? Putting Zeke In His ce


    ''About Logan, his cooking is just okay. But his mentor, Frank Cohen, can cook something special.'' Yvette stretched, relishing the post-mealziness.


    Zeke''s face blushed with embarrassment. ''How could a country girl know so much? How did she even hear about Logan? And who in the world is this Frank? I''ve nevere across that name before. But Logan is a big deal in Frixyia. The only time he got invited to cook in Clusia was for a dinner hosted by the Lewis family.''


    Rumor had it that Logan wouldn''t cook for anyone unless someone nicknamed Evie had eaten his cooking once more. He even turned down requests from the Frixyia royal family. As for who this Evie was, nobody really knew.


    Nellie and the others were just as shocked. Listening to Yvette''s tone, they couldn''t help but wonder, ''Has she actually tried Mr. Brown''s dishes? No way! Absolutely! She must be bragging.


    Nellie asked cautiously, "Yvette, how do you know so much about him? Have you tried his food?" ''Well, no." Yvette yawnedzily. She had eaten Logan''s food, but only twice. However, she''d enjoyed Frank''s cooking for three years while she was in Murphia, struggling with anorexia. Braydon Goodman had invited Frank over-more like kidnapped him-from Epea. Yvette suspected if that old man didn''t have any professional ethics, he might have poisoned her out of spite.


    Hearing her denial, Nellie felt a bit relieved. She pressed on, "So why do you say Mr. Brown''s cooking isn''t good? You''re just messing with us, right? And who''s this Frank? We''ve never even heard of him."


    ''Is it my fault you''re so out of the loop?" Yvette shot back.Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    Nellie''s confidence was fading.


    Winona jumped in, ''Come on, you''re just talking nonsense.


    Zachary, who had been quiet all evening, finally spoke up as Yvette took on Nellie, "Seriously, it''s just ck truffles. If you want them, just tell the kitchen to whip some up. What''s with all this pointless arguing?"


    Under their suspicious stares, Yvette''s first dinner at the Chambers residence wrapped up.


    Lucas stood quietly with his head down all along, unsure if the info they had on Yvette was urate. He thought she might have tasted Logan''s cooking.


    After dinner, a little incident unfolded. As Winona headed upstairs, she intended to push Yvette. But just as she was about to act, Yvette suddenly turned around and shot her a look, as if she knew what Winona was nning.


    Winona, already nervous, lost her bnce and ended up kneeling on the staircase, her knee crashing painfully against the marble right behind Yvette.


    Focusing on her throbbing knee, Winona felt tears welling up. She had a dance performance tomorrow, and now it was all ruined.


    Yvette just smirked and continued upstairs,pletely ignoring Winona''s dramatic wailing behind her. Zachary and Nellie''s rooms were on the third floor. Nellie had arranged for Yvette to stay on the second floor, while Winona''s room was the third door on the left. Zachary''s room was diagonally across from Yvette''s.


    The decor in Yvette''s was overwhelmingly cliché, filled with cheap pink curtains and stuffed animals. The clothes in the closet were even worse-either out-of-season brands or tacky, low-quality fast fashion. Wearing those clothes would make anyone look like a Christmas tree.


    Yvette wasn''t impressed at all. She figured Nellie''s attempts were just petty tricks. If Yvette really were a country bumpkin, maybe she''d find some joy in these things.


    She took out a sleek ck phone and with several moves, she transformed it into a miniputer. She opened a webpage, and the words "ck Gold'' popped up on the screen.


    Clicking in, she saw the top bounty listed as Z, with a reward of 600 million dors. She remembered justst week, it had been 500 million. Who had raised the stakes? She had a quick scan and saw the second ce belonged to someone called Eagle King, and the third was Flying Fish, all currently on missions.


    ck Gold was thergest mercenary dark webwork in the world. Here, as long as one had cash, any kind of mission could be taken, from taking out presidents to wealthy businessmen.


    However, in all the time ck Gold had been around, there was only one task that had never beenpleted-capturing Z, the king of ck Gold. His identity and whereabouts were aplete mystery, and since he entered the dark web, he hadn''t failed a single mission.


    Many had offered big money to take him out, while others desperately sought his help. Z yed by his own rules-nobody knew what job he would take next.


    Yvette closed theputer, turning it back into a phone. Just then, her phone rang, breaking the quiet of the night.


    ''Hey there, sweetheart! Did you miss me?" A man''s glib voice came through, mixed with the sounds of cheering and whistling from a lively crowd.