Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Everyone at the table sat frozen in horror.
No one had ever imagined that soft-spoken, delicate Yunice could calmly carry out something so cruel-so calculated.
The shock was so complete, no one moved to stop her.
Lily had spent years living a clean lifestyle. She could tolerate only the mildest spice-anything stronger made her stomach cramp from old injuries.
But this dish had been made to suit Elsie’s fiery taste. It was loaded with heat far beyond Lily’s limit.
Now that chili oil was burning its way down her throat, attacking her esophagus.
The pain was overwhelming.
She thrashed violently, trying to scream, but every breath just pulled more of the searing liquid into her airway. She was choking, gagging, drowning in fire.
Her face turned bright red, veins bulging in her neck, eyes streaming with tears and bloodshot from pain. She clawed at Yunice’s hand in desperation, leaving red welts all over her skin-but Yunice didn’t flinch.
Only when the last drop of broth had been poured did Yunice let go.
A sharp tap under Lily’s jaw popped the dislocated bone back into place.
Lily collapsed onto the table, retching and coughing, unable to even scream.
Yunice casually tossed the empty plate to the ground. It shattered with a sharp crack, jarring everyone out of their trance.
“You love spicy food so much,” she said calmly, “I figured I’d let you have your fill.”
Owen and Elsie snapped out of it at once. Owen rushed to Lily’s side, panic in his voice. Elsie grabbed a fork off the table, ready to fight back.
Yunice turned her gaze to her.
The moment Yunice’s eyes locked with hers, Elsie froze.
Her rage shrank into uncertainty under that cold stare.
She didn’t dare touch Yunice.
If anything happened to Yunice in the Saunders home, her own punishment would be a hundred times worse.
Lily’s lips were swollen, her throat and airway likely inflamed. Her hands clawed at her neck as she gasped for breath, looking like she could pass out any second.
Owen’s face turned ashen. “Elsie! Call 911!”
Elsie’s hands trembled as she fumbled for her phone.
But Peggy’s eyes gleamed-and with a quick swipe, she snatched it out of her hands.
“Why are you calling an ambulance?” she said. “It’s just chili. People eat that all the time. It’s not gonna kill her. Just give her some cold water and she’ll be fine.”
Peggy frowned and glanced at Lily, clearly annoyed. Yunice was her meal ticket-she was counting on her to provide the wedding venue. If Yunice didn’t get to vent today, what if she decided not to play the sucker anymore?
Owen snapped angrily, “Peggy!” That was his mother, and Peggy had the nerve to stop him from saving her! Owen felt like his dignity as a man had been crushed underfoot.
Meanwhile, Yunice slowly returned to her seat. She sat down lazily, lifting her cold, indifferent eyes to look at Lily, who was on the verge of passing out.
She spoke casually, like it was no big deal. “Don’t we always keep Elsie’s asthma meds around? Just give her a couple sprays.”
“Yes!” Owen suddenly remembered. That stuff could save her! He rushed to the cabinet, grabbed the inhaler, and sprayed Lily a few times.
After several seconds, Lily’s face finally relaxed a little. She slumped in the chair, looking like she’d just crawled back from the edge of death.
Yunice looked at her and gave a cold laugh. So she did know what fear felt like. She did know what it meant to suffer. It was her own fault for being too reasonable before, too kind. That’s what gave them the illusion that nothing they did was out of line.
Now it was time for payback. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Let them feel what it’s like to be humiliated.
Yunice glanced at the bread in her bowl, soaked in chili sauce, and sneered. “You know I can’t eat spicy food, but you gave it to me anyway. You knew Owen wouldn’t dare upset me and would take some for me, so you made up rumors just to make Peggy hate me-and to make Owen uncomfortable. Clever plan.”
She finished speaking and casually dumped her rice over the untouched dishes on the table. Her message was loud and clear: If I can’t eat, no one eats.
Owen frowned and shielded Lily, snapping at Yunice, “You can’t eat spicy food, but I took it out for you, didn’t I? I didn’t make you eat it, so why are you being so petty?!”
Yunice lifted her gaze to him. “So your mom can spread lies that I’m sleeping with you, and you’re okay with that?”
Owen’s face twitched. Admitting it wasn’t true made him look weak, but denying it outright wasn’t easy either.
Peggy, who’d been observing, suddenly pulled Yunice aside. “Wait-you’re not their biological daughter?”
“I am,” Yunice replied.
Peggy looked even more confused. “Then how could she not know you’re allergic to spice? And why would she badmouth you?”
Yunice pointed to a corner not far away. “See that maid’s room? That’s where they made me live.”
Peggy’s expression shifted, realization slowly dawning. “Hold on… You married so well, but you’re the least favored one in your family?”
Usually, the child a family cherishes most is the one with the brightest prospects. How come it was Elsie, the favorite, who still hadn’t gotten married? As for the tangled mess that was the Saunders family, Peggy couldn’t begin to understand.
Yunice didn’t answer her. Her eyes drifted back to the dish she’d just covered with rice. Something about the way the bread and the food reacted was off-the color was strange.
Yunice, well-versed in pharmacology, sneered and exposed them, “There’s something in my bread too.”
She turned to Elsie, who’d just brought over the food. “What did you put in it? Want to tell me yourself, or should I search you?”
Elsie immediately denied it. “I didn’t drug anything!”
Yunice laughed harder. “Did I say anything about drugs?”
Elsie had just exposed herself.
Peggy had seen enough. She stood up and started searching Elsie’s pockets.
Elsie struggled in frustration. “I already said it wasn’t me! Yunice is just picking a fight-how could she tell there’s medicine in the food just by looking?!”
Peggy’s rough search made Elsie scream, Owen charged at her, pushing her aside. “Let go! Don’t you dare touch my sister!”
Peggy stumbled back a step, shot a glare at Owen who was now fussing over Elsie, then got up and headed for the kitchen.
If nothing was on Elsie, the meds had to be tossed in the kitchen-since Peggy never went in there. Sure enough, Peggy kicked over the trash can and spotted multiple empty Plan B boxes inside.
Her face darkened. Grabbing the boxes, she stormed back out.
“You still want to lie?!”
Seeing the boxes, Elsie shook her head pitifully at Owen. “Owen, that’s not mine. It has to be a setup! She’s in on it with Yunice!”
Owen hesitated, caught in the middle. But deep down, he didn’t believe Elsie would do something like that. He turned to Yunice, who had raised the alarm, and questioned her. “Elsie didn’t even know you were coming. How could she have planned to drug you?”
Yunice took the Plan B box from Peggy and scoffed. “Emergency contraceptive. It works by stopping ovulation and preventing implantation. You tell me why would she want me to take this?”
If she was jealous, afraid Yunice might get pregnant with Wyatt’s child, she’d have used something stronger-like an abortion pill.
Plan B only worked as emergency contraception within three days after sex. For her, the worst it would do was mess with her hormones a little.