Ronald got the news and rushed back to the Quinn estate as fast as he could.

The moment he stepped into the bedroom, he heard Ste''s phone buzzing insistently on the nightstand.

But Ste was fast asleep.

He strode over in long, quick steps, but made barely a sound. Carefully, he picked up her phone and slipped out of the room, not wanting the noise to wake her.

On the drive back, he''d overheard his mother on the phone-she''d sounded like she''d been crying hard.

The call was from Susanna.

Ronald answered, "Hello?"

"Oh—Mr. Quinn?" Susanna sounded a little flustered to hear his voice.

"Did you need to talk to Ste?" Ronald asked.

"No, nothing urgent. Is she alright?" Susanna replied, suddenly realizing it had been ages since she''dst heard Ste''s voice. Ever since Yvonne took Ste to the ind, they hadn''t really caught up.

"She''s fine. Just a bit sleepy from the pregnancy," Ronald replied.

"Oh, she''s napping? Then I won''t bother her," Susanna said quickly, ending the call.fnb37b Original content can be found at f?i?n?d?n?o?v?e?l?/fnb37b

Back when she used to hang around Hull, Susanna had always found that guy intimidating. But Ronald, even over the phone, felt downright scary.

Phone call over, Ronald eyed the number for a moment, then decided to delete it.

Just then, Idris appeared, carrying a stack of important documents to take to the study. Spotting Ronald in the hallway, he greeted him respectfully, "Sir."

"Hull and his team made it to Litamark?" Ronald asked.

Idris nodded. "Yes, they should have arrived by now."

Ronald closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.

Then Idris added, "Ma''am''s still angry with Dan. She made a move on tepeak Mines-the ones under ck Gate."

Ronald''s eyes snapped open. "She did?"

Idris bowed his head a little. "After what Dan did to Yvonne back then, him still being alive is a thorn in her side."

Ronald was silent for a moment.

A thorn? That was putting it mildly.

Ever since they''d found out Dan was alive, they''d all been thinking he

deserved to pay for what he''d done

Yvonne beating him up

ace was''

nowhere near enough.

belongs to s

"Call Hull. Tell him to watch out for Dan trying to pull a Houdini," Ronald said grimly.

Idris''s face darkened. "Of course."

Pull a Houdini, huh?

Wouldn''t be the first time. ck Gate was a mess right now-Dan and Derek had been at odds for years. Derek acted like he didn''t care about ck Gate''s business, but the

truth was, he''d kept a tight,

a tight gop on all

the important assets. He wanted

Finch to inherit it all.

belongs to s

Now, with ck Gate in chaos, Dan might just cut and run, leaving Derek and

Finch to clean up the mess.

After giving Idris his orders, Ronald. back

tiptoo the bedroom.

had only just falle

after a lot offorting.  s

Downstairs, Lottie was still fuming, determined to find out which woman was causing trouble behind the scenes.

Ronald sat quietly on the edge of the bed.

He looked at the tiny tear stains on the corner of Ste''s eyes, and his heart ached for her.

He sighed helplessly and reached out, gently pinching her cheek with all the affection in the world.

Ste was never a deep sleeper-she stirred the moment Ronald touched her.

He bent down, their faces so close his breath mingled with hers. "Hey, sweetheart?"

His voice was soft, careful-not sure if she was just shifting in her sleep or actually waking up.

But Ste blinked her eyes open, still a little dazed, probably from crying herself to sleep.