Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Manipulative. Backstabbing.

That's pretty much how Yvonne summed up Dan these days—a jerk always scheming against her, never missing a chance to throw her under the bus.

As soon as she hung up on Xander, Yvonne was already heading straight for Black Gate, not wasting a second.

Meanwhile, Xander's expression was... complicated, to say the least.

"Dan snatched Susanna?"

Shawn blinked. "Wait, what? Seriously?"

"He wouldn't, would he?"

If Dan had really taken Susanna, then what was all his previous plotting about? None of it made sense anymore.

Xander narrowed his eyes, feeling a strange emptiness settle in his chest.

Shawn asked, "So, are we still going to Black Gate?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't we?"

There was no way they'd skip this.

"And keep looking for Susanna. Just... don't let Hull's people catch on."

Xander figured if Hull found out about any of this, it would be a whole new mess.

And just like that, Yvonne's theory started to make sense to Xander too-Dan must've taken Susanna to frame Yvonne.

Kyle nodded. "Got it."

He hurried off to get things in motion.

Once it was just Xander and Shawn left, Xander drummed his fingers rhythmically on the table.

Shawn sighed, "Man, this is a real pain, huh?"

It had taken him a second to process it all, but now that Xander had Kyle on the hunt for Susanna, Shawn realized just how tangled this was.noveldrama

If Dan really did snatch Susanna while Yvonne had her, and there was no proof, Susanna's mom would be after Yvonne, and so would Hull.

Xander closed his eyes briefly. "Yeah, it's a mess."

Shawn grumbled, "Why'd Yvonne even get herself involved in all this, anyway? Now it's a nightmare to explain."

Xander snorted, "Why else? For her precious little sister."

Susanna was Stella's best friend. If Stella hadn't asked, Yvonne wouldn't have bothered.

Shawn didn't even argue with that he knew how fiercely protective Yvonne was of Stella.

But still... was Xander actually

planning to help Yvonne clean up the mess? That wasn't like him. Usually,

if drama was swirling around

Yvonne, Xander wouldn't even look her way.

But here he was, headed for Black Gate too.

And just like Yvonne, he didn't suspect for a second that Hull might've been the

one to take Susanna.

Last time, with The Night Owl incident, it was just Yvonne who pointed the finger at Dan, making him take the fall. This time, both Xander and Yvonne were pinning it all on him.

Even their search for Susanna was focused inside Black Gate-might as well have hung a sign on Dan's back.

On the plane, Shawn mused, "If this blows up, Susanna's mom might just go toe- to-toe with the whole Murray family."

If she found out Dan had taken Susanna, she'd tear the Murray family apart.

Xander just chuckled. "Sounds good to me."

At this point, it didn't even matter if Dan was actually behind it.

“Just make sure, when Hull gets the news, all his anger lands squarely on Dan. Not Yvonne."

Shawn blinked. "So... we're shifting all the blame to Dan?"

"Exactly. What's the alternative? You want him coming after Yvonne? Is anyone giving Susanna back? Didn't think so."

No matter what, Susanna was missing. If everyone believed it was Dan, Hull would go after him instead of Yvonne.

Shawn just shook his head. Dan had been carrying the blame for everything lately. Now he'd be taking the fall for losing Susanna, too.

Not that it made sense for Dan to have taken Susanna-doing so would only hurt him.

Meanwhile, Yvonne finally arrived at Black Gate's headquarters in Littaciri.

She'd been here before, last time breaking in for a joint job with Nolan.

But the moment she landed at the airport, Dan got word.

He stubbed out his cigar, a cold edge to his voice. "What the hell is she doing here?"

Even in the dim study, his dangerous energy was obvious. Carroll tensed, glancing at his boss.

"Not sure yet. But she brought Chloe with her, and they're tracking your location," Carroll reported quietly.

Chloe-Yvonne's information

specialist. The same woman who once tracked down the president of Yoreland in under an hour, then sold

the intel to the highest bidder.

If Chloe wanted to find someone, she was like a bloodhound—you couldn't hide

from her, no matter how hard you tried.