After Max left, storm clouds seemed to gather on Yorick''s face, his frustration palpable.


    Orion nced at him, struggling to find the right words. Thane''s barely contained anger earlier had made the oue abundantly clear.


    And for good reason!


    The ores from the Lugar family were supposed to be their only alternative. Now, that option was off the table. The Quarry Group was in deep water now! Yorick closed his eyes for a moment. "Ste!"


    Hearing the grit in Yorick''s voice made Orion''s heart skip a beat.


    Max''s implication was clear: Ste was at the center of this mess.


    Orion thought it over and decided he should give Yorick a heads-up about the Larkin Group.


    "The Larkin Group''s been hitting rough waterstely. Word is, it''s tied to StarRiver Corp."


    Yorick turned to look at Orion, an eyebrow raised.


    "StarRiver Corp.?"


    "The very one thatted Ms. Quinn a few hundred thousandst year."


    Ste''s windfall of seven hundred thousandst year, with over six hundred thousand attributed to deals with StarRiver, was the talk of the town.


    The rest was just typical studio profits, but StarRiver had catapulted Ste''s studio to the top spot in Portis City practically overnight.


    Yorick''s thought drifted back to their failed attempt to shut down Ste''s studio. StarRiver''s audacious defense of her still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Yorick scoffed. "Tell me this has nothing to do with Ste."


    Orion said nothing, but his silence was answer enough.


    "Who''s running StarRiver Corp.?"


    "Some foreigner, Joe Haggard."


    Yorick''s expression turned sour.


    A foreigner!


    No wonder he didn''t y by Portis City''s unwritten rules.


    A flicker of irritation crossed Yorick''s eyes. "I underestimated Ste, seriously underestimated her."


    "Dig up whatever dirt you can find on Joe Haggard''s rtions with Ste."


    It felt like Ste was themon thread tying together everything happening around them.


    Orion nodded. "Will do."


    But he hesitated for a moment before asking, "And earlier, did Mr. Thane Quarry meet with Mr. Lugar?"


    Yorick''s mood soured further at the mention. "Wave Residence belongs to the Lugar family."


    Orion was taken aback. "So... you''re saying Ms. Quinn''s tied to the Lugar family now?"


    Yorick waved him off, his annoyance mounting. "Enough. Drop it."


    The more they delved into Ste''s


    and intertwined they appeared t was as if she had her fingers in every pie.


    Sections, the moreplicated


    Seeing Yorick''s frustration, Orion dared not push further, though he couldn''t shake his astonishment.


    The Lugar family was a force to


    reckon with. If Ste had managed to forge a connection with them, her ties with StarRiver suddenly didn''t seem so far-fetched.


    Just as Yorick turned to leave, his phone buzzed again with a message from Thane.


    [Try negotiating with the Lugar family again.]


    Thane was clearly at his wit''s end, opting for a message over a call.


    In Portis City, it was rare for Thane to face a situation he couldn''t handle personally. Yet, this particr issue proved to be a tough nut to crack.


    Yorick''s frustration was palpable as he replied: [Got it.]


    Thane added: [The loss we''re facing is significant. If we don''t find a recement...]


    The message trailed off, as if Thane couldn''t quite articte the gravity of the situation. But Yorick understood all too well. His response was brief: [Understood.]


    He knew the stakes, but the real challenge was figuring out how to navigate this mess.


    At the hospital, when Urs saw Yorick''s single-word reply, ''Yes'', it felt like the ground had been pulled from under her feet.


    Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed Yorick could respond like that.