Chapter 5 He is a Criple

Gianna forcefully dragged Yunice out of the bathtub. Not finding her phone, she began searching the entire bathroom. As soon as she tried to open the toilet's water tank, Yunice rushed over and pressed the flush button!

Seeing the nervous expression on Yunice's face, Gianna reacted quickly and lifted the toilet lid. But inside, apart from a strong rush of water, there was nothing else. Was her phone just flushed away?

Gianna immediately seized the opportunity, pointing gleefully at Yunice. "Stealing? Mr. Owen won't let you get away with this!" With great enthusiasm, Gianna ran out to report her.

Owen sat in his room, feeling unsettled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Yunice had become distant since her return, unlike before when she was so close to him. Feeling uneasy, he got up and took out a gift he had prepared for her-a necklace.

The year their father passed away, Yunice lost interest in everything, except for this necklace. However, at the time, their father and Oscar were busy with family affairs, and no one had the time to fulfill her small request.

Owen muttered to himself, "If she still refuses to be kind after receiving this gift, then she's simply ungrateful."

Just as he was about to go look for Yunice, Gianna hurried over, looking like she wanted to say something. But before she could speak, Lily anxiously grabbed Owen's arm. "Owen, hurry! Check on Elsie, she's having another episode!"

A few moments later, chaotic footsteps were heard outside, accompanied by Lily's sobs. After a few minutes, everything went quiet again.

Yunice emerged from her room with wet hair and bare feet. The entire villa was silent, so quiet that she could hear her own heartbeat. She knew tonight, no one would care about her return. Elsie was an expert at this-every time something important happened in Yunice's life, she would always have an "episode" to steal everyone's attention.

At Yunice's college entrance exam, Elsie accidentally spilled water on her exam card, got scared, and had an asthma attack. In order to rush Elsie to the hospital, Yunice was kicked out of the car, nearly missing her exam. At Yunice's coming-of-age ceremony, Elsie was so "happy" for her that she had another asthma attack. Yunice was left at the party, left alone to endure the whispers and scoldings of the guests.

Even on the two-year anniversary of their father's death, Elsie disgraced herself by kneeling at his grave, slapping her own face, crying that it was all her fault for ruining their father's family, and then fainting from grief. After that, Oscar and Lily decided not to hold any more memorial services so as not to bring up sad memories.

Yunice sneered coldly. No wonder the grass on her father's grave had grown so tall; since she had been locked up in the mental hospital, no one had tended to it. And today, Elsie had another episode just to prove that nothing had changed, even with Yunice's return.

Lily's words about still being a family... What a joke.

Back in the mental hospital, Yunice had considered many dark things. What if Lily had never brought Elsie back? What if Lily had never been rescued?

But over time, love fades, and so does hatred. In the end, she no longer wanted Oscar or Owen, or even Paul. She just wanted to get out of the mental hospital and keep some of her father's possessions.

But first, she had to survive.

Yunice stared towards the second floor, where her old room used to be. Her gaze darkened.

At the pawn shop.

The attendant slid a bank card through the window at lightning speed. "Dead pawn, three months. No extensions. There's 300,000 in the account, no password."

Yunice immediately snatched the card and held it tight. This was a shady pawn shop, so there was no need for identification, and no need to ask about the origin of the item. She gave them something, and they pawned it.

She had pawned a bracelet-one of her father's mementos. In three months, she needed 500,000 to buy it back.

Oscar had manipulated her household registration, replacing her fingerprint records with Elsie's. So, even if Yunice herself went to renew her ID card, she wouldn't be able to.

Without an ID card, she couldn't even open a personal bank account. This 300,000 was the only real money she had.

After securing the card, Yunice covered her face with a scarf and asked, "Have the Alphasirox pills been sold?"

The attendant pointed to the alley behind him. "Still in the back."

Yunice thanked him and jogged towards the dark alley. Alphasirox pills were excellent for internal injuries, but as a newly-tested drug not yet on the market, they were incredibly hard to find. The only place to get them was on the black market.

What she didn't expect was that, in her haste, she would collide with someone while turning the corner.

Already weak, she lost her balance from the impact, and the card in her hand flew out.

Panicking at the thought of her money, she was about to reach for it when a pair of strong hands gripped her arm. Before she could react, her back hit a rough brick wall. The impact made her gasp, and pain shot through her body.

Just then, heavy, chaotic footsteps echoed down the alley. "He ran this way! That cripple can't have gone far!"

Yunice tensed and instinctively looked up at the man pressing her against the wall. The man quickly took off his jacket and threw it into a dark corner.

She then felt something hard press against her lower abdomen. It was a metal cane.

The man calmly completed his disguise before raising his eyes to glance at Yunice. A moment later, he frowned in disgust.

Yunice's disguise was too thorough. She was wearing a thick beanie, her face was covered by a scarf, and she had even stolen Gianna's maid uniform. In a place like the black market, this kind of clothing only made a person look undesirable.

Wyatt Cooper snorted. Using a maid as a cover was too obvious; it would only invite suspicion. His luck was truly bad tonight.

Just as he was about to push her aside, Yunice suddenly grabbed his collar with surprising strength.

The next second, their positions changed. Wyatt was now leaning against the wall, and Yunice lowered her beanie and scarf. Her long hair fell, covering part of her delicate face. Wyatt froze for a moment.

Without hesitation, Yunice pulled her pants down to her ankles with one hand and pulled her arm through the neck of her top with the other, instantly transforming the maid uniform into an open-shouldered, revealing outfit.

Right at that moment, the pursuers stormed into the alley.

Yunice pressed her hand against Wyatt's lower abdomen, her entire body swaying into him.

"Oh... you're too much, I can't take it anymore... ah... you're breaking me..." Yunice moaned, tilting her head back as the alley light shone on her face.

The men hunting Wyatt aimed their flashlights at them, taking in the scene. Wyatt instinctively raised a hand to block the light, concealing his face.

The black market was a dirty place, full of junkies and pimps. Seeing a man "having fun" with someone who looked like a street prostitute, the pursuers dismissed their suspicions. The man in front of them was clearly not the limping target they were after.

Seeing his exposed abdomen pressed against the woman, they sneered and ran off in the other direction.

As soon as the footsteps disappeared, Yunice let out a few exaggerated groans before carefully glancing at where the pursuers had vanished.

Convinced she had successfully escaped danger, she turned around and met a pair of sharp eyes.