There is no response. Michael turns on the bedroom light. The room is empty — Leslie is gone. Does she know already? Did Vince run back and tell her and his sister about Michael's admission? Has everything he worked years for finally fallen apart?

"Leslie!" Michael shouts again. He goes back into the hallway and bangs on the door to Akilah and Vince's room. He hopes that Leslie is simply across the hall. He can't process the idea of her hating him. Not when he's actually fallen in love with her.

What started as a ploy to gain control of the fortune being left to Sean Moore by their father had turned into genuine affection for Sean's family. First, he began caring for Vince when he moved into the mansion with him, then Michael fell for Leslie. Even Akilah began to like Michael, though that's not as surprising, she is far less stubborn than her brother.

Akilah opens the door, surprised to find Michael in a state of disarray. "Michael...what's wrong?"

"Vincent! Where is he?"

"He was supposed to be with you," Akilah says. "At Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?"

"Yes, well he —"

"He's right here."

Michael turns around and meets Vince's innocuous stare. He uncomfortably adjusts his shirt collar and steps forward. Michael whispers, "Vincent, can we have a word?"

"What's going on?" Akilah demands. "Mom is sleeping."

"Michael and I were racing up the stairs," Vince says. He hardly thinks Akilah will believe it, yet his tone indicates his unwillingness to expound on his statement.

Akilah shrugs. "Whatever." She leaves Michael and Vince to their stand-off and closes the door.

Vince shoves Michael into the wall. "Start talking. I want to know where my father is."

"Your father's dead, Vince," Michael insists.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush, here, because I don't have the time," Vince snaps. "I just saw my dad in the subway. I know he's alive. And now I want you tell me where he is unless you want me to kill you right here in this hallway."

"You can leave a note for Michael if you'd like," Riley offers. He places Melissa's coat in the hall closet and follows her into the living room. "He and Leslie will be back from their vacation in a few days."

"Thanks, Riley," Melissa says. "Do you have a pen?"

"I'll grab one from the study," Riley says. "Hold on a moment."

As Riley goes to the study, Melissa glances around the mansion nervously. Knowing what she knows about Valerie and Michael, Melissa can't help but feel a chill. Something about this house turned them into what they are now.

She remembered when they were younger, when she was acquaintances with Michael. When she was friends with Felicia, Leslie, and Sean. Those times seemed so far away. Back in high school, before they parted ways for graduate school.

But it seemed that everyone had their own paths. Melissa had to hide how she was working her way through law school, unable to tell anyone else how her father was just as horrific and abusive as Kevin Hanley. Of course, Melissa's brother Kyle and her cousin, Aaron, received the brunt of the abuse. Melissa was merely demeaned at every possible point, told she would never amount to anything and cut off completely when she opted to go to college.

Her father had changed his mind soon before he died, leaving his fortune to Melissa and Aaron, but she never knew why. He never seemed to care for them when he was alive. So now, Melissa stands in the Hanley mansion, a much different person than she was when she was young. Before she was forced into prostitution and ultimately made the choice to continue an affair with Robert. An affair which cost her many of her friends.

Aside from her daughter, Aaron, and Robert, Melissa was alone. But Erin was murdered three years ago. And Aaron recently betrayed Melissa's trust. And with Robert seeming restless and spending less time and home, immersing himself in work, Melissa found herself with only their son Hunter to comfort them. Hunter...missing a brother or sister all because of Valerie's baseless vendetta against Melissa.

For a lonely woman like Melissa, losing a child was a horrific thing indeed.

"What was it you came for, again?" Riley calls out.

"I need to speak to him about getting on the list to see his sister in prison," Melissa responds. "To say that Valerie and I need to have a word is...well, mincing words."

Riley chuckles. "I'm sure Michael would be all too eager to get you two in a room together."

"He doesn't really like his sister very much, does he?"

"Can you blame him?" Riley asks.

Melissa smiles. She always liked Riley.



"Did you hear that?" Felicia Bale demands, stopping Robert in the middle of their lovemaking.

Robert grins widely. "You screaming my name? Yeah, I heard it."

"No, you idiot. I heard your wife's voice."

Felicia climbs off Robert and moves toward the door. They door keeping them sealed in the secret lab beneath Michael's mansion has a small crack in it. Through the crack she can hear voices echoing from upstairs.

"Shouldn't that be a manifestation of my guilt? Not yours?" Robert asks.

"Shut up," Felicia hisses. "Your wife, she's upstairs! I can hear Riley's voice too. We have to make them hear us so we can get out!"


BALE & MADDOCK LAW OFFICES

"I hadn't," Darren whispers. He kisses Blake again and stands. "We should get out of here."

Darren turns off the radio on his desk and dresses himself. Blake does the same.

"Why don't we go back to your dorm and —"

"We can't do this again," Blake says suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You're seeing Jack," Blake says. "And this was wrong. This is wrong."

"There's nothing wrong about this, Blake," Darren insists. "Look...I never should have broken up with you. I know I did because I thought I might be HIV-positive like Jack, but I'm not. And that whole scare...me thinking I was too old for you...well, you're not in high school anymore."

"I have to go."

Blake hurries out of the office and into the main reception area. He stops dead in his tracks when he finds Jack on the couch with his face in his hands.

"Oh, you two are finally done?" Jack asks, lifting his head.

"Jack," Blake says. "Look, I don't know what you saw but —"

"I saw enough," Jack snaps. "I saw you lying on that desk as my boyfriend fucked you. Did he even use a condom? Because you know, when he's fucking me he tends to worry about stuff like that. But why should he care when he's got this clean, underage twink throwing himself at him?"

Blake is offended. He's muscular enough not be considered a twink. But he snaps his mind to the real situation at hand. "I wasn't throwing myself at Darren. It just happened."

Jack advances on Blake. "Fuck you."

Blake opens his mouth to say something again, but before he can, Jack's fist connects with his face.



Darren finishes dressing and grabs his briefcase. He can't keep working here, not when every inch of his office will remind him of Blake. He needs to get back to his apartment and get his mind off things.

As Darren goes to reach for his office's glass door, two bodies come sailing through it. Jack and Blake roll onto the floor, in a struggle, while glass falls around them.

"Jack! Blake!" Darren cries, in total shock. "What in the hell is going on?!"

Unable to keep up their fight, Jack and Blake stop moving. Darren catches his breath and drops to his knees, inspecting Jack. He finds tears on his face, arms, and neck from the glass.

"Oh my God, Jack," Darren says. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for you to —"

Darren cuts himself off. He leans in closer to verify the damage that's been done to Blake as well. Darren steels himself in horror. There is a large piece of glass lodged in his neck.


HOLDEN HOME

"Who were you on the phone with?" Matt asks.

With the blinds drawn, Simon can only see part of his son's face. He recognizes a darkness that he hasn't seen in quite some time. Simon shrugs it off and approaches Matt.

"My lawyer will be over soon to meet with me," Simon answers.

"A divorce lawyer?"

"Yes," Simon replies.

Matt grins. "Good. Then you can take that bitch for everything she's worth and —"

"Matt, don't talk about your mother that way," Simon snaps. "She's still your mother."

Matt rolls his eyes and slinks into the living room, plopping down on the couch. "Whatever. Look, it'll be great once you move back in permanently. Then we can kick out those freeloaders out."

"I wanted to talk to you about this later, but I figure now is fine too."

"About what?"

"Matt, I'm not moving back to Marquette Cove," Simon says.

Matt sits up at attention. "What?"

"I'm meeting with my lawyer to go over my options, and then...I'm leaving," Simon says. "You're old enough to get enrolled in college in the fall. I think you'll be just fine. Felicia and Sara can stay here. I just feel like Marquette Cove...there's too many memories. I don't have my job at the hospital any longer, either, thanks to the failed business venture I wanted to start with Aaron Maddock — I doubt that Victor would even hire me back at the hospital."

"You're a Hanley, you can do whatever you want," Matt insists.

"That's your problem, Matt. After what your mother put you through, I'd think that you'd been done with the Hanley name and what it stands for. But you're not. You revel in it. I'm sorry that I didn't stop you from growing up to become like this."

Matt fights back the tears forming in his eyes. "You can't just abandon me! Everyone's always abandoning me!"

"I'm sorry, Matt," Simon says. "Trust me, you'll be better off."

Simon's cell phone rings. He exits the living room and heads into the foyer. Once his father is gone, Matt digs into his pocket and removes a tiny vial of white powder. Something he's been using to keep himself asleep during the night.

He twists open the vial and lets its contents fall into his father's coffee cup. "Let's see you meet with your lawyer now..." Matt hears his father returning to the living room and accidentally spills the entire vial into the cup. He quickly stirs the coffee with his finger and licks it off as Simon enters the room. Matt jumps to his feet.

"What now?"

"Nothing," Matt mutters.

"It's too dark in here," Simon says, finally going to open the blinds. Sunlight streams into the room, causing Matt to angrily squint.

"I'm used to it," Matt says, breezing out of the room.


MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"Alec, she's going to be okay," Farrah says. "The doctors are with her now and —"

"This is all my fault," Alec interrupts. "This is all my...oh my God, I hit her, Farrah. I did this to my wife. How could I do this?"

Alec can't get the memory of beating Jessica within an inch of her life out of his mind. And yet, as he remembers the moment, he can't even recall how he attacked her. It was as if he'd had an out-of-body experience.

That's the only way he can explain attacking her like that. All because of these nightmares he can't shake. These nightmares that are there every time Alec closes his eyes. And now, even when he's awake.

"I have to get out of here," Alec says.

"Dr. Anderson already had someone call Jessica's mother and your parents," Farrah reminds him. "You can't just leave."

"I have to get out of here!" Alec cries.

"Alec, what's going on?"

Alec spins around to find Darren standing in the corridor. Darren is covered in blood and looks just about the way Alec feels right now.

"Darren, what are you —"

"Did you hear about Blake already?" Darren asks.

Alec shakes his head. "No...Jessica's here. She was...she was..."

Before Alec can speak, he notices his stepmother, Melissa, and mother-in-law, Natalie, heading toward them. Alec's heart beats even faster.

Melissa embraces Alec. "Alec! Darren! How is she?"

"Who is this?" Natalie asks, eyeing Farrah suspiciously.

"She's a friend," Alec says quickly. "Where's my dad and my mom, Melissa?"

"I don't know," Melissa replies. "I tried calling your father, but his phone is off. Darren, what are you doing here?"

"Blake was in an accident," Darren says. "But I don't know what's going on. Who called you?"

Natalie steps forward. "Dr. Anderson. He called to tell us about Jessica. She's in the emergency room after someone...someone attacked her, Alec?"

Alec remains silent with Natalie, Melissa, and Darren each staring at him. He turns to look at Farrah, but he knows she won't be able to help him. Alec feels as if he is standing before a firing squad as his mind races to find an answer to their questions.

"Well, Alec?" Darren demands. "What happened to Jessica?"


HANLEY HOME

"She wouldn't have heard us anyway," Robert insists. "I don’t think the echo works both ways."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

Robert shrugs and sits on the edge of the operating table. "I don't know. You wanna have sex again?"

Felicia keeps silent, despite wanting to burst into laughter. She turns around and folds her arms. "Are you serious? That was a one time only, mister."

"But that was great, right?" Robert asks. "I mean, you had a good time?"

"Sure, I did," Felicia agrees. "But that doesn't mean I want to do it again. I'm over you, Robert. And never again will I be under you."

Disappointed, Robert frowns and leans back on the table. Felicia doesn't notice the crushed look on his face. She instead continues banging on the door, hoping that someone, anyone will hear.



Riley steps into Michael's study and closes the secret passageway that leads into the lab beneath the mansion. He can hear Felicia's tireless banging, but as soon as the door shuts, the sound is silenced.

He was lucky to have moved Robert's car into the garage before Melissa arrived at the mansion. He didn't need her asking any questions about why her husband's car was outside, yet he was nowhere to be found inside.

With both Robert and Felicia properly tucked away, Riley sees no need to bother Michael on his vacation. He's sure that Michael will deal with them both when he returns home.


THE PLAZA HOTEL
NEW YORK CITY

"There's every need, Michael," Vince says. "You're going to help me find my father."

"Find him?"

"I saw him in the subway and he kept walking. Obviously, there's something wrong and I need to —"

Vince continues to speak, but Michael can't hear what he's saying. The only thing he can see is the blinding light of the flashbulb that has just gone off over his own head.

"Of course he keep walking," Michael says. "He doesn't want to see you."

Vince glares at Michael. "What?"

"I was...I was afraid this day would come Vince," Michael says. "I did know that Derek was going to kill your father, yes. But what you don't know is that Sean knew as well."

Vince's eyes widen. He doesn't understand what Michael is saying.

"He knew that his brother was going to kill him, and so we both made the decision to...fake his death."

"My father would never fake his own death," Vince says, almost snarling through gritted teeth. "He would never leave his family!"

"There was another woman," Michael insists. He knows the path he is treading on is a dangerous one, yet he continues. "Sean began seeing another woman. And given your uncle's unfortunate obsession with your mother, he planned to kill Sean for being unfaithful and take Leslie as his bride. So he came to me."

"Dad! Stop! It's me, Vince!"

In that instant, Sean freezes. He turns around and makes eye contact with Vince. Vince finally allows himself to smile. He almost mouths Vince's name as he realizes who he's staring at.

"Dad!" Vince cries.

A woman Vince doesn't recognize tugs at Sean's arm. He promptly turns around and follows her down a stairwell to the uptown-bound platform. Vince's smile quickly fades.

Now, hearing Michael's words, everything makes sense. Vince understands why his father seemed to recognize him and yet continued to walk away. He understands why he was with a woman Vince doesn't recognize.

"He left," Vince says softly. "He heard me calling, but he left."

"I'm sorry, Vincent. But you were never supposed to find out. None of you were. We were supposed to fake Sean's death, and that would be the end of it. You were never supposed to find out that he wanted to leave your mother."

Tears swell in Vince's eyes. He turns away from Michael. He doesn't want to believe him, but he knows what he saw in the subway. He knows that his father recognized him and didn't stop.

Vince's knees feel weak. He tries to move forward, but he slips and nearly falls. Michael catches Vince and hugs him tightly. "It's okay, Vincent. Don't you worry. Everything's going to be okay."