Chapter 41: The Price of Following
When a man tells a woman to follow him, it usually means courtship. Wyatt asked, “Have you ever kissed anyone?” Yunice instinctively backed away—but he pulled her down before she could escape. She stumbled, catching herself on the sofa—then his lips met hers. Warm breath brushed against her cheek. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst through her chest. Wyatt held the back of her neck, deepening the kiss before finally letting her go.
“You’re not mine until I mark you.”
Yunice’s face flushed a deep, furious red. She stared at Wyatt, both angry and humiliated. She’d come to him with her skills—not to sell herself. Wyatt found her harmless fury amusing. “I’m a man, not a saint.” That hit her like cold water.
She’d only seen Wyatt a handful of times, but in those brief encounters, he’d somehow given her the illusion that he wasn’t as bad as the rumors made him out to be. At least, with her, he’d never crossed any lines. So she had let her guard down. She never even thought about things heading in that direction. She was plain, had spent three years wasting away in a psych ward, and had nothing particularly attractive about her. Wyatt was a man with no moral boundaries—maybe he just hadn’t met a woman like her before, and was curious. But this wasn’t what she wanted.
Yunice had come to build something of her own. She wanted to rise on her merit, find a mentor or benefactor, not become some man’s accessory. If she gave herself to Wyatt, even if it helped her escape the Saunders family, how would that be any different from jumping out of one fire pit and into another? She’d still be at someone else’s mercy.
Yunice reached for the pills she’d brought and said flatly, “I’m not working with you anymore.” Then she opened the door and stepped out. The moment her feet hit the ground, Wyatt’s RV rolled past her, so close it nearly brushed her back. A cold wind swept past, and Yunice’s heart sank halfway into her stomach. So this is what it feels like to fall from heaven to hell in a single breath.
She’d almost believed she had found stable work, a reliable income, a direction. Now she was back to square one. But instead of breaking down, she took a deep breath. Wyatt’s not the only powerful person in Silverbrough. There have to be decent ones out there.
Chapter 41: The Price of Following
From a distance, she saw the iron gates tightly shut. She called out at the gate, but no one responded from the guard booth. With no other option, she called Bobby, the driver.
“Ms. Yunice? The madam left on a trip. Didn’t she tell you?”
“She went traveling?”
“Yeah,” Bobby replied. “She said all the bad press around Ms. Elsie was too much, so she’s taking her out to unwind.”
Yunice was quiet for a few seconds. “Then… could you come back and unlock the gate for me?”
Bobby hesitated. “She gave me extended leave—I’m back in my hometown now.” Then, as if remembering something, he added, “She probably left you some money, right? Maybe you can stay at a hotel for a few days?”
Another pause from Yunice. “Thank you, Bobby.”
After hanging up, Bobby couldn’t shake his unease. She must’ve left her daughter some money, right? Still worried, he decided to transfer some money to Yunice. But when he entered the account number, he realized—Elsie had taken over that account. Yunice wouldn’t receive anything. So he gave up.
Yunice stood outside the ornate iron gates of her own home. The wind bit into her, but she didn’t feel cold. She’d been through worse in the psych ward—starving, freezing, locked in cages and blasted with ice water hoses during winter. This… this didn’t compare. What hurt more than the cold was being shut out of her own home.
She knew exactly what this was, Lily’s way of punishing her. Retaliation for not handing over the ancient texts. With a few small moves, they could strip her of even the right to come home. They wanted her sleeping on the streets. Once she’d suffered enough, they expected her to learn her lesson and come crawling back obediently.
Yunice stood there for half an hour. Through the narrow gap in the gates, she stared into the courtyard like an outsider. Only when the wind had numbed her to the bone did she finally turn and leave the Saunders family. She’d remember this humiliation.
Gill handed Yunice a steaming bowl of ginger soup. “Drink up. Warm yourself.”
“This family… they’re monsters, every last one of them!” Gill fumed.