Chapter 745

[ 611 words ]

Yvonne, Dan, Xander, Hull… These people had all gotten tangled up together, thanks to Susanna.

And the whole thing was an absolute mess.

…

Meanwhile, over at the Quinn family, things weren’t going so smoothly for Stella, either.

After she read the latest headlines coming out of Portis City, her face darkened instantly.

Tegan James called.

“You’ve seen the news, right? There’s no doubt it’s Yorick Quarry stirring up trouble. He wants to ruin your reputation.”

The news from Portis City was everywhere.

Article after article claimed that Stella looked down her nose at the Larkin family and refused to acknowledge them as blood relatives. Some even said Ronald dumped Yorick because of her.

Basically, they were painting her as a stuck-up, social-climbing diva.

If Stella didn’t believe Yorick was behind this, she’d have to be pretty naive.

Her eyes narrowed. “Ignore it.”

“Is this going to hurt your standing with the Quinn family?” Tegan sounded genuinely worried.

Stella scoffed. “What’s the worst that can happen? Whatever they think they can do to me, it’s just their own wishful thinking.”

The Quarrys really would stop at nothing.

Stella herself didn’t care. But she knew those rumors would reach Ferrowland soon enough. She could take it, but with her wedding to Ronald just around the corner, she worried he’d get caught in the crossfire.

Tegan sighed. “They’ve always been pretty full of themselves.”

Yorick and Jaxon Larkin, in particular. Back when Ursula Larkin’s drama was

going down, they tried every trick in the book to bring Stella down-thinking they could actually hurt her.

But they’d been disappointed before.

After a few more words with Tegan, Stella hung up.

She hesitated, then dialed Jaxon’s number. He answered quickly, his voice rough and tired. “Yeah?”

“It’s me.”

“I recognized you, little sis,” he replied, the words dripping with sarcasm.

Clearly, he was still sore about Stella giving the Larkin family the cold shoulder.

“Did you have a hand in what’s happening in Portis City right now?” Stella asked, not bothering with small talk.

Jaxon’s breath caught. His reply was cold and clipped: “No.”

“You better hope that’s true, Jaxon. The Larkins have only themselves to blame for how things turned out.”

So much of what had happened had nothing to do with Stella. But the Larkins seemed determined to pin it all on her.

Like the whole mess with Blaise Larkin and his mistress-everyone knew Ursula orchestrated that, but somehow, Stella got blamed for it all just because she’d come back home.

Jaxon

want ft back, “What more do you

want from the Larkin family? everything that’s happened,

tell

me you’re still not satisfied before

Stella let out a cold laugh. “What do I want? You should be asking yourself that.”

Listen to him, she thought. The nerve.

Stella added, her voice icy, “For your sake, I hope you’re not involved in this. Otherwise-“

Otherwise what? She didn’t finish the threat, but her tone was enough to make Jaxon pause.

Just before she hung up, he asked quietly, “Can’t you let Mom off the hook?”

Stella replied flatly, “She’ll answer to the law for what she’s done. That’s not up to me.”

Still begging for mercy. Some people never learn.

Stella ended the call, her patience gone.

Her eyes lost their softness, the

vulnerability she showed around et

Ronald vanishing as she picked up her mug and took a sip.

Then Yorick called.

She answered, “Hello?”

“Star,” Yorick said.

Stella lowered her gaze to the flower floating in her cup. “Yorick, you’ve got some

nerve.”

Her tone was soft, but the danger in it was unmistakable.

Yorick went quiet.

“What’s your endgame?” Stella asked.

She and Yorick never had anything, not really. She’d been back in Ferrowland for ages now.

And suddenly, rumors were flying that she’d dumped Yorick? Please.

Yorick finally said, “You and your family should really back off the Quarrys.”

Stella arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t Hogan running the show for the Quarrys these days? Hogan, right?”

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