Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella) novel Chapter 1076

The room fell into a heavy silence.

Derek stared quietly at Susanna, waiting.

Susanna cleared her throat, breaking the tension. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but… I’m not really the comforting type. Really, you’d be better off talking to someone who specializes in this stuff—comforting people isn’t my area of expertise. Honestly, I’d probably just make things worse, rile you up even more, and if you drop dead right here, well, I definitely don’t want that on my conscience.”

As she spoke, a cold sweat broke out down her spine. Susanna had one goal: get Derek to leave as soon as possible—she certainly didn’t want him sticking around, making a scene. Besides, whether or not she was “good at comforting” was beside the point. The truth was, she had no intention of even trying.

Given how Hull’s recent crackdown had already crippled much of Black Gate’s influence, the last thing anyone needed was Derek to keel over from anger right here. If that happened and Black Gate turned on them in a rage, things would get ugly—fast.

Derek broke the silence. “Did your mother tell you to say that?”

“Yeah,” Susanna replied, not missing a beat.

“So that’s it. She really hates me,” Derek muttered. “Using you as part of her revenge.”

Susanna blinked, momentarily stunned. Where did this guy get that from? Sure, her mom wasn’t Derek’s biggest fan, but this—this just wasn’t her style. Knowing Lacey, if she actually wanted revenge, she’d never have dragged Susanna into it. If anything, she’d make sure to keep her out of the mess entirely.

“My mom isn’t trying to get back at you,” she said firmly.

“Susie,” Derek said softly, his eyes clouding with sorrow. He seemed lost in his memories. “Whatever happened between your mother and me… I want you to know, I mean to make it right. I’ll win her back. This time, I won’t fail.”

For a moment, regret filled him—the kind that decades couldn’t erase. He’d managed to push away the one woman who had loved him with all her heart, yet held onto someone who’d betrayed him again and again. God, how blind had he been?

Susanna just stared at him. Was he even hearing a word she said? The man was on his own frequency entirely.

Derek let out a long, heavy sigh. “I guess this is my payback—what I deserve.”

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