Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Owen gave a cold snort and scoffed, then deleted the entire post.
Trying to act like she knows everything… This is a graduate-level problem. What’s Yunice’s education level again? And she just casually circles the exact mistake?
Owen felt ridiculous for even believing her little stunt.
Two days passed. Owen never heard anything, and no paparazzi contacted him.
The whole getting-photographed incident slowly faded from his mind.
As the buzz around college admissions ramped up, the SAT scandal was gradually forgotten.
The internet traffic Yunice had attracted disappeared in a flash. Once life returned to normal, Elsie started going out again.
After Yunice successfully checked in at MedTech University, the Powell family started stirring up drama once more.
Today was the anniversary of Wyatt’s mother’s death, and the Powell family had arranged a memorial ceremony.
Back then, the Powell family had treated his mother worse than a servant. But now that Wyatt held real power, they all put on a grand show, inviting relatives and close friends to come mourn.
Wyatt sat in the high seat beside them, expression cold and indifferent, watching those so-called relatives and family members approach one by one to offer incense. Afterward, they’d squeeze out a few crocodile tears and lament how they should’ve helped Wyatt and his mother more back in the day. Then they’d tack on a line about how successful Wyatt was now and how his mother could rest easy.
Big, wealthy families were experts at keeping up appearances. Their acting was flawless. After doing it for so long, they didn’t even feel awkward anymore. In fact, they probably believed it themselves.
And as the future daughter-in-law, Yunice was naturally the center of attention. But since she stayed right beside Wyatt the whole time, no one dared mess with her lightly.
Anything related to his mother would set Wyatt off. He became terrifyingly irritable. Anyone who tried to stir up trouble in front of him would either end up dead or ruined.
After the ceremony ended, the old man called Wyatt away.
Whatever he wanted to say clearly wasn’t something Yunice could hear, and Wyatt didn’t take her with him.
Yunice sat alone in the grand armchair, staring back at a room full of Powell family members.
She could feel someone watching her. Following the gaze, Yunice locked eyes with Paul.
Paul didn’t look away. His eyes were cold, filled with nothing but hatred.
Yunice lowered her eyes and set down her teacup. A moment later, she got up and left.
When she reached a secluded bamboo courtyard, Paul’s furious voice shouted behind her, “Yunice, do you know what the price is for lying to me?”
Yunice turned around in surprise and came face to face with Paul’s shadowed, malicious expression.
Yunice asked, “How did I cling to power?”
Paul’s face twisted as he let out a sharp laugh. “You married Wyatt, healed his legs, got into college, improved his company’s heart medicine formula, even solved a business crisis for him-those are earth-shattering achievements, and yet you’ve been quiet about all of them.”
Yunice said, “He’s my husband. His success is mine too. Isn’t it natural for me to help him?”
Paul ground his teeth. “But you never did any of that for me. You pretended to be so in love with me, but when it came down to it, you never actually lifted a finger for me! I used to think you were just being sensitive, but now I get it-you looked down on me from the start. You were always planning to break off the engagement!”
Yunice said nothing.
Paul’s jaw clenched tight. “You don’t love me, and you don’t love Wyatt either! What you love is the benefits he gives you!”
Yunice looked up at him. “What else? If I don’t love his power, should I love your harem of mistresses? Should I love your empty wallet? Or should I love the fact that you’re a complete loser?”
Paul snapped back, “Aren’t you mad I never gave you anything all those years? If you wanted money, you could’ve just asked me. If you wanted power, I could’ve helped you! You never even said anything-don’t act like I wasn’t willing to give it!”
Yunice stared at him. “A gift you have to ask for is meaningless. A gesture you have to remind someone to make is worthless. If I have to tell you to do something before you do it, it becomes cheap. And if I tell you and you still don’t do it, then I become cheap.”
‘s the Joke On Now?
Paul said, “You’re just being dramatic and fake!”
Yunice replied casually, “Say what you want, but at least Wyatt only has one woman right now. He gives me a sense of security. Can you?”
She had just finished speaking when Paul suddenly let out a mocking laugh. His expression was full of contempt-smug and triumphant, as if Yunice had just done something incredibly stupid that gave him immense satisfaction.
“Wyatt only has one woman? You really think that highly of yourself…” Paul hadn’t even finished his sentence when he let out a sharp cry of pain and jumped back a step.
He was shaking his hand like it had just been burned.
Yunice looked down and only then noticed the still-burning cigarette butt on the ground. It had clearly fallen from the floor above.
She looked up-and saw Wyatt standing by the upstairs window. Her heart tightened, and her expression darkened.
When did Wyatt get here?
How much of what I said just now did he hear?
Does he care?
Wyatt’s moods were always unpredictable. Sometimes he was easy to talk to. Other times, he’d snap over just one sentence and wouldn’t rest until someone paid the price.
Wyatt stared dead-eyed at Paul, his voice completely flat. “What were you chatting about with your aunt?”
Paul’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he forced down two dry swallows.
He knew Wyatt had been in a bad mood these past few days. No one dared cross him at a time like this.
Without saying a word, Paul turned and walked away.
Yunice eyed Wyatt warily. But after a moment, she realized he wasn’t even looking at her.
She figured Wyatt probably didn’t feel like dealing with her right now, so she quickly left, heart heavy, already thinking about how to smooth things over the next time they met.
Paul was just ahead of her. Yunice thought to herself-she couldn’t let Wyatt get angry for nothing.
She caught up to Paul. “You always act so high and mighty, but the second you saw my husband, you turned tail and ran. And you call me the one with no spine? Who’s the coward now?”
Paul glared at her, but remembering his earlier humiliation, he didn’t want to provoke Wyatt again-and that meant not provoking Yunice either.
But Yunice had no intention of letting him off easy. She went on, “You’ve been hiding out in the compound so much, you probably don’t even know how people outside are laughing at you. They say you’re a Ninja Turtle, with the Hulunbuir grasslands growing on your head-and you’re too dumb to even know it.”
That line hit its mark. Paul stopped. “What Hulunbuir grasslands?”
Yunice said, “Take a guess. Do you really think a man with no money still gets to keep his woman around?”
Paul’s expression flickered. He was clearly furious at the insult, but at the same time, thoughts were racing through his head, trying to figure out who might’ve cheated on him.
Was it Taylor or Elsie?
He might not love Taylor, but that didn’t mean he’d tolerate her cheating on him.
He turned around to go deal with Taylor, but Yunice’s voice drifted after him, calm and lazy. “How long has it been since Elsie last contacted you? Cheater-“
Paul’s mind exploded. He turned around, eyes wide with fury and disbelief, staring at Yunice.
Yunice tossed him another bomb. “VIP wing, City Hospital. Room Three. Go see for yourself.”
And with that, while he was still torn between anger and suspicion, Yunice turned and headed back to the living room, light on her feet and totally at ease.