Chapter 172 Staged Guilt
“I have proof,” Lily dered, turning to face the crowd.
Yunice looked at her too, curious to see how far she would go to twist the truth into lies.
Finished
Lily unfolded the stack of evidence and held up one particr page. “This fingerprint, this is the key w!”
She looked between Elsie and Yunice, her voice unwavering. “They are both my daughters. I know their fingerprints like I know my own. Elsie is gentle andposed. Her fingerprints are smooth and clear. But Yunny is lively and mischievous. She once injured her finger, and her prints have a visible break.”
She raised the paper in her hand. “Look closely. This is Yunny’s fingerprint.”
Yunice nced up. Sure enough, on the magnified fingerprint printed on the page; there was <b>a </b>thin, dark streak extending from the center like an old scar.
She shifted her gaze away from the paper almost immediately, then looked at Lily with a bitter smile. “So you do remember I have a scar on my hand. I thought you never paid attention to me.”
A flicker passed through Lily’s eyes. Her heart twisted, and she could not quite meet Yunice’s
gaze.
Her feelings for Yunice had always beenplicated. She did not want her to suffer, but she also. did not want her to be too happy. If it had not been Elsie who was caught up in this today, she would not have forced Yunice to take the fall.
<i>But</i>… <i>wasn’t </i>it the elder <i>sister’s </i><i>job </i>to protect <i>the </i>younger one? <i>Was </i>it really wrong <i>to </i><i>expect </i>that<i>? </i>
Suppressing the guilt in her chest, Lily softened her tone. “You’re my daughter. Of course I care about <b>you</b><b>. </b>
She said it for the Kendall family to hear to prove she was being fair and that she was not shielding Elsie out of favoritism.
Then, her voice trembled with emotion as she added, “I don’t believe you did this of your own. will. Someone must’ve forced you. Tell us who it was. All these elders are here. They’ll stand by. <b>your </b>side.”
Tears welled in her eyes <b>as </b>she looked at Yunice, but behind that watery gaze was something else. Something sharper.
She was giving Yunice a way out. A script. Adder to climb down from. All she had to do was follow the n, and the Saunders family would walk away unscathed.
Pass <i>the </i><i>me</i><i>. </i><i>me </i><i>Wyatt</i><i>. </i><i>Say </i>it was <i>Wyatt </i>who manipted you. <i>Say </i>he couldn’t <i>stand </i>to see <i>Paul </i>happy, so he <i>targeted </i>his <i>fiancee </i>out of spite.
The reasoning had already been prepared. Lily had even rehearsed it in her mind. All Yunice had
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Chapter 172 Staged Guilt
Owen’s eyes were locked on Yunice too, his concern etched deeply in his face.
Do it. Say it. Push the me, and <i>you’ll </i><i>be </i>safe.
This was exactly what the Powell family wanted. As long as Yunice yed along, no one woulde after her. But as everyone waited, Yunice simply looked at their faces, one by one. Finally, she let out a coldugh.
“What are you trying to suggest? You’re going to be disappointed,” she said tly. “No one ordered. me to do anything.”
Owen’s and Lily’s expressions darkened instantly, their eyes full of disappointment and disapproval. They thought they were helping her. Offering her a way out. But they had forgotten that this entire mess was not Yunice’s fault to begin with.
They were the ones trying to pin this disaster on her. And now they expected her to be grateful?
Linda, who had not heard the answer she wanted, grew impatient. She needed to redirect the Kendall family’s focus to keep the heat off the Powell family.
But Yunice, in her eyes, was too stupid to catch the hint.
Linda pressed harder. “Yunice, think carefully. Intentional harm leads to prison. Are you really going to keep hiding the truth?”
A second chance, dangled in front of her again.
Even Paul spoke up, blunt and urgent: “Was it Wyatt who forced you?<b>” </b>
The Kendall family turned toward him immediately, considering a new possibility.
Paul and <i>Wyatt </i>were rivals. <i>It </i>wasn’t impossible…
Yunice let her gaze sweep across the room. A cold smile curled on her lips. Only after they had all jumped in did she finally speak, “So you’ve all decided I’m guilty, just with words alone?”
The sentence rang through the room like a p.
The Kendall family snapped out of it.
She was <i>right</i><i>. </i><i>Nothing </i>had <i>been </i>confirmed<i>. </i><i>How </i><i>had </i>we <i>started </i>using someone else <i>already</i>?
Lily clutched the fingerprint sheet like it was an imperial decree. “This is evidence! What more do
you need?*
“If fingerprints are the issue, why not test them here and now?” Taylor’s voice was sharp. She hated being manipted. She wanted rity, and she wanted it now.
She stood and strode over to Yunice and Elsie, instructing her people to bring the ink pad.
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Chapter 172 Staged Guilt
Finished
It was clear who she was criticizing. Everyone felt the sting, but no one dared reply. The room fell into a heavy silence.
Taylor, however, nced at Yunice again, her eyes lingering.
She had not been mistaken. There was something in this girl. A quiet defiance, a strength that refused to be broken.