Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Wyatt didn’t shake his hand. His smile was icy. “Yunice is the Northvale liaison. I’m just working under her. If you need anything, ask her.”
Victor withdrew his hand, maintaining his polite smile. “Ah, I think you misunderstood, Mr. Wyatt. I know your wedding with Yunice is coming up. Carl assigned me to gain experience-nothing more.”
Wyatt tilted his head and sneered. “So, are you done gaining experience?”
Victor’s smile faltered. He’d heard Wyatt had a temper, and now he knew firsthand-it wasn’t an exaggeration. He nodded stiffly.
Wyatt grabbed Yunice’s hand and stood up, brushing past Victor like he didn’t exist.
“You’re joining the Northvale project too?” Wyatt’s tone was unreadable.
When Yunice had nothing to rely on, she was like a little sparrow-easy to cage, easy to control. Marrying her would’ve posed no threat. But now, Carl had handed her the golden ticket everyone craved. Yunice was no longer the type to stay tucked away in the kitchen.
It looked like Carl had done Wyatt a “favor,” only to load it with fine print.
Still, she answered, “Yes.”
Even without Carl’s backing, she would never let herself be someone’s pet in the back garden. She braced for Wyatt to explode. But he said nothing-only opened the car door and told her to get in.
Yunice climbed in, uneasy, her brow furrowed tight. Wyatt had been treating her well lately, but instead of easing into it, she found herself getting more and more anxious. Wyatt was twisted. She hadn’t forgotten the rumors.
‘ll Cross
They said he was the vindictive type. If you tried to scheme against him, he’d either destroy you outright or give you just enough sweetness to hook you in-then, once he got bored, he’d kick you off the highest ledge and watch you fall.
Yunice didn’t know if he’d already marked her as one of those toys. She didn’t dare trust his kindness. She didn’t dare fall for it.
She looked out the window, feeling like driftwood in a storm. Beaten by the rain, floating endlessly in open water, with no shore in sight.
Wyatt held her hand and slid a cold ring onto her fourth finger. Yunice turned her head. It felt like this ring was sealing her fate.
Wyatt, as always, could read her thoughts too easily. He admired her fingers and asked with mocking amusement, “What now? Got something to say?”
Yunice said, “I was wondering how long you can keep up the act.” She looked him straight in the eye. “And what kind of method you’ll use to break me.”
Wyatt stared back for a few seconds before replying, “So all you think about is me?”
Yunice hadn’t expected him to say something so childish. She blinked, then turned away and looked back out the window, no longer willing to entertain that kind of stupidity.
Wyatt brought her to Wellinges Pharma, one of the companies under his name. He gave her a quick tour around the building, then took her straight to HR, handed her an employee badge, and had her officially onboarded. Just like that, she was put in charge of the Northvale project and the liaison with Crawford Group. Whether it was bait or not, she accepted it. She wasn’t going to pass up any opportunity to climb higher.
Two days left until the wedding. Lily had returned home. As she got out of the car, she texted Freya: “Ms. Freya, I spoke with Carl for quite a while today. I hope you’re not upset?”
Freya let out a short laugh when she saw it and replied, “Not upset.”
Freya replied, “Madam Lily is welcome anytime, as long as Mr. Carl agrees to see you.”
Lily wrote back, “Carl and I are old friends. He’ll definitely see me.”
Freya didn’t reply.
Lily put away her phone and stepped into the house-only to see Owen kneeling on the floor. Elsie looked like she was about to collapse, face deathly pale, swaying side to side. She couldn’t even kneel straight. Her head kept dropping against Owen’s shoulder. Every time she realized she was losing control, she forced herself to stay upright.
Owen couldn’t take it anymore. He held Elsie up and snapped at Oscar, “You can punish me all you want, but Elsie’s too weak! Let her rest!”
Oscar said, “Never heard of anyone dying from kneeling. Keep going.”
“You-!” Owen was so angry he couldn’t breathe, but he still didn’t dare fight Oscar head-on.
Right then, Elsie whimpered and fell over. She didn’t move.
“Elsie!” Lily screamed and ran over in a panic. She looked from Oscar to Owen. “What the hell are you two doing?!”
No one answered.
Lily turned toward Giana, who was frozen in place. “Why are you standing there?! Help Elsie inside to rest! It’s almost summer! The sun’s brutal-she’s going to get heatstroke!”
Oscar frowned at Lily. It was only early May. Was Elsie made of paper? Now he saw it clearly. This house was treating Elsie like some precious porcelain doll. He didn’t stop Giana from helping her. He just looked at Lily and said, “Mom. I’m waiting for you to say one fair word.”
Lily looked at Owen nervously. Oscar was serious.
Oscar asked, “Yunice’s room-wasn’t Elsie the one living there this whole time?”
Qwen tried to interrupt. “I already said-“
“Shut up. I wasn’t asking you.” Oscar’s voice cracked like a whip. He stared at Lily again and asked, “Tell me the truth. Since Yunice got out of the hospital, where’s she really been staying?”
Oscar cut her off coldly. “You’re lying. The layout of a room can be reset-but the signs of who’s lived there can’t be faked. I’ve been gone ten years. Yunice’s room hasn’t had a single new item added?”
There was only one explanation. Her room had been cleared and rearranged to make it look like she’d been living there all along. Just one big cover-up.
Lily clutched her handbag tighter. Her expression was ugly.
Oscar said, “I already know most of what’s happened in this house. Are you still going to keep lying to me?”
Lily dodged again. “Gill must’ve told you something, didn’t she? Don’t listen to her. She got kicked out of this house for stealing and held a grudge ever since. She just wants to stir things up and ruin this family.”
Seeing Lily refuse to admit it, Oscar said, “Fine. I’ll let everything else go. But I don’t accept Elsie’s identity. She’s not a daughter of the Saunders family, and she has no right to Yunice’s name. I’m giving you three days. If Elsie doesn’t cancel that ID, I’ll publish a statement in the newspaper explaining exactly how we switched the records back then.”
Smack. Lily’s handbag dropped to the floor. She was stunned. She lost control and shrieked, “Are you insane?! You and Owen were the ones who signed off on that identity change. If you go public with this, you’re telling all of Silverburgh that you and Owen tampered with government documents. That’s a crime-do you understand that?!”
Oscar said, “Exactly. That’s why I have to come clean. I was the one who made the mistake.”
Lily was practically unraveling. “Yunice is gone. Why won’t you let this go… Elsie only borrowed the name. It didn’t hurt you…”
Oscar said, “Even if Yunice is gone, she was still my sister. Elsie can act all she wants, but she’ll never be her. I’m just doing what I should’ve done from the beginning-getting justice for my sister. Is that so wrong?”
He looked at both Lily and Owen one last time before turning and heading upstairs.
Lily collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing harder than she ever had in her life. Her howls echoed loud enough that Oscar surely heard them from upstairs, but he never came down. Never softened. Never said a word.
When crying didn’t work, Lily couldn’t sit still anymore. Oscar wasn’t like Owen. He was stubborn, and he still resented her for leaving the family years ago. He wasn’t going to listen to her.
Lily wiped her tears and called Freya. It was one in the morning. Freya was jolted awake. Seeing Lily’s name flash on the screen, she sat up, already furious, but forced herself to answer. “Madam Lily, is something wrong?”
Lily was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. “Freya, I’m really sorry to call so late, but could you please let me talk to Carl for just a minute?”
Freya sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead, doing her best to keep it together. “Madam Lily, do you even know what time it is? What makes you think I can contact Mr. Carl right now?” She added coldly, “And by the way, Mr. Carl doesn’t belong to me. You don’t need my permission to see him, understood?”
She hung up immediately. Pulling up Lily’s number, Freya hovered over the block button. But in the end, she hesitated. She’d dealt with enough people to spot what was real and what wasn’t. Lily was either stupid-or doing this on purpose just to get under her skin. Freya could see right through her. But for Carl’s sake, she didn’t press block.
The next day, Yunice went back to Carl’s office. She didn’t have much else going on lately-aside from shadowing Wyatt in public, she spent most of her time learning company operations from Carl. Carl rarely wanted to do things himself. He usually had Victor guide her instead.
The two of them were quietly discussing a project when Carl’s desk phone rang. He picked up-and heard a string of soft, tearful sobs on the other end. The voice was pitiful and helpless. Even Yunice looked up from her paperwork, recognizing the sound immediately. It was Lily.
Carl looked at the receiver and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lily choked out, “It’s nothing serious. I just had a fight with one of the kids… I really don’t know what to do anymore…” Then she paused before asking, “I didn’t bother you, did I?”
Carl said, “A fight? With which one-Oscar or Owen? What was it about?”
Lily said, “It was Oscar. He was misled by someone outside the family and now insists that Elsie cancel Yunice’s ID. I didn’t stop him. I understand that’s the right thing to do. But now he’s saying he’ll publish everything. That means telling the whole world how he and Owen altered her registration. Isn’t that the same as turning themselves in?”