Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
When she spotted a couple riding past on an electric scooter, she rolled down the window. “Excuse me, could I ask a favor?”
The couple eyed her warily, especially when she held out a stack of hundred-dollar bills. Suspicion crept into their expressions-it probably looked like some elaborate scam.
Yunice pointed to the woman lying in the distance. “Could you help her into her wheelchair and take her to the hospital? This is for your trouble.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not a scammer. You can record everything, just in case.”
Tempted by the money, the couple decided to take the risk. The woman even recorded the whole thing, clearly afraid of being blamed for something.
Once they headed off toward Nora, Yunice rolled the window back up, and Wyatt drove off without another glance.
True to their word, the couple helped Nora back into her wheelchair. Nora immediately started looking around, trying to find Wyatt’s car.
But he was long gone.
Still, Nora quickly convinced herself. “Wyatt holds grudges. He’s probably still angry with me. If I hadn’t caused Mr. Fiona’s death, he’d have forgiven me sooner…”
Mr. Fiona?
A sudden spark lit up Nora’s eyes-an idea.
Back in the car, Yunice received the video from the couple. It showed Nora in her wheelchair, captured from behind.
Nora had refused their offer to take her to the hospital and had wheeled herself away instead.
“She’s safe,” Yunice reported.
“I don’t care,” Wyatt said, brows furrowed.
“Do you really not love her at all?” she asked.
“Dated her, never loved her.”
It was a brutally honest answer and a little cruel.
Dating doesn’t always mean love. Adults make choices. That’s all.
Yunice didn’t romanticize relationships. She wasn’t the type to nitpick his words-she simply nodded.
“Good. Next time I see her, I’ll know what to do.”
“What are you planning?”
“If you don’t love her, then be firm about it. That’s better for everyone.”
In her eyes, being ruthless wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The earlier you woke up from a lie, the sooner you could move on. Better a clean break than wasting your youth in a slow-burning tragedy.
Wyatt glanced at her. “So you’re planning to treat me the same way?”
He leaned toward her, eyes locking on hers. “I know what you’re thinking. But don’t even try to run from me.”
When they got married, Yunice had only been focused on surviving Wyatt’s schemes. She never expected him to be so… persistent.
Two days later, the special task force made a huge breakthrough in the Elsie case.
They found traces of Morgan’s skin cells on the murder weapon-conclusive DNA evidence.
It was the final nail in the coffin: Morgan had killed Elsie.
And Oscar? For the first time, there was a glimmer of hope.
When he was arrested, his bloodwork had shown traces of sedatives. Back then, it was written off-just cold meds with drowsy side effects. Nothing serious.
But with Morgan now confirmed as the killer, it was possible Oscar had been framed. Maybe the sedative had rendered him groggy, and someone had planted the weapon on him to stage a second suspect.
Next steps would include detailed fingerprint analysis-checking angles, grip patterns, and pressure points to determine whether Oscar had ever actually held the knife.
This progress lit a fire of hope in Yunice.
Still, major cases take months to fully resolve. Until the final report came through, Oscar would remain behind bars.
But while Yunice felt buoyant with hope, the Johnson family grew increasingly frantic.
What they did wasn’t her concern.
All Yunice knew was that when she was in a good mood, everything felt easier.
So when Paul called again-this time from yet another new number-she actually picked up.
His first words were bursting with ambition. “I’m investing the full 100 billion!”
Yunice didn’t even flinch. “Mr. Paul, we have internal asset verification systems. According to our reports, you don’t even have close to that. We suspect fraud. We won’t be taking your business.”
She was about to hang up when Paul shouted, “Wait!”
“Just three seconds! Please, just three seconds!” he begged, clearly fumbling with something on the other end.
Three seconds later, Paul’s voice rang out, full of pride. “I’ve already wired the full 100 billion to your old account! You can verify the assets now!”
Sure enough, Yunice received the notification.
Still, she stayed composed. “To avoid any future legal issues, I still have to ask-Mr. Paul, can you confirm that these funds came from a legitimate source?”
Paul sounded annoyed. “I’ve already wired the money-what more do you want? Isn’t it all about money in the end? Who cares where it comes from?”
“If you’re unwilling to disclose the source,” Yunice replied calmly, “I’ll have the funds returned immediately.”
Paul was practically fuming.
He knew he was being strung along like a donkey chasing a carrot-but he couldn’t help it. His hunger for power, wealth, and recognition was too strong.
He was desperate to convert potential into real authority. If he could rise quickly through the Powell ranks, he could finally crush those illegitimate brats Jensen had hidden away.
So he caved. “I mortgaged the Powell Corporation’s assets at the bank. I’m the sole heir, the company will be mine eventually. I just took early control, that’s all. Nothing wrong with that, right?”
Yunice’s lips curved. “Then congratulations, Mr. Paul. May you soar to the heights of power, with the world bowing at your feet.”
Paul’s breath quickened with excitement. He could already picture himself towering over everyone who had ever looked down on him.
Yunice ended the call and raised an eyebrow. Still the same delusional fool.
She glanced at the massive sum now sitting in a cross-border virtual account. With Kingsley’s help, the money had been washed clean multiple times overseas. No trail. No trace. No return.
If the Powell family ever finds out they raised such a moron, I wonder how they’ll react.
She quickly unlinked the phone number used for Paul’s contact, wiping all traces.
Then she called Taylor. “Ms. Taylor, did you carry out the plan I mentioned?”
“All done,” Taylor replied. “I conjured it out of thin air-leveraged eight hundred million from the bank. Now my identity is officially deep in debt.”
“You’re not divorced yet,” Yunice reminded her. “Which means Paul shares the liability. It’s community debt.”