After finalizing their ns, Tegan was set to fly to Yornd the next morning.


    Her departure from Portis City marked a definitive break, aplete severing of her world from Uriah''s.


    ...


    Meanwhile, in Litamark.


    Dan had called Yvonne that morning, only for her to tell him that Susanna was no longer her problem.


    He got the same story from Xander. Susanna was not their responsibility anymore.


    So what had they been doing all day?


    After fielding the fifth frantic call, Dan''s face was as dark as a thundercloud.


    Furious, he tried calling Yvonne again, but she didn''t pick up.


    Left with no choice, he dialed Xander.


    Xander answered. "Yeah?"


    "What the hell is your game? Didn''t you say you were done with the Susanna situation?" Dan''s voice escted into a furious roar.


    "We are," Xander replied calmly, his tone conveying a dead-serious finality.


    And it was that very attitude that drove Dan over the edge.


    "If you''re done, then what the hell are you still attacking us for?" he snarled.


    Exactly!


    Yvonne and Xander had both imed they were out, yet they had spent the day relentlessly hitting ck Gate''s assets. Xander had even teamed up with Hull.


    What was their deal now? Before, at least they had an excuse.


    Both Yvonne and Hull had been demanding ck Gate hand over Susanna. As long as she was missing, they kept targeting ck Gate''s resources.


    Susanna was their reason for this whole mess.


    But now?


    They imed Susanna wasn''t their problem anymore but were still on the offensive? What was that about? Had they just decided to drop the pretense altogether?


    "Susanna''s situation is no longer our concern," Xander repeated.


    "So?"


    "But we haven''t received any orders to stand down from our operations against ck Gate."


    "Orders?" Dan was dumbfounded.


    "Since when do you, Xander,


    take orders from anyone?" (


    Dan was shouting into the phone now.


    "You''d have to ask Hull about that. Or maybe Ronald," Xander said coolly.


    Dan was speechless.


    "Then just tell me, am I still supposed to be looking for Susanna or not?"


    "I don''t know about that either."


    Dan felt a desperate urge to reach through the phone and wring Xander''s neck.


    He didn''t know? This guy had been the most aggressive in plundering ck Gate''s resources for days, and now he had the nerve to brush him off with an ''I don''t know?


    Dan gritted his teeth. "Xander, you son of a bitch, I''m going to make you my sworn enemy!"


    "Whatever," Xander replied.


    He was about to hang up.


    "Wait," Dan stopped him.


    "What?"


    "Put Yvonne on the phone!" Dan''s head was about to explode.


    "She doesn''t know either."


    Dan was at a loss for words.


    Could this situation get any more infuriating? He was starting to


    suspect that Xander Hul and


    Yvonne had nned this whole thing from the start.


    At first, their attacks on ck Gate were manageable. But now, they were relentless.


    Especially since all the smaller factions had joined in, they had be even more frenzied.


    Xander hung up.


    Dan mmed his phone down in a rage.


    Carroll walked in to find him shrouded in smoke, his entire being radiating fury.


    Carroll ced a file in front of Dan. "Sir, you should see this."


    "What now?" Dan snapped.


    Carroll remained silent, a heavy tension radiating from him.