Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Just as she was about to shout, Owen’s angry voice cut through the air. “If Morgan dares lay a finger on my sister, I swear I won’t let him get away with it!”
Morgan? Morgan is the one who kidnapped me! Yunice didn’t doubt for a second that Morgan would do something like this. He was already infamous as a reckless rich brat who acted without consequence. Knowing that Owen and Paul were both inside made her feel much more at ease.
Standing on the platform of the outdoor unit, she shouted up toward the ventilation window, “Owen! Owen!” She wasn’t confident she could climb up to the vent. She didn’t want to die; so even though things had gone south between her and Owen, she still chose to call for help.
If he is still my brother, right? Yunice shouted with all her strength. Before long, she saw Owen and Paul appear by the floor-to-ceiling window. It looked like they had heard something but couldn’t make out the words.
Owen stared outside, startled. “I could’ve sworn I just heard Yunice’s voice.” Paul leaned on the window and looked to the side, then realized how ridiculous that was. “You’re meters up. How could Yunice be out there?”
Yunice stood up against the wall and waved frantically toward the window.
But the hotel’s soundproofing was too good; the vent barely carried her voice. No one inside could understand what she was saying. Owen stood again, puzzled. “I still think I hear Yunny calling me.” Paul slowly got up, thinking out loud. “Could she be awake?”
“No way,” Owen said. “The meds shouldn’t wear off that fast…”
Hearing their conversation, Yunice’s expression grew guarded. They knew she’d passed out from the traditional medicine. Pressed against the wall below the vent, she fell silent. Then came the sound of Paul twisting the doorknob. “I’m going to check.”
Owen yanked him back by the shoulder. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You’re not going anywhere!” Paul shook him off angrily. “What do you think I’m up to?”
“You booked this room on purpose! You wanted Yunice to panic and run straight into your arms!” Owen shouted. “You already took advantage of her, and now you’re still trying to get your hands on her!”
Paul flinched, guilt flashing across his face. His temper flared as he snapped back, “Don’t lump me in with your filth. You’re the one who drugged your own sister and handed her off to some stranger! I’m not the one who ruined her reputation!”
Owen’s face burned. Furious, he shouted back, “And you think camping out like a vulture isn’t filthy? What if she ran into Morgan’s room-that’s one thing-but what if she ended up in yours? What the heck would you do then?”
Paul snorted, “I just wanted to give her a safe place to stay. I wouldn’t lay a finger on her.”
“That’s nonsense!” Owen almost never cursed; this time he was truly livid. He pointed furiously at the door. “You know how many cameras are set up in that hallway? If even one of those videos gets out and shows you with Yunice, how the heck is Elsie supposed to live that down?”
The Daughter in the Shadows
To
Paul fell silent. After a few seconds, he said, “Don’t you think this is unfair to Yunice?”
Owen didn’t respond at first; the question hung in the air. But a moment later, he clenched his fists and muttered through gritted teeth, “I don’t have a choice. If Yunny marries Wyatt, and my dad could see it from the afterlife, he’d blame me.”
Paul let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Both of them are the same kind of worthless; and you’re seriously trying to compare them?”
So marrying Wyatt properly isn’t good enough, but getting tied to Morgan, the walking scandal, is finer?
Owen had no comeback. He just clenched his fists tighter, the pain from his injured hand still sharp. That moment when Wyatt stood up for Yunice-Owen couldn’t forget it. If Yunice had been all bark and no bite, Wyatt was the one who lit a fire under her.
“I can’t afford to let the Saunders family gain another enemy,” Owen murmured. So he had to cut off her wings.
The sound he thought he’d heard earlier still nagged at him; not wanting to risk a mistake, Owen said, “Stay here. I’m going to check outside.”
Paul didn’t argue. Meanwhile, Yunice had already heard most of their conversation from the other side of the window. Tears slid down her cheeks, collecting at her chin before falling.
Yunice forced a bitter smile and looked up at the overcast sky. The dark clouds hung like a giant burial shroud, wrapping everything in gloom. It was like a bucket of freezing water poured over a burning fire in the dead of winter-her heart, once soaring, now plummeted into despair.
She’d thought Owen was still her brother; she’d thought Paul had once been a true friend. She believed that even if they looked down on her, they’d still offer a hand in her darkest hour. Who would’ve thought-they were the ones who shoved the knife in…
And like a fool, she had actually tried to call out to them for help. The wind whipped between the buildings, sweeping the tears right off her face. The salty streaks dried stiffly on her skin. Yunice finally looked up again at the ventilation window.
They all wanted to crush her and humiliate her; all the more reason she had to fight back-head held high. She moved slowly, turning her body so she now faced the wall instead of leaning against it.
Standing on her toes, she reached up for the window ledge. Still just a few inches short. Looking down, there was nothing but a deadly drop beneath her; above, nowhere to push off from. Despair surged up-only to be buried beneath rising fury.
If she had to die, even if she had to go to hell, she’d still climb up there. She’d stand right in front of Owen and watch him try to explain himself.
Yunice gritted her teeth and leapt upward, managing to catch the edge of the window with her fingertips despite the gap.
But she had used up too much strength already. By the time half her body was wedged inside the vent, she was on the verge of collapse. Her leg slammed into the wall with a jarring thud; she couldn’t haul herself in.
Footsteps echoed outside the bathroom. A doorknob clicked. Paul stepped in-and froze when his eyes locked with Yunice’s. She was hanging upside down, half her body inside the ventilation window. Paul stood there, stunned.
He probably couldn’t have imagined in a million years that Yunice would show up in a place like this. Just as he moved forward, he paused; something clicked in his head. His expression darkened. “You were out there this whole time?”
He realized now-those sounds he’d heard earlier had been Yunice trying to get their attention. Which meant she’d also heard everything he and Owen had said. Paul eyed her cautiously; sure enough, her eyes were bloodshot, blazing with fury. His impulse to help her vanished. And then footsteps sounded again outside. Owen’s voice rang out before he even arrived. “Something’s wrong-Yunice isn’t in the room. She’s vanished-“
He cut off mid-sentence. The second he reached the bathroom, he spotted Yunice dangling from the vent. His expression was even more shocked than Paul’s. He flinched back, practically jumping, and slammed into the frosted glass door with a loud bang.
It took him three seconds to recover. He met Paul’s eyes, then, without thinking, lunged forward to grab Yunice and pull her-
Just then, Paul said sharply, “Owen!”
Owen turned and glared. “What are you stopping me for! She’s outside a skyscraper-what if she falls?”
Paul gave him a look of exasperation. He lowered his voice. “She heard everything we said.”
Boom. Owen felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks.
It felt like all those skeletons in the closet had been dragged into the light. Owen’s face burned hot with shame; he didn’t dare turn around to face Yunice. Paul stayed quiet too-after all, this whole idea had been Owen’s.
Owen hesitated for a few seconds, unsure what to do with Yunice. Getting caught doing something wrong, his first instinct was to figure out how to shut the other person up. But Yunice was his sister. He couldn’t threaten her, and he couldn’t exactly beg her to pretend nothing had happened.
While Owen stood frozen, Yunice didn’t wait. She scrambled through the window in a flash; she moved so quickly she didn’t even find her footing and ended up falling inside. Noen panicked and rushed forward to help her, scolding her angrily. “Didn’t that hurt? Why didn’t you wait for me to help?”
But Yunice shrank away from his hand, eyeing him and Paul like they were kidnappers-wary and full of dread. A few minutes ago, she had actually hoped they might be. But now, all she could feel was suspicion and distrust. The only reason she’d risked her life to climb back inside was because she feared Owen might push her off the building himself-to silence her and cover up everything he’d done today.
When Owen caught that look in her eyes, he instantly understood. He frowned and said, “Why are you looking at me like that? You think I’d hurt you?”
Yunice forced herself upright. The trash bag she’d wrapped around herself during the climb had torn in several places, but it was still better than the clothes Owen had left for her. She needed to get out-she had to make sure she was safe.
Owen saw her ignoring him, and a wave of guilt washed over him. He reached out to grab her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Yunice turned and fixed him with a cold glare. “I already called Wyatt. He’s on his way right now. Go ahead-try touching me.”
“You…” Owen’s face twisted, but his hand dropped away, held back by caution.
Yunice walked out of the bathroom. As she passed through the living room, she spotted a suit jacket thrown over the couch. She didn’t care if it was Owen’s or Paul’s; she picked it up and put it on. It was big, but just enough to cover her legs.
Just like that, she left the hotel without stopping by anyone else’s room. Once inside a cab, she borrowed the driver’s phone and called Gill. But no one answered. Whether Gill was too busy looking for her or something else was going on, the call kept ringing without a response.
The driver asked where she wanted to go. Yunice hesitated, then said, “Police station.” The moment those two words came out, the driver looked at her through the rearview mirror. When he saw her scraped-up body and strange outfit, he seemed to put two and two together. He sped up, driving her.
Yunice didn’t have any money for the fare, but the driver waved her off. “I’ve got a daughter too. Consider it paid.”
She was going to report them. She was going to charge Owen with kidnapping-and Paul as his accomplice.
She hobbled up the station steps, but just as she reached the top, someone rushed out from the side, covered her mouth, and dragged her into a car. Yunice struggled with everything she had, but she was no match for the person’s strength.
The car drove all the way to the Saunders mansion. Owen and Paul hauled her into the living room and shoved her onto the couch. Yunice got back up, glaring at Owen, furious.
Upstairs, Lily and Elsie had heard the commotion and came rushing down. The moment Lily saw the two siblings ready to explode at each other, she stepped between them to break things up. “What’s going on now? You’re brother and sister-can’t you just give each other a little grace!”
Then she noticed what Yunice was wearing. She froze and asked, “Why are you wearing a man’s jacket?” She glanced at Owen, who was still fuming, and jumped to conclusions. “Yunice, you haven’t been home for days-have you been fooling around with some man outside?” Why else would Owen be this mad and drag her back like this?
Yunice sneered, “Why don’t you ask him why I’m dressed like this?”
Lily looked at Owen suspiciously. Elsie clung to Lily’s arm, frowning as she lectured. “Yunice, no matter what, you can’t just blame everything on him. You should apologize to him.”