Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Mr. Terrance’s sons had been arrogant freeloaders in the Saunders home for years. No one ever disciplined them.
Because they had backing, Yunice didn’t.
The people who were supposed to stand up for her were too busy kissing up to Mr. Terrance.
Owen had already figured all that out long ago.
So why would he ever hit Yunice again?
No matter what she had done, she was still his sister-and what happened within the Saunders family should stay within the Saunders family. Who was this old bastard to boss them around?
With that, Owen flung the whip to the ground. “You don’t have the right to ask her to apologize!”
Mr. Terrance froze. “Owen, have you lost your damn mind? I’m your great-uncle!”
Owen said, “So what? You’re just my great-uncle-she’s my sister! If she did something wrong, I’ll deal with her. You can’t even raise your own sons right. What makes you think you’re fit to lecture us?”
Lily was shocked by the sudden shift. She rushed forward and tried to push Owen back, whispering urgently, “Owen, how can you talk to your great-uncle like that? He’s my family-he’s our support. We rely on him! You can’t afford to offend him…”
Owen looked at her and said coldly, “Mom, you still don’t get it? He’s never achieved anything in his life-what can he do for you? Can’t you see it? All he wants is to watch us make fools of ourselves. He lives for the moment we crash and burn, just so he can enjoy the spectacle.”
“Owen!” Lily snapped.
Owen shoved her aside and turned to Mr. Terrance. “I’m not going to hit my sister. And even if I were, I wouldn’t do it in front of all of you. If you’re not here to sincerely help plan my wedding, then you don’t need to attend it at all. Feel free to leave.”
Mr. Terrance’s face darkened. Realizing Owen meant what he said, he didn’t have the dignity to stay any longer. He flung his hand and shouted, “Fine! Think you’re all grown up now, huh? We’ll see if you’re still feeling high and mighty when no relatives show up to your wedding and you’re begging me to come!”
With that, he waved his hand and barked at the rest of the family. “Let’s go!”
The other relatives had the same idea. They looked down on Owen. Will was dead, and ever since, the paternal side of the Saunders family had distanced themselves. All of Owen’s social ties had been handled by Lily’s side of the family.
They didn’t believe for a second Owen could stand tall with no relatives there to bless his marriage.
The Moore family’s relatives trickled out one by one, following Mr. Terrance.
Lily was nearly in tears, her eyes red as she glared at Yunice. “This is all your fault! When are you going to stop ruining our family?”
Peggy bristled. “Hey, watch your mouth. That’s no way to talk to my ATM-ugh, I mean, to Yunice.”
Lily turned on Peggy with fury. “You’re just after her money! That money isn’t even hers to begin with! You think sucking up to her will get you anywhere?”
Peggy rolled her eyes. “What, should I be sucking up to you instead? You got anything to offer?”
Owen barked, “You shut your mouth too!”
Then he turned and frowned at Yunice. “And you-you really haven’t noticed? Ever since you got involved with Wyatt, you’ve been like a curse. Everywhere you go, something goes wrong. Two nights ago you nearly got Paul killed, nearly got us killed! And now today, you show up and start beating people in your own house. What the hell’s gotten into you?”
Elsie stepped forward, glanced at Owen’s expression, and offered in a soothing tone, “Owen, she’s Wyatt’s wife now. You can’t just hit her whenever you feel like it. Even if you rage yourself to death, there’s nothing you can do about her anymore.”
Yunice gave Elsie a mocking look. She hadn’t changed a bit-always so good at playing Owen.
She knew Owen had a short fuse. The more she said things like that, the more resentment he’d pile up. Eventually, he’d snap.
But this time, Yunice walked up to the whip lying on the floor and bent down to pick it, holding it in her hand.
Owen frowned. “Even if you give that to me, I won’t hit you. Like you wanted, I won’t get involved in your life again. You’ve completely let me down. And yeah, I get that you’re still bitter about how I hit you back then. But I’ll say this much-back then, I did it for your own good. If I hadn’t taken that responsibility myself, Mr. Terrance would’ve had his sons do it. And they don’t hold back. They’re vicious by nature. If I’d let them handle you, I wouldn’t have had the heart to watch.”
Yunice gently ran her fingers across the thorns of the whip. She was being as careful as possible, but the barbs seemed alive, scratching her skin painfully.
She said, “So what, I should thank you for whipping me?”
Owen snapped, “No need to get sarcastic. I never expected you to appreciate it.”
Oh, so he still thought he’d done the right thing?
Yunice asked patiently, “Then tell me honestly-did I really do something wrong back then? Did I really deserve to be whipped by my great-uncle with something like this?”
Owen’s heart gave a jolt. Meeting Yunice’s gaze, even he couldn’t answer with confidence. “Well… Uncle wasn’t entirely in the right, but you weren’t either. He’s an elder-you should’ve deferred to him. You insisted on arguing, so of course you got hit. Elsie was always so obedient, and he bossed her around just as much, but she never got hit. That’s because she was humble and well-behaved. You were wrong because you weren’t smooth enough.”
“No, that’s not it,” Yunice said, shaking her head. “I was wrong, yes, but not because I wasn’t smooth enough. I was wrong because I was too young, and I didn’t have the strength to rip the whip out of your hands.”
Her cold, steady gaze locked onto Owen.
A strange fear crept into him. He looked warily at the whip clenched in her hand. “What are you trying to do?”
The Moore family hadn’t fully left yet when the sound of chaos suddenly erupted from the direction of the living room.
Someone paused, frowning. “Did you hear something?”
Mr. Terrance stopped and turned around-then heard a scream.
“Owen?”
“Go check it out.” Mr. Terrance led the way back at once, with a crowd gathering around the living room door.
In the living room, Yunice raised the whip and lashed it across Owen’s back. And from the bloody marks already on his back, it was obvious this wasn’t the first strike.
The Saunders family was still in shock, so when Owen got hit the second time, no one reacted fast enough. It wasn’t until Yunice raised the whip again that Lily lunged forward and grabbed it with both hands, shouting furiously, “You’ve got a lot of nerve!” How dare she hit her brother?
Yunice sneered, “You’re only realizing now how bold I am?” Lily really was stupid. When she poured chili oil down Yunice’s throat last time, she should’ve known-Yunice didn’t care about so-called familial bonds or moral codes anymore.
“Mother and brother mean nothing. What matters is the ten lashes I was owed all those years ago. I’m here to return them now.”
Owen was drenched in cold sweat. The barbed whip had torn his flesh open. Only after taking two lashes did the pain register, and he scrambled to hide behind someone.
When Lily wouldn’t let go, Gill came to help, peeling Lily’s fingers off one by one. Lily struggled stubbornly, eyes locked with fury on the gemstone rings decorating Gill’s fingers. The brilliant sparkle of those gems made her dizzy. Something so beautiful and valuable was being worn by a servant, while she, who had gone through the pain of birthing Yunice, had received nothing and now she was being beaten.
Realizing she couldn’t win against Gill, Lily let out a shriek and fell backward onto the ground. Gill looked down at her hands in surprise, then turned to Yunice. “Miss, I didn’t push her…”
Outside the living room, the Moore family relatives all raised their phones, filming Yunice’s rampage and the supposed bullying of her family.
Yunice didn’t look at Lily. Her target was Owen. Seeing Yunice coming with the bloody whip, Owen panicked and darted around a pillar to hide.
“Yunice, are you insane! That’s a whip! One hit could rip your skin off!” His voice trembled as he shouted, trying to intimidate her with his rage.
Yunice said, “That was only two lashes. You hit me ten times back then.”
Owen pointed to Mr. Terrance at the door. “He’s the one who wanted to hit you! If you want revenge, go after him! Why are you taking it out on me?!”
Yunice approached, whip still dripping with blood, “Don’t worry. None of you will be left out.” Owen’s legs went weak as he ran from her, even grabbing Elsie’s arm in panic.
Elsie had been ready to put on a show in front of Owen, but at the sight of that bloodied whip, her legs gave out. She couldn’t move an inch. She remembered how painful that thing was. Yunice had been bedridden for half a month after being whipped, barely able to get up.
Peggy, stunned, quickly ran after Yunice. “Yunice, don’t break my man!” They were siblings, for crying out loud. Why did they always start fighting the second they saw each other?
Lily scrambled up from the floor, throwing herself in front of Owen and shouting, “Don’t just stand there! Come help me hold Yunice down! She’s gone mad! She’s going to kill us!”
Gill was fuming. “Oh, now you care about protecting your son? Where were you when my Miss was getting whipped? Were you dead? Or did that black heart of yours shift to your armpit?”
With Lily in the way, how was Yunice supposed to keep going? Gill rushed over to pull Lily off, and Lily shrieked out the door, “Help me!”
Mr. Terrance didn’t move, but his two sons, gritting their teeth, were itching to step in. “Dad, let us handle this. That little brat needs to be taught a lesson-I’d love to smash her face in!” When did Yunice ever get to act this arrogant in this house?