Giana refused to drop it. "Ms. Elsie, don't cover for her! She must admit her mistake, or the whole Saunders family will be ruined!"

Owen turned to her, coldly. "What do you mean?"

Elsie hesitated, but Giana declared, "If I was wronged about my phone, what about Ms. Elsie's million-dollar bracelet? Will Ms. Yunice deny taking that too?"

Paul glanced at Elsie, her lip bitten, his gaze darkening. Yunice hadn't changed. Three years ago, gifts for Elsie would disappear, reappearing in Yunice's possession. Initially, Paul hadn't believed Yunice would steal, but the pattern revealed a different motive: jealousy. He'd found her possessiveness endearing at first, but it had become controlling, his heart shifting toward the kinder Elsie. He hadn't thought much about it because Yunice only ever took Elsie's things.

Ignoring the others' contempt, Yunice asked Elsie, "What did your bracelet look like?"

Giana interjected, "An eighteen-bead bracelet of rare jade!"

Yunice mused, "Were the beads engraved with Confucian classics?"

Giana exclaimed, pointing at Yunice, "See, Mr. Owen! She stole it!"

Paul scoffed, "Because it was hers to begin with."

Elsie looked at Paul in surprise. Why was he defending Yunice? If Paul knew, Owen certainly did too. The bracelet had been a gift from his father to Yunice years ago, after a severe illness, intended as a talisman.

Giana quickly changed tactics. "Even if it was hers, she should have asked! Her things were in Ms. Elsie's room. Taking without asking is stealing!"

Silence fell. Everyone knew the bracelet belonged to Yunice, and the room had originally been hers. How could taking one's own belongings from one's own room be considered stealing?