Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)
Chapter 76

"They've mentioned her name. It can't be mistaken."

Cloudia was at a loss for words.

Blaise pressed on, "What did she demand from you?"

"She wants to cut ties with us all. How could I agree to that?"

Reflecting on the last call from Stella, Cloudia had thought it was just an empty threat. But now it seemed all too real.

A young woman raking in over seven hundred thousand a year surely had some powerful backing. But her approach... The thought alone was a stab to Cloudia's heart. How could she bear the thought of severing ties with her own daughter?

As Blaise heard Stella's demand, his breath caught in his throat.

"Did she really say that?"

"What else could it be? What else could she possibly ask for that I couldn't give her?"

Since things had escalated into this degree, Cloudia had hoped for any other demand from Stella - jewelry, a house, money, anything. If she just had these requirements, Cloudia would have done anything, especially if it meant getting Tegan and Finley on board to treat Ursula.

But Stella wanted none of that; she wanted to cut ties.

Cloudia was fuming.

Blaise was equally infuriated, "What did you argue about this time with her?"

His tone carried a hint of blame towards Cloudia. The call he received was no joke; he fully believed that the other party had the power to destroy the entire Larkin Group.

Cloudia retorted, "She made seven hundred thousand last year, shouldn't I find out how? She's my daughter after all, I don't want her degrading herself."

Blaise asked, "So you confronted her directly?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"You..."

Blaise was so livid he couldn't find the words.

In his eyes, every argument between Cloudia and Stella stemmed from Cloudia's lack of tact.

Stella hadn't grown up by their side, making her temperament and boundaries unclear to Cloudia.

Using such a confrontational approach was never going to work on Stella.

"I've told you countless times, be patient with her."

"Patient? Weren't you the one who said we shouldn't give the access to her account after you got back from the Silk-River Residences?"

On the matter of Stella, neither could critique the other.

Blaise uttered, "I'm not going to argue about this. Just fix it!"

"How am I supposed to do that? She's not taking my calls, won't see me."

Their brief encounter moments ago had been anything but pleasant.

"If you don't resolve this properly, you can say goodbye to the good life of being Mrs. Larkin."

Blaise hung up, fuming. The thought that the company's turmoil was all tied to a mother-daughter dispute was beyond frustrating.

Blaise then called Yorick.

When Yorick heard that the Larkin Group's issues all revolved around Stella, he immediately thought of the man by her side. Did that man have the clout to halt two major projects of the Larkin Group within half an hour? Who exactly was he?

"Rick, you know how my relationship with your father stands right now. About this..."

The Quarry family had already been displeased with him due to Ursula, and now an unknown factor was complicating matters further

Blaise felt his life was becoming unbearable.

Yorick's expression darkened, "Understood. I'll handle it."

QUMS

After hanging up, Yorick glanced at

tone

his cast-bound left hand.

was icy as he turned to Orion, "Still

no word on who that man with her

is?

Orion, feeling a chill down his spine, replied, "We've been blocked at every turn, can't find anything."

Up to this point, they didn't even know the man's name.