Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
He had expected Paul would refuse the assets, but he hadn’t accounted for Taylor or the Powell family stepping in.
Now, the whole thing had backfired.
But in truth, Owen and Lily shared the same logic-if they didn’t get any of the money, then what had Yunice and Elsie’s youth even been worth?
But it was too late for regrets.
Yunice looked at Lily’s resentful expression, listened as she called her cheap, as she accused her of spending the Saunders family’s money.
She sneered. “I’ve already proven what kind of garbage Paul is. But you all insisted on thinking you’d found gold-rushing to offer the same man who hurt your daughter to another one of your daughters.”
“Tell me, who’s the one with no shame?”
Lily froze, staring at Yunice with a conflicted expression.
Oscar finished the words Yunice had left unsaid. “The real culprit here is Paul. When Yunice got hurt, you didn’t cut ties with him. You blamed your own daughter for being cheap. The reason Elsie ended up like this is because of you. This is what it looks like when you dig your own grave.”
As he spoke, Yunice turned to Owen and mocked, “And you. You wanted the money and your dignity too. Didn’t expect to end up with neither, huh?”
Owen flushed. Her words had hit him right where it hurt. “Yunice, whose side are you even on?”
Yunice found it laughable. “No way. Don’t tell me… you actually still think I consider myself part of the Saunders family, that I still care about your feelings?”
Owen froze, his face going red.
Wasn’t she?
He had thought Yunice came to help because she still wanted to be close to the family.
She… wasn’t here to help?
Lily broke down on the spot. She pointed at Yunice and yelled at Owen, “See! I told you and you didn’t believe me! This whole thing-she stirred it all up!”
Owen said nothing, because he had no proof that Yunice was behind any of it.
It had been his idea to return the money. It was Taylor and the old man who wanted it reclaimed. Yunice didn’t have the status to make any of that happen.
It was just their bad luck this time. They’d underestimated the Powell family’s shamelessness.
When Owen didn’t speak, Lily lunged at Yunice, yanking her wrist and sobbing, “You have to make this right for Elsie! Get her money back!”
Yunice let her grab on, then pulled Lily close and whispered right by her ear, too quietly for anyone else to hear, “I got used and spat out for years and didn’t get a single penny. But you-you got dragged into the mountains and used for fifteen years, raising someone else’s bastard like a cuckoo. Doesn’t that make you even cheaper?”
Lily’s body trembled violently. She looked up at Yunice, then without warning, raised her hand to slap her.
But Yunice dodged easily and shoved Lily backward to the ground.
“Mom!” Owen and Elsie rushed over. Oscar frowned and stepped between Yunice and the others.
Yunice looked at his shoulder but said nothing.
Owen roared, “Yunice! How dare you put your hands on Mom!”
Oscar’s voice turned cold. “You didn’t see her raise her hand first? Or do you just automatically go blind every time someone tries to hit Yunice?”
Lily sat on the ground, trembling with rage, pointing at Yunice. “She insulted me! Didn’t you hear her!”
Yunice stood behind Oscar, revealing only half her face as she looked at Lily with a sneer.
Sure enough, Oscar asked calmly, “What exactly did she say that was so bad you needed to slap her in front of everyone?”
“Or is it that while I was away, you got used to slapping her around? One bad mood and it’s open season?”
Lily froze. She looked at Oscar, then at Yunice again.
The things Yunice had said still echoed in her mind, but she couldn’t repeat a single word of it out loud.
Yunice tugged gently on Oscar’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
Oscar shot the trio one last cold glare, then opened the car door for Yunice.
As the car pulled away, he suddenly realized something. “Yunice, did you just call me?”
He wasn’t imagining that, right?
Yunice said, “Now that Elsie has Owen, and I have you, I’m not scared of them anymore.”
Oscar grinned so wide he showed eight teeth, practically bouncing in his seat.
But after the joy came the sadness-the disappointment in their family ran deep.
“Mom’s been back from the mountains all these years, but her heart was never with us.”
Yunice nodded. “Yeah. The time she’s spent with Elsie adds up to more than she’s spent with all of us combined. We got replaced a long time ago.”
But if she had said this to Oscar right when he returned to the country, he wouldn’t have believed it. Wouldn’t have cared.
He had to live it. Had to see it firsthand.
Only after that could he finally recognize Lily’s favoritism and understand just how bad Yunice had had it.
Now, finally, Oscar and Yunice were on the same side.
Yunice might have broken away from the Saunders family, but Oscar still wasn’t at ease about Wyatt.
He worried Wyatt might turn out to be another Paul.
The difference in power between them was too great. If anything ever went wrong, Yunice would be the one left completely vulnerable.
Just like Elsie today, kicked out of the Powell family gates without mercy.
But Yunice was calm. “Oscar, don’t go borrowing trouble. Who knows what the future holds?”
Oscar replied, “Fine. Then I’ll work hard and make money. That way, if it ever comes to it, I’ll be able to help you run.”
That same night, Oscar moved out of the Saunders family’s old home.
He had already found a new job at a pharmaceutical research institute, and they provided him with a dorm. He decided he might as well move out-he was tired of Lily and Owen watching him like he was some kind of thief.
“It’s just a shame Dad built that hospital from the ground up,” Oscar said. “Now it’s probably gonna get ruined in Owen’s hands.”
As he spoke, he punched his thigh in frustration. “That idiot Owen-Elsie’s got him on a leash like a damn dog!”
Yunice wanted to tell him she planned to take the hospital back. But before everything was set in stone, she wasn’t going to say anything.
The atmosphere in the Saunders household was grim.
It was as if time had rewound back to three years ago. In that huge house, it was just Lily, Elsie, and Owen again.
They had once laughed and joked, eating meals together, with Lily smiling as she watched Owen and Elsie leave for work. Afterward, she’d get facials, sip tea, play cards.
Life had been leisurely. Carefree.