Dan had just gotten off the phonest night, another one of his secret


    safehouses had been hit by Xander.


    Fuming, he immediately called Xander to confront him.


    “Xander, what the hell is your problem? Can''t you quit already?"


    Anyone in his shoes would''ve lost their cool-he''d been losing assets left and right, and this was just too much.


    Dan''s real reason for wanting Lacey back was pretty obvious to everyone.


    But now, all his schemes seemed to be backfiring spectacrly. Not only had he failed, but he''d ended up worse than before.


    Listening to Dan raging on the phone, Xander just chuckled. "Sorry, man, but I''m just following the wife''s orders."


    Dan was speechless.


    He nearly choked on his own anger.


    "Would you look at that! The big bad wolf himself, led around by a woman. The ancestors of the Schultz family must be rolling in their graves!"


    Xander shot right back, "Hey, at least I have a wife. Better than having no one to carry on the family name-then the ancestors would really have something toin about!"


    Dan bristled. "You think Yvonne''s the only woman I could have? There are plenty of women lining up to marry me!"


    His voice was practically shaking with rage.


    Meanwhile, Yvonne was sitting right across from Xander, calmly sipping her coffee. Bad timing-Dan''s call came through, and Xander put it on speaker.


    Every word Dan said came through loud and clear to Yvonne.


    Her expression instantly darkened.


    "If you''re the only option, then carrying on the family line is doomed anyway." Dan froze.


    He hadn''t expected to hear Yvonne''s voice. His temple throbbed. "Yvonne, I swear, I didn''t take Susanna!"


    "Looks like Mr. Murray still doesn''t n on handing her over," Yvonne said coldly.


    Dan snapped, "What is wrong with you, woman? Are you even listening to yourself?"


    "Seems like whatever Lacey has must be worth a fortune-probably more than everything the rest of you are sitting onbined, huh?"


    Dan was running out of patience, his breathing getting heavier.


    "Seriously, you''re being impossible right now! Are you even listening21 didn''t take her, and I sure as hell wasn''t the one who slept with youst time either. Why the hell do you” keep ming everything on me?"  s


    He was about ready to explode.


    She still hadn''t figured out what really happenedst time, and now she was pinning the whole Susanna mess on him too. He just couldn''t catch a break.  s


    Yvonne said coolly, "You faked your own death before-crying innocence is nothing new."


    At that, silence fell over the line.


    Dan''s breath quickened. “You''re


    really never going to let that go are


    you? What do you want from


    me


    Yvonne? Should I just die f?rdeal to<fna06e> Fresh chapters posted on find?novel</fna06e>


    win your trust back?"  s


    She kept bringing up that fake death episode...


    Yvonne replied, "No need for that. Just hand over Susanna, and we''re good.


    Whether you want to die for real is none of my business."


    Dan was at a loss for words.


    If it wasn''t about the fake death, it was about Susanna. This was never going to end.


    "Tell Xander to back off!"


    Yvonne said, "Get Susanna to me, and he''ll back off."


    Dan could only hang up, seething. There was just no reasoning with Yvonne. She


    was like trying to cut a steak with a stic knife-utterly impossible.


    Just then, Carroll walked in.


    "Sir?"


    "Talk," Dan barked, his tone full of irritation.


    Xander and Hull were basically attacking him on all sides now, and his head was spinning with the chaos of it all.


    Trying to make sense of this mess was getting him nowhere, which only made him angrier.


    Carroll said, "Someone from cktower wants you toe over."


    cktower... That was how Dan''s people referred to Derek.


    Everyone knew Derek nned to leave everything to Finch, and didn''t give a damn about Dan. There was no love lost between father and son.