Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
She picked up her phone and glanced at the screen-sure enough, it was Elsie. The message read: “Taylor, Paul’s always had a fianc?e; he can’t marry two women at once, right?”
Taylor’s brows furrowed. “Paul has a fianc?e?”
Linda flinched at her reaction. Damn it, why’d she have to blurt that out? Paul and Elsie were still dating; with someone like Taylor, this kind of thing would never sit well.
Linda scrambled to cover it up. “That’s all in the past. Paul already broke off the engagement with Ms. Saunders a long time ago.”
Taylor shot to her feet. “Ms. Saunders? You mean the one who just left?”
Linda gave a stiff smile, awkwardly replying, “Yeah… her.”
Taylor let out a cold laugh. “The Powell family really knows how to keep things lively-breaking off an engagement with the nephew, only for the woman to marry the uncle!”
What bothered Taylor wasn’t that the woman had been engaged twice; it wasn’t even Paul’s romantic history. It was that the Powell family had deliberately kept it from her. She’d spent all this time around Paul and hadn’t known a thing about his past engagement. Clearly, the family had gone out of their way to keep her in the dark.
If they’re this calculating before the marriage, what happens afterward! Will I be manipulated at every turn?
Her opinion of the Powell family dropped even lower. Linda, of course, could read her like a book. She spoke gently, “Ms. Taylor, we’re all from powerful families. We’re not fragile little girls who cry over love and heartbreak. Who hasn’t had a few people pass through their lives? You’re someone who’s destined for bigger things.”
That struck a nerve with Taylor. She was the only child of the Kendall family. Her father doted on her, yes-but deep down, he believed a man should inherit the business. Taylor wanted to prove herself, but there was never any real opportunity. Now that her father was aging and growing weaker, he had no choice but to seek out a power alliance-one that could support the family, and her. It wasn’t just a lifeline for the Kendall family; it was her lifeline too.
Taylor sat back down, still frowning. “Even if the engagement was off, I should’ve been told. It’s not like I’m the jealous type.”
Linda smirked ever so slightly. She knew Taylor had been caught; if she could compromise today, she’d keep compromising in the future.
Meanwhile, Yunice was taking Moss back to the pet room to lock him up. Moss had a bad habit-he liked plucking feathers. Any kind of feathers.
“Don’t mess with Ms. Taylor again next time, or you’re the one getting your feathers plucked and tossed in a stew pot!” Yunice scolded, tapping Moss on the head.
Moss whimpered miserably, eyes squeezed shut. Wyatt looked on with amusement. Hilarious. Those slender arms of hers were holding up a hefty bird like it was nothing.
But Moss flared his feathers and went straight for Wyatt’s finger with his beak.
Startled, Yunice snapped, “Moss!”
“Cawk!” Moss’s head jerked sideways as Wyatt smacked him with a flat palm. The squawk was so sudden, it made Yunice jump. Two seconds later, Moss seemed to realize he’d just been hit. He buried his head in the crook of Yunice’s arm and whimpered, “Whimper whimper… whimper whimper!” He’d never cried this miserably before.
Yunice instinctively shielded him. Glaring at Wyatt, she said angrily, “Why’d you hit him?”
“He bit me-didn’t you see?”
“He bit you because you flicked him first!”
“I was smacking Paul’s bird. Why are you so upset?”
“How old are you? How old is he? You proud of bullying something that small?”
“You think I’m bullying Paul now?” Wyatt’s eyes narrowed.
Yunice looked genuinely confused. “What’s this got to do with Paul? I was talking about Moss!”
She didn’t want to keep arguing. Turning her back to him, she comforted Moss, then gently locked him up in the pet room. “Play by yourself for now, I’ll come visit when I have time.”
Moss spread his wings, clinging to the pet room’s floor-to-ceiling glass, crying out in that pitiful little voice-like he wanted to break through the barrier, just to be held by Yunice again. But Moss belonged to Paul; he had nothing to do with her. Parting was inevitable. If not for this unexpected encounter, Yunice wouldn’t have come to see Moss at all. Because once you look… you’re afraid he’ll remember you forever and never let go.
She turned her back on Moss’s silent plea and started walking-only to suddenly spot Paul. No one knew when he’d shown up. He stood quietly in a shadowed corner, his expression unreadable. His brows were drawn together; his gaze shifted from Yunice to Wyatt, eyes burning with hostility. Once he realized they’d seen him, Paul shoved his hands into his pockets and walked forward, his tone confrontational. “Who told you two to come into my yard?”
At the Powell mansion, Paul carried a natural sense of entitlement. He could say this was his home, no questions asked. Wyatt couldn’t. Not a single courtyard in the mansion truly belonged to him.
Neither of them paid any mind to Paul’s arrogance. Wyatt chuckled. “Your face doesn’t hurt anymore?”
Paul’s face darkened. The coins from yesterday hadn’t seriously injured him, but they had left his face black and blue. He’d left the house today with a bruised and swollen face; it was only thanks to Elsie’s careful application of concealer that he’d dared to go out in public.
As Yunice and Wyatt turned to leave, Paul was hit with a wave of frustration at being ignored. “Who said you could leave?”
Yunice turned her head. “Moss nearly flew out and hurt Taylor. I stopped it in time and brought him back. If you keep pushing this, we can have a little chat with Taylor about it.”
“You!” Taylor again! She really thought he was afraid of her just because she had a little leverage over him. Even after Yunice and Wyatt left, Paul couldn’t let it go.
He looked over at Moss, who was circling the pet room with open wings, clearly reluctant to part from Yunice. After a moment of hesitation, Paul stepped forward and opened the glass door of the pet room.
The Powell family dinner parties were all about rules. The seating arrangement at the long table, the placement of silverware, bowls, and glasses-everything had to follow tradition. The chores were handled by the staff, but the table itself had to be arranged by the women of the household. And when it came to details, getting anything wrong would be a laughingstock.
Linda specifically came over to invite Yunice to help set the cutlery. Just as Yunice was about to stand, she saw Wyatt glance over, frowning. “What is it that only she can do?”
Linda smiled. “It’s a Powell family tradition. Asking her to help shows we trust her and value her effort.”
Wyatt said nothing, just gave a mocking glance at Taylor, who sat across from him fiddling with her phone. This time, it was Linda’s turn to lose face. She forced a smile. “Ms. Taylor’s not feeling well…”
Wyatt’s face turned cold. “And Yunice has ‘feeling great’ written on hers?”
Linda looked awkwardly toward Yunice. She didn’t dare argue with Wyatt, so she turned to Yunice with concern. “Ms. Saunders, are you feeling unwell?”
Yunice sat with poise and thought. So Linda’s trying to get me to volunteer? Well, she had the wrong idea. Just yesterday, Jordan had reminded her not to go against Wyatt over trivial things that had nothing to do with her-and she’d taken it to heart.
Yunice forced a smile and replied, “Not feeling too well…”
Linda frowned slightly and tried to persuade her. “Just push through it a bit. You’re about to marry into the family; working hard and showing initiative will make Mr. Jackson like you more.”
Trying to use Mr. Jackson to pressure me? Yunice thought. Yunice smiled politely. “My dear, I really don’t feel well. I wouldn’t want to steal your chance to shine. The more you do, the more Mr. Jackson will value you.”
Ignoring the way Linda’s face turned pale, Yunice stayed firmly planted on the sofa, unmoving. Linda stood there awkwardly, with people glancing in her direction. She finally snapped, “Fine, sit there then.” With that, she turned and stormed off.
Not long after, Yunice saw Taylor get up and start setting the cutlery. Probably trying to show off in front of Jackson too.
Yunice glanced over at Wyatt. He was looking at his phone. As if sensing her gaze, he spoke without lifting his head. “The Powell family’s got a million ways to wear people down. Don’t bother trying to please them.”
It wasn’t Yunice’s first time dealing with the Powell family-she knew exactly how they played. If she’d gone with Linda, she would’ve wound up scrubbing dishes in freezing water, “accidentally” breaking something, or getting blamed for setting the table wrong-anything to make her look clueless and out of place in front of everyone. Her embarrassment would’ve been Wyatt’s embarrassment too.
Sure, Yunice was confident she could handle it all, but it was still better when Wyatt took the hit for her. Besides, she couldn’t care less about Linda or Jackson’s approval; she knew it was never going to happen anyway. So why waste the energy?
At first, Yunice sat prim and proper, trying to follow all the rules. But eventually, she just pulled out her phone too. With people walking by back and forth, all anyone saw was the two of them on the same couch, both leaned back, glued to their phones-like they were waiting to be served.
As time passed, Yunice leaned toward Wyatt and whispered, “I need to go to the bathroom.” She had no idea how long the family dinner would last; she needed to change her pad before it started.
Wyatt looked up, grabbed his cane, and began to rise. Yunice blinked. “You’re coming too?”
Wyatt said, “Didn’t you tell me just so I’d go with you?” She’d only been giving him a heads-up. He was a big shot, not her personal assistant; one word and he was following her to the bathroom?
Wyatt was already standing. “Let’s go.” From the corner of her eye, Yunice saw Taylor holding a goblet, watching as the two of them turned together toward the hallway.
Her expression dimmed. Even though the outside world wasn’t optimistic about Wyatt’s marriage, at the very least, he knew how to put on a good front. Compared to that, she’d been running around all day, yet Paul hadn’t even shown his face. She knew there was no love in this arrangement, but being treated like this still stung.
As she returned from the bathroom with Wyatt, a maid rushed over, her voice urgent the moment she spotted Yunice. “Ms. Saunders! I finally found your…”
Yunice recognized her-she was the one in charge of caring for Moss at Paul’s residence. “Is something wrong?” Yunice asked.
The maid glanced nervously at Wyatt, gave him a quick bow, then tugged Yunice aside. Whatever she whispered, it nearly brought her to tears.
Yunice’s face visibly tightened with anxiety. She glanced at the time; dinner was about to begin. The maid sniffled and said in a trembling voice, “Ms. Saunders, we’re out of time.”
Wyatt eyed the maid coldly before stepping forward. “What’s going on?”