Ten minutester.


    Yorick followed Ste to her studio, and with just a nce, he could tell it had been around for a while. There seemed to be dozens of people working there. For a studio, it was quite a sizeable operation. He hadn''t expected Ste to be wielding such clout - a yearly ie of seven hundred thousand wasn''t a joke, especially for someone in her early twenties.


    Tabitha poured Yorick a cup of coffee, sensing the tension between them, she quickly made herself scarce.


    Now, it was just Ste and Yorick, with Ste folding her arms as she faced him.


    Yorick demanded, "Shut this studio down."


    "What?"


    Yorick continued, "And break up with that guy."


    "What are you trying to say?" Ste asked.


    Ste was utterly perplexed at his words as she looked at Yorick.


    "Just what it sounds like. Neither the Quarry family nor the Larkin family needs you making waves outside."


    "Shut it down and live off you guys? Two grand a month? Wow, how generous."


    Sure, two grand might stretch further in a smaller town, but this was Portis City - a ce where the cost of living could give anyone a heart attack. Not exactly what you''d call livingfortably. Yorick, frustrated, lit a cigarette, "Don''tpare yourself to Urs. What''s between us has nothing to do with her."


    "Our issues, whether they involve her or not, aren''t the point. But they''re not that significant anyway."


    Not significant? What was she implying? That her breaking off their engagement had nothing to do with Urs?


    That thought alone was enough to make Yorick''s blood boil. Lips pressed tightly, he looked at Ste with a piercing gaze, almost as if he could chew her alive, "I''ll marry you. You''ll be Mrs. Quarry." Ste was speechless.


    Wait, what? After getting pped around outside, he had now lost his mind?


    "You marry me?"


    "Isn''t that what you''ve always wanted?"


    In that moment, Yorick was ready to cast aside everything. A voice in his head screamed that he must marry Ste. He must do that; nothing could stand in their way.


    Ste scoffed, "I thought you dragged me up here to talk about Urs."


    Getting married? Was this guy sick?


    Yorick fell silent. The mention of Urs awakened him immediately. Indeed, he had initiallye to discuss Urs. Finley and Tegan, those names held significant weight for Urs, yet for Ste, they were just a conversation topic. The cigarette between Yorick''s fingers burned a little brighter.


    "Finley and Tegan, what''s it going to take to get them on the medical team?"


    Ste smiled. There it was, the real reason he was here.


    She took a sip of water, "All this time, you''ve been threatening me. Now what is this?"


    Yorick''s eyes narrowed even further at her words. He took a deep drag from his cigarette, knowing full well Ste was settling the previous scores.


    Ste continued, "You cut off the


    financial support and job


    opportunities for me, let me guess if


    you don''t get what you want today,


    the next step, you''re going to


    threaten me with this studiods that right?"


    Whether it was about Finley and Tegan, Yorick and the Larkin family had always been the ones asking, not the other way around. Yet here they were, employing both carrots and sticks.  en


    Yorick swept an icy nce at her, "What do you want?"


    "What do I want? Since you''re aware of this studio, you must know how much I earn yearly, right?"