Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
With the knife still dangerously close, Elsie had no choice but to call the scruffy man again and say she agreed to sell the shares.
He showed up quickly. Elsie gave him frantic looks, desperate for him to help her-report this, do something.
But no matter how desperately she batted her lashes or twisted her face, the man might as well have been blind. He didn’t even blink at the knife against her face.
Biting down on his cigarette, he drawled, “What’s this? Finally changed your mind?”
Elsie was sweating bullets, her eyes darting in every direction. But this alley was too hidden. No one would just wander by.
The knife nicked her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.
Elsie couldn’t afford to wait anymore. Trembling, she signed her name on the share transfer documents.
The man took the file, then grabbed her phone, transferred eight million into her account, and even wrote a receipt on the spot.
When he handed the phone back to her, Jason’s wife snatched it away in one quick motion.
She immediately used Elsie’s phone to transfer herself five million.
Elsie shouted, “You’re stealing from me!”
Jason’s wife pressed the blade against her again. “Put in your password.”
Elsie gritted her teeth, but with no other choice, typed it in.
As soon as the transfer went through, Jason’s wife bolted.
Elsie shot up off the ground and immediately called the police. Then she turned to find the scruffy man.
She was going to tell him she was taking the shares back.
But when she turned around-
He was gone.
She called his number, only to be met with a robotic voice. “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.”
That’s when it finally hit her.
How the hell did Jason’s wife know where to find her?
Why was no one around? Why didn’t the scruffy man call the police?
It hit Elsie like a lightning bolt. She’d been set up.
She jumped into her car and raced to the police station, trembling all the way-desperate to report what had just happened. But just as she left, a figure stepped out from the shadows at the end of the alley. It was Yunice.
A sleek motorcycle sat behind her, the scruffy man perched on it, a cigarette dangling between his lips. He handed over the signed Powell Corporation share transfer agreement, and Yunice accepted it with a cold smile. All her planning since that dinner with her old classmates had finally come full circle. She had the document in her hands. Her document.
The scruffy man puffed smoke and muttered, “It was yours to begin with. Now you had to buy it back. That’s some irony.” It was true. The shares were Yunice’s. But as long as Elsie was living under her identity, Yunice couldn’t touch them. Not legally.
Money? She didn’t care about money. Not anymore. Now that she had reclaimed her 10% stake in Saunders Hospital, it was only the beginning. One day, she’d take back the old Saunders home. The entire hospital. By then, she’d have severed ties with the Saunders family completely. Not even her father’s will would hold her back.
The scruffy man raised an eyebrow. “You spent a lot to pull off that trap. And that cash-back date with Paul is coming up too.” But Yunice wasn’t worried. No money? No problem.
She had time-and she could afford to play the long game. “I’m assigning someone to hold my Powell Corporation shares for now,” she said coolly. “I don’t want any more drama for a while.” “Oh?” the man was genuinely curious.
Yunice tucked the agreement into her bag. “I’ve got the SATs coming up.” The man gave a half-amused grunt. Of all things, why pick the slowest route? But Yunice was young. Whatever path she picked, she had the time to walk it.
And as for Elsie reporting her? Let her try. Yunice knew the law better than anyone. There was no case. As for the share transfer? That was a civil matter-a contractual dispute, not fraud. If she had a problem, she could try filing a lawsuit.
Elsie dropped to her knees right there on the floor of the precinct. She couldn’t sue. Not yet. She definitely couldn’t let Owen find out she’d sold Yunice’s shares. He had made it very clear, she was only borrowing Yunice’s identity. She was never supposed to touch any assets under that name.
If he knew she’d sold the shares, the whole “good girl” act would fall apart. “I just have to stall. One day at a time… I’ll turn things around. I will…” she muttered to herself.
Dragging her battered pride with her, Elsie went back to work at the hospital. Ever since Paul’s marriage, the hospital leadership had been treating her like she didn’t exist. No more special privileges. No more attention. She’d become completely unwelcome. Technically, interns didn’t get paid. But Elsie refused to quit-because this place was her only connection to the upper class.
And sometimes, luck still knocked. She rounded a corner, a pile of medical files in her arms-and locked eyes with a red-haired punk lounging in a wheelchair. Morgan.
Ever since his car accident, he’d been cooped up in the hospital, bored out of his mind. Seeing the way Elsie stared at him without blinking, he perked up. Looks like the fun’s back.
Meanwhile, Yunice was laser-focused on her SAT prep-not that she really needed to be. She was confident in her performance. Most of her time was spent on administrative tasks, processing documents, selecting schools. She wasn’t planning to attend classes full-time, so she was also applying for exam-only options-hoping to earn her degree by taking tests alone.
Time flew. The days grew hotter. And the Saunders family continued to unravel.
Owen stumbled home from another long day, his energy all but drained. Saunders Hospital hadn’t paid salaries in two months. Staff were protesting. The hospital was hemorrhaging money. At the latest board meeting, yet again, someone had proposed bankruptcy.
As soon as Lily saw him, she jumped up like a drowning person spotting land. “Owen! The hospital’s dividends should’ve arrived by now, right?” She was still waiting on this month’s allowance.
Owen said nothing.
Just then, Elsie came home, humming with satisfaction. But the moment she saw Owen and Lily’s grim faces, she immediately wiped the smile from her own.
Owen turned to her. “You went to the municipal hospital today?”
Elsie nodded. “I want to get a permanent position as soon as possible. That way, I can help you out more.”
Owen was touched. He gave her a small nod. “You’re still the most thoughtful.”
Elsie finally smiled. “I’ll be on night shifts for a while, though. So I probably won’t be coming home for dinner. You and Mom don’t need to wait up.”
Owen grunted in acknowledgment, his mind clearly elsewhere.
He might have been thinking about Yunice.
Was the family really falling apart? What would happen to the hospital? Where was his path now?
Suddenly, he felt isolated-like there was no one left who would lend him a hand.
Lily wasn’t sitting idle either. The next morning, she got dressed up carefully and went to see Carl.
But before she could step inside, she spotted Yunice and Freya sitting in the office lounge.
She froze.
Freya was perched on the coffee table in front of Yunice, holding an eyebrow pencil and studying Yunice’s face.
“I had a tarot reading done,” Freya said seriously. “It said if you draw your brows like this tomorrow, you’ll definitely pass the exam.”
“I’ll pass whether I draw them or not,” Yunice replied.
“Don’t be so skeptical. This is Mr. Carl’s personal tarot reader. Super accurate.”
“Really?” Yunice raised a brow. “I want a reading too.”
“What do you wanna know?”
Yunice thought for a second. “When I’ll become rich.”
“You’re already rich.”
“I mean, sugar momma rich.”