Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice shut off the faucet and looked into the mirror.
By the time she returned to the private room, most of the guests had already left.
Wyatt reached out, took her hand, and stood up.
On the ride home, he didn’t offer a single explanation.
And someone as smart as him-there was no way he didn’t know that Yunice had figured out the truth about his ex.
But clearly, he didn’t care to explain. Maybe he didn’t think it was worth addressing at all.
Yunice wasn’t the only one drinking tonight.
Elsewhere, Owen sat slouched at a bar, downing drink after drink. His cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol, and he was hugging a bottle to his chest, muttering in a haze.
“Lies…”
“It’s all lies!”
“There’s no way they’re not connected-this has to be fake…”
The bartender had been silently polishing glasses but had been glancing at him for a while. Finally, curiosity got the better of him.
“What’s fake?”
Owen lifted his head, eyes glassy. But slowly, they sharpened into something dangerous.
Then, all of a sudden, he lunged.
He grabbed the bartender by the neck, squeezing viciously. “Why did you lie?! What’s real, huh?! I don’t believe you! I don’t believe you didn’t touch Yunice! You’re just saying that to get back at me!”
Straddling the bar, he choked the man with both hands, his strength wild and erratic.
The bartender’s eyes rolled back as he clawed at Owen’s arms, desperate for air.
People in the bar started noticing. They stared.
Then someone pushed through the crowd, shouting, “Excuse me-let me through!”
Shoving her way forward, a woman finally reached the scene.
She took one look at the chaos and immediately jumped onto the bar, prying at Owen’s arms. “Let go! Let go of him!”
Owen, drunk and off-balance, had burned through his strength. With the combined effort of the bartender and the woman, he finally let go.
The woman helped drag him down from the bar while the bartender, red-faced and gasping, cursed through clenched teeth. “Is he insane?! What the hell is his problem?!”
Owen, still in a daze, looked at the woman supporting him and slurred, “Who the hell are you?! I’m calling the cops! You’re all under arrest!”
He jabbed at the red marks on his neck. “This is assault!”
The woman-Peggy-looped his arm around her neck. Up close, she could smell the sharp tang of liquor on his breath. Her throat moved subtly as she swallowed hard.
Then she glanced impatiently at the bartender. “You just want money, right? Fine. I’ll pay.”
She pulled out a thick stack of cash from her wallet and tossed it across the counter with a flick of her wrist. “Here. Take it.”
Bills fluttered through the air, falling like confetti, briefly silencing the bar’s noise.
Peggy dragged Owen through the stunned crowd and took him upstairs to get a room.
From the back of the room, Oscar watched it all unfold in silence. When the door upstairs finally clicked shut, he turned and left-his face grim.
Inside the room, Owen still had a shred of awareness left.
When Peggy pushed him onto the bed, he panted heavily and cracked his eyes open.
Through the haze of alcohol, he could barely make out her silhouette.
He raised a hand to stop her, voice hoarse. “Who… are you?”
Peggy’s heart skipped a beat when her hand was grabbed, but she quickly realized Owen had no ability to recognize anything right now.
Her eyes shifted, and she said, “I’m your sister Yunice. You threw up on your clothes, they’re dirty. Take them off and I’ll help you wash them.”
“Yunice?” Owen turned over in discomfort, then choked out, “Yunice… I feel terrible… I want your remedy… You haven’t made remedy for me in so long…”
“Alright. As long as you take your clothes off obediently, I’ll go make you some sobering soup, okay?” Peggy couldn’t hide her excitement.
Owen, eyes closed, didn’t refuse. He took off his shirt and pulled the blanket over himself. While waiting, he fell asleep.
He slept with no memory of anything afterward.
The next morning, Owen woke up from his hangover with a pounding headache.
His whole body ached as he sat up and shook his heavy head, then looked around the unfamiliar surroundings in confusion.
“How did I end up here?”
As soon as he said it, he suddenly felt something and looked down in shock.
Under the same blanket lay a woman.
From the touch beneath the blanket and the way it clung to them, he could tell she was completely naked.
What’s more, the woman was holding onto him, her hand reaching toward his lower abdomen.
Owen’s entire body went numb, goosebumps rising. In the next second, he jumped off the bed. “Who the hell are you?!”
As soon as his feet hit the floor, he realized something-there was a cool breeze. He looked down and saw, with a pale face, that he was completely naked.
Peggy, disturbed by his voice, sat up groggily. As she moved, the blanket slipped, revealing her naked body as well.
Seeing her completely exposed, Owen felt a deep sense of disgust.
Peggy looked at him, and Owen quickly grabbed a shirt to cover his private parts, then with a dark expression, reached for his pants.
But his pants were underneath Peggy, and she didn’t move-he couldn’t pull them free.
Peggy raised an eyebrow, grabbing one pant leg and engaging in a tug-of-war. “Director Yun, you were so wild with me last night, so passionate, and now you want to put on your pants and leave?”
Owen’s face alternated between pale and flushed. His voice came out hoarse: “What?”
Peggy shifted to what she thought was a more flattering pose and said, “I said we’ve already had a real night as husband and wife. You didn’t feel it?”
Feel what-Owen didn’t know a single thing.
His head throbbed with pain, and every nerve screamed that he was in serious trouble.
He yanked his pants free with force, flipping Peggy over in the process.
Peggy rolled, and with the blanket twisting, a patch of blood was exposed on the sheets.