Putting Zeke In His Place

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

Zeke's face flushed 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 never heard that name before. But Logan is a big deal in Frixyia. The only time he was 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 again. He even turned down requests from the Frixyia royal family. As for who Evie was, nobody knew.

Nellie and the others were just as shocked. Listening to Yvette's tone, they wondered if she had actually tried Mr. Brown's dishes.

Nellie asked cautiously, "Yvette, how do you know so much about him? Have you tried his food?"

"Well, no," Yvette yawned lazily. She had eaten Logan's food twice, but had enjoyed Frank's cooking for three years while in Murphia, battling anorexia. Braydon Goodman had essentially kidnapped Frank from Epea. Yvette suspected the old man might have poisoned her out of spite.

Hearing her denial, Nellie felt 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 retorted.

Nellie's confidence faded.

Winona interjected, "Come on, you're talking nonsense."

Zachary, who had been quiet, finally spoke as Yvette and Nellie argued, "Seriously, it's just black truffles. If you want them, just tell the kitchen. What's with all this arguing?"

Under their suspicious stares, Yvette's first dinner at the Chambers residence ended. Lucas stood quietly, unsure if their information on Yvette was accurate. He thought she might have tasted Logan's cooking.

After dinner, Winona attempted to push Yvette upstairs. But Yvette turned, seemingly anticipating Winona's actions. Winona lost her balance, her knee crashing painfully against the marble staircase.

Focusing on her throbbing knee, Winona wept. She had a dance performance tomorrow, and it was ruined.

Yvette smirked and continued upstairs, ignoring Winona's wailing. 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.

Yvette's room was overwhelmingly cliché, filled with cheap pink curtains and stuffed animals. The clothes were even worse—out-of-season brands or tacky fast fashion.

Yvette wasn't impressed. She figured Nellie's attempts were petty tricks. She took out a sleek black phone and transformed it into a mini computer. She opened a webpage displaying "Black Gold."

The top bounty was Zola, with a reward of 600 million dollars (up from 500 million last week). Second place was Eagle King, and third was Flying Fish, all currently on missions.

Black Gold was the world's largest mercenary dark web network. Any mission could be undertaken, for the right price. However, capturing Zola, the king of Black Gold, remained their only uncompleted task. His identity and whereabouts were a mystery; he hadn't failed a single mission since joining the dark web.

Yvette closed the computer, transforming it back into a phone. It rang.

"Hey there, sweetheart! Did you miss me?" A man's glib voice filled the phone, mixed with the sounds of a lively crowd.