Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Already on edge, Yunice snapped, “I don’t own a PR company. How am I supposed to delete anything?”
Owen yelled even louder. “Maybe you don’t, but Wyatt does! You’re Elsie’s sister-how can helping her be so hard for you? Don’t you feel anything when you see her being slandered like this every night?!”
Yunice laughed coldly. “I sleep just fine.”
“Oh, you want the posts gone? I’ve got a better idea! Powell’s family owns a PR company too. Didn’t Paul love Elsie so deeply? Get him to help! Oh, wait – you probably already know he won’t lift a finger for you.
“Fine, I’ll teach you a trick. Link Paul and Elsie’s names. Create a scandal and blast it to the top of the trending searches. Let’s see if that motivates him to clean up the mess.”
Owen exploded. “What the hell kind of garbage idea is that?!”
Yunice let out a cold chuckle and jabbed one final blade straight into his heart.
“Oh, and by the way – congrats on your wedding.”
Oh, right-almost forgot to mention, Owen and Peggy tied the knot at Ocean Silverburgh just five days ago.
The ceremony had no blessings, only spectators waiting to laugh.
A few of the younger Terrance family members dragged Owen into a drinking contest, egging him on to show some dominance and “put his wife in her place.” Fueled by alcohol and peer pressure, Owen-thinking Peggy would hold back since it was their wedding-actually called her out in public and slapped her across the face.
That blew up fast.
Peggy went ballistic, wrecked the wedding, and gave Owen a thorough public beatdown. She pinned him to the ground and rubbed his face into it.
That day, Owen’s dignity as a man was left in pieces at Ocean Silverburgh.
Even Yunice, who hadn’t attended, heard about the scandal that quickly became the talk of the town.
Her deliberate absence also robbed Owen of a chance to lash out at her.
And now, Yunice twisted the knife right where it hurt. Her words cut deep, leaving no blood.
Owen was so furious, it sounded like his blood vessels were about to burst through the phone.
Yunice listened to his strangled breathing with great satisfaction, then calmly hung up.
What a relief. Sometimes you just need a punching bag to let the frustration out.
No wonder Owen used to torment her so much back at the Saunders family-he never had to pay a price for it. Just like I’m doing now. Only difference is, I’m finally fighting back.
But Yunice wasn’t done. Since the pot’s already boiling over, might as well drink it hot and toss in another fish. She leaned back in her chair, fingers flying across her phone screen, typing up an article.
By the time her eyes lit up in satisfaction, Wyatt reached over, grabbed her phone, and saw what she’d been working on.
He snorted. “You spent half an hour writing an expos? on Paul just to post it on your little public account?”
Yunice didn’t have a PR firm-this was the only outlet she had.
Wyatt forwarded her article to his own phone.
“Scheduled for 2 a.m.,” he said. “That’s the prime time for clicks.”
It was a ruthless move.
That night, the Powell Corporation’s entire PR team was dragged out of bed and rushed to the office to delete posts and manage the damage.
But Wyatt’s firm wasn’t some backroom outfit. They were the best in the industry. If Wyatt’s team wasn’t number one, no one was.
Without even needing to boost it, Paul shot to the top of the trending topics, his name tangled up with the pseudonym “Yunice,” bringing a flood of attention with it.
The Powell Corporation couldn’t suppress it at all.
By morning, Yunice got another lovely call from Owen.
She let him shout to his heart’s content before lazily replying, “Every time you yell at me, I’ll leak another little story about Elsie. You curse me twice, I’ll leak twice.”
She was making one thing very clear: those days of venting anger on her without consequences were over.
Owen could only grit his teeth until they cracked. Then came another phone smash.
Things weren’t looking good on the Powell side either. The unexpected scandal had rocked their stock, and Jackson was furious. He dressed Paul down in front of the whole household.
Paul, of course, burned with humiliation-and stored that rage deep in his bones.
He clenched his fists, desperate to seize control, to grow stronger, to crush everyone who looked down on him.
Lately, he’d been trying to reach out to that mysterious number again, while also knocking on other doors.
But the people he could reach were more ruthless than ever. Folks who used to grovel at his feet now had the nerve to tell him no.
Some even had the audacity to eye the scar on his face and suggest he give up. Better to live out his days as a pampered idle prince than keep making a fool of himself.
Let’s be honest-behind his back, they all mocked him for the words carved into his skin.
Paul pushed back, arguing that Wyatt had been a cripple when he rose to power. If Wyatt could do it, so can I.
But instead of respect, all he got was louder, meaner laughter.
His pride shattered, Paul grabbed a wine bottle and smashed it over one man’s head.
The guy, clutching his bleeding scalp, ran straight to the old man to complain-and that was right before Paul’s name hit the hot search.
Bad luck came in waves. Pressure was mounting, and Paul’s mind was twisting further.
He kept switching numbers, calling that mysterious contact again and again, but no one ever picked up.
That drifting lifeline Yunice had dangled in front of him was driving him mad. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat-couldn’t think straight.
Meanwhile, Elsie’s case kept building momentum with Maine now involved, and public attention only
A storm of speculation swept through the internet, and with it came a wave of deep dives into the personal histories of Morgan, Maine, and Oscar.
Surprisingly, Oscar came out the cleanest. His private life was uneventful-he’d spent the past ten years in the lab, leaving no dirt for netizens to dig up.
But Maine? She practically set a landmine for herself. People dug up stories of her bullying classmates back in elementary school, and how she’d gone through a string of relationships during middle school.
One girl even came forward claiming Maine had once come between her and her boyfriend. She called Maine a two-faced fraud who used the excuse of being “one of the guys” to flirt with close friends’ boyfriends. The girl even leaked chat logs, painting a picture that sounded alarmingly plausible.
Yunice could only marvel at how strange and diverse the world truly was.
Maine once pointed at me and called me a homewrecker. Back then, I felt ashamed. Insecure. Like I didn’t belong. But now? Look who’s the real hypocrite. People really shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.
Meanwhile, Maine was about to lose her mind.
She paced restlessly around Nora’s apartment while her phone buzzed and rang non-stop from where it lay on the bed.
The calls were from her parents-no doubt to scold her.
After all, her testimony in Morgan’s favor had dragged the entire Zach family down with her. Even Zach Corp’s public image was tanking.
They couldn’t understand why Maine insisted on getting involved in the Johnson family’s mess.