Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Taylor turned and walked straight into the main hall. As she entered, she caught the sound of Paul tattling.
“Grandpa, Taylor’s wild and overbearing. This isn’t the first time she’s humiliated me in public. She doesn’t understand what it means to be a proper wife. A woman like this only brings disgrace to the Powell family!”
The old man squinted at him. “So what do you want?”
Paul said firmly, “I want a divorce!”
The old man replied, “You can get divorced.”
Before Paul could even react with joy, the old man added, “As long as you’re capable of taking over the Powell family business. Then I won’t stop you from marrying whoever you want. When Taylor married in, she brought a dowry worth ten billion. She holds five percent of Powell Corporation’s shares. You want to divorce her – can you afford that?”
Taylor stood just outside the door, smiling faintly as she listened. So Grandpa did know how important she was.
Then she really wanted to see how he planned to handle this situation.
“Grandpa…” Taylor walked in, head bowed in sorrow, and stopped beside Paul. “I want to divorce Paul.”
Paul blinked, surprised. Why was she keeping her head down like that? He couldn’t see her face clearly.
Still, he didn’t think too much of it. It was just one slap. Not even an injury. Grandpa wouldn’t do anything over that.
The old man took a deep breath, sounding disappointed. “Paul being immature is one thing – but how could you be so thoughtless? Marriage isn’t a game. You think you can just get divorced whenever?”
Linda, who was serving tea beside the old man, also chimed in, “It’s normal for couples to fight. Didn’t you slap Paul to get even?”
She walked over, trying to comfort Taylor. “But you weren’t entirely right either. Men care about saving face. How could you slap him in front of everyone? He’s still your husband. You have to protect his dignity so you have your own. Paul likes that Bai girl because she’s gentle and considerate. You should learn from her. If you did, maybe Paul wouldn’t want a divorce…”
The word “divorce” wasn’t even finished when Linda suddenly froze, her hand reaching out to touch Taylor’s shoulder – then she gasped in horror and covered her mouth.
The old man, alerted by her scream, looked up with irritation – ready to scold them all for giving him a headache – when he too saw Taylor’s face.
Half her face was blazing red, like it had been scraped with sandpaper.
Linda couldn’t believe it. “This… this was from Paul?”
Taylor asked calmly, “Who else?”
Linda hesitated. No slap should’ve caused this kind of damage. It looked like she’d been clawed by a bear.
Taylor looked at Linda. “Did your father-in-law ever hit you like this?”
Linda’s expression turned awkward.
Paul was dumbfounded. “Yeah, I slapped her, but there’s no way it did that kind of damage. Taylor, you’re faking it, aren’t you?”
Taylor looked at the faint mark on his cheek and said bitterly, “I pitied you because you’re my husband. When I hit you, I didn’t even use force. But for your little side chick, you nearly beat me to death. Do you think I dare stay in this marriage?”
Paul stared at her, trying to figure out what game she was playing.
The old man, upon seeing her face, realized this couldn’t be brushed off. He shouted, “You bastard! Still standing there like an idiot? Take your wife to get her face checked!”
Taylor took a deep breath, as if she had given up on everything. “No need. Today is my father’s birthday. I’m going home to attend the birthday party… I won’t stay here at the Powell family and get in everyone’s way.”
Birthday party?
That meant the Kendall family’s friends and relatives would all be there.
And Taylor, walking in with a face like that?
No way the Kendall family would let that slide.
, Really?
Linda quickly grabbed Taylor’s arm. “Taylor, dear, you young people need to stop acting so rashly. Think about your elders. Your father isn’t young anymore. If you go back like this, won’t that just worry your whole family?”
Linda offered her a suggestion. “Why not just say things are busy at work and you can’t make it home today? Let your father have a happy birthday. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Paul looked at Taylor nervously. He really was afraid of her blowing this out of proportion.
But Taylor wasn’t about to play along. “If my dad doesn’t see me, he won’t celebrate.”
Linda frowned.
The old master’s voice dropped an octave. “Enough with the performance. Stop making a fuss. Just say what it is you want, and maybe then you’ll calm down.”
Taylor didn’t fear the old man’s temper. After all, she had the entire Kendall family behind her.
So, seeing that the old man was softening, Taylor raised her demand directly. “It’s simple. I want Paul to take back every asset he’s ever given Elsie. If he does that, I’ll let this go.”
The old man’s face darkened. So this was all just jealousy?
He’d never liked Elsie anyway, so naturally, he wouldn’t care about her. He waved it off impatiently. “If you want to take it back, then take it back. If she won’t give it back, sue her. Just stop making both families lose face!”
Paul protested, “Grandpa!”
The old man didn’t even look at him.
Taylor glanced at Paul smugly and added, “Today’s your father-in-law’s birthday. Even if you’re dying to divorce me, today you’re still coming back with me to the Kendall house. We’re putting on a good show as a loving couple-that’s an order.”
Meanwhile, the Saunders family was just about to get into their car when Luke stopped them.
His tone was all business. “Regarding the Powell family’s assets that are currently under Ms. Elsie’s name, we’ll be assigning someone to handle the transfer and recovery. If the assets are not returned within three days, a formal legal notice will be issued.”
Elsie couldn’t accept what she’d just heard. She rushed after Luke and asked, “Is Paul the one who wants to take them back?”
“The cards Mr. Paul used for Ms. Elsie’s expenses all came from company accounts. Powell Corporation has every right to reclaim them.” In other words, not even Paul could control the outcome.
If the Powell family wanted to pursue it, they would get it back.
Elsie collapsed. She had coaxed Paul for three years, served him for three years, let him use her however he wanted for three years-only to be told now that the assets were merely held in her name temporarily?
But she wasn’t the only one who broke down. Lily had just stepped out of the car when she overheard the news.
The Powell family’s gates were already closed. Yunice had gotten exactly the result she wanted. She turned to leave, but Lily, overwhelmed and emotional, grabbed her hard.
“You’re not going anywhere!”
“You tell me what the hell is going on! Why is the Powell family taking Elsie’s money back? Was it you who stirred things up behind the scenes!”
Oscar stepped forward to stand in front of Yunice. “Mom, Owen was the one who brought Elsie to the Powell family to cut ties. It was his idea to return the money. Yunice even fell down trying to help him. And now you’re blaming her?”
Lily looked like she was going to collapse. Clutching her chest, she demanded, “Why would you do that? That’s your sister’s three years of youth! She gave everything to Paul. What’s wrong with asking for a little something in return? You’re just handing your sister over to a man for nothing!”
Oscar said coldly, “If you’d taken that money, people would’ve said you pimped out your own daughter.”
The moment Lily heard that, she exploded. “Only whores don’t take money! Yunice let Paul use her for years, didn’t get a dime, and still acts all pure and proud. Even when she got locked in the psych ward, we paid for her hospital bills! And Paul? Nothing happened to him. He went on living like a damn prince!”
“Yunice sold herself and didn’t even get paid-now she wants Elsie to follow her example and play fake ‘purity’ too!”
Her words were cruel and utterly aimed at Yunice.
Owen’s original intent in returning the money was to show Paul they were done with him.