Chapter 761

[ 587 words ]

After Yvonne’s phone call, Stella felt like someone had pulled the plug on her. She just couldn’t believe things had turned out this way. In her mind, Yvonne had always been rock solid-someone you could count on no matter what.

But now? Everything was falling apart.

Ronald, who’d hung up right after Yvonne, was right there beside her, trying to calm her down.

“Hey, don’t overthink it. It’s not as bad as it seems,” he said, pulling her gently onto his lap. Stella looked up at him, her eyes wide and worried, but she couldn’t find the words to say anything.

“Star,” Ronald murmured.

She finally whispered, “I just wanted to help Susie.”

Now Susie’s whole world had been flipped upside down. It was like dropping her into a pack of wolves. If Susie didn’t have some survival skills, she’d never make it back to Black Gate. And with Lacey’s enemies piling up, half of Black Gate was out for blood-Derek, Dan, the whole lot.

With Susie’s mom tangled up in all of this, there was no way Susie could keep her head down and stay out of trouble. Stella had just wanted to teach her how to protect herself. How could things go so wrong?

Ronald finished putting a Band-Aid on her hand, his voice steady and sure. “Do you really think Dan would dare hurt her right now?”

Stella blinked at him, confused.

Back when she was living in Portis City, she’d had to figure everything out on her own. Ronald wasn’t there, so she’d learned to make decisions and keep her cool, no matter what. But nobody else had ever managed to make her feel so messy and out of sorts-except Ronald.

He pinched her nose playfully when she didn’t answer. “Lacey didn’t go back to Black Gate on her own. Dan’s people dragged her back-kicking and screaming.”

Yeah. Dragged her back.

If it were up to Lacey, she’d have nothing to do with Black Gate ever again. She’d made that clear. But Dan had shattered her peace, yanking her right back into the chaos.

to us

“Dan wants use Lacey to get rid of Derek and Finch,” Ronald continued. “Derek’s obsessed with that woman. He’d give up everything-his money, his power, his legacy-for her kid. He never made a move against Dan because Finch wasn’t ready-he wasn’t strong enough yet? And with all the chaos at Black Gate over the years, Dan was barely keeping his head above water. Derek wasn’t about to let Finch risk himself back then.

“So really, Dan’s just like Lacey was back in the day-taking all the hits so the others didn’t have to.”

Now Black Gate was finally settling down, and Derek wanted to snatch all the power back from Dan, hand it over to Finch. After all the work Dan had done, you think he was just going to roll over and take it?

Not a chance.

So Dan hauled Lacey back-by force.

Stella’s jaw dropped. Seriously? These Black Gate family ties were brutal.

The father wants to kill his own son. The son’s ready to go after his dad and his

brother. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for their own interests.

“So Susie really won’t get hurt?” Stella still wasn’t convinced.

Ronald shook his head. “Right now,

Derek and Finch are focused on

Lacey. Dan knows he can’t let

anything happen to Susie. If something did, Lacey would@ome after him with everything she’s got.”

Black Gate was like a swamp—any wrong step and you’d get swallowed whole. But Dan? He’d managed to keep all the different factions in check for years. He wasn’t stupid. Not by a long shot.

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