No food, no water? He was just going to leave them here—condemning them to die like animals. To put it inly, he was signing their death warrant.


    Adelle gaped at Derek, stunned to her core. She couldn''t believe he was capable of such cruelty.


    "Derek, how could you! Are you trying to kill me?" she shrieked.


    Derek''s expression was chillingly calm. "Don''t worry. Ivanna and Leanne will be back soon to keep youpany. You should hang on-maybe you''ll live long enough to see them onest time."


    Each wordnded like an icy dagger. Any sway Adelle once held over him was gone; she''d lost everyst tool she could use against him. This was what happened when a man turned ruthless: there was nothing left but cold, hard stone in his chest. And Derek? He was the very definition of remorseless.


    "No, you can''t do this! Ivanna and Leanne-they''ve always been good to you, they''ve obeyed you for years! How can you be so heartless to them?" she sobbed.


    Derek let out a humorlessugh. "Good? Have you forgotten how Leanne ended up with those injuries? They went behind my back and tried to kill Susanna. That''s why she''s where she is now."


    Adelle fell silent. Facing this clear-eyed, resolute version of Derek, she was utterly powerless. She didn''t know what to do-panic gripped her chest so tightly she struggled to breathe.


    Leroy and his men stepped forward and forced Adelle and Finch up off the ground, dragging them toward the basement. Finch tried to fight back, but with a bullet wound to his chest, he was helpless. Watching her son being dragged away, Adelle felt her hope shatter into pieces.


    "No, don''t do this to us! Derek, I''ve been by your side for all these years! Maybe I didn''t give you children, but 1 devoted my whole life to you-doesn''t that count for


    vel


    something?" Adelle wailed, reaching


    for any trace ofpassion. he might still h?rbor. At the same time, a frantic voice screamed inside her mind- "You can''t let them lock you away. Don''t get trapped in that basement. You and Finch have to get out of cktower-now. Only then will you have a chance to fight back. If you stay, you''re as good as dead."


    But was Derek really the blind fool she''d always thought? All these years, he''d known about the secret power Adelle was gathering under his nose. He hadn''t cared -so long as she posed no direct threat. But now things were different.


    Today, everything wasid bare. Derek understood: if the worst came to pass, Adelle and Finch could never be allowed to leave cktower. If they escaped, he''d only be inviting disaster-releasing the wolf back into the wild.


    "Don''t do this! Finch needs a doctor, right now-he''ll die if you don''t help him!" Adelle''s painful screams grew faint as she was dragged away, until her pleas faded and only silence remained.


    Now, only Derek and Dan were left in the room.


    Dan smoked his cigarette in slow, distracted drags, then caught Derek''s re. Derek picked up his copy of the paternity report and scanned the page. A flicker of relief crossed his face—at least one of the children was his.


    Dan pulled out his cigarette and crushed it in the ashtray before giving Derek a sideways nce. He let out a couple of mocking clucks "So tell me do you really think it''s worth running those paternity tests for Ivanna and Leanne?"


    The words hit Derek like a knife between the ribs.


    Was there any point? Of course not. All these years, Adelle and her three children had always known-they weren''t really his. Derek was the only fool who hadn''t realized. Now tha Ivanna and Leanne had run, it only confirmed their guilt.


    "You..."