Everyone here knew full well how Derek had treated Susannately-none of them were blind to it. He didn''t even recognize his own daughter''s face, and now he had the nerve to im her? Derek''s expression turned stony.


    Barnaby, never one to hold back, gave a careless shrug. "Mr. Murray, maybe you should head home first. Figure out what your daughter looks like thene talk to us." His words were nothing but barbed.


    A father who couldn''t pick his own child out of a lineup? Pathetic didn''t even begin to cover it. Derek''s face darkened with rage.He shot Barnaby a murderous re, but Ss stepped forward, voice level and cold: "You won''t gain anything from seeing our boss right now."


    Anyone would be on edge, being yanked out of bed in the middle of the night to deal with this sort of drama.


    "I just want to see my daughter," Derek spat, jaw clenched.


    "Your daughter is with our boss," Barnaby replied dryly. He wasn''t just being rude- he was making a point: Susanna hadn''t been Derek''s daughter for a long time. In fact, maybe she never really was. How could he suddenly appear and im her when, ever since she''d been born, their lives had never once crossed?


    Now Derek was swallowing his pride, desperate and shameless. But Susanna? She''d never recognize him as her father, not in a million years. Everyone in ck Gate was losing their minds over this mess, and Derek''s so-called im on his daughter wasn''t affection—it was ast-ditch, reluctant capittion. The tragedy for him was that Susanna wouldn''t care in the slightest.


    Barnaby couldn''t resist piling on, his mouth as sharp as ever: "Let''s face it, Mr. Murray has so many kids, he probably couldn''t tell which ones are actually his. What''s the point of meeting one more?"


    It wasn''t just a jab-it was a gut punch loaded with implication, but Derek seemed oblivious. Maybe he''d never realized—or refused to acknowledge—the ugly whispers that followed him: that Ivanna and Leanne were so painfully unattractive, people wondered if they were even rted to him at all. He''d never questioned it, not once.


    Ss shot Barnaby a look, barely suppressing a wince, but the sarcasm still didn''t register with


    fists


    Derek instead, he stood there, fis


    clenched, face dark as


    thunder-then spun and stormed off in a huff.


    But halfway down the hall, something stopped him. He turned on his heel, just in time to overhear Barnaby and Ss still deep in their muttered conversation about whether the twins were really his.


    Barnaby was in rare form. "Seriously, how could kids that ugly be his? They look nothing like him not a single feature matches!"


    Ss, who usually avoided gossip like the gue, found himself drawn in. "So you''re saying Adelle... if she cheated, was it with someone even uglier?”


    Derek froze in the shadows, trembling with rage.


    Neither Barnaby nor Ss noticed him lurking Barnaby went right on, offhand and philosophical: "Listen a man having a mistress has nothing. to do with money, and a woman being the other woman has nothing to do with looks!"


    Ss arched an eyebrow—was he serious? "Nothing to do with money or looks? Then what does it depend on?"


    Barnaby grinned. "If Adelle did cheat, the guy must''ve been a hell of a smooth talker."


    With every word, Barnaby''s jabs grew sharper and more oundish. Around the corner, Derek''s fists shook with fury, the anger radiating off him waves he looked like he was about to blow a gasket right then and there.