Right now, she had no appetite at all-her only thought was to find Susanna as soon as possible.


    Xander pulled out his phone and made a quick call, his tone brisk and decisive. No surprise, he was giving orders about ck Gate.


    These past couple of days, they''d gotten to know every inch of ck Gate''s operation.


    All to force ck Gate to give up Susanna. Every time ck Gate refused, they''d hit another one of their key strongholds.


    And these weren''t just symbolic blows-these were ck Gate''s lifelines.


    From Xander''s perspective, it was only a matter of time. Once ck Gate couldn''t take the pressure anymore, they''d have to hand Susanna over.


    Even hearing Xander make arrangements over the phone, Yvonne couldn''t shake her unease.


    The instant Xander hung up, she blurted out, "What on earth is ck Gate thinking?"


    They''d already hit several of ck Gate''s key locations-ces crucial to their survival.


    How could ck Gate still refuse to hand Susanna over?


    Xander just smirked. "Lacey''s missing, remember? When she left, she took half of ck Gate''s treasure map with her. Maybe what we''ve hit so far just doesn''tpare to the value of that map."


    Yvonne fell silent. He was probably right.


    With something that valuable in Lacey''s hands, ck Gate could afford to ignore whatever threat they posed.


    "So what do we do now?" Yvonne asked, frowning at Xander.


    If what they were doing wasn''t enough, then no matter how much damage they caused, ck Gate wouldn''t budge.


    Xander nced up at her, his eyes dark and unreadable. For a second, Yvonne felt like she was staring into a bottomless pit.


    She blinked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    Xander replied, "What Lacey has is an unknown value. But what ck Gate''s losing right now..."


    He paused, choosing his words.


    Yvonne finished for him, "What they''re losing now is what keeps the whole ck Gate running?"


    Xander nodded, giving her a look of approval.


    Yvonne hesitated, then suggested, "Should we push even harder?"


    Xander was silent for a moment. Hadn''t they already been ruthless enough?


    His eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint barely visible. "All right. Let''s push harder."


    And with that, Yvonne and Xander were inplete agreement.


    Theyunched another round of attacks on ck Gate, giving them no time to


    recover.


    Their message was clear: the attacks would stop only when Susanna was returned.


    Meanwhile


    On Ste''s side of things, there was the whole pregnancy test debacle. Lottie said


    it was Melissa''s, but...


    "Bro-" she started, catching herself.


    Ronald looked up at her. Just one look and Ste quickly corrected herself, "I mean, honey."


    Even after all this time, it was hard to


    break the habit of calling him


    "bro" she''d done it ever since she was little. Sometimes she sti sipped up.  s


    Rightte was lying in bed. spent every ufeln


    With her third pregnancy, she basi


    moment resting.  s


    Ronald sat at the edge of the bed


    reading over some files. Ever since


    Ste got pregnant, he made a habit


    of doing all his work by her side especially after the whole. pregnancy test incident.  s


    She was extra sensitive these days, and if he didn''t stay close, she''d end up in tears.<fne0c0> ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? find?novel</fne0c0>


    Ste frowned. "Babe, doesn''t this whole thing with Melissa seem off to you?" "Hmm?" Ronald nced up.


    "My mom insists the pregnancy test was Melissa''s, but I just... I don''t know, something doesn''t add up!"