Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Elsie froze at first, stunned to see the half-dressed woman. Her eyes quickly dropped to the marks on Peggy’s chest-any woman who had ever experienced it would know exactly what they meant.
Her expression twisted in rage. “Who the hell are you?! Why are you in Owen’s room dressed like that? Do you have no shame?!”
Peggy leaned seductively against the doorframe, looking her up and down. “And you are? Owen’s girlfriend?”
Elsie snapped, “He’s my Owen!”
Peggy blinked, her expression shifting. “You mean like… your Owen?”
Elsie growled, “What do you think?!”
Peggy’s tone instantly turned sweet. She grabbed Elsie’s hands and smiled warmly. “I’m your sister-in-law, you’re my little sister-we’re going to be family.”
Elsie yanked her hands back in disgust. “I’m not family with you! I’m here for my Owen!”
With that, she shoved past Peggy and stormed into the room.
The place was a disaster. Women’s underwear was scattered all over the floor. Elsie’s face went pale as her gaze fell on the red marks on the bed…
What the…?!
She stared at Owen, who looked like death, then choked out, “Owen, you…”
Before she could finish, her voice broke, tears filling her eyes. She turned and ran out of the hotel like she’d just been deeply humiliated.
“Elsie!” Owen called out, panicked, and chased after her without a second thought.
Peggy stood frozen, unable to stop him in time.
Stunned, she muttered, “Wasn’t she supposed to be his little sister? Why’d she act like I stole her man? What’s wrong with these two?”
Owen jammed his hands between the closing elevator doors and squeezed inside.
Inside the descending elevator, Elsie’s eyes were red and puffy from crying. “Why’d you come after me? Don’t you care about your girlfriend?”
“She’s not my girlfriend!” Owen said quickly.
Elsie snapped, “You slept with her and you’re saying she’s not your girlfriend? What, did you pay for it or something?”
Owen couldn’t even begin to defend himself. “It’s complicated. It’s not what you think…”
Elsie pressed on. “It doesn’t matter what I think. The real question is, are you going to marry her? If you do, will you still treat me the same?”
Owen frowned and answered right away. “Stop overthinking. You’re my sister. No matter who I marry, I’ll always treat you well.”
Elsie sniffled. “What if your wife and I argue? Who would you side with?”
Without hesitation, Owen said, “You, of course. You’re always so reasonable. If there’s a conflict, it’s definitely not your fault.”
That finally got a smile out of her through the tears. She pressed the elevator button. “Then let’s go check on your girlfriend. She seemed pretty anxious.”
Owen held the doors open, frowning. “Why do you care about her? She’s not my girlfriend!”
Elsie said quietly, “She doesn’t seem like someone who’s gonna let go easily. As another woman, maybe I can help you deal with her.”
Owen hesitated. The look in Elsie’s eyes was sincere and honestly, he really did want to get rid of Peggy.
Peggy thought they weren’t coming back. She had just finished dressing when Owen and Elsie barged in with serious expressions.
Especially Elsie-she walked in like she was in charge, standing right in front of Owen and addressing Peggy directly. “Hi. I’d like to talk to you.”
Peggy gave her a quick once-over, completely unfazed. “Sure.”
The two of them went to a different room, leaving Owen behind.
Once the door closed, the air between them turned tense.
Elsie sneered. “My brother already told me everything. You used dirty tricks to try and trap him.”
“So? What do you want from him?”
Peggy gave a theatrical shrug and replied, “Did his little buddy personally tell you I used dirty tricks?”
She stepped up to Elsie, her tone mocking. “If that thing wasn’t excited, would it have touched me? What now? Play the victim after the fact and dump all the filth on me?”
Elsie hadn’t expected Peggy to be so shameless. “You-“
“You what?” Peggy cut in. “If he doesn’t marry me, I’ll report him for rape. Do what you want.”
Elsie reached out. “Show me the video. I can’t judge if you really have proof without seeing it.”
Peggy laughed even louder. “Wow, you’ve got no shame at all. You actually want to watch your own brother’s sex tape?”
“You!” Elsie’s face turned red. “Then I’ll let Owen watch it himself!”
Peggy shrugged. “Wanna see it? Ask a judge.”
Elsie realized soft tactics wouldn’t work and switched to hardball. She clenched her teeth and said in a low voice, “Don’t think marrying Owen will be some kind of win. In the Saunders family, I come first. My mom’s second. Owen is third. If you ever step into our house, you’ll be nothing but a servant.”
Peggy stared her right in the eyes, not backing down. “Status depends on how well I fight for it. If I end up at the bottom, that just means I wasn’t good enough.”
Elsie’s hands were shaking with rage, yet she couldn’t do a thing about Peggy.
Lowering her voice, Peggy sneered, “What’s the matter? Afraid I’ll marry into your family and threaten your precious little spot?”
“You’re just the little sister, but you act like you’re Owen’s girlfriend. Why are you competing with me like we’re in some love triangle?”
Elsie snapped, “Go ahead and report it! The whole world will know you slept with a man. Let’s see who would still want to marry you then!”
“Fine!” Peggy raised an eyebrow. “If I can’t get married, then your brother’s going to jail. When he gets out, I’ll marry him anyway.”
Elsie was so furious it felt like her lungs were going to explode. She raised her hand and lunged. “I’ll kill you!”
Peggy didn’t back down. She grabbed Elsie’s hair and shoved her head down, while Elsie wildly clawed at her face.
The room filled with screaming and chaos. Owen burst in, saw the mess, and rushed over, prying at Peggy’s hand. “Let go of her!”
Peggy had locked on with everything she had, yanking hard on Elsie’s hair.
Elsie was bawling. Owen gritted his teeth and pried Peggy’s fingers loose.
Peggy collapsed to the floor, staring at her own red, blood-streaked hands.
Then she looked up and saw Owen cradling Elsie in his arms, trying to comfort her.
Seeing their intimate posture, something seemed to click in Peggy’s mind. “Are you two into incest?”
Owen flushed. “Shut up!”
Peggy clicked her tongue. “No wonder a grown man like you still doesn’t have a girlfriend. You’ve been keeping it in the family, huh?”
“Rich families really do have the juiciest scandals. I can’t keep this to myself,” she said, pulling out her phone and pointing it at them. “Come on, show the world. I get it now-she bosses you around because she’s got a thing for your junk!”