The moment Ste mentioned Melissa, Ronald reached out and ruffled her hair, the way you''d tousle a kitten''s ears.


    "So, what about her?" he asked.


    Ste frowned. "Mom said Melissa is definitely behind this and told me to deal with it."


    "And what do you want to do?"


    Ste hesitated. How was she supposed to deal with it? They weren''t even sure Melissa was the culprit-wouldn''t it be reckless to just jump to conclusions?


    Ronald could tell she was struggling with it. His voice was low, thoughtful. "People rarely show you who they truly are on the inside."


    "Huh?" Ste blinked.


    He gave her a knowing look. "Whatever secrets someone keeps, only they really know. What they show the world is usually just a mask."


    Ste''s eyes widened. So, everything Melissa did that day-could it all have been an act, hiding something deeper? Compared to Regina, Melissa definitely seemed more likely to pull something like this, but still, something felt off.


    "You sleepy?" Ronald asked.


    "Nope," Ste muttered. Her mind was spinning-how could she sleep?


    Ronald sighed, gently pinching her cheek. “Leave it. Let Idris look into it. Once we know the full story, we''ll decide what to do, okay?"


    Ste let out a breath she didn''t know she was holding. If Idris was on it, she could rx a bit.


    "Try to get some rest."


    "Only if you hold me," she countered, stretching out her arms for a hug.


    Ronald shook his head in mock exasperation, set his paperwork aside, and climbed into bed, wrapping her up in his arms. Ste snuggled in, wishing she could just stay here forever, not have to worry about anything. Sinceing back to Ronald, she felt like she was bing her old, carefree self again.


    Ronald had just lulled her into sleep when his phone buzzed. He nced at the screen, hit decline, and gently slipped Ste''s head onto the pillow before stepping out of the room to take the call.


    But he''d barely closed the door when Ste''s own phone started vibrating, jarring her awake. It was Susanna.


    “Susie?” Ste mumbled, barely awake.


    Now that Susanna was with Hull, Ste wasn''t too worried for her.


    "Star, I still feel really uneasy," Susanna confessed.


    "Yeah?" Ste tried to focus. "What''s up?"


    Susanna''s voice trembled. "What if Yvonne finds out I''ve been with Hull this whole time? She''ll kill me!"


    Ste grimaced. "Honestly? There''s a pretty good chance she might."


    Susanna let out a dramatic gasp. "This whole mess is my mom''s fault, you know that, right?"


    Ste sighed. “No matter what, they''re going to y out their whole game of chess before it''s over."


    Susanna went quiet, but Ste could


    tell


    tunderstood-there was


    nd Yvonnee


    now,


    W?


    know she was with Hull.  s


    "Don''t worry about my sister," Ste


    said. "But if the ck Gate crowde finds out you''re with


    fire with Hull that fr


    other can of worms V<fn68dc> Official source is Find[?]ovel</fn68dc>


    belongs to s


    "What do you mean?" Susanna''s voice rose.


    bea


    "ck Gate''s a mess these days. Either way, this could actually work out for your mom."


    Susanna fell silent for a moment. She knew Ste wouldn''t lie about something like that.


    "I just worry about Yvonne. She''s been worried sick over me," Susanna admitted.


    Ste didn''t say anything, but she was worried about Yvonne too. This whole thing was a nightmare.


    After a few more words, Susanna


    hung up, and Ste stared at her phone. She hadn''t been tired


    vel


    before Ronald had just about managed to soothe her to.


    sleep but now after Susanna''s call she was wide awake again.  s


    Finally, she sighed and decided to call Yvonne.