If the diagnosis was accurate, the scandal was going to blow up spectacularly. There was no telling what kind of brutal power struggle would erupt across Litamark.

"Is Derek actually infertile?" Stella pressed, her curiosity piqued. Put two women in a room together, and the gossip was bound to flow. Everyone loved a good scandal.

"It's highly likely. None of Adelle's three kids belong to him," Susanna pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's currently having a massive blowout with my mom right now."

However, Susanna was only half right about the situation.

Meanwhile, in Litamark.

Derek's medical report had finally been delivered, and the results were definitive: he was sterile. The diagnosis was absolute. He just refused to accept it...

Lacey slammed the paperwork down on the table in front of him. "Read it carefully. You're shooting blanks. Susie is not your daughter, so stop harassing her."

It was undeniable proof. Whether Derek wanted to admit it or not, his non-existent tie to Susanna was a medical fact.

When Derek read the results, all the color drained from his face. He sat in stunned silence for several minutes before finally snapping. "No. This is impossible."

He slammed the folder violently against the coffee table and glared at Lacey with unhinged fury.

"Are you kidding me?" Lacey scoffed. "The evidence is right in front of you. What do you mean 'impossible'? It's a medical fact."

"It's fake! You obviously paid off the doctor to tamper with the results!" Derek roared. "Lacey, you are vicious. You're keeping my own daughter from me just so you can run off with some boy toy. How can you be so utterly selfish?"

Derek was spiraling into madness, completely rejecting the reality she had handed him.

"Excuse me? Are you out of your mind?" Lacey snapped, her temper flaring. Who the hell did this bastard think he was yelling at? What right did he have to judge her? She was absolutely furious.

"Susanna is my daughter, and Dan is my son!" Derek bellowed. "What exactly is your twisted motive for bribing a doctor to forge this diagnosis?"

Lacey stared at him in disbelief. Twisted motive? "I went out of my way to get a specialist for you, and you're accusing me of having an ulterior motive?"

What a massive waste of her time. Her goodwill had been thrown right back in her face. This was exactly why she hated playing the saint-it never paid off.

Derek's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at her, his chest heaving with erratic breaths. Your goodwill? You think it's an act of goodwill to hand a man report telling him he's sterile, destroying his entire legacy? You are a malicious, toxic woman.

"I'm malicious?" Lacey retorted.

"You're tossing aside your own child's feelings just to keep your lover!" Derek roared. He couldn't accept the diagnosis, and he certainly couldn't accept that she was the one to deliver the final, crushing blow.

Lacey's famous temper was rapidly approaching the boiling point. Who in their right mind would waste time staging an elaborate infertility plot just to spite him? Did he really think, her schedule was that open? Dealing with his delusion was giving her a migraine.

"The report is real. You're sterile," she stated icily.

"You just don't want me in Susie's life! I'm telling you, Lacey, she is my daughter!"

"You"

"Save your disgusting little schemes. I don't buy any of it!"

An explosive argument erupted in the living room.

Back at the estate, Susanna and Stella had finally reunited after far too long and were catching up on everything. Midway through their conversation, Susanna's phone rang with an incoming call from Litamark. It was Derek.

Derek's breathing was ragged and desperate through the speaker. "Susie, I made a mistake. Please don't shut me out. Don't turn your back on your father."

Susanna blinked. What fresh drama was this?

"Your mother hates me. She despises me so much she's trying to sever our bond," Derek ranted. "The paternity test already proved we're family. It stated clearly that you're my daughter. How could that be a lie?"

"She actually forged a medical report claiming I'm sterile! It's a vicious stunt just to keep us apart."

Since Adelle's children weren't

biologically his, Derek was

desperately clinging to whatever fragments of a legacy he had left. The sheer terror of being left without an heir drove him to fiercely reject

Lacey's medical report, flat-out refusing to acknowledge his sterility reality.

FindNovel.net

Susanna's mouth twitched in annoyance. "Look, my mom isn't lying to you. She

literally doesn't have the free time to orchestrate something like that."

"But she has the motive!" Derek's tone hardened with frantic insistence. "Susie, you have to remember-you are my daughter."

Susanna was speechless.