That tone—why was he speaking to her like that? Was he mocking her?


    "Dan Murray and Susanna don''t want toe back, and you''re saying it''s my fault?" Adelle shot back, her voice intent on cutting through his sarcasm. That unmistakable edge—it was clear he was ming her. No way was she going to let that slide.


    "Don''t push it, Derek! I never once said they couldn''te home." She spoke


    quickly, emotion carrying her words. "You know how I''ve treated Dan all these years! And Susanna? She isn''t even in Litamark. Would you rather I chased her all the way to Portis City just to prove something?"


    Her voice was starting to shake now, anxiety seeping through herposure. “I''ve treated your children like my own, no matter whose they were. But what do I get for that? Nothing but cold shoulders, no matter how much I care. And now you''re telling me you think I''m the reason your kids are distant from you?"


    Derek watched her, silent, those cold, predatory eyes fixed on her face. When a person''s life falls into chaos-when all theforts and easy pleasures vanish- love, too, turns to ash. For years, Adelle had been the woman Derek yearned for, the woman he''d spent years putting on a pedestal. But now, beset by the turmoil within ck Gate and its pressing crises, Derek seemed to have lost any capacity for tenderness.


    Thest fragile peace between them copsed under the weight of so much unrest.


    Derek still didn''t answer. Adelle''s breathing quickened with impatience. "Everyone says being a stepmother is thankless. I didn''t believe it before, but now-I really get it."


    "I want a paternity test for Leanne and Ivanna.” Derek''s words, when they finally came, fell like ice water. He didn''t respond to herints. He simply issued a verdict-cold, clinical.


    The room fell utterly silent.


    Adelle could only stare at him, stunned. "What did you just say?" She was certain she''d heard him wrong.


    Derek met her gaze, his eyes devoid of any warmth. "I said, I want paternity tests for Leanne and Ivanna."


    In that instant, her world lurched sideways. It felt as though everything inside her had copsed into a void. She stared at Derek, unable toprehend that he would say something so cruel.


    "A paternity test?" The words tasted like betrayal. After everything they''d been through, after all those years he didn''t trust her anymore?


    Adelle''s breathing was erratic. She tried to speak, but facing Derek''s arctic re, the words caught in her throat. She was frozen in ce.


    Derek spoke again. This time, each word was precise and frigid, one after another: "You agreed to a test the other day. Didn''t you?" That day, when he''d questioned why the twins didn''t look like him, she''dshed out and told him to do it if he was so suspicious.


    He spoke each syble with the kind of cold determination that made Adelle panic-and she didn''t dare nod in agreement. She knew, deep down that if she said yes, Derek would summon the family doctor on the spot and have blood drawn without hesitation. Contént


    She couldn''t let that happen.


    Adelle''s whole body shook. It was fear, but she masked it as righteous anger. "What did Susanna say to you, exactly?" she demanded, her voice breaking You see her once"


    and suddenly you don''t trust me at all?


    Her eyes brimmed with tears, hurt and fury mingling. She hoped—she prayed—that


    the sight of her devastation would make him think twice, force him to abandon this mad idea.


    But not this time.


    Derek seemed utterly resolved, as if determined to end years of unspoken suspicions once and for all.


    "We''ll settle this after the test results are in," he said, cold as stone.