Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Yunice had been rambling for a while, and Freya was starting to get impatient. “But you still haven’t said what Lily was really after?”
Yunice paused for a few seconds before replying. “She got greedy.”
“She fell for Mr. Carl.”
“It was the day I was born. Mr. Carl had just made a fortune in business, and he gifted me a jewelry set worth two hundred million.”
“A set of jewelry was all it took to dazzle her heart. She thought Mr. Carl was powerful and capable. To her, he was this polished, successful man… and my father? Just a doctor who smelled like medicine.”
Freya frowned. “But even if your dad was just a doctor, he was the most successful one in Silverburgh. Mr. Carl always says Mr. Saunders was the most skilled person he ever met in the pharmaceutical business.”
“Mr. Carl also said that when he was starting out, smuggling generic drugs, it was Mr. Saunders who helped him avoid risks and get established. He always called Mr. Saunders his benefactor. He respected him deeply…”
Yunice’s gaze grew somber as she looked at Freya. Freya met her eyes and suddenly understood the twisted knot between those three people.
Feelings fade over time. Maybe Lily had truly loved Will once – enough to bear him three children.
But people always want more. When you have something good, you start craving something better. A happy marriage wasn’t enough; she also wanted wealth and status.
Carl and Will were like brothers. Lily watched the man who once trailed behind Will slowly surpass him. It twisted her sense of balance. She started to resent Will.
While she was pregnant with Yunice, she argued with Will constantly. She asked for money, demanded to buy this and that. Will gave her what she wanted, but she was never satisfied.
She hated the nonstop surgeries. Hated the smell of blood and antiseptic on him. Hated his small clinic and the way he patiently talked to crying families.
She idolized Carl, imagined his grand office. Saw him calmly commanding subordinates, wearing a light cologne, attending glittering parties, surrounded by wealthy elites – not like Will, who had desperate patients showing up at the door begging for free treatment.
After enough time comparing the two, anyone’s heart would drift.
Lily caused so many fights, she eventually threatened suicide. Will couldn’t take it anymore and promised to divorce her after she finished postpartum recovery.
Lily thought she saw her chance. She messaged Carl, trying to test the waters, but he ignored her.
She panicked. She didn’t want Will to mock her if he found out, so she stormed out of the house in a rage.
She thought Will would worry and come running after her. She thought he’d bring her back.
She never came home.
When Carl later found out what happened, he blamed himself. If he hadn’t appeared in Will’s life, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. He couldn’t face Will after that.
So he left Silverburgh, went abroad, and only returned to pay respects after Will died.
Much later, when he heard Yunice was getting married, he realized she’d have no father to protect her, and that’s why he came back: to fulfill Will’s duties.
Carl never married or had children because of Will. Because Will’s life had been ruined, in part, by his presence. Carl couldn’t let himself have a complete family, not after that.
Freya frowned, confused. “But you had just been born. How could you possibly know all this about your parents?”
Yunice answered calmly, “Because I dug up my father’s grave. He was buried with one of Lily’s old phones. I just restored the chip. I have all the messages. Audio files too.”
Freya stared at her, speechless.
You dug up your father’s grave… All right then.
After listening to Yunice’s story, Freya’s phone lit up with news about the fire at the Crawford estate.
Uneasy, she didn’t linger.
“Yunice, that fire was probably Mr. Carl’s doing. Don’t worry. I’ll go back and check things out.”
Yunice nodded. After Freya left, she reached into the nightstand drawer and took out her gun.
She stared at it for a long while.
Then she removed the magazine and began counting the bullets – one by one.
‘s Holding the Chain
Wyatt stood in the side room, watching Freya leave. Once she was gone, he finally returned to the bedroom. He didn’t know whether the long conversation with Freya had helped Yunice come to her senses.
Wyatt shifted slightly and pushed the bedroom door open just a crack to peek inside. Then his pupils contracted sharply-he rushed in and grabbed Yunice’s wrist. With one swift motion, he yanked her hand to the side. The gun in her grip flew out and landed in his.
In an instant, his voice trembled with rage as he roared at her, “What the hell were you doing?!”
He had just opened the door to see Yunice holding a gun under her chin! Wyatt lost it. He stared at the gun in his hand like it was poison, then promptly disassembled it and threw the parts aside. “You think this is gonna scare anyone?!”
It wouldn’t scare anyone-except him.
Yunice stared at Wyatt, her expression unreadable. Maybe he hadn’t looked carefully, but the magazine was empty. She had no intention of dying for a man-but she also didn’t want what happened last night to happen again. She just wanted to see, between her and Wyatt, who really held the power.
Wyatt’s reaction was strange. Out of love comes worry. Out of love comes fear. Why was he so furious? Why was he so emotional?
Maine had said she was just a substitute. A substitute was just an object-if it disappeared, you could find another. So why was he acting like this?
Or maybe… the original meant too much, so even the copy became precious.
Yunice wanted to get to the bottom of it-for herself, and for Nora. Her eyes were red as she silently watched Wyatt rage.
After Wyatt finished snapping, he turned and clutched Yunice’s wrist again. “What did Freya say to you?”
Wyatt knew no secret stayed hidden forever. If Yunice could dig something up, others probably could too.
“You think pulling a trigger is gonna get you away from me?” He gritted his teeth. “Let me tell you-it’s not gonna happen. The moment you drop dead, I’ll bury everyone in your contact list right next to you.”
Yunice stared at him in frustration. Her circle was small-he was basically part of it.
Wyatt didn’t notice the implication. All he cared about was smashing any thought she had of dying. Hands on his hips, he stormed around the room. He went over every possibility in his head and still couldn’t figure it out. That small thing-why couldn’t she let it go?
He walked back over, grabbed Yunice’s chin, and forced her to look at him. “Talk. I want to hear your reason.”
Yunice stared stubbornly at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “You raped me.”
“You know the law? I’ve got a marriage license.”
Yunice replied, “If it’s against a woman’s will, it’s still rape-even in marriage.”
“I touched you because I like you. You think I married you just to use you as a good luck charm?”
Yunice looked up and said, enunciating clearly, “You’re gaslighting me.”
Wyatt scowled. “Don’t throw foreign words at me. I don’t know what that means.”
Then he let go of her wrist, but the more Yunice pulled away, the more determined he became to lie beside her. He rested on his arm and didn’t even care whether she might try anything again. He simply said, almost defiantly, “Doesn’t matter. Even if you die, it doesn’t matter.”
The more indifferent he acted, the more Yunice looked at him.
Wyatt said, “Forgot to tell you-I already had your eggs sent overseas. In ten months, I’ll have a pair of twins.”
This time, it was Yunice who was stunned. She slowly stood up-for real this time, not as an act.
Wyatt was satisfied with her reaction. “I’ve been planning this for a while. Joe said you couldn’t have kids, so I found someone else to carry them.”