Chapter 99: Human Pyramid
Elsie stood frozen in shock, her mouth open, unable to speak. Wyatt cast a seemingly indifferent glance in Yunice’s direction. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. Though her eyes were lowered, calm on the surface, the slight trembling of her chin betrayed the emotion underneath. Maybe that touching scene between the siblings had still, somehow, cut into her.
“Wyatt! You really think you’re above the law? All of this started because of Yunice! She hit Elsie first! Her brother was just disciplining her—what’s wrong with that?” Paul yelled angrily.
“Your wedding’s around the corner, and you’re trying to chop off your future brother-in-law’s hand without even hearing both sides! What will people say about the Powell family when this gets out? I’m telling Grandpa everything you did today!”
Before he even finished, the bald man kicked Owen aside and stepped forward to grab Elsie’s hand again—but she suddenly jerked away, clutching her throat with both hands. Her eyes went wide, her face contorted in pain. It looked like she couldn’t breathe; she made wheezing, choking sounds from deep in her throat.
“Shit—Elsie’s having an asthma attack!” Owen panicked. “Paul, get her some help, now!”
Owen lifted her and passed her into Paul’s arms. Paul spun his wheelchair around, urgently racing off with Elsie toward the emergency room.
Yunice stood quietly, watching this whole dramatic relay of saving Elsie unfold. Elsie didn’t even have asthma. And when the day came that Owen found out the sister he was willing to die for had been lying to him from the very beginning—he’d wear a look no one would ever forget.
But at that moment, Owen wasn’t thinking about any of that. With Elsie safely carried off, he actually let out a relieved smile.
Yunice stepped up to Wyatt and said, “Mr. Cooper, I have a request. Can I decide how to punish Owen?”
“What did you just call me?” Owen turned back, visibly shaken as he looked at her. He knew she was trying to protect him by asking Wyatt for that favor—but hearing her call him that way, so formal and distant, made Owen feel like a complete stranger.
Yunice replied coolly, “I already cut ties with you. If I’m not calling you by your name, why would I call you my brother?”
“What do you mean, cut ties?” Owen snapped.
They shared both parents. That kind of blood bond couldn’t be severed. The bald man twirled the knife in his hand, glancing between the two of them.
Then he said to Yunice with a smirk that didn’t quite reach his eyes, “Ms. Saunders, Mr. Cooper’s standing up for you. Don’t forget who’s on your side.”
There was a roughness to the bald man, and even his ok-ing tone carried a veiled threat. Yunice understood what he meant. Wyatt was defending her; if she backed down now, she’d be putting him in a bad spot. In other words, it’d be like slapping the hand that protected her. But before she could respond, Wyatt shot the bald man a glance. That look was ice-cold—and the bald man immediately realized he’d said too much.
He quickly apologized. “Sorry, Ms. Saunders!”
Yunice blinked, caught off guard. Ever since she’d been admitted to the psych ward, no one had treated her like she mattered. To suddenly have people listen to her… it felt strange. She wasn’t quite used to it.
Owen, on the other hand, was visibly moved. If she was willing to speak up for him, he was ready to let go of the argument from earlier. He hadn’t come today to fight; he’d come to take her home.
Feeling emotional, Owen couldn’t help blurting out that the family was already preparing her dowry—that everyone was taking her seriously now. “Yunny…”
But Yunice wasn’t even listening. She looked at Wyatt and said, “I don’t want his hand. Too bloody.”
Owen frowned.
Wyatt raised an eyebrow, amused. “Then what do you want?”
“I want to borrow a few of your guys to play a game of human pyramid,” she said.
Owen’s eyes went wide in disbelief. Wasn’t she just trying to help me? Then why…
“Human pyramid…” Wyatt smirked. “That’s a new one!”
He reached a hand out toward her, and Yunice obediently walked over to stand by his side. The bald man called out to a few bodyguards, “You lot come here. Ms. Saunders is in charge.”
Yunice lifted her gaze and looked at Owen. “In the psych ward, the people on top of the pyramid always jumped down to crush the one at the bottom.”
Owen’s lips tightened. He frowned at her. So she wanted him to experience what she went through in that place? How hard could that be? If Yunice had handled it, surely he, a grown man, could too.
Owen straightened. “Fine. As long as I get stacked on, will you let go of all that anger?”
Yunice didn’t respond. He gave her one last look, then closed his eyes and said solemnly, “Let’s do it.”