Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
“Who jammed the signal?”
“We haven’t found out yet…”
Crash! Another cup smashed beside him. “Useless!” Jackson’s face turned pale as he paced back and forth. “You’re good at messing things up, never getting anything done. If you can’t find him, he can find you. Just wait! Wyatt will definitely strike back.”
Jensen quickly assured him, “That won’t happen! I hired someone who holds a grudge against Wyatt.”
Jackson sneered, “Do you think he plays by the rules?”
Even if it had nothing to do with the Powell family, Wyatt would still take it out on them just to send a message. Paul was so scared when he heard the news that he doubled his bodyguard team. Whenever he left the house, the scene was dramatic. After hearing that Elsie had nearly been murdered, he went to see her himself and sent people to investigate what had happened. But before he could find anything, Carl already had.
“Mr. Carl.” Owen stood up. Elsie lay on the hospital bed, looking nervous, as if she wanted to jump up. Paul nodded politely at Carl. “Mr. Crawford.” Carl returned the greeting with a short nod, then raised a hand, gesturing for Elsie to stay in bed. Elsie saw this and smiled happily. Lily stood by the bed and tucked another blanket around her. The mother and daughter exchanged a look. They both believed that Carl was starting to change how he saw Elsie.
Carl sat down and said, “I’ve figured it out. The ones who went after Elsie were sent by the Powell family.” Elsie froze. Paul also looked stunned, then suddenly stood up and frowned. “Mr. Crawford, you must’ve gotten the wrong information. The Powell family is upright. Why would we send someone to kill Elsie?” Carl turned to look at him. He didn’t say a word, just stared with mockery in his eyes. And that alone made Paul feel guilty. The Powell family had done shady things before. It wasn’t like they’d left no trace.
At first, Owen didn’t believe it either. But after thinking it over for a moment, he suddenly realized something. He grabbed Paul’s collar in fury. “You wanted to get rid of her after using her! That’s why you tried to kill Elsie!” Paul shoved him away and said impatiently, “Are you insane? Why would I want to kill Elsie? I don’t even take Yu…”
But Owen caught the slip and pressed him, “What were you going to say? Do you know something you’re not telling us?” Paul had wanted to say the Powell family didn’t even take Yunice seriously, let alone bother going after Elsie. But he couldn’t admit that Yunice wasn’t even on the hit list from Rainier Arc Street, let alone Elsie. So he made up a vague excuse. “If the Powell family can tolerate Yunice, why wouldn’t we tolerate Elsie?”
Owen was speechless. He had to admit it made a weird kind of sense. Compared to the kind of trouble Yunice stirred up, and how shameful her reputation was, it didn’t make sense for the Powell family to go after someone like Elsie.
Carl watched them argue, his eyes cold and mocking. “No need to keep guessing. I got the surveillance footage from Rainier Arc Street. Why don’t we take a look at it?”
Rainier Arc Street surveillance? Paul and Owen both went pale at the same time. Paul was afraid the Powell family’s secret attempt to kill Wyatt would be exposed. Owen was terrified that the footage would show him ramming into Yunice.
“The surveillance might not be real…”
“Maybe someone took advantage of the chaos to frame us…”
The two of them spoke in unison, then stopped simultaneously and looked at each other in shock. They both saw that the other didn’t want the footage exposed.
Carl smiled, giving nothing away. “Let’s just take a look first. If there’s even a small clue, we can follow it down the trail.”
Freya plugged in the USB drive, and footage from the Rainier Arc Street section started playing quickly on the screen. The surveillance was tracking Owen’s license plate. It clearly showed that, in the pouring rain, Owen’s car was being chased and forced all the way to Rainier Arc Street.
Owen pointed and said, “That’s the car! It kept ramming into me and Elsie!”
Freya said, “It’s a car with fake plates. We already found out that the Powell family provided the fake registration info.”
Paul immediately looked like he wanted to argue, but Carl raised a hand and cut him off. “Keep watching.”
Paul frowned and had no choice but to turn back to the screen. They saw Owen’s car suddenly lose control, crash into several other vehicles, and then slam into a sedan at high speed, flipping it over. As the car rolled, a figure was thrown out of it and hit the ground.
“That’s…” Paul said in shock, “Yunice?”
“What was Yunice doing on Rainier Arc Street?”
Lily rushed up to the screen in a panic, squinting at the footage. “That’s not Yunny. How could that possibly be Yunny? The rain must’ve messed up the image.”
She turned around and said, “That must just be a girl with a similar build.”
Carl didn’t respond. Instead, he asked Owen, “You didn’t know you hit someone?”
Under everyone’s eyes, Owen tried to stay calm. “It was chaos. Cars were crashing into each other. It was pouring rain, and I couldn’t see clearly. I was panicking. I honestly didn’t notice I hit anyone.”
He looked at the screen, guilt written all over his face. With a righteous tone, he said, “I’ll write…”
Carl frowned. “Don’t go. She’s lying there not moving. She’s probably dead. If you show up at her family’s door, they’ll want to kill you.”
Owen said, “If I killed someone, I should pay for it with my life.”
Carl let out a sharp breath. “You idiot. Why can’t you get this through your head?”
Carl said, “The footage is unclear. No one else saw anything. If you don’t admit it, no one will ever know it was you.”
Lily looked at Carl, then at Owen. No matter who was responsible, someone had to bear the consequences. She didn’t want Owen to be that person. “Owen, someone comes looking, let Mr. Carl handle it.”
She then looked at Carl, her voice low and meaningful. “You’re Will’s son. Mr. Carl would never let you end up in prison.”
Carl said nothing.
Owen took his silence as agreement and went along with it. “Even though I want to atone, I still have to support the Saunders family. This… this is a debt I owe. I’ll repay it one day.”
Carl still didn’t say anything. He just paused the footage and said, “If that’s how it is, then let’s stop here. We’ll all pretend nothing happened. I’ll make sure this footage disappears.”
Freya pulled out the USB and dropped it into a cup of water. Watching the only evidence sink to the bottom, Owen finally let out a breath of relief. Luckily, neither Mom nor Mr. Carl recognizes Yunice.
But Paul just had to bring it up again. “So what about Yunice? Where did she go?”
Everyone turned to look at Paul. Owen said, “You know how she is. She probably just ran off somewhere.”
Lily called her in front of Carl, but no one picked up. She smiled and said, “See? That girl’s getting more and more independent. She doesn’t even answer my calls anymore.”
Her expression seemed to say, “I tried. She pushed me away. Blame Yunice.”
Carl was quietly tapping his fingers. Meanwhile, Lily was still worrying about Elsie. She said, “Carl, why don’t you assign a few bodyguards to Elsie too, just to be safe?”
Then she looked at Freya and added sincerely, “I think she’d be great. She’s observant and would probably get along really well with Elsie.”
But she didn’t dare question Carl’s decisions.
Carl tapped the armrest of his chair and didn’t respond to Lily. He seemed to still be caught up in other thoughts. Then he pointed at Freya. “Call Yunny.”
Owen knew there was no way Yunice would answer the phone. She was unconscious. But to his surprise, the beeping stopped. The call went through, and a stranger’s voice came from the other end.
Before Freya could say anything, the man spoke first. “Hello, are you Yunice Saunders’ family?”
Freya frowned. “I am.”
“Finally. This is Central General Hospital. Yunice was brought to the ER yesterday at noon due to a car accident. She suffered a sudden massive hemorrhage last night, and despite emergency treatment, we were unable to save her. We’ve been trying to reach her family, but haven’t received any response…”
“What did he say?” Owen stepped forward, almost doubting his own ears.
What does he mean they couldn’t save her? In a hospital that big, and with Wyatt there, how could Yunice not make it? There has to be some kind of mistake.
Owen rushed up and snatched the phone from Freya’s hand, furious. “What kind of hospital are you running? How can you get the patient information wrong? My sister’s perfectly fine. You’d better check again!”
The voice on the other end replied, “We didn’t get it wrong. Was she wearing a white princess dress?”
Carl stood up, his voice cold. “Where is she now?”
Lily stood frozen in place, like she hadn’t processed any of it. Everyone was caught off guard. No one could understand how Yunice could’ve died so suddenly.
Then, the man continued, “The body is in the morgue at Central General Hospital. Her family may come to claim her.”
Carl turned and walked straight out. Owen, dazed and panicked, rushed after him. As he ran, his thoughts were in chaos. No, this can’t be happening. It’s impossible! He had seen Yunice go into the emergency room; Elsie was even behind her in line. Elsie didn’t die. Yunice couldn’t be the one in danger. She had to be pretending. Yunice was mad that he hadn’t saved her first. She was putting on this whole act just to make him feel the pain of losing her.
Wyatt had just stepped out of the hallway when Owen blocked his path. Owen glared and demanded, “Wyatt, where is my sister? Where are you hiding her?”
Wyatt looked at him like he was crazy. When he didn’t respond, Owen stepped forward, reaching for Wyatt’s collar. Gordon suddenly rushed in from the side and grabbed Owen, lifting him off the ground with one arm. Owen’s toes barely touched the floor, but he still shouted emotionally at Wyatt, “Is my sister dead or not? Say something!”
Wyatt stayed silent. Owen felt a chill rise in his chest. If Yunice isn’t dead, then why won’t he say something? Rage and grief surged up all at once, turning Owen’s face red. His scream made the veins in his neck pop. “Why didn’t you save her? She was your fianc?e! Did you let the doctors give up on her? Did you hate her that much? Did you kill her on purpose? Answer me, Wyatt! Yunice only had external injuries; how could she possibly die?”