Tristan's face darkened.

"Yvonne, that's enough!" Yale couldn't take it anymore and snapped, unable to ignore the growing storm in Tristan's expression. "Mom's not visiting Regina because she's worried the Quinns are going to pull something again. After everything they did to this family, how can you even bring it up?”

Yvonne just shrugged, feigning innocence. "Okay, okay, I just had a question. We're family—shouldn't we be honest with each other? Isn't that right, Dad?"

The way she said "Dad"—it was anything but affectionate. Yvonne might as well have thrown the entire Schultz family into a frying pan just to watch the oil sizzle. Tristan was done; he didn't want to hear another word out of her mouth. Without another glance, he stormed upstairs.

He hadn't even been gone five minutes before the shouting started. Voices carried down from upstairs, heated and raw.

"What were you really doing in Novaderma?" Tristan's roar echoed off the walls. "Fifteen times in two years? I had no idea. What exactly were you up to?"

Mona snapped back, indignant. "What do you think? Are you accusing me of something now?"

"I just want to know the truth-why did you go there?" Tristan's anger was thick enough to choke on.

The Schultz house was soon filled with the sharp clang and crash of things being thrown—a cup went flying, shattering at the bottom of the stairs with a dramatic, splintering crack.

Yale tensed, glared murderously at Yvonne, and hissed, "Happy now?"

Yvonne just lifted her shoulders, this time with a glint in her eye. "I only want honesty in this family, that's all. Don't take it the wrong way."

There was no mistaking the edge to her so-called wish for openness. She'd already taken everything she could from the Schultzes. Now she wanted to lecture them about honesty? Who did she think she was fooling?

Yale had no desire to argue with her anymore. Without a word, he hurried up the stairs, leaving the house to descend into outright pandemonium.

"You little troublemaker," Xander teased.

She shot him a sly look. "Do you like it?"

"I like it a lot." He was telling the truth-he loved every second of it. All those years he'd kept his head down, swallowing Mona's endless drama, and now Yvonne was just handing Mona all her payback on a silver platter. Sometimes it did take fire to fight fire. He could never go

head-to-head with Mona

wasn'

right as a man. But Yvonne had no

such compunction, pinning Mona to the ground and mashing her into the mud.

Mona had gotten everything she could want with Tristan-except an actual marriage license. Not that it was ever enough for her. Now, she'd tried using her own daughter to replace Stella in the family. That was a move that infuriated every lag Quinn. Mona had stirred up a hornet's nest, and now, she'd have to live with the constant sting of it.

Because of Yvonne's little audit stunt, Tristan's suspicions about all those trips to Novaderma had gone through the roof. The atmosphere between him and Mona was now cold and brittle; there was no way Mona could walk away with his money whenever she wanted anymore. This was just Yvonne's opening move-cutting off Mona's cash flow. Not a complete shutoff, but the tap had been turned way down. Cosmetic treatments for Berry in Novaderma weren't cheap, and Mona's purse was shrinking fast.

The following morning, Yvonne didn't spare the Schultz family another thought- instead, she headed over to the Quinns' for breakfast, Xander in tow. After the meal, he headed off to the company and had Yale resigned to the sidelines, everything running right on schedule.

Stella listened to the whole story with undisguised delight. "Imagine visiting the spa more often than your own daughter in jail. Any husband would start getting suspicious."

Yvonne scoffed. “Come on, does she even know who she's messing with?" Mona had kicked the hornets' nest this time, and Yvonne was determined not to let her off easy.

Bzzz bzzz-Stella's phone vibrated. A call from a Yoreland number flashed on the screen.

She picked up. "Hello?"

“Tell Tegan to take me off her blocked list.” The voice was terse, familiar, and barely controlled.

Stella raised an eyebrow. "Calling about Leslie? Trust me, Tegan isn't the one who can fix this-not for you."

On the other end, Uriah's eyes flashed cold. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Stella's tone was cool as glass. "You hired a lawyer for Leslie, didn't you? Have them look into the real charges she's facing in Yoreland. And let me give you some advice, Uriah: Tegan isn't the law in Yoreland. Don't think getting her involved will make your problem disappear."

Honestly, Stella didn't even need to guess what he was after-she knew exactly why he wanted to get to Tegan.