Although Susanna was really just a pawn in their fight against ck Gate, the


    way Derek and Caden saw it, finding her and turning her over at least gave them something to bargain with.


    But now...


    "Who the hell took her?" Derek snapped, his frustration boiling over.


    Caden scowled, "That''s just it-we don''t even know who took her! That''s what''s driving me nuts!"


    It was the kind of news that made your stomach twist with worry.


    Adelle entered the study just in time to hear Caden''s "Miss!"—and was instantly put off. Miss? Since when did someone from Derek''s side refer to that girl as ''Miss''? The nerve.


    Adelle''s voice was icy. "Caden, maybe your memory isn''t as good as it used to be."


    Caden blinked, thrown off by the hard edge in Adelle''s tone. He honestly couldn''t remember what he''d said wrong.


    Adelle scoffed, "She''s no ''Miss'' of this family. After all the hell she''s brought down on the Murrays? She doesn''t belong here."


    Her face was stormy, and her anger seemed to pull the oxygen from the room. For a moment, both Derek and Caden were left speechless.


    After all, Adelle had always been the picture of grace-gentle, polite, never raising her voice, even to the house staff. When had she ever talked like this?


    Derek looked at her, almost as if seeing her for the first time.


    But the truth was, Adelle was at her breaking point. In the past few days, the family''s businesses-hers, her son''s, her daughter''s-had been thrown into chaos, assets raided, rivals circling like sharks at a summer barbecue. Even if they hadn''t lost everything yet, the damage was already massive.


    The anger she''d bottled up was about to burst-and Derek was an easy target. "Adelle," Derek tried, but she cut him off.


    "I''m just being honest, Derek. All this ck Gate mess? It''s because of them. I''m never going to ept Susanna. Never."


    She''d never liked Derek''s daughter from another woman. Sure, she''d faked politeness to Dan, ying the


    tole-of


    the gracious stepmother But now? She wasn''t even going to pretend.


    Derek''s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.


    Adelle pressed on, "Don''t me me for being cruel. With a stepdaughter like that, how am I supposed to feel anything but resentment?"


    She wasying her cards on the table-letting Derek know, in no uncertain terms, that from now on, she was done ying nice with Lacey and Susanna.


    Derek blew out a heavy breath. "Right now, let''s just focus on finding Susanna.”


    "Yeah, finding" Caden started to say "Miss" again, but Adelle shot him a re sharp enough to slice an apple pie in half.


    He caught himself, coughed, and corrected, "Finding Ms. Tucker."


    Ms. Tucker. Just a small change in words, but in a family like the Murrays, it made all the difference.


    Adelle snorted, saying nothing more.


    "Of course, we need to find her. Quickly," she muttered, almost to herself.


    The whole thing was a


    mess-something that had nothing to do with ck Gate was now their problem. If they couldn''t deliver Susanna, this would never end.


    Derek waved his hand. "Go look."


    Caden nodded and hurried out.


    That left just Derek and Adelle in the room. Adelle took a deep breath. "Derek, you


    don''t think I''m being heartless, do you?"


    Derek hesitated, then shook his head. "Of course not."


    Adelle let out a sigh. "You know, I never cared about any of this. But seeing you—


    and the family-get hurt because of those two? I''m furious."


    "Yeah, I get it," Derek said, but his mind was elsewhere-he was already thinking of where to start looking for Susanna. He didn''t have the energy for anything else