Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
At the hospital, the alarms on Elsie’s monitoring machines blared loudly.
Owen was in a frenzy, yelling at doctors to get into Elsie’s room.
Lily’s legs gave out. She collapsed to the floor, too shocked to stand. Peggy tried to help her up but couldn’t.
Half an hour later, the doctors came out looking defeated.
“Mr. Owen,” one of them said gently, “if you have anything to say to her… you should do it now.”
Owen’s eyes widened. He grabbed the attending physician’s coat in a panic. “What do you mean?! My sister’s still alive-of course she can be saved!”
The doctor, used to scenes like this, kept calm and tried to explain. “We’ve said this before. Ms. Elsie has suffered multiple injuries over time. Many of her internal organs have permanent damage. This time, she lost too much blood for too long. Her organs are now starting to decay from the inside.”
“I don’t care!” Owen shouted, tears pouring down his face. “You’re doctors! Your job is to save people! My sister isn’t dead-why would you give up?!”
He shoved the doctor forward, crying out, “Save her!”
But the doctor had reached his limit. His voice turned firm. “Mr. Owen, you are a doctor. If you have a better way, then save her yourself. We’ve done all we can.”
He yanked his coat out of Owen’s grip and left the room with the others, shaking his head and sighing deeply.
Seeing this, Lily completely collapsed, falling flat on the floor. Her lips quivered with sobs, but she couldn’t even form a coherent sentence.
Peggy helped her up, patting her back and whispering for her to stay strong-but inside, she was rejoicing.
She’d been racking her brain trying to figure out how to get rid of Elsie, and now the woman had just gone and died on her own. It was like food falling into her lap, or an umbrella handed to her in a storm.
In the room, the doctors were all gone.
Owen knelt beside Elsie’s bed, gripping her icy hands in his own, trying to warm them back to life.
Elsie hadn’t died yet. She was hooked up to an oxygen mask, her eyes so red they looked like they were bleeding. She was struggling, clearly unwilling to go.
“Ow… Owen… help… please… help me…” Her slurred, gasping voice cut through him like knives.
The sister he’d always treasured was begging him to save her-and he was powerless to do anything.
Organ failure was irreversible.
If it had just been one failing organ, he would have gladly donated his own to save her. But not even that was an option now.
He gently swept the damp strands of hair from her forehead, his voice hoarse. “Elsie… is there something you want to say? Tell me. I’ll do whatever it takes-I’ll make it happen!”
Elsie’s grip tightened around his hand, and she sobbed, “I want to live… I want to live! Do the surgery! Give me medicine! Take me to the hospital, call the doctors-“
She clearly wasn’t thinking straight anymore. She didn’t realize she was already in a hospital, that the doctors had already given up on her.
Owen bit his lip, silently crying. He didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth.
Elsie was frantic. She couldn’t die now-not when things with Yunice weren’t settled. She hadn’t made her comeback yet. She couldn’t go out like this.
But even with the strongest will to live, her body had reached its limit. Her heightened emotions only worsened the strain on her failing organs. A choking sound rattled in her throat, and then a rush of blood welled up and spilled from her mouth.
Elsie clutched Owen’s hand like it was her last lifeline. Her bloodshot eyes locked on him with desperation and rage.
Owen felt like his heart was being torn apart. “Elsie! Elsie! No, no, no!”
Alongside the overwhelming sorrow, a tidal wave of fury surged inside him. He pulled her into his arms, face contorted with grief.
“Elsie, did Tulio do this to you?! Tell me! I’ll avenge you! I’ll tear them to pieces!”
Elsie’s nails dug deep into the back of his hand, drawing blood. The suffocating pain made her realize she was running out of time.
If she didn’t speak now-she never would.
Ebir began convulsing. Blood poured from the corners of her mouth in relentless streams, quickly soaking the front of her hospital gown.
Owen hadn’t caught what she said. Frantically wiping the blood away, he asked again, “Who did this to you? Was it Oscar? If it was Oscar, blink once!”
Elsie’s eyes were wide open. Through a mix of blood and foam, she repeated faintly, “Mom…”
“I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you, Elsie!” Owen shouted, stamping his foot in frustration.
Just then, Lily stumbled into the room, crawling across the floor in panic. “Elsie, don’t leave me alone.”
She threw herself onto the bed, clinging to Elsie’s legs and wailing. “You’re my whole world! How am I supposed to live without you?!”
Elsie wasn’t ready to die. If she died, Yunice would be the only daughter left in the Saunders family.
She had sacrificed her health to win the family’s affection. If she died now, would Owen and Lily go back to loving Yunice?
No. She refused to accept that.
How could she lose so thoroughly?
She had schemed for her entire life and only enjoyed three years of glory. Yunice had suffered for three years and then stepped into a brilliant future.
With Wyatt and Carl on her side, it was only a matter of time before the Saunders family took Yunice back to stabilize their reputation.
The thought made Elsie clutch Owen’s hand tighter. She bit her tongue and forced herself to speak clearly.
“Owen, Mom… promise me… you’ll only love me. Never… never go back to Yunice. I hate her… she’s the one who ruined me…”
Elsie broke down sobbing-not from regret, but from fear of death.
Peggy stood just outside the room, not bothering to watch the scene.
Feeling something off, she turned and saw Yunice and her husband standing behind her.
She had seen Wyatt at the Saunders estate once before, but this was the first time she was standing this close to him. His sharply defined features seemed impossibly striking. Peggy’s breath caught for a moment.
But she didn’t dare stare. She quickly looked away-at Yunice.
Yunice’s expression was neutral, but her dark eyes shimmered with a trace of loneliness.
Inside the hospital room, right after Elsie begged Owen and Lily not to reconcile with Yunice, they both agreed without hesitation.
“We’ll never take her back,” Lily cried. “I only have you-you’re my one and only daughter. I’ll never forgive her! If she hadn’t kept hurting you, breaking your health down bit by bit, you wouldn’t be leaving me so soon. Why couldn’t it be her instead of you?”
Owen wept beside her. “Elsie, I swear, the Saunders family has only one daughter-and that’s you. Your identity, in life and in death, will always belong to you. Yunice will never appear on our family record again.”
Yunice felt a warmth on her shoulder and turned her head. Wyatt had wrapped his arm around her.
Peggy, watching the room full of grief, curled her lips in a smirk. “Dead people making life miserable for the living. That squatter pigeon finally dropped.”
Elsie’s strength drained the moment she finished speaking. Owen’s eyes filled with panic as he watched her fingers unclench from his shirt and fall limply onto the blanket.
Her facial muscles finally relaxed. The light in her pupils faded away.
Owen’s pupils contracted. He stared in horror at the change in her face. He wanted to yell for her not to sleep-but no words came out.
Her head dropped sideways against his arm. Behind him, the monitor let out a long alarm tone, its waveforms flatlining into a single, steady line.