Previously…
Miranda confronted Brett about his lies. Brett vowed to hold on to his marriage and his position in the family, but later slept with his secretary. Renee prevented Kenny from seeing Sierra at Hotel Terranova. Heather told Stormy she’d been having blackouts, prompting him, James and Ethan to question Heather further about the night of the murder. Miranda found dirt on the rim of Heather’s nightgown and began putting two and two together. She later raced to the courthouse with Jordan just as Heather began to remember walking through the tunnels to Will’s house that night and shooting him with James’ gun.
Alex Reynolds rushed inside the police station, her heels clicking repetitively on the tile floor. She spotted James, Jordan and Stormy pacing the waiting area and bounded over to them in a huff.
“Miranda called and told me to come down right away,” she said and looked around for her daughter. “Where is she?”
“She went home to be with Michael,” Stormy replied and ran his hand over his tired face. “Heather’s in the interrogation room with Brandon and the D.A.”
Alex noted the grief-stricken look on Jordan’s face and her heart sank. She knew he was going through hell and all she wanted to do was reach out to him. But knowing how strained their relationship had been, she decided to wait it out.
“She really killed Will?” she finally asked. “I can’t believe it.”
“Well, I can,” Jordan announced, his hands dug deeply in his pockets. “After what that man did to her—”
James cut him off and turned to Alex. “Heather had been having blackouts. She used the tunnels that night and went into Will’s house. Apparently, she found my gun and shot him.”
Again, Alex’s eyes met with Jordan’s and she fought the urge to go to him and comfort him. They were separated and had said and done horrible things to each other. Now none of that seemed to matter. All she wanted was to take his pain away.
Moments later, Brandon emerged from the back and approached them with some trepidation.
“What did Littleton say?” Jordan asked anxiously.
Brandon shrugged. “They placed her under arrest. No decision on charges yet. They’re considering all the facts first.”
Jordan dropped his hands to his sides. “It was self-defense. What’s there to consider?”
“Heather had the gun. She didn’t even give him a chance. She shot him and left the scene. Self-defense doesn’t apply here.”
“I want to see her,” Jordan said, clenching his fists angrily. “I want to see my daughter.”
Brandon shook his head again. “They won’t let you. Not yet.”
Alex felt her eyes sting with tears when she saw the look on Jordan’s face.
“Look at it this way,” Brandon continued. “Brooke will be released in a matter of hours. After the paperwork is processed, they’ll—”
“Oh, brilliant!” Jordan exclaimed and leveled a look of resentment at James. “His wife gets off, but my daughter is locked up like a criminal!”
“Jordan, she confessed to murder,” Brandon reminded him. “This is standard practice. You know that.”
Jordan wrung his hands in frustration. The waiting was going to kill him.
Meanwhile, Miranda stood in the nursery at the Blackthorne mansion watching Michael sleep peacefully in his crib. She smiled contently and thought back to how jealous she’d once been of her baby brother. It seemed like so long ago, and now she couldn’t even remember what had gotten her so bent out of shape. How could anyone be jealous of an innocent baby?
“I hope you’re getting some ideas,” said a voice from behind.
Miranda turned with a start and scowled when she saw Brett come up behind her. “Ideas about what?” she asked with disgust. The sight of her husband made her sick to her stomach.
“About us having a baby of our own,” he said slyly and reached out to her. “I think you’d be a fantastic mother.”
Quickly, Miranda slapped his hand away and turned around to face him. “I thought I made it clear that babies are not in our future, Brett,” she said in a rage. “As a matter of fact, we have no future at all. After everything you’d done, how can you still think that I would want to have a baby with you?”
Determined to change her mind, Brett gave her his trademark bedroom eyes and inched closer to her. “Babe, I love you. Is there anything wrong with me wanting to start a family with you? We’ve been married for two years. We’re golden.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, we are so far from golden it’s not even funny.” She brushed past him and started to the bedroom door when he pulled her back. “Let go of me!”
“I’m not going to let you give up on us, Miranda!”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you bulldozed yourself through this family!” Miranda yelled, trying desperately to keep her voice down so as not to wake the baby.
“Everything I did was for us. You have to believe that.”
Miranda looked at him with contempt and shook her head. “I don’t have to believe anything you tell me. Everything you’ve said is a lie.”
“Babe—”
“I want a divorce, Brett,” she exclaimed. “As far as I’m concerned, our marriage is over.”
With that, she turned and stormed out of the nursery. Brett stood behind, devastated by the finality of her words.
An hour later, Leilani opened the front door of the Blackthorne mansion and stood clear as James led Brooke inside the foyer. They were greeted with exuberance by Miranda and Brett.
“Welcome home,” Brett gushed and gave Brooke a quick squeeze.
“It’s wonderful to be home,” Brooke said, a little more than surprised when Miranda came up and hugged her warmly.
“We’re glad to have you back,” Miranda said, surprising herself by not choking on the words. But before the moment could linger on for too long, she looked at her father and shifted subjects. “Any word from the D.A. on charges against Heather?”
James shook his head solemnly. “Not yet. Jordan and Stormy are at the police station now. They said they’d call as soon as they know anything.”
The moment was interrupted when the faint sounds of a restless baby carried from the top landing. Everyone turned and looked up the stairs where Ethan was holding Michael in his arms, looking down at Brooke with anticipation.
“My sweet baby,” Brooke whispered, covering her mouth and crying happily. She walked toward the staircase and looked into Ethan’s eyes for a brief second before she took Michael from him and held him gently in her arms.
James came up behind her and smiled happily, placing a hand on her shoulder and watching mother and child reunite tenderly.
Brooke cradled Michael against her chest, looking at Ethan and then at James with tears in her eyes. She knew what lied ahead, but she didn’t care. For right now all that mattered was that she was finally free, and her baby was home where he belonged.
Jordan and Stormy were allowed into the interrogation room to wait with Heather for word from the D.A. and Judge.
“We’ve been here for hours,” Jordan complained while pacing the room. “When are they going to tell us something?”
“It hasn’t been that long,” Stormy argued, his eyes transfixed to Heather who sat in a daze at the interrogation table. “Anyway, Brandon said they had to track the judge down.”
“It’s taking so long because they’re going to put me in prison,” Heather said, staring blankly across the room. “They’re just trying to decide for how long.”
Jordan stopped his manic pacing and shook his head adamantly. “You are not going to prison,” he insisted. “You weren’t in your right mind when you shot Will. You blocked the whole thing out. How can they hold you accountable for that?”
“It doesn’t matter why I did it or what state of mind I was in,” she said, finally looking up at her father and Stormy. “I killed someone. With a gun in cold blood. You think they’re not going to make me pay for that?” Sighing in despair, she buried her face in her hands and thought about life in prison. She’d never been more terrified of anything in her life.
Stormy tried to interject some positivity. “Listen, Brandon won’t let that happen. He’s a brilliant defense attorney for a reason.”
“Brilliant enough to clear me of charges of murder in the second degree?” Heather mused and shook her head skeptically.
“No one’s talked charges yet,” Jordan quickly reminded her.
“Yeah, but you know it’ll at least be that, right?” Heather asked.
Jordan shook his head and continued pacing. “I don’t know anything, except that Littleton wouldn’t dare go that far.”
“You said yourself that he likes making exampls of Hollywood types,” Stormy said.
Jordan shot him a look of contempt. “Is that supposed to be helping?”
“No, but I don’t think sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the reality of this situation is helping either.”
“Look, my daughter is not going to jail!” Jordan yelled across the room.
Finally, Heather had had enough of their bickering. “Would you both just stop it?”
The room grew silent for a moment until the door opened and Brandon entered. Immediately, everyone turned toward him in anticipation.
“Did you hear from the D.A.?” Jordan asked in bated breath.
Brandon nodded.
“And?” Stormy demanded.
“They’re charging Heather with manslaughter,” he told them.
Jordan slammed his fist onto the table. “Damn son of a—”
Heather sunk her head and took a deep, calming breath to steady herself.
“I won’t accept this,” Jordan said, fuming. “I’ll get every appeals court to—”
“You didn’t let me finish,” Brandon cut him off, holding a hand up in protest. He looked directly at Heather. “Judge Anders came back with his sentence.”
Heather nodded morosely. “Okay,” she said nervously. “Just tell me, Brandon. I can take it.”
“You’ll get eighteen-months of probation during which time you’ll have to see a psychiatrist,” he told her, then added, “outpatient.”
Heather looked at him and then at her father and Stormy. “That’s it?” she asked in confusion. When she saw the corners of her father’s mouth curl upward into a smile, she began to realize her good fortune. “I don’t have to go to prison?”
Brand smiled. “No prison.”
Trembling with relief, Heather threw her arms around Stormy and then her father, tears of happiness welling up her eyes.
“Thank god,” Jordan said, squeezing his daughter tightly while Stormy looked on happily.
Later that night, James stepped out of the bathroom in his and Brooke’s bedroom and searched the room for her. Tying the belt around his robe, he walked to the nursery next door and found her rocking Michael in her arms while sitting in a rocking chair. Pausing in the doorway, he smiled and stared with admiration.
After a few minutes, Brooke finally looked up and smiled at James. “When did you sneak in?” she asked while stroking Michael’s hair.
“Not too long ago. I was just thinking about what a perfect picture this would be.” He walked forward and knelt down beside her. “Everything is just as it should be.”
Brooke kissed him and then continuing rocking Michael in her arms. After a few minutes, she stood up and placed Michael back in his crib. She turned and put her arms around James.
“I’m so glad Heather only got probation. She needs time to heal. We all do after everything Will put us through.” A pause while she grew into a dreamy state. “I just want things to go back to normal. I want us to start that life we wanted so badly.”
“We will,” James assured her, stroking his hand down the back of her head. “Trust me. We will.”
Down the hall, Stormy laid on his bed in a pair of tight pink boxers, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the day’s events when a light knocking at the door caught his attention. He stood up and opened the door, surprised to see Heather standing in the hallway.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said with a faint smile.
Stormy took her hand and led her into the bedroom. “Do you want me to tell you a story like I used to when we were first married?” he joked, amazed at how wholesome and refreshed she looked. It was obvious that the past few weeks had weighed on her severely.
Laughing, Heather sat down in a chair beside the bed and crossed her legs. She looked at him and felt a tear well up in her eye. “Shouldn’t I feel something?”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I killed a man in cold blood. I don’t even feel that bad about it. I mean, I realize that it was wrong, and I would like to think that if I had to do it all over again that I wouldn’t have gone to his house that night. But I just can’t seem to feel anything.”
Stormy sat down on the bed and took her hand in his. “You will,” he said softly. “And when you do, I’ll be right here for you to lean on.”
His words were more comfort that she could have hoped for. Putting her arms around him, she was suddenly taken back to earlier times when they were happy and in love. So much had happened since then. But right now, she was caught up in the moment and she began to feel that maybe they would find their way back to each other. Stormy had been so kind and attentive since this whole mess started. How could she help but fall in love with him all over again?
“Thanks,” she said and ran her hand down his bare back. “I’ll probably take you up on that.”
“What are ex-husband’s for?” Stormy asked with a grin before standing up. “Now, how about we go down to the kitchen and get some milk and some of Leilani’s banana bread and play some PS3.”
The invitation wasn’t quite was Heather had in mind, but she accepted it happily. After all, there was plenty of time to work on getting close again. She put her arm through his and followed him down the stairs to the kitchen.
Across town at Hotel Terranova, Jordan sat at the bar in the lounge, listening to the elegant melody from the piano as he drowned his sorrows in whiskey. Why he felt the need to he wasn’t sure. Heather had been given only probation and mandatory psychiatric visits for killing Will. He should be on top of the world. But the state of his relationship with Alex was like a cloud of gloom that hung over his head. Despite the horrible things she’d done to him, he still loved her and wanted her so badly. Being separated was harder than he had anticipated.
“Mind if I have a seat?” a voice called from beside him.
When Jordan looked up he was surprised to see Renee DeWitt standing there, a picture of beauty with her curly black hair cascading loosely around her shoulders and a low cut gown that draped beautifully around her figure.
“By all means,” he said and pulled a chair out for her. “What brings you out tonight? Couldn’t sleep either?”
Sighing, Renee ordered a martini and folded her hands in front of her. “This is a big hotel, but even bigger when you’re alone,” she said. “What’s your excuse?”
Jordan smiled and paid for her drink. “Just have a lot on my mind,” was his casual response. He lifted his glass to hers and offered a toast. “I was sorry to hear about you and Kenny.”
“I’m not,” Renee said and stirred her drink with her skewered olives. “It’s funny, isn’t it? You think that when you get to be a certain age that you’ve got everything figured out. Your career, your marriage, your children. Then one day you realize you haven’t gotten anything figured out. You’re coasting through life with blinders on just like everyone else is.”
“I’ve never pictured you as having blinders on,” Jordan said, staring at her with admiration. “You’re strong, successful, and beautiful. I think Kenny was a fool to let you go.”
Renee raised an eyebrow and purred gently in his direction. “Mr. Rydell, either I’ve been out of practice for too long or I’d say you were trying to hit on me.”
Jordan smirked devilishly and turned to face her. “Would that be so awful?” he asked and gulped down the rest of his drink before ordering another one.
“Maybe not…if you weren’t sitting here trying to drink Alex Reynolds out of your head.”
The remark got to Jordan, not because Renee said it, but because she was right. He was trying to drink Alex out of his head. He was sitting there with a beautiful, classy woman who he was quite certain he could charm into bed with ease, and instead he was so hung up on his estranged wife that it showed blatantly.
“Sorry if I touched a nerve,” Renee continued.
Jordan brushed the remark off. “Well, what’s the harm in getting together for a little sleepover?” he asked. “I promise to leave the ghosts of my past in the past.”
Renee finished her drink and clutched her purse in her hand as she stood up. “Jordan, we could play a lot of games and go up to my room and make love all night and it would be fantastic. But then you’d still wake up tomorrow and want Alex.” A thoughtful pause while she looked into his handsome eyes. “I think I deserve better than that, don’t you?”
Before he could reply, Renee was traipsing across the lounge with a flourish. Jordan sighed and gulped down the rest of his drink, cursing himself for blowing it with Renee. He actually found her quite intriguing. If only the hold Alex had on him wasn’t so strong.
Then, almost as if on cue, the sight of Alex sauntering across the lounge sent Jordan into a tailspin. He turned back to his drink and nursed it casually. A second later, he felt Alex’s presence looming over him.
“Interesting company you’re keeping these days,” she said. “What were you and Renee talking about?”
“Not now, Alex,” he muttered, slightly wishing that Alex was the tiniest bit jealous of Renee DeWitt.
Sighing, she sat down beside him and lit a cigarette. “Come on, Jordan, you’re not still angry with me, are you?” she pleaded.
“It’s not even a matter of being angry,” he replied and leveled a sheepish gaze at her. “It’s just that we don’t work well together. We tried. We got married and it blew up in our faces. We don’t trust each other and that’s all there is to it.”
“But what about today?” she asked. “We were a team again. The two of us. Didn’t it feel great?”
Jordan couldn’t believe his ears. “Come on, Alex, it’s never been just the two of us. Your ex-husband has always been right there in the middle.”
“Yes, but the difference is he’s not here right now. I am. But here you are pushing me away like always.”
With that, she got up and stormed out of the lounge, leaving Jordan alone and hornier than he was before. With a sigh, he looked around the sparsely populated room and found his eyes locking on a beautiful blond woman ogling him from her table. Probably another wannabe actress, he decided. But even still, she’d be a suitable distraction for the evening.
Getting up from his stool, he walked across the bar and sat down next to her.
The next morning, Brett got dressed in the guest bedroom and started off for work when he ran into Stormy coming out of the gym. They paused in the foyer and stared each other down for a second before Stormy finally decided to speak his mind.
“Still in the dog house with my sister I see,” he said, patting his sweaty face with a towel.
“I won’t be for long,” Brett insisted, refusing to believe that Miranda would go through with a divorce.
Stormy shrugged and started up the stairs. “Well, I know my sister, and when she makes up her mind, there’s no changing it. You’re on your way out, buddy. And that means your days in this house and in Sunset Studios are numbered, because when my father gets wind of what you’ve been up to, he’ll toss you out himself.”
“And leave you to run the studio yourself?” Brett asked with a scoff. “I think you’ve proven that your judgment is a little lax. Your father isn’t going to trust you to handle things the way he would. Get real, Stormy.”
“We’ll see,” was his ominous reply.
Brett glared menacingly as Stormy turned and ran up to his room. Frustrated, he struggled to think of a way to maintain his position. Miranda he would handle. But Stormy required help from the outside.
Suddenly getting an idea, he walked down the hall to the living room and picked up the phone. After dialing a number, he smiled and tapped his fingers on the outside of his briefcase.
“I’d like to order a bouquet of red roses,” he said. “Yes, the biggest you’ve got. Send them to Samantha Fallmont at the Fallmont Mansion in Denver, Colorado. The card should read Love Always, Stormy.” A pause while he reconsidered. “No, actually make that When Can I See You? Love, Stormy.”
Stormy showered, put on a new Tom Ford suit, and then decided to check in on Heather before heading off to the studio. He scouted around the house and stepped out onto the terrace that extended from the living room. From across the grounds, he could see her walking leisurely by the lily pond. She looked sad and lonely to him, and he felt compelled to change that.
After a quick change to more casual clothes, he jogged down to the pond and grabbed her from behind. “Gotcha,” he said and laughed at the way she jumped.
“Stormy, you scared me,” Heather said as she placed a hand on her beating heart. “I thought you’d be at work by now.”
Shrugging, he took her arm and led her back across the grounds. “I decided to take the day off. We’re going to have some fun today.”
The way he guided her across the grass and took her hand in his sent butterflies tripping through her stomach. She couldn’t help the way she felt. He was being more attentive than he had through most of their marriage, and she liked it.
“You don’t have to spend the day babysitting me, Stormy,” she said without really meaning it. It felt good to have him back in her life this way. “You should go to work.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m not babysitting you. I think we both deserve a day off.”
Not about to argue with him, Heather followed him to his tricked-out Cobra II and jumped into the passenger’s seat. A second later, Stormy was starting the engine and peeling out of the circular drive.
James was behind the desk in his office at Blackthorne-Reynolds when Alex came in dressed in a pristine white suit and wide-brimmed hat.
“We have a problem,” she said, her hands planted firmly on her hips.
“Alex, not even you can spoil my day,” James said, on top of the world for the first time in a very long time. “Whatever bad news you came here to deliver can just wait.”
Handing him a report, Alex puffed at a cigarette and crossed her legs. “There’s a problem with the drilling at the site in Colorado,” she explained. “There’s an aquifer near where the pipeline is going in. Environmentalists are already started to picket.”
“But it’s our land,” James insisted. “The injunction Senator Fallmont proposed has been stalled. The environmentalists shouldn’t be an issue any more.”
“That was before we knew about the aquifer,” Alex rationalized. “Now we’ve got to find somebody who knows what they’re doing because every day that we don’t forge ahead on this pipeline, we lose money. Somebody out there has to know how to get around this thing.”
“I can probably help you with that,” Kenny DeWitt said as he entered the office.
James smiled. “There you go, Alex. Talk to Kenny. There. I’m officially off bad news duty.”
Alex glared at him ruefully before turning to Kenny. “Kenny, we’ve got some environmental obstacles, and since you’re the head of the Land Commission, we were hoping you could do something to help.”
Kenny sat down across from Alex and folded his hands in his lap. “Well, I do happen to have some free time.”
“Of course you do. You did get fired from Merteuil.” Alex stated, then couldn’t help but add insult to injury. “After Renee found you in bed with B.J. Summers, wasn’t it?”
“Thank you for reminding me, Alex,” he said with a wry grin. “But yes, I’d be happy to help.”
Alex and James looked at each other, hoping that Kenny’s influence with the Land Commission would be the answer to their problems.
Renee opened the door of her suite at Hotel Terranova and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Jordan holding a bouquet of orchids.
“Consider it an apology for being a sexist pig last night,” he said.
Renee laughed and stood clear of the door. “Orchids are my favorite,” she said. “They’re lovely.”
“So are you.” He set the vase on a console table and turned to face her. “Will you please have dinner with me tonight so I can try to make it up to you?”
Smiling happily, Renee nodded her head in agreement. “Apology accepted, and yes, I would love to.”
Jordan was thrilled that he’d been fortunate enough to get another chance. Maybe Renee DeWitt was exactly what he needed to get over Alex once and for all.
The Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier loomed like a giant and looked even bigger to Heather once they stood in line beneath it. She turned to Stormy and gave him a look of disbelief.
“You want to ride that thing?” she asked.
“Why not?” Stormy replied and handed the operator a fistful of tickets. “Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve wanted to but could never get anyone to ride it with you.”
“That’s because you’re terrified of heights!”
Stormy shrugged as they took their seats in the car and were belted in by the attendant. “Well, now I’m compromising. Consider it an apology for all the rotten things I did while we were married.”
The ride jerked and jolted and started into motion and Heather stifled a laugh when Stormy clutched the bar with all his strength. “You don’t have to torture yourself to tell me you’re sorry!” she shrieked with laughter.
The wheel inched up gradually while other passengers got on, the whole while Stormy growing increasingly anxious. He looked down over the side of the car and felt his stomach turn flips.
“I’ll be fine, really,” he said and clutched onto her hand with all his might.
Heather looked at him with a smile, amazed that he would put himself through something that he hated just for her. “You really don’t have to do this.”
“No…I….I want to.” His words came out broken and indecisive. Leaning over the car again, he peered down to the ground and realized they were nearing the top of the wheel.
“Stormy, don’t look!” Heather cried and burst into a fit of laughter. She pulled him back against the seat and stared into his eyes. The magical feeling slowly returned with every minute they spent together. She was now convinced that she had fallen back in love with him.
“What?” he asked.
She shrugged, not entirely comfortable with saying what was on her mind. Not yet anyway. “Just….thank you.”
“It’s just a Ferris wheel.”
Heather shook her head. “No, I mean thank you for spending the day with me. I don’t think I could have handled being alone today.”
Seconds later, the Ferris wheel began circling faster and Stormy felt his stomach drop. He gripped Heather’s hand tighter and closed his eyes, all the while hearing Heather’s intoxicating laughter beside him.
Ethan walked into the parlor room at the Blackthorne mansion and found Brooke holding Michael in her arms on the cognac leather sofa. He smiled contently and cleared his throat to announce his presence. A second later, Brooke looked up and offered a blank expression.
“He’s beautiful, Brooke,” Ethan said and took a few steps forward. “He looks just like you.”
Brooke managed a smile and stood up, cradling the baby in her arms and looking down into his eyes. “I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you did to bring him back,” she said, bouncing Michael gently in her arms when he started to fuss. “James and I owe you so much.”
The remark instigated a response in Ethan that he never knew he was capable of, especially toward Brooke. “Excuse me?” he asked hatefully and in disbelief.
Brooke didn’t bat an eyelash. “You were the one who put everything together and tracked down Joel Armitage. It’s because of you that Michael is home with us now.”
Ethan glared furiously. “You’re not going to tell him, are you?” he asked, although it wasn’t a question. He already knew the answer.
“No, I’m not.”
Ethan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He ran his fingers through his hair and paced the room in frustration. “Am I just supposed to forget that you stood up in that nursery a week ago and admitted to me that Michael is my son?
“I wish it could be different.” She paused and went to set the baby in his crib. “I just don’t see any other way. Not after everything James has done for me. When he thought I killed Will, he protected me. He covered it up and lied to the police and to everyone, even though his own son was sitting in jail.”
“So that means that you owe him a lie?” Ethan raged. “At the very least I’d think that you’d want to level with him.”
Suddenly, Brooke was faced with the reality that history was indeed repeating itself. Ethan had been lied to his entire life about who his father was. Even now that Will was dead, he was still in the dark as to his true identity. Now she was asking Ethan to aid in the same kind of lie about his own son. It was unthinkable. A legacy of lies.
“Please, Brooke, just tell James the truth so we can all get on with our lives. I have to know that my son will know who his real father is.”
“I’m sorry, Ethan, I can’t,” she said quietly.
“I’ll fight you if I have to, Brooke.”
His remark sent her into a tailspin. “Ethan, no!” she cried and rushed toward him. “Please, you can’t do that! You don’t know what you’ll be doing to James! “
“I’ll be telling him the truth!”
Sobbing uncontrollably, Brooke sunk to her knees in front of him and held his hand firmly in hers. “Ethan, please. Please don’t do this. I’m begging you. You can see Michael all you want. You can come over and take him out and have all the time you want with him, but just please don’t tell James that you’re his father. Please, Ethan! I’m begging you!”
The distraught look in her eyes told Ethan that she was petrified of James learning the truth. He realized that he had a choice to make. One could destroy lives forever, and the other could set up a lifetime of lies and betrayal.
He pulled his hand away and turned, walking out of the room and down the foyer to the front door. When Brooke heard the door slam shut, she burst into tears and buried her face in her hands.
Next time….
Miranda’s birthday arrives, and with it, a revealing party at the mansion. James and Alex’s business is in trouble. Heather begins seeing a therapist. Ethan learns a long-awaited truth about Will. The reason for Nathan Blackthorne’s exile is revealed.
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