When Ronald and Xander came down the stairs, they immediately spotted Ste staring nkly at the front door.


    She was holding a spoon mid-air, soup dripping down onto the table, not even noticing.


    Clearly, she waspletely out of it.


    Ronald strode into the dining room. "What''s got you so zoned out?"


    Ste finally snapped out of it and turned to him. "Um, I think Yvonne''s gone after Aira."


    Seriously, Yvonne''s fiery temper never failed to catch people off guard.


    Ste continued, "It''s aboutst night. Turns out, it wasn''t Dan who did it."


    Oh boy.


    If it wasn''t Dan, then who the hell was it? Did Aira just find some random person to pull this off?


    That''s bad news-knowing Yvonne, she''s not going to let Aira off the hook. She''ll tear her apart.


    Ronald frowned. "Not Dan?"


    He instinctively nced at Xander, whose expression was, well, hard to describe -somewhere between confused and stunned.


    "Yeah," Ste said, "Dan was with his team all night. He never went to see Yvonne."


    "So why''s Yvonne after Aira?"


    "My guess? Aira''s ticked because Dan''s been cold to Yvoely. She probably set the whole thing up."


    Ronald: "..."


    Xander: ".


    Ste was getting worked up, but Xander looked like he''d just been hit by a wave and couldn''t find the shore.


    With Yvonne in this mood, anyone even remotely connected tost night was in real trouble.


    Shawn called it-no one''s getting away clean.


    "Wait, Xander, what are you doing here?" Ste finally noticed him, and instantly wished she could swallow her words.


    Oh crap...


    He might be her husband-on paper-but there were just some things he really didn''t need to know.


    Xander didn''t look too thrilled. He ignored Ste and turned to Ronald. "I''m heading out."


    "Okay," Ronald nodded.


    Xander left.


    Ronald ruffled Ste''s hair, making her shoot a nervous nce at the door where Xander had just disappeared.


    "Why didn''t you stop me? Did I say something I shouldn''t have?" she whispered. Ronald just shrugged. "You''re fine."


    "Whew, thank God."


    Relieved, Ste finally rxed a little. Ronalddled her some more chicken noodle soup. "So why do you think it''s Aira?"


    Honestly, Ste and Yvonne''s logic moved so fast, it was hard to keep up.


    Ste took a sip of her soup. "Well, Dan absolutely refused to admit he was involvedst night."


    "And?"


    He denies it, and you just...believe him? That''s really not Yvonne''s style- especially after losing all trust in Dan.


    Ste exined, "At first, Yvonne didn''t believe him either. But then Dan got so worked up, he fainted. His team was still on speakerphone, I guess ''cause they started cursing Yvonne out, calling her a witch and saying Dan was with them all night. No way he could''ve done it."


    So now everything was a total mess.


    Ronald narrowed his eyes, dropping a chunk of roast beef into Ste''s


    bowh His tone was thoughts G


    are you so sure it''s Air


    "If it''s not Dan, it has to be Aira!" Ste insisted.


    Ronald raised his eyebrows. "Really?"


    So


    She nodded, her reasoning sounding almost too simple. "Look-Dan hated Yvonne for marrying Xander,


    of


    e he''d want paycontent


    "And Aira? Her fiancé only ever thinks about Yvonne. She must absolutely hate


    her too."


    "So it''s gotta be one of those two. No one else in Ferrond would dare mess with Yvonne like that."


    Under Ronald''s intense gaze, Ste added quietly, "Seriously, no one else would dare."


    No one could quite read what Ronald was thinking, but whatever was going through his mind, it wasn''t shaken by Ste''s logic.