Eric's face paled, his eyes darting between Evelyn and Samantha in stunned disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. The revelation seemed to shrink his normally commanding presence.

Claire gently placed a hand on Eric's arm, her voice soft and encouraging. "Eric, we should go inside and sit down."

But Eric remained frozen, his gaze fixed on Samantha, who still held her grandmother's hand tightly, her innocent eyes brimming with curiosity and excitement.

Following Evelyn's introduction, Samantha's face lit up in a radiant smile. She let go of Claire and, without hesitation, stepped forward, her tiny arms outstretched toward Eric. "Hi, Grandpa! I'm Samantha," she said, her voice sweet and untroubled by the tension around them.

For a heartbeat, Eric remained motionless, his brows furrowed deeply as if processing everything. Although confused and upset, he didn't want to show it to the child. His eyes softened slowly. His rigid posture relaxed slightly as he took a tentative step closer to Samantha. He leaned down, reaching out his hand.

"Hello, Samantha. It's nice to meet you," he said, his voice hoarse but gentle. He glanced at Evelyn, his eyes questioning, full of confusion and unspoken words. "I hope you have a good explanation for this."

Seeing the bewilderment and hurt in her father's expression, Evelyn's heart ached. "I do, Dad. And I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner," she whispered, stepping aside to let them enter.

Eric straightened, his face hardening as he walked into the house. As Evelyn closed the door, he turned to Claire. "You knew, didn't you?" His tone was low, a mixture of accusation and disbelief.

Claire sighed, her calm exterior faltering slightly under his intense gaze. "Evelyn wanted to tell you herself, but she needed time to gather the courage. This dinner was her idea."

Eric was torn between anger and sorrow as he struggled to process his emotions. His gaze returned to Evelyn.

As they entered the living room, Eric and Claire stopped short at the sight of Derek. Claire looked from Derek to Evelyn. They both recognized him from their anniversary party; Michael had introduced them. They knew Evelyn was interviewing him, and had witnessed him escorting her away after her encounter with Sandra. They also knew Sandra was in a relationship with him. Seeing Derek there at this pivotal moment, Claire wondered if Samantha's blue eyes, and a slight resemblance to Derek, were merely coincidences or if she was imagining things.

Maya came to greet Evelyn's parents. Evelyn signaled her to take Samantha to the bedroom, wanting to prevent her from overhearing the upcoming discussion.

After Maya and Samantha left, Eric looked at Derek. "What is going on here?" he asked harshly, trying to keep his voice down, mindful of the child.

Before Evelyn could speak, Derek stepped forward, standing beside her. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn," he greeted with a polite nod. "It's nice to meet you both again. I'm Derek Stone, Evelyn's fiancé, and Samantha's father," he said, putting his arm around Evelyn's shoulder.

Evelyn looked up at him, surprised by his self-introduction, while her parents exchanged surprised and confused glances.

"What do you mean you're her fiancé? We know you're seeing Sandra," Eric said harshly, turning from Derek to Evelyn with disbelief. "Did you jump from Michael to his cousin? Is that how I raised you? To be shameless and irresponsible?"

"Dad…"

Derek cut Evelyn off. "Please refrain from using that tone and language with my fiancée. I'm here because I didn't appreciate how you spoke to her in public last time. I wanted to ensure you didn't repeat it. If you want an explanation, you'll get it, but don't talk to either of us that way," Derek said firmly, surprising everyone again.

Evelyn's heart skipped a beat. She looked up at him, shaking her head and pleading with her eyes for him not to escalate the situation. But Derek held his father-in-law's gaze, refusing to be intimidated.

Evelyn looked at Claire helplessly, but Claire also looked at her with a confused frown; she knew nothing of Evelyn's relationship or fiancé. As far as she knew, Evelyn had said Samantha's father wasn't in the picture and that she wasn't ready to introduce a father figure. So, what was happening? Why was Sandra's love interest suddenly introducing himself as Evelyn's fiancé and Samantha's father?

After a long stare, Eric finally looked away from Derek and back to Evelyn. "Did you invite him here to be rude to me?"

"Eric, you need to calm down…"

"Calm down? How can I be calm when Evelyn invited us here to be insulted by her boyfriend?" Eric cut in, facing Claire. "It's not enough that she had a child out of wedlock; it had to be with Michael's cousin. Have you no decency? Did you cancel your wedding with Michael just to be a baby mama?" Eric turned to Evelyn with disapproval. "I always wondered why Evelyn would rather leave than talk to you Now I understand why your daughter couldn't say a word to you all these years. With your poor…"

"Derek, stop. Please. Let me handle this," Evelyn said quietly, wanting to salvage her carefully planned dinner.

"Evelyn, please explain what is going on," Claire said softly.

"What's there to explain?"

"Dad, can you just keep quiet and listen?" Evelyn snapped, fed up with his criticism. "For once, can you just listen and stop being so critical of everything I do!"

Her father blinked, taken aback by her outburst. Her stepmother looked equally shocked.

Derek smiled, glad she was finally speaking up instead of letting her father dominate the conversation.

"You know what! I'm done with this! It was one thing for you to give me that ultimatum six years ago. I let that happen because I wanted to leave. At the anniversary party, you threw me out in front of everyone without asking what happened, but I took that. That was your house, and you were free to treat me that way. But this is my home, and I'll be damned if I let you do this to me under my roof. I spent all day preparing for this dinner to explain things, yet all you've done is condemn and criticize me for things you know nothing about. You know NOTHING about me or my life, Dad! Now, as Derek said, if you want an explanation and will listen, you can sit down, and I'll tell you what you need to know. But if you won't listen and keep talking to me this way in MY home, then you should leave, and let's cut ties permanently. Because I do not want anything to do with a father who doesn't listen to me and can't give me the benefit of the doubt! If you won't listen, leave!"