Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
As the elevator rose, Yunice found herself face-to-face with Paul, dressed in a sharp business suit.
Paul rarely wore formal clothes, and right now he did look a bit like a polished professional.
But Yunice knew it was all just surface-level polish.
After a few days apart, Paul had changed; he had become gloomier.
Understandable, considering he had discovered that the woman he thought was his true love had cheated on him.
Neither of them spoke first. After locking eyes briefly, they each looked away as if they were strangers.
Yunice’s floor was the top floor, so Paul got off first.
After he stepped out, Yunice moved to stand farther away from the door.
Paul stood outside the elevator without leaving. Just as the doors were about to close, he suddenly turned back and looked at Yunice.
He asked, “If one day I have money and power, would you still be with me?”
Before Yunice could respond, the elevator doors shut.
She just wanted to roll her eyes. Even now, Paul still thought she left him because he wasn’t successful enough?
She despised his stupidity, but since Paul had now joined Zhou Group, she figured they would inevitably run into each other from time to time.
Yunice arrived at the lab, changed into her protective gear, and immediately plunged into her intense study schedule.
Pharmaceutical research required extreme focus. The slightest distraction could cause major problems. The only sounds in the lab were the faint clinks of tools being moved; no one spoke.
Not until they wrapped up today’s project did Laurie leave the lab to change clothes.
She pulled off her protective cap and took a deep breath of fresh air.
Yunice followed behind her. “Ms. Laurie, why didn’t Mr. Wyatt come today?”
“He has a high fever, about forty degrees. He took sick leave and went home,” Laurie said casually.
“That serious…” Yunice said, “I’ll go check on him after work.”
Laurie glanced at her, hesitating.
After a moment’s thought, she decided to tell her.
She stepped closer and said quietly, “We suspect Mr. Wyatt might have been infected with a virus. He’s under strict medical surveillance now. You won’t be able to see him.”
Yunice’s face changed. “You mean it might be contagious?”
“We can’t rule it out.” Laurie casually peeled off her protective suit and added, “This hasn’t been reported to Mr. Wyatt yet, but I’m guessing he won’t let you continue working in the lab.”
When Yunice opened her mouth to argue, Laurie immediately cut her off. “If you get infected, Mr. Wyatt will get infected too. If that happens, the entire Wellinges Pharma system could collapse. Is that what you want?”
Laurie’s words left Yunice speechless.
Half an hour later, Yunice did indeed get a call from Wyatt. He forbade her from participating in any more lab projects and asked her to come to his office.
Laurie shrugged, as if bragging, “See? I told you so.”
Feeling frustrated, Yunice headed to Wyatt’s office. She had something to say.
She sat across from his desk, speaking earnestly. “I still want to participate in this research. If you’re worried about safety, I can stay sealed in the lab for the entire experimental phase and only come out after it’s over.”
Wyatt didn’t look pleased. He tapped twice on his phone and showed Yunice a video.
The footage was shaky, showing someone walking, the camera facing forward.
Now and then a few passersby appeared, and it was clear from their skin tones they weren’t locals.
For miles around, there wasn’t a single building in sight – only a few white tents scattered across the barren land.
The person filming ducked into the tent, and when the camera tilted up again, Yunice jolted backward, the legs of her chair scraping lightly against the floor. The shock hit her too hard.
Inside the tent were a few makeshift hospital beds, each with a simple IV stand. Some patients lay on the beds, while others, with no beds available, slumped weakly on the ground. They all shared the same traits-barely moving, their stomachs shriveled and sunken, each inhale shallow, each exhale long. Their eyes were vacant and lifeless. They looked like they were already half-dead.
Wyatt took his phone back from Yunice’s hand and turned off the video. “These are the current test subjects from the lab. Mortality rate, one hundred percent. If you still insist on going to the lab, I’ll shut the whole operation down and send everyone home.”
“No!” Yunice almost shouted.
Based on what she had just seen, Wellinges Pharma was undoubtedly the first company to secure these resources and prepare for the threat. They had to come up with a solution as quickly as possible. When the virus inevitably reached the country, not only could they minimize the national damage, but they could also maximize Wellinges Pharma’s credibility.
The lab couldn’t shut down. This research had to go on.
Wyatt used the entire research project as leverage, and Yunice had no choice but to back down. Still, she was clearly unhappy. Her sour mood showed all over her face as she slumped into a chair, refusing to even look at Wyatt.
But sulking was pointless. Wyatt had no intention of letting her anywhere near the lab. “From this moment on, the top-floor passage is sealed. Laurie and the other lab members will stay inside full-time. Supplies will be airlifted onto the rooftop by helicopter until the project ends.” He glanced sideways at Yunice, his tone final. “Even if you wanted to go up now, you couldn’t.”
Yunice was speechless. No wonder he had called her to his office-it was all to get her out of the way so he could seal the lab. The frustration burning inside her grew even worse.
Wyatt shifted his posture, resting his elbows on the desk, holding a pen in his hand like he was ready to have a serious talk. Anyone familiar with him would know he rarely had this much patience. Normally, if someone gave him attitude, he would either ignore them or throw them out of the room, chair and all. But when it came to Yunice, he always forced himself to stay calm, no matter how irritable he was.
He said, “I’m short a personal assistant. Interested?”
Yunice answered, “No.” She wasn’t cut out to be someone’s servant.
She had already completed her enrollment at the medical university-she only needed to attend required classes and take exams. She didn’t have to be on campus all the time. Since she couldn’t work at the lab anymore, she said, “Biting off more than I can chew doesn’t help anyone. I’d rather focus on running my small clinic.”
Wyatt drew in a long, slow breath, clearly displeased with her decision. But remembering the disaster of their last fight, he forced himself not to argue. He leaned back in his chair. “Suit yourself.”
Yunice saw the emotion written all over his face. She leaned forward, placing her hands lightly on his desk, and said, “I have one more condition.”
Wyatt was speechless. Most people would be trying to calm him down at a time like this. But not her-she completely ignored his mood and even dared to make demands. Treating his irritation like it didn’t exist, Yunice said, “I’ll stay out of the lab, but Laurie has to send me daily research reports.” Even if she wasn’t inside the lab, maybe she could still contribute ideas.
When Wyatt didn’t respond, Yunice stared straight at him. “Are you agreeing or not?” As if she was certain he wouldn’t lose his temper.
After three seconds of silent staring, Wyatt gave up. What could he do? Yunice might look well-behaved on the surface, but when she got stubborn, she was worse than he was. After all, she had once shot him, fully confident he would still pamper her afterward.
“Fine,” Wyatt muttered gruffly. But when he caught a glimpse of Yunice smiling at him from across the desk, he thought maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.
The next day, Yunice reopened her clinic. The deli next door, run by Gill, was doing booming business. Gill was outgoing and warm, and she made sure to introduce every customer to Yunice’s clinic, even making up all kinds of wild and exaggerated stories to draw people in.
Whenever there were patients, Yunice treated them and prescribed medicine. When there weren’t, she sat outside the clinic, working on reports.
Every now and then, she also checked in on Melina. But she always sent things through someone else and never went herself. In Melina’s mind, Lauren was supposed to be working overseas now, so it wouldn’t make sense for her to visit too often.
Lies always had a way of unraveling sooner or later. Yunice just hoped that time would slowly dull Melina’s attachment so that when the truth finally came out, it would hurt a little less.
Another week passed, and Yunice received a familiar client.
It was Taylor.
She looked even thinner than before, with traces of exhaustion on her face. An imperfect marriage drained a person’s spirit, and the Powell family was a viper’s nest to begin with. Taylor was being worn down by endless petty troubles.
Seeing her like this made Yunice’s heart ache. She wrote a prescription to boost Taylor’s energy and simmered it in a clay pot.