Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
“I’ve got a private property,” Owen said. “It’s more than enough for us to stay in.”
Yunice knew about that private property. It was in a remote area-he’d bought it as a vacation home by the sea, not somewhere fit for commuting or day-to-day life. The Saunders family mansion, on the other hand, sat on prime land. Property values in that area had only gone up over the years; that beach house couldn’t even compare.
Elsie had never expected that one fall would end with them losing their home. She threw herself at Owen, crying. “Owen, this is the foundation of the Saunders family-you can’t sell it!” Then she crawled on her knees to Yunice, grabbing at the hem of her pants and begging, “Yunice, Mr. Quinton came to you for help; that means you must be able to get this done! This is your home too; you don’t want to see it sold, do you?”
Yunice looked down at Elsie, who was groveling at her feet like she was begging for mercy. That was just how Elsie was-she could grovel and bounce back in an instant. No wonder Owen thought she was so considerate.
Lily’s eyes were red as she added, “When the day comes that you’re standing outside the door, staring at a house you know by heart but can’t step into, you’ll realize just how wrong today’s decision is!”
Yunice scoffed. “Is that so? Well. I’ve already felt that exact feeling, long ago.”
Lily and Owen both turned to look at her, confused. Yunice tilted her head slightly. “Take a good look at the scar on my face. Remember it now?”
Lily’s expression shifted. Most of Yunice’s facial scar had faded, but a trace of it still remained.
“You all went on vacation back then,” Yunice said, “Didn’t even bother to leave me a key. I called-none of you picked up, on purpose. I stood outside the Saunders mansion, looking at the door I’d lived behind for over ten years, and I couldn’t go. Now, it’s your turn to feel that.”
“You’re still holding onto that one little thing?” Owen shot up, furious, facing off against Yunice. “Does it make you happy to see everyone left without a roof over their heads?”
Yunice met his glare without flinching. “Shouldn’t the one to blame be Elsie-the one who stole my things and deliberately broke them?”
Owen’s face twisted in rage. “If you hadn’t made such a fuss, we wouldn’t be in this mess. This is all on you-you brought it on yourself!”
Yunice let out a cold laugh. “You think the cops care about your bluster, or about evidence?”
That bluster of his only ever worked on her; when it came to real consequences, Owen had no leg to stand on. He clearly understood that too. His face darkened, but he couldn’t deny it anymore-the only way out now was to sell the house.
Just as he was about to place the call, a voice came from outside. “Looks like I came at the right time-Ms. Saunders is home.”
Everyone turned toward the sound; Owen immediately canceled the call.
Quinton stepped into the Saunders living room with quiet authority, his gaze landing on the shattered jade bracelet in the corner. Lily moved to block his view-but it was too late. Quinton’s presence didn’t ease the tension; if anything, it made things heavier. Owen worried Quinton might hold them accountable, while Yunice feared something might go wrong with the situation.
Quinton froze for a beat, then quickly masked his expression. He turned to Yunice with a smile. “Ms. Saunders, you must be doing well-breaking a bracelet like that just for fun!”
Owen was about to speak up, but Yunice pointed straight at Elsie. “She did it.” Owen tried to cut her off, but Yunice went on, twisting the knife. “She said, why should Mr. Quinton only give me gifts and not her? If she couldn’t have it, she’d smash it!”
Owen’s eyes went wide. He had never seen Yunice lie so shamelessly. But she’d learned from the best-Elsie. Say whatever you want: there’s no evidence anyway. Who could prove Elsie hadn’t said that?
Elsie jumped in, panicked. “I didn’t-I didn’t say that-“
Before she could argue further, Gill came in clutch-pulled up Elsie’s burner account and held the phone out to Quinton. “Mr. Quinton, you’ve got a good eye, right? This social media post proves Elsie stole your bracelet!”
Elsie stomped her foot. “I told you, that was my friend-not me!”
Gill said, “Just because Owen’s blind doesn’t mean every man on earth is. Mr. Quinton, I can tell you’ve got great judgment.”
Quinton looked away from the burner account on Elsie’s phone and turned to the rest of the Saunders family. He didn’t care about their mess; he only cared about Yunice. “I already gave the bracelet to Ms. Saunders. It’s up to her to decide how to deal with it.”
Yunice followed up, “Even though I never accepted Mr. Quinton’s gift, since the bracelet was temporarily under my name, I have to be the one to hold her accountable.”
Quinton’s lips pressed into a thin line as he glanced at Yunice. Yunice was cautious, that much was clear. But Yunice wasn’t in a rush to deal with Quinton-these things needed to be handled one at a time. “Mr. Owen, go ahead and keep making that call to sell the house.”
At her words, Lily and Elsie clung to each other and cried in silence; Owen’s face turned ashen. But with Quinton clearly on Yunice’s side, there was no turning things around. Owen had no choice but to throw money at the problem: beaten and hopeless, he picked up his phone again to dial-only for a sharp, familiar voice to slice through the air.
“The money’s right here!”
Yunice’s heart lurched; Elsie turned toward her with a triumphant smile. Lily let out a clear breath of relief, while Owen, confused, looked toward the door. Yunice and the others stepped outside and saw Paul standing in the courtyard of the Saunders mansion, one hand in his pocket, his expression dark. Behind him sat a Maybach business van, backed right up to them.
Paul’s eyes locked onto Yunice with a defiant edge, his voice cutting. “Didn’t you throw a tantrum about getting paid? Well, I brought the money-come get it.”
Gill murmured under her breath, “Miss…”
Yunice’s face darkened. She’d accounted for everything-except that idiot Paul. Elsie flitted over like a white butterfly, throwing herself into Paul’s arms with red eyes. “Paul…”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and reassured her, “Don’t worry. I’ve heard everything. I’ll take care of it.”
At that, Owen pocketed his phone again, his demeanor now completely changed. Quinton watched the standoff between both sides like a man sitting back to enjoy a good fight.
Once Paul finished comforting Elsie, he turned back to Yunice. When she didn’t move, he lowered his gaze and taunted. “What’s wrong? You were all tough when bullying Elsie-now you’re scared of me?”
Gill tugged at Yunice’s sleeve, her mouth barely moving as she mumbled, “Miss, maybe we should call for backup. I could get in touch with Mr. Cooper?”
Yunice shook her head. Wyatt was busy. She needed to handle her own problems. She couldn’t get used to hiding behind him every time and turning into some helpless little thing. If Paul wanted to stand up for Elsie, she wasn’t going to back down.
Yunice stepped forward; Gill rushed up behind her, moving to block her path.
Yunice narrowed her eyes slightly; Elsie’s eyes went wide.
There was nothing quite as tangible as cold, hard cash to show the power of money-and this business van looked like it was filled to the brim with it. Paul strolled casually to the back, grabbed a stack of bills like it was nothing, gave it a disdainful glance, then tossed it toward Gill. Gill, moving like a goalkeeper, jumped in front of Yunice and blocked it. With a loud sound, the cash hit Gill’s foot. Honestly, it stung a bit.
Paul sneered, “Didn’t you scream about wanting money? Now that I’ve brought it, you’re too scared to take it?”
Yunice stayed calm. “Who says I’m scared?”
Paul’s expression chilled. After a pause, he clenched his jaw, then snapped his fingers toward the van. Several men immediately stepped out. Paul waved his hand. “Unload the cash. All of it-give it to her.” Then, with a smirk, he added, “You hear me? Give her all of it-it’s hers!”
The men got the message loud and clear and began hurling the stacks of money at Yunice, one after another. Gill held her ground, pushing Yunice back a few steps. But they kept aiming for her on purpose: no matter how strong Gill was, she didn’t have three heads and six arms. Yunice got hit in the head and on the shoulder-pelted with those heavy stacks, looking completely disheveled.
Quinton frowned. “Mr. Paul throwing cash at two young women doesn’t prove anything.”
Paul held Elsie close. “Mr. Quinton, you’ve got to be what-forty?-This is what they call ‘raging for beauty’s sake.’ I picked it up from you.” He pointed his chin at Yunice, mocking how Wyatt had stood up for her before. “Now it’s just karma doing its thing.”
Four million dollars in cash-what a sight. Nearly fifteen hundred pounds of money, stack after stack, slammed into Yunice, forcing her to stumble back, the loose strands of hair by her cheek fell out of place, messy and wild.
The Daughter in the Shadows , Please
Owen and Lily watched coldly, as if seeing Yunice get hit by cash was a well-deserved punishment for her earlier arrogance.
Quinton frowned. “Cash may look light, but enough of it can crush someone. What will you say if she gets hurt, Mr. Paul?”
Paul replied, “Isn’t she the one who’s all about the law? Always threatening to call the cops-good thing I brought extra cash. If she gets hurt, I’ll pay for it.”
Gill’s eyes went red with fury. She gritted her teeth. “So what-you think money makes you special?”
Paul ignored her; he was only talking to Yunice. He sneered, “Yunice, look at you-like you’ve never seen money before. It’s just 4 million in cash, and you went and forced Elsie to almost cut her own hand. You must think I’m nothing.”
He stared at Yunice, his face dark and full of resentment.
Elsie, clinging to his chest with tears in her eyes, sobbed softly, “Paul… how did you know something happened to me?”
Paul said, “I’ve always kept you in my heart. How could I not know when something’s wrong?”
But even as he said that, his eyes were fixed on Yunice. He knew she was listening.
He’d spent his whole life living wild and free, always the one getting attention, always having someone clean up his mess. When had he ever cared about someone else? Even back when Yunice had been bullied by some thugs, he only found out after the fact-from someone else. Then, Yunice had already handled it herself. And even now, his self-centered ways hadn’t changed because of Elsie. He hadn’t gone out of his way to check in on her.
The only reason he’d shown up at the Saunders mansion was because Giana had sent him a voice message. It happened to be a recording of Yunice arguing with Elsie-calling him trash, a filthy cucumber, not even good enough for a dog.
Paul had never been humiliated like that. He immediately scraped together 4 million in cash from every major bank, all just to come teach Yunice a lesson. In a way, he hadn’t come to defend Elsie at all. He just wanted Yunice to know-even this “filthy cucumber” was someone she could never have.
The whole courtyard was piled with money. There was barely anywhere to step. Yunice and Gill both tripped and landed hard on the thick stacks of cash. It was a strange sensation-dignity hardly mattered when someone was falling into a mountain of money.