Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice glanced back in the direction of the west wing. “I don’t have time to argue with you. I want to see Nora. Take me.”
Maine eyed her warily. “Why? You’re not planning to hurt her, are you?”
Nora was as fragile as an ant right now. All it would take was pulling her oxygen tube and she could suffocate to death.
Yunice leaned against the car door. “I think we should talk.”
Maine’s eyes shifted, and then she frowned and climbed into the car. “Good. I have things to say to you too.”
Yunice jumped in quickly, then started driving away.
Soon enough, Maine realized the route was wrong. Grabbing her bracelet, she demanded, “Where are you taking me? I’m warning you-if anything happens to me, Wyatt won’t let you off!”
Yunice glanced at her and thought she might be a bit paranoid.
“I snuck out. If I don’t take a detour, he’ll find me in no time.”
Maine asked curiously, “Why did you run away?”
Yunice said, “I found out about Nora’s existence. He got furious and tried to lock me up.”
“Why would he get furious?”
Yunice replied, “Because he’s afraid I’ll leave him.”
Maine went silent for a couple of seconds, then asked with a complicated expression, “Don’t you want to have him for yourself?”
Yunice said, “You guys might have misunderstood. Wyatt and I were forced into marriage. There was never any emotional foundation.”
Maine fell into another silence. She’d heard the rumors back then-how Jackson had set things up to force the marriage between Wyatt and Yunice.
Everyone had pitied Wyatt at the time. No one expected he’d actually develop feelings for a discarded woman like Yunice.
But if Yunice didn’t like Wyatt-that was even better.
Maine raised an eyebrow. “If you want to get rid of him, why bother running? Just cheat on him.”
Yunice looked at her and replied quietly, “I just want to live with clarity. I’m not looking to die.”
Maine let out a cold laugh. “And you think what you’re doing now isn’t suicidal?”
“You’re just a stand-in. If you don’t behave, he’ll find another one.”
“You think you’re that special? Playing this game of push and pull?”
Yunice said nothing. She simply stopped the car in a grassy field with a beautiful view.
The weather was clear, the sky blue, with endless green grass and a river flowing in the distance.
Yunice got out of the car. “Tell me about Wyatt and Nora.”
Maine hobbled out, limping. “Wyatt and Nora were entangled for five years.”
Yunice’s heart skipped a beat.
Maine continued, “They met at a dinner party.”
“At the time, Nora was a pharma rep for Johnson Corp. Her boss pushed her forward to curry favor with Wyatt… No, let me put it plainly-you might not get it otherwise. Nora was offered to Wyatt, and Wyatt accepted.”
Yunice stared at Maine without much reaction. “When I got together with Wyatt, he hadn’t had sex before. I’m a doctor-I can tell.”
Maine raised her brows. “You think that means you’ve won? Didn’t Wyatt tell you-Nora had trauma when it came to sex?”
“She was nearly assaulted once. Ever since, she was deeply resistant to that kind of thing. Wyatt didn’t want to trigger her, so he held himself back the whole time.”
Yunice’s gaze flickered, and Maine immediately noticed the subtle shift in her expression. With a satisfied smile, she stared at the red marks on Yunice’s neck and said, “When you love someone, you don’t want to hurt them. Wyatt only uses you to vent-because with you, he doesn’t have to care or feel guilt.”
Yunice didn’t reply. She was thinking about her relationship with Wyatt.
She thought of his aggression the night before-how he lost control with her. He knew she’d been assaulted before. He knew she had trauma, too. And still, he hadn’t hesitated.
Yunice looked up. She suddenly didn’t want to hear any more about Wyatt and Nora’s past. She asked, “Then why did Nora become a vegetable?”
Maine chuckled. “What’s the rush? Didn’t you just say you had no feelings for Wyatt? I’ve barely said anything and you’re already getting impatient?”
She leisurely listed it out: “Wyatt once rented out an entire island to watch the aurora with Nora. He crossed powerful investors and lost billions for her. Nora could take off her shoes in his office, sit on his files, and do things no other woman would dare.”
“Even after her accident, Wyatt went above and beyond for her family-whatever they needed, he delivered.”
“Oh, right-you don’t know Nora’s family, do you? She’s from the Johnson family. Her brother is Morgan. Her grandmother is Mary.”
As Yunice’s pupils slowly widened, Maine smiled triumphantly.
Morgan was a notorious spoiled heir, and Wyatt had covered for him countless times. As for Mary-her relationship with Wyatt was far from ordinary.
Yunice had always felt there was something strange about those connections. So this was the reason behind it all-it all came back to Nora.
If that was the case, Wyatt really did treat Nora differently.
At this point, Maine’s eyes turned red. Her voice rasped. “They could’ve loved each other forever. But then, three years ago, there was an accident.”
“The steel plant exploded. Thousands of degrees of molten steel burst out like whips. Nora’s father gave his life to shut the valve and saved countless people. Nora threw herself in to block a flying chunk of iron.”
“She was too badly injured. The hospital declared she’d never wake up. Wyatt refused to accept it. He spent the next two years taking her to every doctor he could find-domestic and overseas. And back then? You were strapped to an electric chair in the asylum.”
Maine knew exactly how to stab where it hurt.
Comparisons always made things clear. With a reference point, love-or lack of it-was obvious.
Yunice looked up. Just moments ago the sky had been cloudless and bright. Now, a heavy black cloud was rolling in.
Yunice had learned everything she needed to about Nora, so there was no reason to keep wasting time with Maine. She said, “It’s about to ram. I’ll drive you back.”
Seeing that Yunice was leaving, Maine reached out to stop her. “After everything, I just told you, you’re not even going to say-“
She hadn’t finished her sentence when Yunice suddenly jerked backward like she’d seen a ghost.
Maine was startled and instinctively followed her gaze.
A chill shot up her spine and froze her brain for a second.
Wyatt stood behind them with one hand in his pocket, his gaze cold. Who knew how long he had been standing there, listening?
Maine felt like her heart stopped. For a brief moment, she actually considered hiding behind the woman she disliked so much.
Ever since Nora’s accident, Wyatt had issued a strict order: no one was allowed to mention her.
Everyone else avoided even saying her name in front of him. Only Maine, because she was Nora’s best friend, dared to push the line again and again.
But Wyatt had also made it clear-Nora’s name was never to be brought up in front of Yunice.
Now she’d been caught red-handed. Even Nora herself couldn’t save her from this.