Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Gill’s face crumpled. “I told someone it was fake… even bet a hundred bucks on it. I figured there was no way Elsie could afford something that nice. I didn’t think it was from Quinton.”
Yunice patted her shoulder sympathetically. “You made a bet. Pay up.”
Gill practically burst into flames and turned her full fury on Elsie. “Today I’m going to expose your fake princess act once and for all!”
When Yunice returned to the Saunders home, the family was in the middle of dinner. The jadeite bracelet was still shining brightly on Elsie’s wrist. Her sudden arrival took everyone by surprise. Elsie stood up and asked worriedly, “Tutice, why didn’t you tell us you were coming home?”
Gill crossed her arms next to Yunice and snapped, “Listen to yourself! Does our Ms. Saunders need your permission to come back home?”
Gill’s sharp tongue was tailor-made for dealing with fake sweethearts like Elsie. Elsie remained frozen, her face filled with grief, and turned to Owen for support. Both Owen and Lily put down their tablewares.
Owen spoke first. “Yunice, I actually have to ask you something. Did you take Dad’s ashes?”
Yunice froze for a second, then feigned confusion. “Dad’s ashes… are missing?”
Owen frowned and was about to scold her for pretending when Yunice beat him to it. She stormed forward and snapped, “What kind of son are you, that you can’t even keep track of your own father’s ashes? Useless!”
Owen was stunned. It was the first time Yunice had ever yelled at him like that. For a second, he couldn’t even react. But when he saw her fierce expression, it reminded him of the time she nearly bit his ear off in a fight. That trauma still lingered.
I knew exactly how much Yunice cherished Dad. If the ashes were really gone, wouldn’t she go crazy?
His eyes widened, and he slammed the table, yelling, “I just asked a simple question! Why are you yelling? You act so filial, but when was the last time you came home! When was the last time you visited Father’s grave? You…”
Listen to those words, Yunice narrowed her eyes. “So the ashes aren’t really missing. You lied to me?”
Owen avoided her gaze but replied righteously, “Exactly. Who would steal ashes anyway? But if you’re going to keep avoiding home and ignoring your phone, maybe you shouldn’t bother visiting Dad’s grave anymore.”
Yunice pressed her lips together. Gill almost choked on her food trying not to laugh. That is Owen, all hypocrisy. Once you saw through him and ignored his little tricks, he became ridiculously easy to handle. He was afraid of being called unfilial, so he wouldn’t dare admit that the ashes were gone. Now that I denied taking them, he changed his tune and claimed they were safe, still trying to use Dad’s remains to manipulate me.
Yunice scanned Lily and Elsie. Both wore calm, unaffected expressions, as if nothing had happened. She exhaled deliberately and said, “Good.”
Owen frowned slightly, though he was relieved. I had already restored the tomb. Who would ever know if the ashes were there or not?
Yunice finally stood up and said to Gill, “Gill, would you mind helping me get Mr. Quinton’s wedding presents into the car?”
Owen and Elsie looked at Yunice immediately. So she was back for the gifts?
Yunice turned to Owen with a smile. “Mr. Owen, where did you put the wedding gifts that Mr. Quinton left for me?”
Owen scowled and avoided the question. “Yunice, stop making a scene.”
That sarcastic “Mr. Owen,” followed by the immediate request for gifts-it was obvious she had come to cause trouble. Yunice’s smile cooled.
Gill, however, was familiar with the house. Without waiting for Owen’s answer, she went to the storage room to search, only to find empty gift boxes inside! “Ms. Saunders, there’s a safe box in here!” she called.
It made sense. Gifts worth almost nine figures wouldn’t just be lying around. Yunice glanced at Owen, then walked straight to the safe. Owen and Lily both got up and followed her.
Lily quickly tried to defuse the situation. “Yunice, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let Giana get you a bowl of rice first. We can talk about everything else after we eat.”
Giana walked over and gently wrapped her arm around Yunice’s with a cheerful smile. “Ms. Saunders, I made your favorite braised ribs today. You must try them…” Before she could finish, a strong shoulder pushed her aside. Gill crossed her arms with a glare and stood firm, like a bouncer facing Giana.
Yunice punched a code into the safe box. She knew all the family’s usual combinations; most used her birthday. But this time it was wrong. Lily and Elsie both relaxed visibly. As long as Yunice couldn’t crack the code… Before they could finish the thought, they heard a click. The safe box opened.
Seeing the identical looks of disbelief on Lily and Elsie’s faces, Yunice let out a soft scoff. I knew that family too well. Elsie had always wanted both ends of the stick. The only change they’d made was to swap my birthday for Elsie’s. Too easy.
Inside the safe box were the ten presents. All were still there except the jadeite bracelet, which remained on Elsie’s wrist. Yunice reached out to retrieve it, but, slam, the door was suddenly slammed shut on her hand. The one pushing down on the vault door was Owen.
Yunice looked up and narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Owen, are you trying to keep the wedding gifts meant for me?” Owen was all about appearances; he would never admit to coveting her things. Instead, he frowned and asked coldly, “What is your relationship to Quinton? What kind of connection gets you such expensive gifts?”
Lily spoke sharply as well. “Yunice, you’re getting married. If you keep getting involved with other men, people will say you weren’t raised right-that we didn’t raise you right.” Elsie chimed in with a gentle tone. “Yes, Yunice, we’re just worried about you. We don’t care about material things. Family is more important than money. These things don’t matter compared to our bond. Why split hairs?”
“Don’t care?” Yunice looked amused. She nodded in the direction of Elsie’s wrist. “Then why is that jadeite bracelet on your hand?” Elsie’s eyes turned red. She clutched the jadeite bracelet, her voice breaking. “It’s a misunderstanding; I can explain…”
Yunice had heard it all before. Elsie always “explained” by crying about some nonsense, just long enough for Owen to jump in and defend the helpless little sister. And I always ended up being the aggressor. But this time I wasn’t alone.
Just when Elsie had finished her pathetic act, Gill couldn’t hold it any longer. She imitated in a sing-song tone, “Earn without guilt, spend without hesitation, love an independent life, be your own queen-*” She dragged out the last line with theatrical flair and shot it right in Elsie’s face.
She glanced around, wondering if it was a coincidence… or if her secret identity had been revealed. But Gill was far from done. She whipped out her phone and pulled up the account. “Mr. Owen, you probably don’t know that your so-pure-and-noble little sister has a hidden side, do you?”
Owen took the phone and frowned as he scrolled through the messages. His expression changed from skeptical to visibly shaken. Every item in the posts, every luxury good, belonged to Yunice. Most of them came from the Saunders household. It was painfully obvious where they came from.
Elsie bit her lip so hard it almost bled. But there was no denying it. The profile picture was hers, too. In order to attract rich heirs, she had chosen a provocative, dashing image that was completely different from her usual style. Now, as Owen scrolled through her posts, she felt like she wanted to die on the spot.
“Who is this woman?” Owen asked suddenly, holding up the phone to compare her to Yunice. “Doesn’t look like Yunice.” Gill, and even Elsie, stared at him, stunned. He thought that ugly profile belonged to Yunice!
Seeing her expression, Owen defended himself. “All the captions are written from Yunice’s perspective, and so are the articles. Who else could it be?” Yunice took a long breath. She had never met anyone so dense. Gill snapped. “Look closely. It’s Elsie!”
Owen laughed. “You think I can’t recognize my own sister? There’s no way that plastic-looking face is hers.” Even Elsie was thrown off by that. Owen then turned the phone to Elsie and asked sincerely, “Is that you?”
Believe
Elsie didn’t even look at the screen before rushing to deny it. “Of course it’s not me. I’ve never taken photos like that…”
Yunice scoffed. “This account has been posting non-stop for three years. You really think it’s mine?”
Owen scrolled through the feed, frowning in confusion. “If it’s not you and it’s not Elsie, how come it’s filled with stuff from the Saunders family? Who could it be?”
Elsie’s mind raced. Of all people, I hadn’t expected Owen to be so blind. But if he couldn’t recognize the profile picture as mine… then this would be easy to handle.
A flash of inspiration hit her. She said quietly, “I think I know what happened…”
Everyone turned to look at her. Elsie put on her most serious face. “It’s a friend of mine. She grew up poor and always said she admired me. She used to visit our house under the pretext of wanting to experience a better life, and she’d take pictures. I never imagined that she’d use them to pretend to be a rich heiress.”
“Making up a fake friend, huh?”
But of course, Owen bought it. He scolded, “Then stop bringing such vain people into our home.”
Elsie nodded obediently. “I’ll cut her off right now.”
Seeing this perfect opportunity for exposure slip away again, Gill couldn’t stand it any longer. “Even if that were true, what about the jadeite bracelet Mr. Quinton gave our Ms. Saunders just half a day ago? Did your friend steal that too?”
Owen glanced at Elsie, and the flicker of doubt in his eyes didn’t escape Yunice. That one flicker told Yunice everything. Deep down, Owen just didn’t want to believe that Elsie was that kind of person. No matter what evidence was presented to him, he’d still choose the more ridiculous explanation.
And it was this unwillingness that chilled me to the bone. Because when Elsie was stabbed, Owen never once questioned whether it was true. It was as if, in his heart, I was just the type to do something so cruel.
Elsie quickly came up with a new excuse. “The jadeite bracelet got on my wrist by accident; I tried everything to get it off. Then the same friend offered to help and asked me to send her some pictures. I didn’t know she was going to Photoshop them and post them on Instagram…”
As soon as she finished, she gave Owen a nervous look, afraid he wouldn’t believe her. But Owen just let out a sigh of relief, as if he was glad he hadn’t misjudged her after all.
Gill snapped, “You people are unbelievable, lying through your teeth!”
Lily said calmly, “Yunice, you should learn from Elsie’s mistake. Be more careful about making friends. Don’t bring rude people into the house.” She even gave Gill a sharp look as she spoke.
Gill looked like she was going to explode. Yunice replied, “Where is the lie in what she said? You all lie through your teeth. I think my friend is great. Polite is something you use on people who actually have it. On you? Total waste.”
Lily sighed as if she were deeply heartbroken. “You’re still defending her? You used to be so sweet. Now look at you, trying to drive a wedge between me and Gill? Cut off my support?”
Yunice saw through it all. “I wish someone had told me the truth. Then maybe I wouldn’t have wasted so many years being manipulated and bullied in the name of family.”
Lily froze, and when her eyes met Yunice’s, she could see it. Yunice had truly awakened. It wasn’t a phase or a tantrum; she had given up the things she once valued most. She lived for herself now. And a selfish person had nothing to fear. Such a person was hard to control.
Lily’s expression grew heavy. No wonder Yunice had been flourishing lately. She had probably been planning her departure from the Saunders family all along.