Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Oscar glanced again in the direction Owen had gone.
He had a gut feeling that Wyatt was supporting Yunice behind the scenes. And as the eldest in the family, if he continued to play dumb, then Wyatt would step in himself.
No. He couldn’t let things spiral any further.
Oscar made up his mind and jumped in his car, heading the same way Owen had gone.
Pavilion Hall.
Wyatt was in the kitchen, plating food with the phone wedged between his shoulder and ear as someone reported to him.
He let out a cold snort. “So there’s still someone in the Saunders family with half a brain.”
“Let him go. Don’t worry about it.”
“If the old man asks, just say I did it.”
He hung up, took the plated food, and carried it to the dining room.
Just as he sat down and was about to call Yunice for dinner, his phone rang again.
Yunice happened to be stepping out of her room, and Wyatt had the call on speaker. She heard a male voice crackle through:
“How long do you plan on keeping her locked away? What’s the matter – worried she’ll fall for me the second she lays eyes on me?”
Yunice didn’t recognize the voice, but from the tone, it was clear the guy was close to Wyatt.
No one else would dare joke around with him like that.
Wyatt, back turned, was arranging plates. “Worried you’re too ugly. Don’t want you scaring my wife.”
The voice on the other end clicked his tongue. “Silverline Bay Club. You coming or not? If not, I’m bringing everyone over to your place!”
Before Wyatt could respond, Yunice stepped into his line of sight and glanced at his phone.
Wyatt hung up and asked, “You heard that?”
Yunice played along. “Want me to block the door?”
“If you don’t, they’ll be inside the house in no time.”
Seeing her joking like this, Wyatt raised a brow. “You’re not bothered?”
Yunice asked, “Are you ashamed of your ugly wife?”
Only a man who thought his wife was ugly would refuse to take her out.
They’d been married for over a year, and she’d never really seen his circle of friends.
Wyatt was silent for a beat, then said, “Go change – we’re eating out.”
Yunice’s closet always seemed to have a few new dresses here and there. She picked the one that suited her best.
After all, this was her first time meeting his people. She needed to uphold his reputation.
Before leaving, she even put on a bit of makeup.
But her style leaned cool and understated, so the makeup was light – nothing that drew too much attention.
Wyatt’s reflection appeared behind her in the vanity mirror. “You look amazing. Putting this much effort in for them is already more than they deserve.”
Yunice wasn’t wearing any jewelry, so Wyatt picked out a necklace from her jewelry box and stepped behind her to help her put it on.
She realized then how much he liked dressing her up – like she was some kind of collectible figure. “Are they your friends?” Yunice asked as she probed about the people they were meeting.
“Yeah,” Wyatt replied. “Guys I met back when I was still building my career – basically a bunch of troublemakers.”
Once the necklace was in place, he added, “Don’t worry about them. Just show up and eat.”
On the way there, Wyatt gave her a quick rundown of who would be present and what their backgrounds were.
Yunice looked at the photos on Wyatt’s phone and quickly pieced together their relationships.
All in all, this was Wyatt’s inner circle.
Each of them had met him during his struggle to rise and had formed strong bonds with him.
If she had to compare, they were like her own circle: Kingsley, Mr. Carl, Gill, Freya.
The difference was that her people didn’t know each other – they all revolved around her individually.
Wyatt’s circle, on the other hand, functioned as a unit that orbited around him – and viewed her as an outsider.
Breaking into a group like that wouldn’t be easy.
Yunice understood that perfectly. But she wasn’t the type to avoid a necessary meeting.
When they got out of the car, she looked up at the club entrance.
Most of the rooms in the club were lit up – but there was one room in particular where a silhouette stood in full view at the floor-to-ceiling window.
Not long after, more shadows gathered around that person – looking down, as if watching them arrive.
Yunice silently counted the number of floors corresponding to that window, then stepped into the elevator.
Sure enough, the waiter pressed the floor number Yunice had just calculated.
So they really are that interested in me, she thought.
Outside the private room, Wyatt had just raised his hand when the door flung open from the inside.
In an instant, a group of people crowded the doorway like starving wolves, staring directly and unabashedly at Yunice.
They had already looked her up and seen her photos, but what they really wanted was to compare her in person – see how much she matched up to the pictures.
After several seconds, a woman in the group laughed and said to the others, “She’s crush-tier.”
Yunice scanned the group. Men and women alike, all about Wyatt’s age – matching the brief introductions he’d given her earlier.
The woman who’d spoken stuck out her hand with confident ease. “Welcome.”
Welcome?
It sounded friendly at first, but on second thought, that word only gets used on outsiders.
No one would say that to Wyatt.
Yunice shook her hand with calm poise. “Nice to meet you.”
With cliques like this, it was important to strike a balance – neither too eager to please nor too cold.
It was a subtle, high-pressure social game where neither side had crossed paths before. Suspicion and scrutiny hung in the air, and unless Yunice could command genuine respect, she would never truly be accepted.