Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Then came Wyatt’s voice from behind. “Head to HR.”
Yunice’s heart dropped. What did that mean? Was he firing her? She didn’t dare ask. She just picked up her pace and left the office, closing the door behind her.
Inside, Wyatt slammed a different file onto the table. The atmosphere was suffocating. No one dared breathe.
As for the woman in the lab coat, she seemed shaken too. Her face only relaxed after the elevator doors closed. Then she looked up-only to be met with Yunice’s seething expression. Yunice had taken the fall for her.
The woman probably hadn’t expected things to go that way, but she said with complete confidence, “That’s just how it is in a workplace. Bad timing. Suck it up.” “And don’t even think about trying to explain it to the higher-ups. They hate people who mess up and make excuses. If something goes wrong and you’re there, it’s your fault.”
She fiddled awkwardly with her hair, perhaps realizing she had overstepped, but continued, “Besides, with your background, you’d probably be cut from the research center anyway.”
“Why?” she asked, blocking her path.
The woman turned, scanned Yunice from head to toe, and motioned her to follow. Yunice stepped out and watched her open the doors to the research center.
The facility radiated an icy, industrial sense of precision and danger-from the steel-lined walls to the warning signs and strict entry requirements.
The woman didn’t let Yunice enter. She stepped into a protective suit and gestured inside.
“Every researcher in here has at least a doctorate. The equipment, the chemical agents-we don’t use anything that’s available on the open market. Most doctors spend their whole lives without seeing what we have in here.”
She cast a dismissive look at Yunice. “What’s your education level?”
Yunice didn’t answer.
“You know how to use this equipment? Understand how these reagents react under different conditions? I’m not trying to scare you, but just three months ago, this lab exploded because a PhD was overworked and forgot to rinse a test tube. Four people were injured. One of them needed full-body skin grafts. Now he begs nurses to let him die every day in the burn unit.”
She added, “Mr. Wyatt might know how to run a business, but he doesn’t understand the lab. I’m not trying to target you-I’m protecting everyone here.”
As if on cue, the researchers inside-each completely sealed in silver hazmat suits-looked up in unison to stare at Yunice.
She couldn’t see their faces, but that only made them more alien-like machines built of steel and glass.
The woman returned to her station, slipping inside without another word.
The doors closed. The workers lowered their heads and resumed their work, like a synchronized assembly line.
Yunice stood at the threshold for two full minutes before turning back and heading to HR.
To her relief, HR had received no instructions about terminating her position.
Yunice sat quietly in the reception area, clutching Wyatt’s handwritten referral letter, but made no move to approach HR. She was waiting – for a verdict.
Nearly an hour passed before the doors to the executive office opened. The high-level managers filed out one by one, all muttering variations of “lucky day.” Any other time, Wyatt would’ve kept them trapped for hours. Today, they were let off easy.
Yunice sat upright, elbows resting on the table, lost in thought, when Wyatt pushed open the glass door to HR and walked in.
“Mr. Wyatt,” the HR manager stood at once.
Wyatt glanced from Yunice to the man and said, “Call Laurie in.”
Something in his tone made the manager nervous – he immediately left to get her himself. Yunice lowered her arms as Wyatt came over and sat beside her.
“There were a lot of people in the room earlier. You’re not mad, are you?” he asked gently.
Yunice blinked at him, unsure if this was his version of an apology. To be fair, she had made a blunder today. In most companies, someone like her would’ve been let go on the spot.
Still, when he’d lashed out earlier, it had stung. Now though… it was hard to stay mad.
She had also been turning over Laurie’s words in her mind – and realized the woman hadn’t been entirely wrong.
To Laurie and the rest of the research team, Yunice was an outsider dropped in from above. If she were only there to pad her r?sum?, they might’ve ignored her. But the moment she stepped into the lab and started handling instruments or compounds, she became a risk.
It was no different from Elsie being parachuted into a hospital and using patients as training props – of course the staff would push back.
And truth be told, Yunice did have confidence in her diagnostic and clinical knowledge, but she had never worked with cutting-edge pharmaceutical equipment. Her academic background didn’t qualify her either.
She was, for the first time, seriously considering backing out.
Laurie soon arrived, led in by the HR manager – who had clearly warned her ahead of time. She didn’t look surprised to see Wyatt. She approached calmly, hands tucked into her lab coat pockets, posture steady. Only the subtle flicker in her eyes when she looked at Wyatt betrayed her nerves.
She probably assumed Wyatt was here to throw his weight behind Yunice. And she wasn’t wrong.
Wyatt gestured toward Yunice. “This is my wife.”
Laurie showed no reaction. Two seconds later, her pupils dilated in shock. She looked at Wyatt again, as if trying to confirm whether he was serious. He was.
“She’s the one who developed the improved formula for the Anning Cardio-Calmer,” Wyatt said flatly, cutting her off.
Laurie’s face changed. She didn’t believe it.
That formula had been the result of months of work from their entire research division. How could it have come from Yunice?
Wyatt stared her down. “You think I’d marry a pretty face with no substance?”
But even if Yunice had some skill, Laurie still didn’t budge. “If Mr. Wyatt insists on letting her into the lab, then we’ll have no choice but to resign as a group.”
Yunice wasn’t desperate to join the lab – and she understood her presence might cause real disruption to the team. She was just about to speak up and back out when Wyatt reached over and took her hand. He didn’t let her speak.
He turned to Laurie. “I let you all play with billions of dollars’ worth of equipment, and this is how you thank me?”
Laurie tried to clarify, but Wyatt didn’t let up.
“You think she’s inexperienced? Every single one of you learned on my machines. What, now that you’ve gotten your turn, the door’s closed behind you?”
“Go ahead. If you want to quit, write it up right now. I’ll approve it immediately.”
Laurie’s face turned pale.
Wyatt leaned back, casually rubbing his thumb over the back of Yunice’s hand. “You studied for a few years and already forgot where you came from?”
Then he added with a soft, scathing laugh, “I never went to school – not a single day. No degree. So what?”
Yunice looked at him – and in that moment, Wyatt glowed.
Laurie stood frozen, her expression twisting with frustration and uncertainty.
Wyatt said, “Here’s my compromise, she doesn’t need to work alone. You supervise her.”
Laurie’s frown deepened. She looked deeply displeased.
“Double your bonus,” Wyatt said.
Laurie froze.
She rubbed her forehead like she was tempted but too proud to admit it.
Wyatt glanced at Yunice, then added casually, “How about Mr. Jameson as your mentor?”
Mr. Jameson. One of the top figures in pharmaceutical research.
Laurie felt the threat instantly.