Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

From head to toe, there was no escape.

Right now, Susanna felt like she was sobbing rivers inside. How could she be so stupid?

Whenever she was near him, it was like her whole body was trapped under some kind of spell.

Hull watched her trembling shoulders, then reached out with his long fingers and gently lifted her chin.

Susanna instinctively tried to pull away, but there was no way she could outmatch his strength.

As he tilted her face up, Hull could see just how red her cheeks had gotten.

His lips curled into a smirk he couldn't hide. "You ruined my good reputation, and yet you're the one blushing?"

He put a little extra weight on the word "reputation." Susanna couldn't tell if he was doing it on purpose or not, but his tone was so intense it made her heart pound even harder.

Her face, already as red as a ripe tomato, somehow managed to get even hotter.

"I-I-I swear I didn't mean to..." She stammered out the same excuse as before.

Normally, Susanna had a sharp tongue and a quick wit, but faced with Hull's deep, intense gaze, she somehow turned into a jumbling mess.

Hull just smiled, saying nothing.

But that smile only made Susanna more nervous.

"So, um... how's your investigation going?" she squeaked. God, when was this going to be over? She was desperate to talk to Star about all this.

Hull still didn't answer.

He just kept smiling, his eyes getting even deeper, as if he could see right through her.

What the hell did that mean? Was his reputation the only one that mattered? Did hers not count at all?

Sniffling, Susanna finally blurted out in a tiny voice, "So... are you saying I have to take responsibility for ruining your reputation?"

She'd heard the way he'd bit down on those words "reputation"-just moments ago. Was he really asking her to pay him back? And if so, what did that even mean?

Hull raised an eyebrow. "Well, don't you think you should?"

Susanna: "."

So she really did have to take responsibility...

But if he meant paying him off-well, she'd grown up with plenty of money, suke, never lacking for

anything. But the numbers she'd et

overheard Hull tossing around on the phone with his business partners? That was a whole other universe.

"If it's about money... I definitely can't afford you,” she muttered under her breath. Hull just stared at her in silence.

Susanna hated this kind of heavy, awkward silence. Especially with Hull-when he went quiet, she always panicked.

She tried her best to hold back, but finally, she couldn't take it anymore. With a deep breath and a wild, reckless courage, she blurted out, "Fine! Then, what if I marry you instead?"

Meanwhile, Yvonne and Xander were on their way to the courthouse.

Yvonne really, really didn't want to be there. The whole situation was a mess, even if her mom and brother had personally signed off on it. She still thought the whole thing was a terrible idea.

Especially since the whole "let's get married" thing had been Xander's idea. There had to be a catch-there always was with him.

Could you blame her for being suspicious? Even if he'd managed to explain away the stuff from three years ago, the scars from that whole disaster still ran deep.

The whole drive, Yvonne shot him dirty looks and practically burned holes in the dashboard with her glare.

"If it wasn't for Star, I'd tell you right now-I wouldn't lift a finger to help you," she spat, practically growling out the words "Star" and "help you."

This jerk had actually threatened her, saying if she didn't marry him, he'd fight for custody of Stella. The nerve! Did he have any shame at all?noveldrama

Kids. It always came down to the kids.

She made sure to emphasize the "help you" part, just so Xander would know exactly why they were doing this. As if she'd ever let him forget it.

Xander just grinned, rubbing at the new scratch on his neck. With a huff, he shot back, "Relax. Once this whole mess is sorted, we'll split up. Seriously-who in their right mind would want to marry you fortife? Don't flatter yourself."

Yvonne: "..."

Damn it. She kind of wanted to punch him again.