She couldn''t believe Yorick had the audacity to show up at her doorstep. If he was brazen enough to park his car like this, he must have known Ronald was out.


    Was he really here to confront her? It seemed the Quarry family wasn''t as deep in trouble as she had hoped.


    But Ste was wrong.


    Yorick was here precisely because the Quarry family was drowning in chaos, and he was on the brink of a breakdown.


    He flicked away his cigarette and walked toward her, his steps deliberate and heavy.


    Ste frowned, clearly irritated.


    When he stopped a meter away, she could finally see the turmoil in his eyes-emptiness, sorrow, pain- all swirling together, visible in the depths of Yorick''s gaze.


    "Are you here to plead for Urs?" Ste asked, squinting slightly.


    The only reason she could think of for such a mix of emotions in Yorick''s eyes was Urs. Despite all the gossip Susanna and Tegan had shared about the Larkin family, Ste believed Yorick and Cloudia''s bias toward Urs would always prevail.


    The mention of pleading for Urs seemed to deepen the pain in Yorick''s eyes.


    "Plead?" he echoed, his voiceced with anguish.


    Ste raised an eyebrow. "Not pleading? Then you''re here to threaten me? To try and overpower me?" She recalled how the Larkin family and Yorick had never resorted to pleading. They had always tried to overpower her into letting Urs go.


    How many tactics had they used back then? She couldn''t help but scoff at the memory.


    Yorick was silent, his chest heaving with a suffocating tension at Ste''s mention of ''threaten'' and ''overpower.'' He closed his eyes, his whole body trembling. Clenching his fists, he spoke with difficulty, "I''ve... I''ve broken it off with her."


    Ste arched her brows, silently observing Yorick while Susie''stest gossip reyed in her mind. She had said that Yorick stormed out of the Larkin family house, kicking over a flowerpot at the entrance. "Ste, I''m sorry," Yorick confessed suddenly.


    Ste''s eyes widened in surprise. "You''re apologizing to me?" "It''s my fault. I..."


    He trailed off, overwhelmed by the chaos of the past few days. Since leaving the Quarry family, all he wanted was to see Ste. Nobody knew how empty he had felt since she called off their engagement, as if a vital part of him had been ripped away.


    "You don''t need to apologize," Ste replied coolly. "You really shouldn''t havee to see me. Move your car."


    Not wanting to hear more, Ste turned to get into her car. As she was about to shut the door, Yorick panicked and grabbed the door.


    Ste raised an eyebrow. "You..."


    By instinct, her foot shot out, and Yorick immediately backed away to a safe distance, his face paling.


    He remembered Ste''s dislike for


    physical contact. During their engagement, every time he got too close, she pulled away. After the breakup, whenever he tried to grab her, wrist, she had retaliated o physically.


    Was she about to kick him again?


    Recalling his previous injuries, Yorick''sposure wavered.


    Seeing him retreat, Ste realized she had almost instinctivelyshed out again.


    "Uh... sorry," she said, half-smiling. "You''ve left quite a mark on me. My default response is self-defense, so it''s best if you don''t show up in front of me. Otherwise, if I hit you, t wouldn''t be pleasant."


    Yorick was speechless.


    The driver in the front seat, amused by their exchange, thought to himself, "At least our youngdy knows it''s not polite to hit people."