Adelle''s eyes widened in rm.


    Finch was left speechless, mouth hanging open.


    Dan''s words echoed through the room, drawing a cold, hard stare from Derek.


    Dan pressed forward. "So, what''s it going to be?"


    Derek said nothing, but hisposure was clearly shaken.


    Adelle''s heart pounded with fear-she was desperate for Derek not to give in.


    Dan leaned back, voice casual and sharp as a de. "Or maybe Susanna should be included as well? Lacey''s daughter, too?"


    Derek''s icy voice cut through the tension. "Are you trying to humiliate me?"


    All the children-tested? Was Dan suggesting that not a single one was truly his? Were they all products of betrayal?


    Finch couldn''t take it anymore. "Dan, you''re crossing the line! If this leaks, you''ll make Dad theughingstock of all Litamark. Is that what you want?"


    using a father of doubting every one of his children—what could be more humiliating?


    Derek''s breath grew uneven as he locked eyes with Dan, who only responded with a smirk. "Better to be aughingstock, than spend your life raising children who aren''t your own, right?"


    "Dan!" Finch snapped.


    Dan shot back, "Why so nervous, Finch? Or is it that you''re worried you''re not even his son either?"


    "You—!"


    "Dan, enough!" Adelle finally burst out. "I''ve shown you nothing but kindness over the years. Isn''t that worth anything?"


    Dan''s relentless baiting for paternity tests was more than she could stand. She had already given ground over Ivanna and Leanne—wasn''t that enough?


    Adelle''s agitation finally drew Derek''s attention, his gaze sharp and probing.


    His look made her blood run cold. She steadied herself with a shaky breath. "Please, Derek. Don''t put me through this kind of humiliation.”


    Dan was merciless. "Is it humiliation or are you too afraid to face the truth?"


    Silence fell.


    No matter how they tried to change the subject, Dan refused to move on. The truth was, he''d been waiting for


    this moment for years-waiting fo


    any fissure to appear in the


    ve


    rock solid bond between Derek and Adelle. Now, with a rift wide open he had no intent of letting up. Whatever concessions Adelle offered, Dan only pushed harder.


    Adelle and Finch were both tense, dread wing in their chests.


    Dan met Derek''s gaze. "So what''ll it be, Derek? Walk away a joke, or keep raising somebody else''s kids?"


    Derek demanded, "What do you mean, ‘keep raising''? Are you actually saying none of them are mine?"


    Dan''s eyes glinted. "The answer''s in the test results."


    "Derek-" Adelle''s poise finally crumbled. She watched Derek''s standoff with Dan saw how close he was to agreeing, and was seized by panic.


    "Derek, if you do this, the mockery won''t fall on you alone-I..." Her words caught. She couldn''t finish. It wasn''t just Derek''s reputation on the line, but hers as well.


    Derek stared long and hard at Dan.


    With a challenger''s smile, Dan said, “I''ll take the test too. Let''s all do it.”


    "Derek..." Adelle pleaded, but this time, the loathing in her gaze was impossible to hide. She red daggers at Dan.


    But for Derek, suspicion had already given way to a storm-a consuming fury, a desperate need for answers.


    Atst, under Dan''s relentless stare, Derek spat out a single, frigid word.


    "Fine."


    "Derek!" Adelle''s voice cracked. All strength gone, she broke down as Derek finally gave his answer.