"You're going to wear a hole in the floor," Michael Hanley said from his seat on a bench next to the courtroom door.

"Good, then maybe someone can bring charges against me for destroying public property," Valerie remarked. "Then I've got the entire public and private sector covered."

"I don't know why you're acting indignant," Michael said. "You brought this on yourself. You're on camera burning down our father's storage building."

"I was under duress!" Valerie cried.

"Valerie, try to calm down," Leslie Hanley said, returning to the area with Felicia Bale. "You don't want to give the wrong impression in court."

"You mean the impression that I don't want to go to prison?" Valerie demanded.

"The impression that you're...not stable."

"Whatever."

Leslie rolled her eyes and sat next to Michael. "I'm done trying."

"Valerie, everything will be fine," Felicia said, embracing her sister. "You just have to try and remain calm."

"Oh, please don't remain calm," Robert Bale said as he approached with his wife, Melissa, on his arm. "Then Melissa and I would miss the satisfaction of you having to be sedated mid-trial. Or tasered."

"We're having a family moment, Robert," Michael said. "How about you two go argue over whomever you're cheating on your wife with at the moment?"

Robert shot a glare at Felicia, but she simply shrugged her shoulders at him. She hadn't told Michael anything, Michael was only commenting on Robert's known track record.

"Let's go inside, honey," Melissa said. "I can't even stand to look at her."

As Melissa and Robert walked into the courtroom, Valerie shouted at her through the doors. "You know, you don't have to talk about me like I'm not even here!"

"Valerie —" Felicia started.

"Oh, shut up, Felicia," Valerie snapped. "That bitch ruined my life once already and now she's just going to do it again. I wish I'd left her to die when I..."

"When what?"

"Nothing," Valerie said quickly. "Let's all go inside, shall we?"

Soon after, Robert followed by describing the stress she'd caused him after finding out that he had cheated on his first wife, Felicia. Fortunately for Valerie, her attorney was able to imply that any stress Robert experienced was due to his own actions and that Valerie was merely looking out for her sister's best interests.

All that Valerie could do was stare blankly off into the distance. Her eyes glazed over as the parade of witness — those for the prosecution, those for the defense, those cross-examined — came forward and spoke ill of her. Even those she thought she could depend on couldn't be pressed to tell at least a half-truth when they were on the stand.

"I'm sorry," Felicia whispered as she passed by the defendant's table.

Valerie forced a smile for Felicia's benefit. The smile faded, however, once Felicia was out of sight.

"I'm going to call a recess for the day," the Judge said.

"Is that good?" Valerie asked her lawyer.

"It's a recess," Nathan Orlando, Valerie's attorney, said. "It's not good or bad."

Valerie frowned. "Oh."


MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"Good to hear," Aaron Maddock said. "She deserves as much."

Melissa nodded. "Tell me about it. Why did you need to stop by here anyway?"

"I have some paperwork to finish up," Aaron said. "I'm going away for the weekend."

Melissa's eyes widened at this sudden news, this was the first she was hearing of this. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Who's the lucky lady?" Melissa asked. "That woman you've been seeing from the hospital charity? What was her name again?"

"Gina," Aaron replied. "And, yes...it's her."

"Exciting," Melissa said.

Aaron turned on his desk lamp and slid into his chair. As he did, Melissa noticed a cassette tape on the edge of his desk with her name written on it. She reached for the tape, but Aaron swatted her hand away.

"That's private," Aaron said quickly.

"What do you mean, it's private?" Melissa demanded. "My name is on it."

"Melissa, not right now," Aaron said.

"Fine," Melissa said softly.

Aaron's desk phone rang, drawing his attention. While he reached to answer the phone, Melissa snatched the key lying on Aaron's desk. She had no idea why she did it, but something told her that her cousin was keeping something from her. Possibly something about her condition that he might be too afraid to tell her about.

She slid the key into her pocket and clutched her purse. "I'm gonna take off," Melissa said.

"Okay," Aaron said, lowering the phone. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks," Melissa said. "Have fun on your trip."

Melissa quickly exited the office, taking a deep breath and hoping her cousin didn't realize his key had been stolen rather than misplaced.


ALEC BALE & DARREN REYNOLDS' APARTMENT

He sat down on his side of the bed and set a glass of water on the nightstand, sighing as he did.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alec said. "Just been having those dreams again, that's all."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No," Alec snapped.

"I'll pretend you're still shaken up from the nightmare and that's why you snapped at me," Jessica said.

"Pretend all you want," Alec said, climbing back underneath the covers.

"You won't even tell me what the dreams are about," Jessica continued. "How am I supposed to be your wife and help you if you won't even —"

"Stop pretending like this is a real marriage," Alec spat. "We only got married because you got knocked up."

"No one told you to propose to me," Jessica said, clenching her teeth as she tried to hold her own.

"Proposing to you was the only thing to keep you from getting an abortion," Alec shot back. "Without even telling me, I might add."

Jessica angrily threw her covers off and climbed out of bed. She glared at Alec as she moved toward the closet and pulled it open.

"Jessica, what are you doing?" Alec demanded.

"Phillip is staying with your mom, I'm going to go over there," Jessica said. "I'd rather be somewhere I'm wanted."


HOLDEN HOME

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Felicia asked.

"What do you want?"

"I came to apologize," Felicia replied. "I didn't mean to say what I did in court today. It was just...it just came out."

"I'm sure it did," Valerie said softly. "But I don't care."

"Valerie —" Felicia started.

Valerie raised a hand to cut her off. "My husband is gone. My son is...I don't know where he is. But I thought that I could at least count on you today."

"I'm very sorry you feel that way," Felicia said. "But I was under oath, Valerie. I wasn't going to lie. Maybe you'd have more people in your corner if you stopped expecting everyone in your life to compromise themselves in order to please you."

"It'd just be better for everyone else if I was carted off to jail, wouldn't it?" Valerie asked solemnly. "Good news...from the looks of today, it seems like everyone is going to get their wish."



BALE & MADDOCK LAW OFFICES
THE NEXT MORNING

"Good morning," Darren said.

"Darren, I'm not in the mood," Robert said.

"What have I done now?" Darren asked, rolling his eyes as he picked up the folder. "Another one of your rants about...oh. How did you find out about this?"

"How did I find out about this? This is my practice. Things don't stay hidden from me."

"Look, I'm allowed to take cases," Darren said.

"Not after I turn them down," Robert said. "And we both know the only reason you took this case is to stick it to me."

"Maybe your basis for choosing clients shouldn't depend on whether or not they're fags, Uncle Robert."

Darren rose to his feet and handed the folder back to Robert. Robert snatched the folder away from his nephew and tucked it under his arm.

"Don't speak to me like that," Robert said. "Did you even look into why I didn't take this case? Social services looked into that household. There were allegations of abuse as far as that child is concerned."

"Of course, believe the homophobic parents who think that any gay couple that wants a kid only want said kid so they can molest him," Darren snapped.

Robert shrugged. "You want this case? Go ahead and take it. Don't come crawling to me when you lose. Because if you do lose this case, and ruin our reputation? You're fired."


MARQUETTE COVE COURTHOUSE

The room went silent as Valerie rose from her chair and walked toward the stand. She grimaced as she took a seat and stared out at everyone in court. She then turned to face the jury in an attempt to read their faces. But she couldn't figure out anything. The only thing she could sense was dread that she was going to be in prison for a very long time.

"When Velma takes the stand," Robert said, sliding into the seat next to his wife.

"Hey," Melissa said. "Where were you?"

"Talking to one of our unruly employees," Robert replied.

"You should really leave Darren alone," Melissa insisted.

"He should really start listening to other people," Robert snapped.

"Mrs. Holden," Nathan said. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm feeling a bit tense," Valerie said weakly. "I don't want to go to jail."

"Of course not," Nathan replied. "Who does? Let's go back to the night of this alleged fire. This arson. The security footage shows you —"

"I didn't set anything on fire!" Valerie cried. "I don't know how it happened, but I wasn't responsible."

"Now, why don't you just stop lying, Valerie?" A voice boomed from the entrance to the courtroom.

Nathan turned his head and Valerie craned her own in order to see who was at the door. In the courtroom, Melissa and Robert turned around, as did Felicia, Michael, and Leslie.

"Who is this man?" Nathan demanded.

"I'm her husband," Simon Holden said, stepping forward. "But don't think I've come here to help you, Valerie."

Valerie gazed blankly at Simon, unable to process what was occurring right now. She hadn't seen him in months, and now that he was here, he was just as angry as he'd been when he left her.

"I'm doomed," Valerie muttered softly.


OUTSIDE THE COURTROOM

"Where?" Robert asked.

"Something I need to take care of," Melissa said. "If I don't make it back in time, send me a message on my Blackberry."

"All right, honey," Robert said, kissing Melissa. "See you soon."



"I should get this case thrown out," Nathan said, through gritted teeth as he glared at Simon. "That display in there was unwarranted!"

"Oh, it was certainly warranted," Simon insisted.

"You're a bastard, Simon," Valerie said.

She stood next to Felicia, Michael, and Leslie. Felicia had her arms around Valerie, attempting to console her.

"Did you only come here to see me thrown in prison?" Valerie demanded.

"I came here to make sure you get thrown in prison," Simon said. "Because if by some chance that jury is daft enough to find you not guilty, I'm going to have you arrested again for kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?!" Michael cried. "What's that all about?"

"Has she even bothered to tell any of you what she's done with my son?" Simon demanded.

"He ran away from home," Valerie said.

"That's bullshit," Simon said. "I've been all over the fucking United States looking for my son, but wherever it is you put him, wherever it is you decided to put him and punish him for not living up to your standards, you did a pretty damn good job."

"I didn't kidnap my own son!"

"Then where is he, Valerie?" Simon roared.

"I don't know!" Valerie shouted. "I don't know! I keep telling you that!"

"Then you're a liar."


MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

She crept toward the desk, setting his keys on the edge and shoving them underneath a pile of paperwork in order to claim that they'd simply been misplaced.

She made haste as she moved toward his library of patient files, consisting of recordings of his patients' sessions and his own thoughts following their sessions. She scanned the recordings until she found her own name.

"Bingo," Melissa whispered aloud, sliding the recordings with her own name from the shelf.

Melissa sat down in Aaron's chair and handled the first tape. She reached for his recorder on his desk and placed the tape inside, pressing play precariously. Part of her feared what she might learn, but still, there was the uncontrollable urge to find out the truth. Melissa absolutely believed that Aaron was hiding something from her.

"She knows," Aaron's voice said. "She's starting to remember the child she gave birth to. The child that you took from her. The son you've been raising for years."

"Then you'd better damn well keep her from finding out the truth," another voice snarled.

It was a voice that Melissa all too well. Her jaw dropped when she heard not only Aaron's voice, but Hugh Rogers' voice coming from what seemed to be Aaron's office speakerphone. Melissa quickly dropped the recorder onto the desk.

She was floored.

"I have a son?" Melissa gasped. "And Aaron...he's known about it? They both kept it from me?"

Almost gasping for air, Melissa rose to her feet and clutched the edge of the desk. She reached for Aaron's key and shoved it back into her jacket pocket. She decided that perhaps she would be needing this key later.

She hurried out of the office and slammed the door shut, leaning against it briefly to catch her breath. If only she had stayed behind to finish listen to the recording instead of running off, Melissa might have discovered even more — another voice recorded at the end of the tape that Aaron wasn't even aware of. It was the voice of someone who had been hiding in his office while he made his phone call to Hugh. The voice of someone who knew much, much more about Melissa's past than she did.

"Just what I need," Valerie Hanley-Holden's voice came from the tape recorder still playing on Aaron's desk. "That bitch to remember everything about her miscarriage..."


MARQUETTE COVE COURTHOUSE

"You can shove your fake pleasantries, Michael," Simon said, almost spitting. "The one good thing about the past few months has been pretending that I'm not related to any of you."

"The judge is ready to make his ruling," Nathan announced, stepping from inside the courtroom.

"Great," Simon said.

He brushed past Valerie, who held onto her sister's hand as if she were clinging to a life raft. They exchanged sorrowful glances before walking forward into the courtroom. Simon followed suit, leaving Robert standing outside with Michael and Leslie.

"He's certainly changed," Michael muttered. "It's too bad he hates us. He might actually fit in with this family for a change."

"I don't see how you put up with him," Robert said, leaning in toward Leslie. "Sean would be embarrassed for you."

Leslie ignored Robert's comments and coolly walked past him toward the courtroom.

"The only thing embarrassing is the fact that you can still show your face in Marquette Cove after the way you’ve treated your family," Michael replied.

Robert clenched his jaw. "Ditto."



The jury solemnly filed into the room, none of them making eye contact with Valerie. Photographers in the back of the courtroom snapped photos of the proceedings, all of them eager to get their photos back to their respective newspapers to publish yet another story about the most scandalous member of the Hanley family.

"Has the jury reach a verdict?" The judge asked.

"Yes we have, your honor," the jury foreperson said, handing the verdict off. Once the judge had a look at it, he nodded and set it down on his podium.

"Very well then," the judge said.

"We the jury, find the defendant..."

"Wait for it," Robert muttered under his breath.

"...guilty."