Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

The whole world seemed to freeze for a moment.

Jerk...?

Ms. Quinn certainly had a creative way of cursing out a man.

Seriously, what kind of woman calls a guy a "jerk" when she's mad at him? Was that even an insult strong enough for what he'd done?

Dan's breathing was ragged with anger. "Yvonne."

Yvonne snapped right back, "What? Don't you yell at me. You're a jerk, Dan. If you ever show your face in front of me again, I swear, I'll deck you every single time."

And with that, before Dan could sputter another word, Yvonne hung up.

She really was furious.

She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that five years ago, she'd been played for a fool by that jerk.

Dan stared numbly at the phone, the dial tone buzzing in his ears and his head pounding even louder.

He glanced up and caught sight of Manny lurking in the doorway, his expression growing even darker. "You heard all that?"

"N-nope. Didn't hear a thing," Manny stammered, forcing a nervous grin.

But honestly, his smile was so awkward it only made Dan's mood worse.

Manny was itching to bolt out of there.

Who would've guessed? The so-called golden boy of the Ferrowland's most elite family heir to money, power, and all that turned out like this?

Yvonne calling Dan a "jerk" was something you didn't hear every day.

Dan gritted his teeth. "Get out."

From Manny's face, it was obvious he'd heard everything.

Dan's head throbbed. Five years. He'd actually forgotten about that woman for five years.

Thinking about what went down recently in Sands City, and the things he'd said to her...

A woman like Yvonne, who never let a grudge slide-she probably hated him to the core by now.

"I-I actually have something important to tell you," Manny ventured, voice wavering.

If it wasn't for this urgent business, he'd have been long gone. Honestly, after hearing Dan get chewed out like that, he was half-worried he'd be next.

Dan glared icily. "Spit it out."

Manny swallowed. "Lottie just met with Landseer."

Landseer!

He might look harmless, but Landseer was a key player in their current setup.

Landseer wanted what they had, and they needed Landseer to get connected with another important player in the game.

Hearing that Lottie had met with Landseer, Dan's face darkened. "What business do they have together?"noveldrama

"Nothing, apparently," Manny shook his head. "Landseer's always tried to get in with the Lugar family, but he's just not got the clout."

But this time, Lottie herself had made the effort to meet him.

If Dan was being honest, there was no way Lottie would bother with Landseer unless it was about Yvonne.

When Dan didn't answer, Manny pressed on "Could this be about

what happened between you and

Ms. Quinn five years ago? I meanet

everyone knows-Lottie, Mr.

ve

Quinn-they're fiercely protective of their own."

The Quinns, the Lugars-everyone knew you didn't mess with their family. If Lottie was making moves for Yvonne's sake, then all their recent efforts might have been for nothing.

Lottie's reputation in Ferrowland was legendary; she didn't mess around.

Dan's scowl deepened. For Yvonne? He couldn't rule it out...

Manny said quietly, "If this really is about Ms. Quinn, we could have a serious problem."

After all, Dan's history with Yvonne was five years back, and now he was engaged

-to the deputy mayor's daughter of Sands City, no less.

Dan suddenly found himself at a crossroads.

Even his normally cool, unflappable demeanor now looked tense and troubled.

...

Meanwhile, over at the Quinn family house-

Stella was sprawled on the couch,

chatting with Susanna on the phone. Ever since Stella had returned. Ferrowland, Susanna seemed to call her twice as much as before.

To be honest, Stella was starting to dread these calls—she never knew what kind

of fresh disaster Susanna might have gotten herself into.

Case in point: as soon as she picked up Susanna's call, Stella's first words were, "Okay, what did you swipe from Hull this time?"

Stella had gotten used to Susanna's wild antics over the years, but it was always a worry that one day, she'd really piss Hull off.

Susanna protested, "Hey, this time I didn't take anything!"

Stella exhaled a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God. For a second there, I thought you'd stolen something from Hull again."

Honestly, if Susanna got herself into trouble like that again, Stella wasn't even sure she could help her out. It was just getting a little too crazy these days.