Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Yorick: "..."

He sucked in a breath, sharp and heavy.

Right now, Yorick was standing in his townhouse in Ferrowland. The whole way here, he'd been meaning to reach out to Stella. But now that he was actually here? Nerves had him by the throat.

He'd seen all the headlines about her wedding in Ferrowland-not from Ronald, but through Lottie.

Lottie, the woman who raised Stella. Honestly, calling her "Mom" wouldn't have been a stretch.

The way things played out between them? No one back in Portis City would've accepted it, not in a million years.

But Lottie... she'd posted it everywhere: "The daughter-in-law I raised is finally all grown up."

Not daughter-daughter-in-law.

Apparently, the Lugar family had always treated Stella as their own future daughter-in-law. Yorick never could've guessed she held that kind of place with

them.

Back in Portis City, when Stella and Ronald were tangled up together, Yorick had thought that relationship-growing up side by side-was a line they'd never cross, not without consequences. He'd figured Ferrowland would eat her alive for it.

He'd been so sure: the past between them would always be a wall too high to climb. If the Lugar family ever cast her out, she'd only have one place to go-back to Portis City. Back to him.

But he'd been wrong.

Now, here in Ferrowland, things he thought impossible were falling into place like it was nothing.

And Stella's words "Are you coming to my wedding?"—stabbed straight into his chest, sharp as a knife.

It hurt. It actually hurt to breathe.

"You're really going to marry Ronald?" Yorick forced out, his voice rough.

His breath was ragged, and for a moment, the world spun. He'd never felt this kind of hollow ache before-not even when Ursula had left Portis City all those years ago.

Only after Stella left did he realize he remembered every single detail about her.

Stella gave a short, sardonic laugh. "You think I'd joke about this? Didn't you see all the wedding prep?"

Yeah. The wedding with Ronald. The plans had started way back in Portis City.

Yorick pressed on, "Do you know how many people are dragging your name through the mud, Stella? Aside from the Lugar family and the Quinn family, no one's accepting this."

Stella went quiet.

He went on, relentless, "You and Ronald-people don't accept this, not anywhere. Doesn't matter if the big families are on board. The rest of the world isn't."

But Stella just shrugged it off. "Why should I care? And why do you care, Yorick?" The words knocked the wind out of him all over again.

Stella continued, cool and collected, "Worry about yourself, okay? Don't tell me that after finding out the real Ursula, you suddenly realized you never loved her after all? That'd be a real shame for her-and pretty laughable for your so-called love."

"You-" Yorick started, but Stella cut him off.

"Look at me. No matter what I become, he loves me."

Yorick reeled. No matter what she became? Was she talking about Ronald? Did she really think Ronald... loved her? Did she even know what love was?

And then Stella added, "If I were you, I wouldn't have time to hang around Ferrowland right now. Hogan Freeman isn't someone you can just brush off."noveldrama

Hogan Freeman-the guy who survived the underground fighting rings. His mind was sharper, darker, than Yorick could ever hope to match.

Yorick let out a bitter laugh, "Really? That's your angle now? Well, congratulations, Stella. Because of that guy, I've lost everything."

Stella fell silent.

Yorick looked down, voice hollow, "Just like you wanted. I've got nothing left."