Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice replied, “I can write the letter. But only if she makes a public apology to correct the damage.”
“A public apology?” Lily’s voice shot up an octave. To her, that was social suicide.
If she did that, the other socialites would never let her live it down.
Owen hesitated and asked cautiously, “So if Mom makes a public apology, she won’t have to face legal consequences?”
Lily instantly realized he was wavering.
She burst into tears and yelled, “I’ll never do it! That would humiliate me more than death!”
Yunice snapped, “Did you think about what public opinion would do to me when you spread your lies?”
Lily froze in shock at her outburst.
Owen forced himself to smile and said, “Yunice, just for Oscar’s sake, please let this go. Ask Wyatt to pull some strings and make it disappear.”
Owen actually thought this would be easy.
But Yunice let out a cold laugh and turned to Oscar, who’d been trying to play peacemaker. “Oscar, there are a few things you probably don’t know.”
“Do you know why, even though Elsie was infected, she got transferred to Wellinges Pharma for treatment, while I, completely uninfected, was locked in a high-risk ward?”
Oscar’s face changed. Was there something more to it?
Owen immediately realized what she was about to say. His expression tightened as he called her name, trying to stop her.
But Yunice was clear and steady. “It’s because Wyatt donated ten billion to secure one spot. And Owen forced my spot to go to Elsie. He was willing to trade my life for hers.”
“That’s not how it was!” Owen jumped to explain. “It was a carefully calculated decision! If you had left, Wyatt wouldn’t have cared if Elise and I died. But if you stayed, he’d have to protect all three of us. And it worked-we all survived, didn’t we-“
Before he could finish, he was sent flying.
Oscar had punched him square in the face. “You used Yunice’s life as a bargaining chip and thought that made you clever?!”
Owen ignored the pain, scrambling to explain. “Elise took a stab for me. She’s weak. If I hadn’t saved her, I’d regret it for life!”
Oscar shouted, “Then you pay that debt yourself! Yunice isn’t yours to sacrifice! What gives you the right to use her life like it’s yours to spend?!”
Oscar looked utterly disgusted. “I can’t believe I even tried to defend you… I actually hoped Yunice would forgive you… You people are-“
“Every time I try to help you, you somehow manage to stoop even lower. You make me feel like a brainless accomplice!”
Oscar shut his eyes, breathing hard.
After a long pause, he quietly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said, “I’m done trying. This family should’ve broken a long time ago. From now on, let’s all go our separate ways.”
He couldn’t go on.
His mind was in chaos-he had wanted to save this family, but now he saw clearly that he couldn’t change any of them.
All he could do was accept that it was already too far gone.
, Really?
Oscar turned to Yunice, “Do whatever you need to do. I, Oscar, won’t say another word.”
And just like that, he left.
With Oscar gone, Owen lost his last bit of confidence.
Climbing to his feet, he glanced uneasily at Yunice. “Yunice, it’s all over now. You’re not still holding a grudge, are you?”
“Elise might’ve been the one who got out, but she had it worse than us. You should see her now… she’s not doing well…”
Even now, Owen still believed Yunice was just jealous of Elise – that only seeing Elise suffer would bring her peace and make her let the family go.
Yunice was speechless. “You people tried to destroy me, ended up shooting yourselves in the foot, and now you blame me for not cushioning the fall? Do you hear yourself? I don’t have time for this. If you’ve got complaints, take them to the people who filed the suit. My letter won’t change anything.”
She stood to leave. Owen tried to follow, but the butler raised a hand to block him. “Mr. Owen, this is Pavilion Hall. I hope you understand where you are.”
And more importantly – who this place belongs to.
As Yunice exited the reception room, she heard a rustle from the flowerbeds.
Someone was hiding.
She walked straight over and yanked the person out from behind the hedge.
Peggy flailed her hands. “It’s me! It’s just me!”
Getting caught didn’t faze her in the slightest. She immediately leaned in with a nosy grin. “I just saw a handsome guy storm out of here. Is he your husband?”
She meant Oscar.
Yunice didn’t respond, so Peggy kept going, spinning her own tale. “He looked crushed when he left – was it because he found out you were spending all his money? Did he freak out? You better run after him and fix it, or your sugar daddy’s gone for good…”
Yunice snapped, “Why do you care so much about my husband? Planning to steal him from me?”
“I-” Peggy blushed, then crossed her arms with a huff. “I just can’t stand women who live off someone else’s hard-earned money and act like they earned it!”
“Even pretending takes skill. Why don’t you try and show me how it’s done?” Yunice was in no mood to indulge her today.
Peggy’s interruption gave Owen and Lily time to be escorted out by the butler.
As the two parties ran into each other, Peggy lit up. “Hey buddy! You’re here too?”
Then she spotted the well-dressed woman beside Owen. Her eyes lit up again, and she said, “Wait… is this mansion part of the Saunders estate?”
She glanced at Yunice, as if to say, No wonder you live here.
But the butler shut that down fast. “This property belongs solely to Madam. Mr. Owen and Ms. Lily were here to ask for a favor.”
Back in the quarantine ward, Owen had already found Peggy’s loud personality exhausting. Now he had nothing to say.
But Peggy was oblivious. “Asking for help? But you run an entire hospital – what could you possibly need from someone else? Who is Yunice’s husband anyway? Is he really that powerful?”
“Hey, don’t walk off – I’m not done talking…”
Yunice turned to the butler. “Don’t let her in again.”
Peggy tried to weasel her way back in, but the butler gave her no chance.
In the end, she had no choice but to hitch a ride with Owen and Lily.
In the van, Owen couldn’t take the noise anymore and snapped, “Why are you even here?”
Back in the ward, Yunice and Peggy weren’t exactly close.
Peggy replied, “It’s not just me – Yunice invited all the volunteers. You didn’t know?”
Owen’s voice shot up. “All of them?”