Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Elsie quickly nodded and swore she wouldn’t say anything. Owen’s instruction was clear-act clueless and don’t get involved.
Not long after, Yunice received her official acceptance letter from Silverburgh Medical University.
But at the same time, the cheating rumors roared back to life.
Someone dug up her old student ID photo again, along with video footage of parents questioning her outside the testing center. Coupled with her admission news, the public outrage reignited.
People flooded the university’s comment sections, demanding accountability. Some even claimed the school was sheltering a cheater.
Keen-eyed users noticed something suspicious. Despite the scale of the outrage, no one had ever managed to uncover the girl’s real identity.
All they had was a single blurry student photo.
The fact that her personal info hadn’t leaked-despite how hot the topic had gotten-only fueled conspiracy theories.
People started whispering that the person behind the cheating scandal had powerful connections, powerful enough to shut everything down.
Within days, the cheating debate exploded online, and Yunice received a notice from the university asking her to come in for a meeting.
Yunice was ready.
“I say grab a few of the ringleaders,” she told the staff calmly. “I’ll confront them face-to-face.”
She launched a livestream.
Face fully visible.
“I’m the girl everyone’s been talking about,” Yunice said to the camera, eyes steady.
“I’m not here to clear my name. I’m here to hold people accountable.”
The comment section exploded. Screenshots flew across the internet. Her bold opening line went instantly viral.
Tens of thousands flooded into the livestream, and the chat was a flood of hate, accusations, and garbage.
Yunice didn’t flinch.
When the viewer count hit six figures, she finally spoke again. “Let’s be real-none of you have the guts to join this stream and say it to my face. If you have proof I cheated, show it. Now.”
The chat flew so fast it was unreadable.
“This girl’s got a death wish!”
“She gonna beat up the internet through a camera?”
“Two minutes in. Where’s the whistleblower? Who’s got the proof?”
“C’mon, someone join. I’m just here for the drama.”
Time ticked on. All eyes were on the countdown. And Yunice-stone-faced and calm-waited for her accusers to speak.
“This is getting lame. I’m out. Someone tag me if anything actually happens!”
Yunice had a countdown timer in front of her. Within five minutes, hundreds of viewers requested to go live with her-but every single one just used the opportunity to troll, mock, or clown for attention.
Not a single person was the actual whistleblower.
At the five-minute mark, Yunice stopped accepting requests.
She looked directly into the camera. “You’ve all seen it. So many requests, but every one of them was just chasing clout. I know most of you came here because you want to know the truth. Did I cheat on the SAT? If so, how? And who’s backing me?”
Her tone was calm, but the comment section shifted. People who genuinely wanted the truth started pushing back on the trolls.
Everyone just wanted a good show.
Yunice continued, “My time is valuable, and I’m sure yours is too. So I’m going to give you something more straightforward. Something better.”
“She’s got nerve, I’ll give her that.”
“Enough talking, show us already!”
“She’s dragging this out. Bet she didn’t get into med school and now she’s trying to go viral off the drama.”
“I don’t care what her plan is. I’m hooked. I need to see how she’s gonna flip this.”
“Okay but seriously, doesn’t anyone know who this girl actually is? What’s her background?”
Yunice saw someone finally ask the right question, and her lips curved ever so slightly.
Her new identity was ironclad. She’d covered her tracks well. No one knew who she really was. Not even Lily. She had no birth records, no family, no digital footprint.
Even those who used to know her only had access to the identity Elsie stole, which was useless now.
So she spoke directly into the mic, “Miss Yunice, graduate student at Central General Hospital, former SAT examinee from Silverburgh-I know you’re in my stream. Want to come face me?”
The chat blew up instantly.
Who was she talking to?
What’s the connection?
What kind of showdown was this?
Elsie was, in fact, watching. So were Owen, Lily, and Oscar.
As soon as Yunice called her out by name, Elsie broke out in goosebumps and immediately exited the stream.
Owen was fuming. He and Lily had been trying to distance themselves from Yunice-and here she was dragging them back in front of ten thousand live viewers.
Was she trying to ruin them too?
Owen jumped into the comment section under a burner account. “Your cheating finally caught up to you, and now you’re trying to doxx innocent people? Shame on you.”
Then, without missing a beat, she said, “Sir, do you have any actual proof I cheated? If not, what you’re doing right now is public harassment.”
With that, she banned his account from commenting.
Then she looked straight into the lens. “The Saunders family. You were bold enough to submit a formal report accusing me of falsifying my SAT results, but you don’t have the guts to say it live?”
The media caught the whiff of blood instantly. Smelling a real-time scandal, a few outlets started investigating the identity of “Yunice” from the Saunders family.
And what do you know-they found her. She really was working at Central General Hospital.
Reporters swarmed the hospital before security could even react.
Cameras were shoved in Elsie’s face, and someone in the media even connected her live to Yunice’s stream-hoping for a front-row seat to the carnage.
Yunice’s smirk said it all. Lily thought she could ruin me with the media. She didn’t expect me to turn the spotlight back on them.
The press didn’t care about right or wrong. They cared about engagement.
Elsie stood frozen, eyes wide as cameras zoomed in.