Chapter 5 He's A Cripple

Gianna forcefully dragged Yunice out of the bathtub. When she didn't find the phone on her, she began searching the rest of the bathroom. The moment 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, aside from the powerful water flow, there was nothing else. The phone is flushed away? Gianna immediately seized this opportunity, gloating as she pointed at Yunice. "Stealing? Mr. Owen won't let you off for this!" Excitedly, Gianna ran out to report her. Owen was sitting in his room, feeling unsettled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Yunice had grown distant since coming back, unlike before when she had been close to him. Feeling uneasy, he got up and took out a gift he had prepared for Yunice–a necklace. The year their father passed away, Yunice had lost interest in everything, except for this necklace. But back then, he and Oscar were busy managing the family affairs, and no one had the time to fulfill her small request. Owen murmured to himself, "If she still refuses to be nice after accepting this gift, then she's just being ungrateful." Just as he was about to go find Yunice, Gianna hurriedly approached, looking like she had something to say. But before she could speak, Lily grabbed Owen's arm anxiously. "Owen, hurry! Go check on Elsie, she's having another attack!" Moments later, chaotic footsteps echoed outside, accompanied by Lily's sobbing. After a few minutes, everything quieted down again. Yunice stepped out of her room with wet hair and bare feet. The entire villa was silent, so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat. She knew that tonight, no one would care about her return. Elsie was an expert at this–whenever something significant happened in Yunice's life, she would always have an "episode" to steal everyone's attention. During Yunice's college entrance exam, Elsie accidentally spilled water on her exam admission ticket, got scared, and had an asthma attack. To rush Elsie to the hospital, Yunice was kicked out of the car, almost missing the exam. On Yunice's coming-of-age ceremony, Elsie was so "happy" for her that she had another attack. Yunice was abandoned at the banquet, left to endure the whispers and pointing of the guests alone. Even on the second anniversary of their father's death, Elsie made a spectacle of herself by kneeling before 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 they wouldn't hold any more memorials to avoid bringing up sad memories. Yunice smirked coldly. No wonder the grass on her father's grave had grown so tall, since she was locked in the psychiatric hospital, no one had taken care of it. And today, Elsie had another attack just to prove that nothing had changed, even with Yunice's return. Lily's words about still being a family… How funny. Back in the psychiatric hospital, Yunice had entertained many dark thoughts. What if Lily had never brought Elsie back? What if Lily had never been rescued? But over time, love faded, and hatred dulled. Eventually, she no longer wanted Oscar or Owen, nor did she want Paul. She just wanted to leave the psychiatric hospital and hold on to the few things her father had left behind. But first, she had to survive. Yunice looked toward the second floor, where her old room used to be. Her gaze darkened. … At the pawnshop. The clerk passed a bank card through the window at lightning speed. "Dead pawn, three months. No extension. There's 300,000 in the account, no password." Yunice quickly grabbed the card and clenched it in her palm. This was a black-market pawnshop, hence, no ID was required, and no questions were asked about the source of the items. She gave something, they pawned it. She had pawned a bracelet–one of her father's keepsakes. 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 personally went to renew her ID, she wouldn't be able to. Without an ID, she couldn't even open a personal bank account. This 300,000 dollars was the only real money she had in her hands. After securing the card, Yunice covered her face with her scarf and asked, "Have the Alphasirox pills been sold yet?" The clerk pointed toward an alley behind him. "Still at the back." Yunice thanked him and jogged toward the dark alley. Alphasirox pills were excellent for internal injuries, but since they were a newly tested drug not yet on the market, they were incredibly hard to find. The only place to get them was the black market. What she didn't expect was that, in her haste, she would run straight into someone's arms while rounding a corner. Already weak, she lost her balance from the impact, and the card in her hand went flying. Panicked over her money, she was about to grab it when a pair of strong hands seized her arms. Before she could react, her back slammed against the rough brick wall. The impact made her gasp as pain flared through her entire body. Just then, heavy and chaotic footsteps echoed through the alley. "He ran this way! That cripple can't have gotten far!" Yunice stiffened and instinctively looked up at the man pinning her against the wall. He swiftly took off his jacket and tossed it into a dark corner. She then felt something hard pressing against her lower abdomen. It was a metallic cane. The man calmly finished disguising himself before lifting his eyes to glance at Yunice. A moment later, he frowned in disgust. Yunice's disguise was too thorough. She wore a thick knitted hat, her face was wrapped in a scarf, and she had even stolen Gianna's maid uniform. In a place like the black market, this kind of attire only made someone look undesirable. Wyatt Cooper scoffed. Using a maid as a cover was too obvious as it would only draw suspicion. His luck really was terrible tonight. As he was about to shove her aside, Yunice suddenly grabbed his collar with surprising force. In the next second, their positions flipped. Wyatt was now against the wall, and Yunice pulled down her hat and scarf. Her long hair fell around her face, partially veiling her delicate features. Wyatt froze for a moment. Without hesitation, Yunice yanked her pants down to her ankles with one hand and pulled her arm through the neckline of her shirt with the other, instantly transforming the maid uniform into a revealing off-shoulder outfit. Just then, the pursuers burst into the alley. Yunice pressed her hands against Wyatt's lower abdomen, her entire body swaying against his. "Oh… you're too good, I can't take any more… ah… you're ruining me…" Yunice moaned, tilting her head back as the alley light illuminated her face. The men hunting Wyatt flashed their flashlights toward them, scanning the scene. Wyatt instinctively raised a hand to block the light, concealing his face. The black market was a filthy place, full of addicts and pimps. Seeing a man "having fun" with what looked like a streetwalker, the pursuers dismissed their suspicions. The man in front of them clearly wasn't the limping target they were after. Noticing his exposed abs pressed against the woman, they sneered and ran off in another direction. Once the footsteps faded, Yunice let out a few more exaggerated moans before cautiously glancing at where the pursuers had disappeared. Believing she had just successfully escaped danger, she turned back, only to be met with a pair of sharp eyes.