"Whoa," Sam whistled on the other end. "That's some serious family drama. So, you want me to get samples from both Bobby and Mr. Duke?"

"Exactly," Derrick confirmed. "But here's the thing – it needs to be discreet. No raising any red flags, no alerting Bobby."


"Discretion is my middle name," Sam chuckled. "Leave it to me. I'll get some creative with my methods. But getting a sample from Bobby might be tricky. The guy's got security crawling all over him."

"I understand," Derrick confessed, running his hand through his hair in exasperation. "But we need that confirmation. Mr. Duke… well, let's just say he needs some closure."

"Understood," Sam said, his voice turning serious. "Consider it done. I'll prioritize this and get the samples ASAP. Then I'll send them off to a top-notch lab for expedited testing."


"Thank you, Sam," Derrick said sincerely. "We really appreciate it."

"No problem, Derrick. Besides, this whole thing sounds like something out of a spy novel. Can't resist a good mystery."


Derrick chuckled, a sense of relief washing over him. Having Sam on their side, with his resourcefulness and knowledge, was a significant advantage. He hung up the phone, feeling a renewed sense of determination.

With the paternity test results, they could potentially expose Bobby's lie to his father, dismantling Bobby's hold on the company and perhaps even Mr. Duke's loyalty.

Back inside the lodge, he found Sarah and Tiger huddled around a table, poring over documents and recordings. He filled them in on his conversation with Sam, and a collective sigh of relief rippled through the room.

"A paternity test," Sarah mused, her brow furrowed in thought. "If it proves Bobby isn't Mr. Duke's son, it could be a game-changer."

"It could," Tiger agreed, a grim smile playing on his lips. "Mr. Duke might finally see Bobby for the manipulative liar he truly is."

"But even with the test results," Derrick cautioned, " we need to be ready for whatever fight Bobby brings.

Immediately the test results are out, we either take the fight to Bobby or he brings the fight to us. One of them has to happen fast, so everything can go back to normal."

***************************************

The news arrived the next morning like a thunderclap shattering the fragile hope that had bloomed within the lodge. It came in a frantic call from a hospital, a nurse's voice tight with urgency. Mr. Duke had suffered a stroke.

The room fell silent, the weight of the news pressing down on them all. They were expecting a storm, but it felt like a crippling blow before the battle even started.

"He's... not conscious," the nurse stuttered, her voice barely able to be heard. "The doctor says it's critical."

Sarah snatched the phone from Derrick's hand, her voice trembling as she spoke. "Is there anything we can do? Can we see him?"

The nurse hesitated for a moment before replying. "Family only, I'm afraid. But the doctors are doing everything they can."

With a choked sob, Sarah hung up. The color drained from her face as she relayed the news to Derrick and Tiger.

"A stroke?" Derrick whispered, disbelief etched on his features. "But he was fine yesterday."

"It must have been the news," Tiger muttered, his eyes glinting with a dark anger. "The news regarding Bobby was overwhelming and he couldn't cope with it."

Sarah sat heavily in a chair, hiding her face in her hands. She murmured softly, her voice heavy with guilt, "We are to blame for all of this."

Derrick crouched next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Sarah, no," he stated with determination. "We are not responsible for this." Bobby carried out the task. He is the person who deceived and schemed to enter Dad's life.

Despite the words leaving his mouth, doubt remained in his heart. Were they overly aggressive in their honesty?

All of a sudden, Tiger's face lit up with a flicker of understanding. "Give me a moment," he exclaimed, his tone filled with a sudden burst of understanding. "There's something else. Something Bobby told me a while back."

He looked at Sarah and Derrick, his gaze intense. "He knew. He knew about his real father all along."

A collective gasp filled the room. The revelation hung in the air, a chilling twist to an already tragic story.

"What do you mean he knew?" Sarah demanded, a flicker of anger replacing the despair in her eyes.

"He bragged about it once," Tiger explained, his voice low. "Boasted about how he'd infiltrated the Duke family, how he was going to bring them down from the inside. He called it payback for some old grudge his father had with Mr. Duke."

"A grudge?" Derrick echoed, his voice tight with dawning comprehension. "So, Bobby wasn't just after the company. He was after Dad… after all of us."

When the jigsaw pieces fit together, a darker image than they had anticipated became visible.

In addition to being motivated by wealth, Bobby's treachery was also influenced by a perverted need for vengeance that he had inherited from his criminal father, Marshal Briggs.

He had deceived and lied to manipulate all of them in order to fulfill a long-standing vendetta.

A cold fury settled over Sarah and Derrick. Their sympathy for Mr. Duke's shock evaporated, replaced by a burning desire for justice.

Bobby wasn't just a thief; he was a viper who had slithered into their lives and poisoned the very foundation of their families.

"We can't let him win," Sarah declared, her voice ringing with newfound determination. "We have to expose him. We have to show Dad the truth, show him who Bobby really is."

Derrick nodded grimly. "He deserves to know," he agreed. "But how? Right now, Dad's in a hospital bed…"

"We'll find a way," Sarah said, her gaze resolute. "We have to. For Dad, for the company, for ourselves."

The circumstances pressed down on them as they gathered together, heads lowered in a solemn vow. Their quest for justice had taken a tragic turn, but they didn't waver in their resolve.

They would fight for Mr. Duke, expose Bobby's twisted game, and honor the man who, despite his flaws, had loved them both as his own.

There was much uncertainty in front of them, but they would meet it head-on, determined to win.

Mr. Duke lay comatose in the cold, clinical silence of the hospital room, his breathing shallow and laborious.

Beside him, a heart monitor beeped a monotonous rhythm, the only counterpoint to the storm raging within the walls of the old lodge.

The news of his stroke had traveled like wildfire, reaching Sarah and Derrick through the impersonal voice of a nurse.

Guilt gnawed at them, a bitter aftertaste to the revelation of Bobby's true parentage. Had their actions, their pursuit of the truth, triggered this medical crisis?

Yet, amidst the self-recrimination, a flicker of defiance sparked in their eyes. Mr. Duke, despite his flaws, had been a good man, a father figure who deserved more than Bobby's lies and manipulation.

This wasn't just about revenge; it was about protecting a legacy, safeguarding the company that Mr. Duke had built, and ensuring Bobby's treachery wouldn't succeed.

"We need a plan," Derrick stated, his voice laced with determination. "We have to expose Bobby, but how do we do it without adding more stress to Dad's condition?"

Sarah, her eyes narrowed with a newfound resolve, tapped a finger against the table. "We need leverage. Something concrete to prove Bobby's true identity and his malicious intentions."

Tiger, ever the resourceful strategist, chimed in. "The conversation I overheard – Bobby bragging about his real father and his plan for revenge. Maybe there's a way to record him admitting it?"

"Recording him would be ideal," Sarah acknowledged, "but how? We can't exactly bug his office."

"Perhaps not," Tiger countered, a sly grin spreading across his face. "But we can be creative. Remember that disgruntled employee Martha mentioned? Maybe they can be persuaded to help."

A spark of hope ignited in Sarah's eyes. "That's a possibility! If we can get someone on the inside to plant a recording device, we might have the evidence we need."

"But what about Mr. Duke?" Derrick interjected, his voice laced with worry. "We can't exactly leave him in the hospital with no explanation."

"We can't," Sarah agreed. "But maybe there's a way to reach him, to show him the truth without causing further strain."

Suddenly, Olivia, who had been unusually quiet throughout the conversation, spoke up, her voice small but firm. "Grandpa keeps old photo albums in his study. Maybe… maybe there's a picture of Bobby's real father somewhere. Something that might jog his memory when he wakes up."

The suggestion hung in the air, a ray of light in the darkness. A single photograph, a tangible piece of the past, might be the key to breaking through Mr. Duke's confusion and revealing Bobby's web of deceit.

"It's worth a try," Sarah said. "Olivia, you're a genius!"

With a renewed sense of purpose, they divided their tasks. Derrick contacted Sam, their private investigator, to discreetly access Mr. Duke's study and search for photos of Marshal Briggs.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Tiger reached out to Martha about the disgruntled T&T employee, to gauge their interest in planting a recording device in Bobby's office.