Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Seeing the sadness on her face, Carl assumed she was still upset over Paul. He huffed, “I never liked that punk anyway. Good riddance.” Then his eyes landed on Wyatt again, full of scrutiny. “Mr. Cooper, you’ve already taken your wing. Don’t you think it’s time to sit down for a bit?”
Wyatt frowned slightly, then turned to Yunice. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Oh!” Yunice realized, flustered. “This is Mr. Carl. He was my father’s senior – his sworn brother. My dad went into medicine, Mr. Carl went into business.”
Carl nodded with mock solemnity. “That’s right. We were close. I treat Yunice like my own daughter. Which makes me your dad, too.”
The sheer shamelessness made Yunice want to crawl into a hole. After Wyatt would-and punch someone again-she hurried to change the subject, only for Carl to see her. He pressed on with a scoff. “Look at him – all decked out in designer clothes – meanwhile you’re wearing some cheap polyester junk from a sidewalk sale. I got zapped by static three times just standing near you?”
Xunice was so embarrassed, she didn’t even dare to look up. Carl wasn’t finished. “Honestly, he’s no better than Paul. Maybe you should ditch him too. You need a real man back in Murica – call strong muscles for…”
“Mr. Carl!” Yunice practically shrieked.
Carl shrugged. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. He wants to build a hospital in Northvale – he has to go through me first.”
He suddenly grew serious, locking eyes with her. “Yunny. Tell me the truth. Do you really want to marry this guy!”
Though the question was directed at Yunice, his piercing gaze was fixed on Wyatt. Wyatt’s grip on his cane visibly tightened. He cared.
The question caught Yunice off guard. She didn’t know how to answer.
Carl waited a few seconds, then let her off the hook. “No rush. We’ll talk later.”
Both Yunice and Wyatt relaxed a little. Just then, the bunny girl approached and whispered something in Carl’s ear. Whatever it was, it seemed urgent. Carl ended the meeting abruptly and arranged another time to see Yunice. As he left, he rubbed his bruised head and muttered curses under his breath. Wyatt said nothing. Once Carl was gone, Wyatt and Yunice also left the building.
Yunice frowned. “What were you even negotiating with Mr. Carl about? If the deal wasn’t going well, couldn’t they just… talk it out? By go strenght to violence?”
Wyatt opened his mouth, then closed it again. Instead, he asked, “Why didn’t you ask Carl off the engagement?”
‘s Brother
Yunice replied evenly, “I changed my mind.”
“Just like that?”
“Everyone thinks we’re doomed. Let’s prove them wrong. Make them regret ever putting us together.”
Wyatt raised a brow. “You’re doing all this… out of spite?”
“Exactly. I’m not leaving Silver Burch. And since someone insists on making me their enemy, I might as well go all in.”
It was Taylor who inspired her. Love and marriage didn’t have to be shackles for a woman. As long as you were clear on your ultimate goal, even marriage could become a powerful tool.
Yunice looked over at Wyatt again. “I’ll help smooth things over with Mr. Carl. If the deal goes through, you pay me what I’m worth-fair and square.”
“A transactional partnership?” Wyatt lifted a brow, lips quirking. “Sure.”
Money was always a good thing. Yunice needed to stockpile funds. Once the Saunders family began to falter, she could pounce-take back the old family estate and the Saunders Hospital in one move.
When they reached the car, Yunice didn’t get in. Wyatt got the message and called for a separate driver to take her home.
Nothing was explicitly said, but the two had already come to a mutual understanding-respecting each other’s space, giving full freedom as long as boundaries were honored.
It was exactly this kind of freedom that convinced Yunice to stay in the marriage. More importantly, Carl might have been her father’s old friend, but he wasn’t just her Mr. Carl.
Sure, she could’ve begged him to help her dissolve the marriage. But if she could ask him, what was to stop Owen or Lily from doing the same? People were creatures of profit-and businessmen even more so. If she could tie Carl’s interests to her own, she’d gain a permanent advantage. That would be far more effective than cashing in a one-time favor.
Yunice was starting to understand the sweetness of having someone powerful at her back. With that in mind, she no longer resisted her marriage to Wyatt.
While laying out her plans, Yunice messaged Wyatt. “Try to stop Mr. Carl from meeting with anyone from the Saunders family until your deal is done.”
Wyatt’s reply came quick. “Got it.”
Putting her phone away, Yunice switched vehicles. The new car took a different route and brought her to the private residence of the Qiao family.
As soon as she entered, she heard Quinton’s voice. “Honey, this is all your favorite food. I put it in the fridge. Even if I’m not here, just grab whatever you want if you’re hungry. I might have to leave for a while… so you’ll need to take care of yourself, okay?”
His voice rambled on, but no one replied. A flowing piano piece played softly in the background.
Just as Wyatt had said-Quinton was a widower. He had lost his wife early in life and was left with only one son, who had autism.
Bobby was already 14 now, with delicate features and a lean jawline-he looked like a future celebrity. But his eyes never focused, and he never responded when spoken to. He remained trapped in his own world. Some even called his condition “depression.”
The reason Quinton had once gone to such great lengths to get Yunice’s medical notes was to try and cure his son. In fact, Yunice’s three-day disappearance last time had been because she was observing Bobby.
Seeing her arrive, Quinton looked up. Yunice immediately frowned. “You’ve got a serious internal heat issue,” she said.
Quinton’s eyes were red, his chin was inflamed with breakouts, and the tip of his nose was unnaturally red and dry. Classic symptoms of heat excess. But Quinton was already convinced he was dying of cancer.
Face ashen, he asked in despair, “Ms. Saunders, how much longer do I have?”
Yunice was speechless. Quinton looked up at the ceiling, voice soft and mournful. “If I die, all this property… one to inherit. And Bobby…” He choked, unable to continue.
Bobby was worse off than a fool. A fool at least knew to eat when hungry, but Bobby had to be spoon-fed just to swallow anything. If Quinton died, Bobby probably wouldn’t last either.
Covering his face with both hands, Quinton rasped, “Ms. Saunders, before I go, could you please… ruthanier Hobby for me? I can’t leave him here to suffer…”
“Mr. Quinton,” Yunice said dryly as she flipped through his recent meal plans, “If you wanted to… I don’t think it’d be that easy.”
Quinton looked at her in shock. “You can cure cancer?”
Who said you had cancer?
“Google. All my symptoms match.”
Yunice rolled her eyes. “Ever heard the saying, ‘No one walks out of Google alive’?”
She set down his meal logs. “You’re just overheated. Think hard-have you eaten anything super…”
Quinton was still trying to remember, but Yunice had already spotted the answer, a teacup beside him filled with some kind of herbal root steeping water.
Yunice picked it up and glanced at it. “Is this ginseng?”
“Yeah,” Quinton said. “Ginseng helps with energy and vitality. I’ve always had a habit of drinking ginseng tea.”
Yunice fished out the ginseng and brought it close to her nose for a sniff. Quinton looked puzzled. “Something wrong?”
Then he shook his head, thinking it couldn’t be. “I’m in the pharmaceutical business myself. There’s no way I’d end up with fake medicine.”
“You usually drink ginseng that’s under six years old?” Yunice asked.
“Of course not,” Quinton denied. “This one’s a rare hundred-year-old root. If it weren’t for this recent diagnosis, I wouldn’t have had the heart to use it.”
“But this isn’t even six years old,” Yunice said. “Immature ginseng is considered hot in nature. Taking it directly like this is bound to cause inflammation.”
“So I’m just inflamed?”
“Even with cancer, there’s no way it jumps from early stage to advanced in just three days,” Yunice replied.
Hearing that, Quinton lit up and quickly asked for confirmation. “So what you’re saying is, my condition didn’t suddenly worsen-these symptoms were all caused by over-supplementation?”
Yunice didn’t answer directly. “Do you still have any of this ginseng left?”