Chapter 119: The Bride Without a Name
Yunice’s lips curled into a bitter smile, as if she could taste her own tears. Thankfully, the mask she wore hid any sign of her distress. The sound of high heels echoed, growing louder. Taylor and Gerardo had returned. Yunice slipped the invitation into her bag as if nothing had happened.
Gerardo was in good spirits. As soon as he arrived, he smiled and chatted with Wyatt. “That girl’s not bad at all.”
Wyatt lifted the prescription Yunice had written and smiled. “Thanks to your generosity, Mr. Gerardo, I scored a prescription of my own.”
Gerardo chuckled and exchanged a glance with Taylor. Yunice understood—it was time for Gerardo to talk serious business with Wyatt.
Sure enough, Taylor turned and led Yunice away. As they descended from the sky garden, Taylor asked, “I still don’t know your name.”
“You can call me Dr. Rylie,” Yunice replied.
“Then Rylie it is,” Taylor said. “I believe in your skills now. I hope you can really help me with my problem. If you do, I’ll even cover my dad’s consultation fee along with mine.”
“Alright,” Yunice said simply.
But she didn’t care about consultation fees. What truly mattered were the connections—just like today. That single moment in front of Gerardo had secured her a place in Taylor’s network.
Taylor arranged for someone to escort Yunice out of the Kendall estate, then headed back to the sky garden. She still cared deeply about what Gerardo and Wyatt might be discussing.
As soon as Yunice stepped outside, a car honked sharply from the roadside. Once she got in, Gill looked at her with concern. “Ms. Saunders, what took you so long?”
“I ran into Wyatt.”
Gill looked confused. “Isn’t the Kendall family close with Paul? Why would Wyatt be there?”
“Wyatt came to deliver an invitation.”
Gill took the invitation from her, read it—and her face immediately flushed with anger. She threw the card across the car.
“This is insane! A wedding is a huge deal, and no one even told you? Whose wedding is this really?”
Yunice picked the invitation back up and said calmly, “What’s there to be mad about? Even if they wanted to contact me, they couldn’t.”
She’d only just realized she and Wyatt had never exchanged contact information. As for the Saunders family—there was no way they could’ve found her even if they tried.
Gill still couldn’t let it go. “Then what’s with this ‘the Saunders family’ crap? What kind of bride doesn’t even get her name on the card?”
Yunice gave a faint smile and stayed silent. There couldn’t be two people named Yunice in the Saunders family. Honestly, it was already generous of them not to make up a fake name for her.
Suddenly, Gill let out a sharp gasp. “Ms. Saunders—look at this!” She nearly shoved the phone into Yunice’s face. The moment Yunice saw what was on the screen, her face turned ghostly pale.
Her voice trembled. “Drive, now.”
“Ms. Saunders!”
Before Gill could even park properly, Yunice flung open the car door and bolted out. She staggered slightly, but didn’t stop, running full speed toward her father’s grave.
The news had broken early that morning—grave robbers had desecrated several burial plots at the cemetery. Headstones had been shattered. The story had triggered a rush of media and grieving families, many demanding answers from the cemetery’s management.
Yunice didn’t stop to engage with anyone. She stumbled and shoved her way through the crowd, desperate to reach Will’s resting place. When she finally pushed past the last group of people and saw that his headstone was still standing, completely intact, she felt her whole body go weak with relief.
“Thank God… Dad’s grave is still here. I still have this piece of him.”
She glanced at the grave beside Will’s—now a gaping hole. Her heart skipped. What kind of monsters do this? How desperate do you have to be to dig up the dead? Thank God they didn’t touch him.
Yunice knelt down and began wiping the dirt from his headstone with her hands, painstakingly brushing away every last speck like it was something sacred. As she cleaned, she murmured, “Dad. Owen and the rest of them never really come visit you anyway. I’ve been thinking maybe someday I’ll move you somewhere nicer—better view, better air. Somewhere I can visit more often. You only feel at peace when I’m—”
Before she could finish, a towel suddenly pressed over her mouth from behind. The sentence died in her throat.
“Ms. Saunders?” Gill had just parked and was scanning the crowd. She stood in front of Will’s grave, turning in circles—dozens of people were milling around in mourning, but Yunice was—
Yunice was being dragged away. She could still hear Gill’s voice nearby, but her body had no strength left to answer. There were plenty of people around—grieving, crying, barely staying on their feet—but no one noticed one more person being dragged away. It all blended into the chaos. No one suspected a thing.