Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Maybe Yunice had been startled. That’s why she pulled the trigger.
If he hadn’t been fast enough, she wouldn’t just be lying in bed now-it would’ve been much worse.
If he’d been the one shot, he could’ve turned it all back on her. He could’ve said whatever he wanted. Hell, he could’ve stuffed her in a sack and shipped her off abroad if he wanted.
But she’d pointed the gun at herself.
No matter how angry Wyatt was, it all ended up getting choked back like a misfired shell.
Yunice looked at him, her voice soft and warm. “I told you-I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong to me. I was the one who wasn’t mentally prepared. That’s my fault. If I ever hurt you, I wouldn’t be human.”
Wyatt’s hand, still behind his back, clenched tightly. After a long pause, he said, “You can shoot me to even the score. I won’t move.”
Yunice laughed. “If we start hurting each other, then we’re just playing right into Jackson’s hands.”
She rubbed her stomach. “I didn’t eat dinner last night. I’m starving.”
“I want your wontons.”
Wyatt finally looked at her. “Joe said you should stick to easily digestible food.”
Yunice said, “I’m a doctor. I know. But I still want wontons.”
Wyatt didn’t refuse. He didn’t say anything. He just stepped forward, slipped the agarwood bracelet off his wrist, and fastened it onto Yunice’s.
Yunice blinked, slightly startled, and watched his back as he left the room.
Not long after Wyatt left, a man dressed as a doctor pushed open the door to Yunice’s hospital room.
Yunice was sitting up in bed and immediately recognized the familiar face.
It was Kingsley.
Back at her wedding with Wyatt, Kingsley had promised her a gift-and that gift had been the gun.
Nobody believed in her marriage with Wyatt. Everyone thought he was a ticking time bomb. Kingsley had been worried that if Wyatt’s mood shifted, Yunice would be in serious danger.
So he gave her the gun for protection.
Yunice said, “Kingsley.”
Kingsley pulled down his mask and gave her a hard, disappointed look.
He’d given her that gun to defend herself-not to shoot herself.
Yunice said, “Kingsley, this was part of my strategy.”
Kingsley’s face was cold. He looked like he was ready to grab a rifle and go avenge her on the spot.
Yunice said, “The best way to deal with a ticking bomb… is to set it off right where it sits.”
Kingsley replied, “You’re bargaining with a tiger.”
Yunice said, “Kingsley, this is a game of chess.”
Kingsley didn’t say anything else. He knew better than anyone that even if someone wasn’t crazy when they entered a mental hospital, staying there long enough would make anyone go mad. Yunice had been in that place for three years. How could she still think like a normal person?
Everyone who survived that place had learned how to play the game.
By taking a shot at herself, Yunice had earned Wyatt’s guilt and his fear. The next time he wanted to pressure her, he’d remember what happened today.
He’d remember how she got hurt, and how she endured surgery without anesthesia.
Yunice tilted her head and asked Kingsley, “Kingsley, did you see the woman at Gardison Residence? Does she look like me?”
Yunice wasn’t stupid. Elianna and Paul’s slip-ups had tipped her off. There had to be something emotional going on in Wyatt’s past.
She had asked Kingsley to help her investigate. After watching for nearly half a month, Kingsley had finally tracked down Gardison Residence.
There was a woman hidden there-a vegetative patient. Wyatt visited her regularly.
Kingsley had already seen the woman’s condition for himself. “She’s on a ventilator to maintain vitals. There’s no way she’s waking up. She doesn’t really look like you, but from a glance, there’s a vague resemblance.”
Yunice said, “If Wyatt sees me as her stand-in, then everything makes sense.
Why he was so attached to her. Why he went out of his way for her. Why he blamed himself every time she got hurt.
It was all because, deep down, he was projecting his feelings onto her.”
Understanding that, Yunice felt much lighter inside.
After Kingsley left, Yunice rested.
Meanwhile, Paul was going through hell too. Following Yunice’s tip, he found the hospital-and discovered that the patient in the room was a young man.
He’d been admitted over a month ago due to a car accident. His condition was serious enough that he hadn’t been discharged.
Paul checked the man’s records and found out he was Morgan, the only son of the Johnson family.
Paul disguised himself and staked out the room for an entire afternoon, but there was no activity around Morgan’s room.
Just as he started to wonder if Yunice had played him for a fool, laughter suddenly came from the break room next door.
“What are you so scared of? Paul’s got that dragon-wife watching him at home. You really think he’s gonna come looking for you? Just put all your focus on me-keep me happy, and good things will come your way. I worked so hard just now-my hands and mouth are sore, and you’re still teasing me like this…”
The moment he heard that familiar voice, Paul felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.
He rushed forward and peeked through the crack in the door-only to see a red-haired man in a wheelchair, and behind him stood Elsie.
Her hands were wrapped around the man from behind, slipping under his collar, fingers teasing down his chest…
“Elsie!” Paul roared and kicked the door open!
Elsie flinched, her whole body trembling as she quickly shoved her hands behind her back. Her wide eyes locked onto Paul in terror.
Why is he here?!
Paul stormed over, grabbed Morgan by the collar, and yanked him out of the wheelchair. “You bastard! You think you can steal my woman?!”
Morgan, still injured, fell hard to the floor and glared at Paul with fury in his eyes. But he was far from recovered-he was all bark and no bite.
Paul ignored him. With one hand, he grabbed Elsie by the throat and dragged her toward him.
Elsie was frozen in fear, staring at him in horror. Then she forced herself to calm down and blurted out, “Mr. Paul, why are you attacking Mr. Morgan?!”
Paul’s eyes bulged with rage. “You whore, Elsie. How did I never realize you were this good at seducing men?”
Elsie frowned. “Mr. Paul, show some respect. We broke up, remember? You’re married now. Who I’m with has nothing to do with you.”
“We broke up? Since when did I agree to that? You think just saying it makes it true?” he barked.