Xander had never felt so utterly defeated.


    What could be more exasperating than this? His own wife was carrying his child, yet she refused to believe it was his. There was just no way out of this mess.


    "I swear, I''m so mad I could explode!" Yvonne paced in agitation.


    "Why can''t you just trust me for once? That night-" he started, desperate to exin.


    "Stop. Not another word!" she snapped.


    Xander fell silent, at a total loss.


    "Do you have something on you? Is Dan ckmailing you?" Yvonne pressed, suspicion sharpening her gaze. She knew Xander-he wasn''t the type to take the heat for someone else, not unless he had a damned good reason. She''d spent most ofst night racking her brain, and this was the only exnation that made any


    sense.


    He stared at her, lost for words. This conversation was going nowhere.


    "You just have to find some excuse for why I''d cover for him, don''t you?" he said finally, frustration bleeding through. "Why does everything I say just bounce off you?"


    Yvonne set her jaw but didn''t reply.


    "Think about it,” Xander argued. "If Dan really had dirt on me, would I be going after the ck Gate right now, the way I am?"


    Yvonne paused, eyes flickering as she considered it. "Huh. Good point."


    So, maybe the ckmail theory didn''t actually hold up.


    "Are you ready to admit yet that it really was me that night?" Xander pressed, voice softer now.


    Yvonne didn''t answer. Silence thickened in the hospital room as she stared at him, still searching, grasping for any usible reason he might have for taking the me for Dan.


    "It was me, Yvonne. I swear," Xander said, his voice quiet but certain.


    She just stared, lips pressed in a thin line.


    "And besides," he added, switching tactics, "you''re out of time for tracking Dan down for a beating."


    Yvonne flushed with anger. "I''m still going to throttle that son of a—!”


    To her, Dan absolutely deserved it—whether or not he''d been the one that night. Given their history, she needed no excuse.


    "You really don''t have time for him now," Xander insisted. "There''s trouble brewing back in Ferrond-and it''s pointed straight at Ste ."


    Yvonne''s mood shifted in an instant, concern snapping her out of her anger. "Wait, what do you mean? Star? What happened? She didn''t run off again, did she?"


    Watching her tense up over Ste, Xander felt a pang-why did Ste alwayse first with her?


    "So, what''s going on?" Yvonne demanded.


    "It''s Berry," Xander said grimly. “You know, the one who confessed to Ronald a while back?"


    "You mean that Berry? The one who tried to get to Ronald behind Star''s back? What is she up to now?" Yvonne''s expression darkened even further at the name.


    Truth be told, Ste had an uncanny knack for choosing good friends-Susanna, Tegan, all ride-or-die loyal. Berry was the one exception, a mistake from their college days.


    Back then, Berry had cozied up to Ste only to get close to Ronald. But Ronald, as everyone knew, only had eyes for Star. The moment Berry made her move, Ronald had her


    tossed out of Ferrond with zero tolerance-not even allowed to hover in Ste''s general vicinity?


    That should''ve been the end of it, crisis averted. So how had Berry managed to squirm back into their lives?


    "She''s in Novaderma," Xander continued, "getting cosmetic surgery. Ronald says she wants to look like Ste."


    Yvonne gaped. "You''re kidding me..."


    "And ording to Ronald, the work''s nearly done-she''s already a dead ringer for Ste," Xander reported.


    "Oh,e on! What kind of twisted


    plot is this?" Yvonne''s outrage hita boiling point. She''d heard of schemers, but this, this was next level. Was Berry actually trying to rece her precious Star?


    She was practically shaking with fury.


    "I''m telling you, this looks like the first step ?n a full-on scheme against Ste Xander''s tone was grave "The day Berry finishes her transformation-that''ll be the day their n goes into action