Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
His eyes scanned the room, as if looking for someone.
Owen’s face turned sour. He gritted his teeth. “What girlfriend?”
Oscar smiled. “Didn’t you already get your marriage certificate? I heard the wedding’s coming up.”
He looked around at the others in the room, feigning surprise. “Wait, don’t tell me this whole late-night meeting isn’t about planning Owen’s wedding?”
The Saunders family’s faces went stiff with panic. No one expected Oscar to blurt it out.
Owen quickly denied it. “Oscar, stop spreading rumors. When did I ever say I was getting married?”
Oscar chuckled. “Come on, Owen. You already registered the marriage. Are you trying to pull off a secret wedding now? Don’t joke with your big brother. Bring her out – I’d like to meet her properly.”
Owen’s expression soured even more. He couldn’t tell if Oscar was doing this on purpose or if he was just clueless.
Carl, of course, took notice. “Owen got married?”
Oscar nodded. “Yep. Supposedly, he married a volunteer who used to work in the psych ward. Maybe they bonded over hardship and rushed into it.”
He added with a half-smile, “He already got the license, and I – the older brother – only found out through a friend.”
Yunice tugged the corner of her lips, nearly laughing out loud.
Carl turned his eyes to Owen. “Why didn’t you tell me? Who is the girl? What’s her background? Why didn’t you bring her to meet me?”
Owen’s face flushed red. He didn’t dare let Carl find out he got drunk and messed around. Bringing her here? No chance. He wanted to hide her forever.
Seeing his strange expression, Carl put down his teacup and frowned. “What’s wrong? Are you mad at me? You think I’m not good enough to meet her?”
“No!” Owen denied it immediately.
Seeing the sweat forming on his forehead, Carl pressed further. “Then what is it?”
Owen stammered, “She’s… she’s from a poor family. She’s not very educated. I was worried she might embarrass herself if I brought her…”
Carl snorted. “And you expect me to believe you would marry a woman like that?”
Owen was completely stuck.
Elsie jumped in with a sweet voice, “She’ll definitely come meet you soon. But weren’t we here to talk about Yunice tonight?”
She turned to Oscar. “Oscar, if we have something to discuss, let’s just get to it. I don’t want Mr. Carl staying up too late because of us.”
Oscar shot her a glare. “Who’s your brother? Don’t go making up family ties.”
He crossed his arms and sat as far away from the Saunders family as he could.
Elsie glanced at Carl with a pitiful look, then lowered her head and stayed quiet.
Carl glanced around at everyone, even more convinced that Owen’s sudden marriage was hiding something.
He turned to Yunice. “Yunice, you tell me – who exactly did Owen marry?”
Yunice hadn’t expected to be called on. She hesitated, unsure whether to speak-but the moment passed quickly as Wyatt let out a cold laugh and said loudly, “What’s there to hide?”
Owen immediately tensed. He wanted to interrupt Wyatt, but quickly realized he didn’t have the power to.
Wyatt drawled, “He got drunk, crossed the line, and took advantage of a girl. She wasn’t having it and called the cops. He agreed to take responsibility just to avoid jail time. Yunice was the one who bailed him out.” He sneered. “Disgraceful.”
Owen’s face flushed deep red. Exposed in public for the most shameful moment of his life, he wished the floor would swallow him whole.
He couldn’t stay another second in the Crawford house. He stood up to leave, but Elsie wasn’t having it. They had come tonight to take Yunice down-how could they leave without accomplishing anything?
Seeing Owen losing his cool, Elsie clutched her stomach and stood, raising her voice in accusation: “Owen only did that because Yunice set him up!”
Her words made everyone turn to look at her-even Owen looked at her with hesitation.
Elsie’s voice trembled. “Owen, isn’t that what you suspect, too? I get it if you don’t want to turn against Yunice, but she’s gone too far this time. We can’t stay silent anymore, can we?”
She turned to Carl. “Mr. Carl, Owen’s being framed. We asked Yunice to help clear his name, but instead of helping, she forced him to marry that unreasonable woman! She and that woman are working together-he got trapped by them!”
Carl didn’t respond right away. He looked to Yunice. “Yunice, is that true?”
“No,” Yunice said flatly. “Mr. Carl, Peggy had solid evidence at the time. I asked Owen if he wanted to go to trial or settle privately. All he did was beg me to ask Wyatt for a top-tier lawyer to shut Peggy up. But my dad always said to live honestly, to own your actions. If any of us siblings did something shameful, the others had a duty to call it out, no matter the cost.”
She turned her cold gaze on Owen. “If you didn’t sleep with her, why were you so afraid of going to court? Because she had evidence, right?”
Owen sprang to his feet, furious, grabbing for her collar. “I said I didn’t touch her! I didn’t sleep with her!” Just as he lunged forward, Wyatt kicked him hard.
Owen stumbled backward and fell straight into the couch.
He sat up awkwardly, glancing at Wyatt with fear. He had only lashed out in a moment of rage.
Carl had heard enough. He slammed his palm on the table. “You do something shameful, then blame your sister for it? How dare you!”
“Mr. Carl, I swear I didn’t! I was set up!” Owen shouted.
Carl’s voice thundered back, “If you’re so innocent, why did you settle? Was it Yunice who made you settle? Didn’t you ask her to help twist the truth, to abuse her power? You worthless brat! You screw up and then try to drag your sister down with you! What did she do to deserve that?”
Wyatt chimed in lazily, “Funny how back when Yunice had no one, I didn’t hear about her dear brother lifting a finger to help.”
Carl picked up on that instantly. His brows drew together. “What do you mean, ‘had no one?'”
That implied it had been a long time ago. Carl had been abroad for years and only ever heard that the Saunders family had been stable and harmonious. Why would Yunice have been desperate?
Wyatt turned his gaze on Carl. “I’m sure you’ve heard some things from Silverburgh. Rumors about Yunice?”
Carl’s brows furrowed. He was well-informed, especially about someone as close to him as Yunice. Of course he’d heard some gossip-particularly about Yunice’s wild days with Paul, even when they were still engaged. But he’d always brushed it off since they had a formal engagement. It wasn’t exactly scandalous.
But judging by Wyatt’s tone, this was different.
Wyatt’s expression darkened. “What if I told you all those rumors were lies?”
Carl’s expression shifted. He looked at Wyatt, trying to read him-and realized he wasn’t joking.
Owen turned pale. For a brief second, he looked ready to run. But the Crawford family staff stood in the doorway, giving him no chance to escape.
Carl’s fists clenched as his gaze swept the room. “So this is what tonight’s really about-coming here to accuse and point fingers? Fine. No more circling around. Everyone speak now. Whatever’s in your heart, say it. I was your fathers’ old friend, your family’s elder. If you came to me for justice, then I’ll give you justice-just like your fathers would’ve wanted.”
He looked directly at Owen. “You start.”
Everyone turned to stare at Owen. His teeth chattered slightly, as if he were being grilled alive.
He used to convince himself, lie to himself-that Wyatt was just jealous and trying to save face by claiming Yunice was still a virgin.
But after that forced confrontation with Paul, he could no longer deny the truth.
Still, there was no way he could admit in front of Mr. Carl how he used to bully and neglect Yunice.
After a long internal struggle, he finally muttered, “Wyatt said… when he got with Yunice… she was still a virgin…”
Everyone except a few who already knew were stunned.