Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice looked directly at the camera. “So she can accuse me anonymously, but I can’t ask her to say it to my face?”
“That was a public callout. Doesn’t that violate her right to privacy?”
“She’s welcome to send me a cease-and-desist.”
Yunice walked calmly to the lone desk in the center of the stadium.
Yunice sat down quietly while the professors conferred. Each had prepared a set of questions. The format? A randomized lottery draw.
Ping-pong balls marked with the question sets were tossed into a transparent spinning cage. One would be drawn at random.
Before they could start, Yunice lifted a hand.
She looked up toward the judges and the livestream cameras.
“I just want to be sure we’re all on the same page here. Are you positive this setup is foolproof? Totally fair?”
“Because no matter how this turns out, I’ll make one thing clear: every one of you cheering this on-every commenter, every voter-you’re all part of this.”
What the hell’s she talking about now?
This chick’s totally losing it. And this is your SAT top scorer? Really?
The livestream kept rolling. A professor drew a ball. Yunice got up, received her test sheet, and returned to her desk.
Two questions per professor-short but extremely difficult. The kind of questions that only the top 1% of test takers could answer.
Cameras zoomed in on Yunice’s answer sheet. Every step of her logic was visible to the audience.
Across the country, thousands of teachers, tutors, and college students watched the stream and began analyzing her work in real-time.
“She got that part wrong.”
“Why wouldn’t she use the easier formula here? Did she forget it-or does she not know it?”
“Wait, she skipped a step here. That’s a red flag.”
Online debates exploded as self-proclaimed experts pounced on every little error.
And Yunice? She didn’t blink.
“…Wait, something’s not right here…”
“Whoa, my brain itches. Am I… am I starting to get it? I think I kind of understand what Tommy meant…”
Tommy wrote: “None of you have even met me, but just because I’m called a ‘test god,’ you assume I’d never cheat. Then she gets caught up in a cheating rumor, and you all act like you saw it with your own eyes. Isn’t that stupid? Tell me, what else could she possibly do to prove she’s innocent? So anyone can just plant a lie and use you as their weapon? If she really was falsely accused and it ruined her future, who among you keyboard warriors would take even a sliver of responsibility? She didn’t take the test to prove her innocence. She took it to force you to admit that you wanted her gone. You never cared about the truth. What you really enjoy is sitting up there on your moral high horse, judging people without ever facing the consequences of being wrong.”
Tommy’s comment, long and relentless, made the comment section gradually quiet down.
Even the proctors in the stadium were staring at the test papers in deep thought.
What kind of high-tech gadget could possibly transmit answers under the watchful eyes of millions online?
Yunice gave a bitter smile. “Knowledge can’t be stolen. Even if you want to accuse me, at least catch me in the act. Don’t try to erase everything I’ve done with just a single object after the fact.”
She reached out and took the small item from the proctor’s hand, set it on the desk, and smashed it.
With a soft crack, the tiny thing split in half.
The camera zoomed in. It was just a small yellow bean.
Just a bean.
And it had been deliberately wedged into the desk gap by Yunice herself.
The camera slowly shifted from the bean to Yunice’s calm, steady face.
The comment section fell completely silent.
Everyone started to realize what had happened.
From the moment Yunice started livestreaming yesterday, she never planned to prove anything. She never cared about clearing her name.
Both livestreams had been acts of revenge-targeted at the internet trolls, the rumor-mongers, the liars.
People who once insulted her, people who doubted her-even if they said nothing now, their faces burned with shame.
Staring into the camera, Yunice said softly, “Have you ever been doubted? Did you ever prove yourself? Did that make it go away?”
No one responded. Viewers started to leave the stream in droves, each lost in their own thoughts.
The pain only hits when the needle’s in your own skin. Yunice’s words struck a nerve deep inside everyone watching.
People never truly know each other. Who hasn’t been misunderstood? Who can lay their heart bare and be fully seen?
There is nothing more devastating than being unable to defend yourself no matter what you say.
Tommy, still in the stream, left another comment. “Hi, I’m Tommy from MedTech University. Whether you cheated or not, I’d be honored to recommend you as a student here.”
Then he exited the stream.
But his message reignited the comment section into a frenzy.
“Ugh, so jealous. Did she just turn a scandal into a win?”
“But come on, her scores were always MedTech-level anyway. No one’s actually proven she cheated…”
“Wait, does anyone even know her name? Any MedTech students here recognize her?”
The livestream ended with wild speculation still flying around.
The cheating scandal fizzled out in a quiet, bloodless trial that never truly resolved anything.
Yunice and the internet reached a strange stalemate-neither could punish the other.
The crowd had misjudged her. Yunice couldn’t fully clear her name.
In a conference room at Wellinges Pharma, Wyatt stared darkly at his laptop. “Who the hell does this Tommy think he is?”
The arrogance.
Did he really think he was some kind of hero, swooping in to save Yunice?
Seeing Wyatt’s sour expression, Jordan rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Come on, Wyatt. The public’s calmed down, hasn’t it? And your wife’s not even going back to school. She’s never going to cross paths with this Tommy guy. Why are you getting jealous?”
“Who’s jealous?” Wyatt shot him a frosty look.
If Yunice hadn’t told him to stay out of it, Tommy never would’ve had a chance to step in.
Jordan wisely kept quiet, folding his hands in front of him and pretending to study the floor.
Meanwhile, the Saunders family had also watched Yunice’s stream.