"Wait, Yorick Quarry is the one who called you?” Ste Quinn asked.


    "That''s right! The whole time he was telling me about it, I couldn''t shake the feeling there was something sneaky going on," Susanna Tucker replied.


    Ste paused, unable to find the words for a moment. “Just be careful how you handle this, okay? I don''t know why, but this whole thing just feels like a train wreck."


    “Ferrond has always been a train wreck," Ste said with a resigned sigh.


    Susanna felt her heart sink a little at that. She remembered all those times back in Portis City when Ste would mention Ferrond: always with a heavy sigh, always shaking her head in exasperation.


    She could go full throttle at the Larkin family, she could freeze Yorick out in a heartbeat-but when Ferrond came up, there was only this sense of helpless resignation.


    As if the mess there had rotted so deep, you''d have to rip everything out to make a fresh start-and even then, who knew if it would work?


    "My life feels like a mess these days too," Susanna admitted. She thought about the differences between her and Ste''s worlds-how, back in Portis City, her own life had always been steady and peaceful.


    Now it was as though chaos kept lining up at her door, each new problem stomping in before she''d even figured out thest one.


    “Look, rx,” Ste said. "You''ve got Hull in your corner."


    "My mom just called." The words tumbled out of Susanna before she could stop them. "She told me Derek Murray isn''t my father."


    There was a stunned silence on Ste''s end.


    "Wait-what?" Ste finally managed.


    “I don''t think she was justshing out or anything," Susanna went on. “She sounded serious, like she was spelling out the truth for me: Derek isn''t my father."


    Ste blinked, trying to process it. "Then who is your father?"


    "I asked. She wouldn''t say. Just hung up," Susanna said.


    Another long pause followed.


    "God, this is such a mess!" Susanna groaned, her energy draining.


    "Well, at least she was able to call you. That means she''s okay, right?" Ste asked, searching for a silver lining.


    “Oh, she''s fine. Judging by her tone when she was talking about those guys, she sounded more fired up than ever. Trust me, she''s not the one in trouble."


    Ste let out a chuckle. "That''s actually a relief."


    Susanna had been worried sick about her mom, Lacey Tucker. Hearing that Lacey was fine made it easier to breathe.


    “But I mean... all this," Susanna started again, but the words wouldn''te together. Her mind was already spinning, and the phone call had only made things


    worse.


    "Why are you stressed about it? So, he''s not your father-big deal. Did you want him to be?" Ste asked, practical as always.


    "Of course I didn''t!" Susanna shot


    didn''t!"


    back. Just Derek''s reputation was enough to make her feel sorry for


    any kid who could call him "dad et


    He''d father children he couldn''t care less about and refused to even recognize them. Seriously, what kind of cosmic bad luck do you need to end up with a father like him? So now, with her mom''s call making the break official, Susanna was honestly thrilled.


    "It''s just—everything is chaos right now," Susanna sighed. Her head was still spinning.


    "So let it be chaos," Ste replied. "You don''t have to get mixed up in all of it. Just sit back and watch the fireworks."


    "It''s not like I could do anything even if I wanted to," Susanna admitted.


    Ste fell silent, waiting for Susanna to continue.


    "Hull''s crew is ruthless-and Yvonne, Mr. Schultz. The stuff they''ve done to ck Gatetely? You wouldn''t believe it. They''re tearing that ce to pieces." Just watching was enough to make Susanna feel that ck Gate was getting ripped apart inch by ferocious inch. "Honestly, thank God Derek''s not my father-l don''t even feel guilty about any of it."


    "The only weird part is, Derek refuses to acknowledge me as his daughter, but for some reason he''s convinced I am."


    “That means he''ll be after you, right?” Ste pointed out.


    "Exactly! He thinks I''m his ticket to solving ck Gate''s problems. But what could I possibly do?"


    "Don''t sell yourself short," Ste said, her voice a shade softer. "You matter to Hull more than you think."


    "That''s not what I mean," Susanna


    exined. "Compared to all the stuff Yvonne and Mr. Schultz fought to get their hands on, Derek actually think he can use me to bring. everything back touts original owners. Like that could ever work."


    "That''s never going to happen," Ste said tly.