Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Derek: "Shut your mouth."

Dan: "Wow, Dad. All that scheming just for a woman, huh?"

Derek's face darkened, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Dan kept pushing, "If you're so capable, why not do it on your own? Instead, you manipulate women to get everything you want, and then complain that their kids are ruining your love life?"

"Dan!"

Derek's voice was sharp, cold, and warning, his glare icy.

Dan met his gaze, unflinching.

"It's a shame, really. You calculated every move, but you didn't expect the first Mrs. Murray to be smarter than you. Before you ditched her, she set you up."

Lacey had run off with half the map.

That move sent shockwaves through the whole Black Gate circle.

And Dan's mother? In the end, she had to die for Derek's sake, so he could go play happy families with that other woman.

At the mention of Lacey, Derek's expression turned downright murderous. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Dan just gave a bitter laugh at the sight.

Derek: "You brought her back on purpose, didn't you? And you've been helping her cover her tracks all these years?"

The more Derek spoke, the darker his tone became. He'd been searching for Lacey for years, never finding her never realizing Dan was the one erasing her trail.

After all, Lacey was too respected in Black Gate. Her being alive was as much a threat to Dan as it was to Derek and Finch.

Dan: "Well, what did you expect? If she hadn't come back, you'd have snatched all the power from me and handed it over to Finch by now, right?"

But now Lacey was back-the only woman who ever ruled Black Gate, and the one with the most loyal following.

With her return, both Derek and Finch had bigger problems than Dan. One Lacey was enough to throw their plans into chaos.

Derek was silent.

Dan clicked his tongue, grinning. "I did you a favor and found her. Whether you can get that half of the map from her for Finch? That's your problem now."

Everyone whispered that Black Gate was a deep, dark pool-but no one really knew how deep it went.

The rightful heir, Derek, was a hopeless romantic, even stooping to fake a marriage to protect his lover.

Dan, his own son, couldn't help but

sneer at the whole mess.

Derek looked like he might explode. He shot Dan one last glare, then turned to leave.

But as he reached the door, Dan called after him, "If Lacey hadn't come back, were you planning to give even my name to Finch?"

Finch-the twins' older brother. Years ago, during that infamous baby switch, Derek's lover got promoted, but Finch was left out in the cold, hidden from the world for years.

Dan's voice was icy, his words sharp.

Derek whipped around, cold as a winter storm. "Leanne took care of you for three years. You really feel no gratitude?"

"Gratitude? Please," Dan scoffed. "If my mom hadn't pulled that con, I'd be just like Lacey's daughter-nameless, lost in the Murray family."

That word-gratitude-hit a nerve.

"You cornered my mother, ruined her, and I'm supposed to thank that woman for it?"

"If she hadn't played her hand, I wouldn't even be here."

Lacey only had a daughter-no threat to anyone's ambitions. But now Derek was panicking?

Especially since, back then, he was the eldest son of Black Gate.....

Derek slammed the door on his way out.

Moments later, Scar came in. "Sir."

Dan: "What's he doing here today, anyway?" His tone was nonchalant, almost careless.

It was strange. Dan had been in Ferrowland for ages, not one call from Derek, not a word-just

schemes in the shadows fonet

inch.

And now, suddenly, a visit?

Scar explained, "Ms. Leanne tried to snatch Lacey's daughter last night. She got

herself seriously hurt by Mr. Miguel's men."

Dan gave a short laugh, "That old witch really tried to go after the first Mrs. Murray's daughter?"

Scar nodded.

Dan shook his head, half amused. "Well, that's poking a hornet's nest if I ever saw

one. Hell hath no fury like a mother protecting her child."noveldrama

As he remembered the letter his own mother had left him, Dan's smile faded,

replaced by something harder-something cold.