Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice didn’t even flinch, calm and posed. She said, “I get your desperate little game, trying to stir up drama-but you left out one key detail.”
“Elsie was pregnant. That means besides you and Morgan, there was another man in her life.”
Which meant Paul’s slander didn’t hold water.
He stiffened for a second, probably surprised to learn Elsie had ever been pregnant.
But then he laughed-a foul, ugly sound.
“That’s your reason for ruling Morgan out?” Paul sneered. “You didn’t see that one coming, huh? Elsie’s pregnancy? That was my doing.”
“She was used up by Morgan-I wouldn’t touch her after that. But I was still pissed. So I gave her some drugs, brought in seven or eight homeless guys, and let them take turns on her all night.”
“Hahaha! And when she woke up the next morning, she actually thought I was the one who slept with her. That filthy slut got pregnant with a beggar’s kid. Shame she didn’t get to have it-man, I would’ve loved to see her face when she found out the truth. Hahaha!”
Yunice’s face darkened. She hadn’t imagined the reality would be this sickening.
But thinking it over, everything lined up. Everyone’s behavior made sense now.
She stood up. She’d gotten the answers she needed. There was no point wasting another second with Paul. “Yunice,” Paul called from where he sat, “I’ve still got solid proof. Proof that Morgan’s the one who killed Elsie.”
“But if you want it, there’s something I want in return.”
“I want your scar cream. Once my scars are gone, I’ll give you the evidence. You can take it, blow it up online, stir the pot-then even Wyatt won’t be able to keep your brother locked up.”
He knew Yunice had scar medicine. Back when he’d injured her, the wound on her face had been deep.
Everyone thought she’d be a laughingstock at her wedding with Wyatt.
But she’d healed her face in secret-and stunned them all.
Paul had tried everything to fix his own face, but every method had its drawbacks. Yunice was his last hope.
She didn’t stop walking. “No.”
She had zero intention of trading with him-zero intention of giving him any hope.
“…!” Rejected again, Paul snapped. Staring at her back, rage boiling over, he lunged and grabbed her ankle.
Yunice was walking up a slope. With one sharp tug, she lost her balance and fell back into the ditch. With a hiss of friction, she hit the dirt-Paul pounced, hands flying to her throat!
Elianna screamed. She wanted to help but took two fearful steps back. She glanced around wildly, debating whether to go get help.
Just then, headlights approached-and a car pulled up nearby.
The door burst open, and two bulky men in black jumped out.
Elianna had no idea who they were. Terrified, she backed up and ducked into the car, locking the doors tight.
But the two men sprinted straight toward the roadside.
Before they even got there, a dull thud echoed from the ditch, followed by a pained cry.
By the time they reached it, Yunice had already climbed out.
Paul lay writhing in the pit, hands cupping his groin-clearly kicked.
Yunice looked up at the two men. Her expression finally softened a little.
She asked coldly. “You two have been following me this whole time?”
The men immediately bowed. “Ma’am, Mr. Wyatt assigned us. We’re here to protect you. We’ll report everything that happened tonight to Mr. Wyatt. You don’t need to worry.”
Yunice’s expression turned even colder. “No one is to tell Wyatt what happened tonight.”
The two men in black froze.
“First, you failed to protect me. Second, I let myself fall into someone’s trap. If you go reporting this to Wyatt, both sides are going to take the fall. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Their faces twitched with awkwardness.
She was right. They had failed their job-even if Yunice walked away unharmed, there was no escaping punishment once Wyatt found out.
Yunice raised her eyes. “Not a word of this leaves here. If I find out otherwise, don’t blame me for reporting you and making the consequences worse.”
The two bodyguards were speechless.
After a tense silence, they both glanced nervously toward Yunice’s car.
Yunice followed their gaze-inside, Elianna was curled up like a frightened animal, phone pressed to her ear.
She turned to the bodyguards. “You two head back.”
Then she walked to the car.
But the door was locked.
Reaching through the half-open window, she unlocked it from inside, pulled the door open, and slid into the driver’s seat. Without a word, she snatched the phone from Elianna’s hand and ended the call.
Elianna shrieked in surprise, then blinked hard when she saw who it was. “You-you’re alive?”
She had just been about to report Yunice’s death to Wyatt. Now she stared at her with sheer terror-this woman had taken down a man like Paul with her bare hands. She was terrifying.
Yunice looked at the call log. The call to Wyatt had only lasted three seconds. Elianna hadn’t had time to spill anything yet.
She turned her head. “What did you hear just now?”
Elianna, not thinking, blurted out, “I heard everything you said to Paul-Paul said your brother was framed, that the real one who killed Elsie was-“
She didn’t get to finish. A force slammed into her, smashing the back of her head into the window.
Yunice had lunged forward and clamped her hands around Elianna’s neck.
Elianna’s face flushed red. Her breaths caught in her throat, panic and fear written all over her face.
She hadn’t expected Yunice to attack her-she didn’t even know what she’d done wrong. Was it because she ran off and didn’t help?
Yunice squeezed tighter, her voice low and sharp. “You didn’t hear anything tonight. And if you did, you better bury it. If you breathe a single word to anyone, I’ll kill you.”
Elianna was shaking.
Yunice let go.
Elianna gasped and tried to bolt, but the doors had already been locked by Yunice. She scrambled at the handle to no avail.
Yunice sat calmly beside her, watching. Then she handed Elianna her phone back and said coldly, “Call Wyatt. Tell him we were in a car accident and he needs to come pick us up. Now.”
Elianna gaped. “Huh?”
She didn’t understand what Yunice meant.
Yunice’s eyes dropped to hers, icy and threatening-like she could kill without blinking.