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The candles in Melissa Maddock's bedroom flickered as she continued to make love to Robert Bale, the man who had just proposed marriage to her a few hours earlier. Melissa kissed Robert on his chest and ran her fingers across his arms. Robert moaned with pleasure as he felt the warmth from Melissa's mouth against his skin.

Melissa climbed onto Robert and kissed him on his neck, while he guided his hands along her back. He pulled her closer to him and then turned over, placing Melissa on her back. As he began to make his way down her chest, he heard the doorbell ring.

"Ignore it," Melissa whispered.

Robert continued kissing Melissa, but the doorbell kept ringing, followed by someone pounding on the door loudly. Robert groaned and sat up in the bed.

"I'll go and get the door," Robert muttered. "Don't go anywhere."

Robert kissed Melissa once more before climbing out of the bed and getting dressed. He quickly slid on a pair of pants and headed down the stairs to the front door. Once he opened the door, he found his son, Alec, standing in the doorway.

"Alec, what's going on?" Robert asked. "I'm a little busy."

"Busy with your whore?' Alec demanded.

"Alec Bale, I told you never to call Melissa that," Robert snapped.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Are you getting married to Melissa?" Alec asked, glaring at his father. "Are you actually marrying that home wrecker?"



Emerald Heights
Gregory's Apartment

"I hate this movie," Akilah Moore said, leaning against Timothy Black as they sat on his couch watching The Phantom of the Opera.

"Really? You don't think it's romantic?" Tim asked.

"What's so romantic about being stalked? It's creepy."

"He's not really a stalker," Tim insisted. "Well, maybe. But still, it's romantic."

"I guess," Akilah muttered. "Let's watch Wicked or something."

"Not actually a movie yet, but maybe we can watch it in 2020," Tim offered.

Akilah rolled her eyes and sat up on the couch.

"I'm going to go and use the bathroom," Akilah said.

As she disappeared out of the living room, Tim heard the door buzzer. He stood and approached the door, where he listened at the speaker to see who it was.

"It's Jessica," Jessica Reyes said, from downstairs. "Can I come up?"

"Yeah, come on up," Tim said.

He buzzed Jessica in as Akilah returned from the bathroom with a frown on her face.

"Who was that?" Akilah asked.

"Jessica," Tim replied. "She's on her way up."

"Excuse me?" Akilah demanded. "Why the hell would you buzz her in?"



Holden Home

Valerie Hanley-Holden picked up a pair of jeans of tossed them onto her bed as she frantically continued packing a suitcase. Ever since she had discovered Melissa Maddock was pregnant years ago, and Hugh Rogers was the one responsible for her losing her child, Valerie had become determined to find out everything she could. And if that meant she needed to go to Atlantic City to do so, then she would.

"Honey, what's going on?"

Valerie paused and turned around to find her husband, Simon Holden, standing in the doorway. She forced a smile and returned to her packing.

"I'm heading out on a business trip."

"Where?"

"Atlantic City," Valerie replied.

"Ah, so business trip, or playing the slots?" Simon asked.

"Little bit of both, actually," Valerie said.

"Well, before you leave, I want to talk to you about our son," Simon said. "I'm worried about him. I think he might be —"

"Using drugs again? Of course he is," Valerie said. "But I can't deal with that right now."

"Valerie, our son is in trouble," Simon said. "Don't you think you should be concerned? A little?"

"I am, Simon," Valerie snapped. "I just...Matt is a big boy. He needs to make his own mistakes before we fix them."

Valerie walked over to Simon and kissed him on the cheek.

"But if you have to, hire a couple of police dogs to sniff his room," Valerie suggested. "That should flush out his stash."



Mitchell Home

"I don't think I had this in mind," Julia Mitchell said, from where she was lying on her bed. Morris Anderson was sitting next to her, running his fingers through her hair as they watched an old black and white film on television.

"Sorry," Morris said. "I'm just...unemployed. And without movie attending funds right now."

"No, it's fine," Julia said. "This is enjoyable too."

"Good," Morris said.

Julia groaned as she tried to shift her weight, catching Morris' attention.

"What's wrong?" Morris asked.

"My back hurts," Julia replied.

Morris grinned. "Oh, that's perfect."

"Um, not really," Julia insisted. "It kind of hurts."

"No, that just means that I can give you a back massage," Morris said. "It's one thing I'm actually good at."

Morris climbed onto the bed and touched Julia's shoulders, rubbing them gently. Julia moaned as Morris continued the massage. A few moments into it, Julia stopped him and removed her shirt so that it wouldn't get in the way of the massage. Morris mounted her back and continued, leaning in to softly kiss her on the head.

"What are you doing?" Julia asked.

"Kissing you," Morris said. "Is that okay?"

"No," Julia said. "You should be kissing my lips instead."

Julia rolled over onto her back while underneath Morris and allowed him to lean forward to kiss her. He pulled her closer and returned the kiss, as Julia removed his shirt for him. As they continued to make out on her bed, neither of them could hear the noises coming from downstairs.

Anna Mitchell pushed open the front door and walked in carrying a bag of groceries. She moved into the kitchen and set the bag down on the kitchen counter, throwing her keys down next to them. She had a few more bags to grab, so Anna started toward the door again when she heard laughing coming from upstairs.

"Julia?" Anna called out.

She hadn't expected her daughter to be home, since she'd called and told her she was at the movies. Ignoring the groceries, Anna instead walked upstairs toward her daughter's bedroom, unaware of what she would be finding on the other end.

Love is eternal. Life is forever. Yet things shall always remain...guasti cose.

Robert grabbed Alec by his arm and dragged him inside, pushing him toward the living room. Robert angrily shoved his son into a chair.

"You know what, young man?" Robert demanded. "I've had it up to here with you and your smarmy, smart-ass attitude."

"That's too bad, because I have had it with you and your ruining my life!" Alec shouted. "How could you even think of marrying her?"

"Who told you that?"

"So it's true?" Alec asked.

"Just answer my question," Robert said.

"Check the evening paper, dad," Alec snapped. "Our family is always in heavy rotation."

Robert sighed and took a step back. "God...I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean for you to find out like that."

"Yeah, well maybe you'll have better luck shielding Sara and Darren from the news," Alec muttered.

"I'll call them tonight," Robert said.

"You know, you're not even divorced yet," Alec said. "How could you —"

"Robert, honey?"

Robert turned to see Melissa descending the stairs.

"Who's at the door?" Melissa asked. "We've still got unfinished business to take...oh. Alec! How are you?"

"Put on some clothes," Alec said, rolling his eyes at Melissa wearing only a silk robe.

"Alec, I told you to watch your mouth," Robert said.

Alec rose to his feet and stalked over to Melissa, grabbing her hand.

"Nice ring," Alec sneered. "It's better than the one my dad got my mom, so I guess he actually paid for this one."

"Alec, your father didn't have a job when he proposed to Felicia," Melissa insisted.

"You seem to know an awful lot about my parents," Alec said. "But then again, you've been hovering around them like a vulture for years now, haven't you? Just waiting for the day you could spread your legs and let my dad jump on in? You know, you're no better than a whore."

Melissa pulled her hand away from Alec, startled by his harsh words.

"Alec, that's enough!" Robert shouted, spinning his son around to face him. "I want you to leave."

"No, I take that back," Alec snarled. "At least a whore gets paid for what she does. Melissa probably lies on her back for anyone with a penis."

In the heat of the moment, Robert slapped Alec across his face. Alec stood for a moment, stunned that his father had slapped him. Before Robert could realize what he'd done, Alec had already turned and ran out of the mansion.



Anderson Home

Kelli Anderson stood in the kitchen, washing dishes. Her crutches were lying next to the counter, but she only really used them to go up and down stairs. If it were up to Kelli, she'd be back at school now, but her father certainly wasn't going to let her. Not until he was ready to let her back outside the house, which at this rate, would be after she'd graduate from college.

As she turned off the water to begin drying dishes, Kelli heard a knock at the kitchen door. She turned around and walked toward the door, opening it to find Mark Zane standing outside. Kelli frowned, an initial reaction of shock, but soon found herself able to speak.

"Mark...what are you doing here?" Kelli asked.

"I came to see how you're doing," Mark said. "Everyone at school is really worried."

"Oh," Kelli said. "Well, that's nice of you. Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," Mark said, brushing past her and taking a seat at the table.

"So, do you want an exclusive story for the newspaper or something?" Kelli asked.

"I don't think I'm going to be doing very much work for the paper," Mark muttered.

"What was that?"

"Have Vince explain it," Mark said.

"Oh...okay," Kelli said, unsure how to respond.

She returned to drying dishes to ignore the silence, until Mark spoke up again.

"I want to ask you something," Mark said.

"Yes?" Kelli asked.

"Do you want to go to prom with me?" Mark asked.

"Prom isn't for two months," Kelli said.

"Then how about a date?"

Kelli burst into laughter. "Oh my God, that's hilarious. Now, what did you really come to ask me, Mark?"

Mark glared at her. "I wasn't joking."

"Oh...you weren't?"

"No."

"Well, then...I didn't...I'm sorry," Kelli apologized. "I didn't mean to —"

"Never mind," Mark snapped, rising to his feet. "I should have made the effort. You're such a bitch."

Mark stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Kelli alone to wonder what the hell was wrong with him. Once he slammed the door shut, Kelli rolled her eyes and returned to drying the dishes.

"Now I know what Vince means about him being crazy," Kelli muttered.



Mitchell Home

Anna opened the door to her daughter's bedroom, finding Julia lying in the bed asleep. Anna set her purse down on the bed and sat next to Julia. She ran her fingers through her daughter's hair, until Julia slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her mom.

"Mom, what's going on?" Julia asked.

"I'm sorry," Anna said. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just got home from the store."

"Oh. Do you have to work?" Julia asked.

"Yes, I have to go into work, I'll be back late," Anna replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just tired," Julia insisted. "I'll be fine."

"Okay, honey," Anna said.

She kissed Julia on the forehead and left the room, closing the door behind her. Julia waited a few moments until her mother exited the house, and then sat up in the bed. Morris chose that moment to step out of the closet, grinning.

"Thought she'd never leave," Morris said, climbing into the bed.

As they continued to kiss, Morris unhooked Julia's bra and tossed it onto the floor. He began to kiss her chest, but Julia stopped him.

"Wait...did you bring a...did you bring a condom?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I did," Morris said, reaching into his pocket and removing one. "Don't worry about it."

Julia smiled and began to loosen Morris' belt. "I won't."



Emerald Heights
Gregory's Apartment

"Jessica is a friend, Akilah," Tim said. "Look, I know you two don't particularly like one another, but it would really help if you could be friends...just for me. Or at least not try to claw one another's eyes out every time you meet."

Akilah sighed. "Fine."

She walked over to the couch and picked up her purse, and then she turned around to return to the bathroom. Tim frowned as he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door and invited Jessica inside.

"We need to talk," Jessica said. "About Akilah Moore."

"I need to ask you something first," Tim said. "It's important."

Jessica folded her arms. "Fine."

"Okay, there's something I've been wanting to ask," Tim said. "About us. We've been friends for a few months now, and that's been great, but I'd really like us to be more than that."

"What are you saying?"

"I'd like for us to...to go on a date," Tim replied. "And hopefully to become more than just friends."

"Oh, hell no," Jessica snapped.

Tim was taken aback. "What?"

Jessica brushed past Tim, not having heard a word he said because she was focused on the fact that Akilah was standing behind him.

"Is there a problem, Jessica?" Akilah asked, smirking.

"What are you doing here?" Jessica demanded. "Are you following me?"

"I was here before you, idiot," Akilah muttered.

"You know what, I don't need this," Jessica snapped. "Tim, how about you call me when this piece of — when Akilah isn't trailing behind you like a dog."

Jessica turned around and angrily strode out of the apartment. Tim rolled his eyes and turned back to face Akilah.

"Oh, that's a shame," Akilah said.

"What, Akilah?" Tim demanded.

Akilah glanced over at the couch. "I think we're out of popcorn."



Keyes Airport
Fordham Bay

Valerie stepped out of her limousine and headed into the airport terminal, where she would soon be taking off on her flight. She had only packed one suitcase, since she didn't expect to be gone for more than a week. She put on a pair of sunglasses and strode to the airline desk so she could purchase a ticket.

"How may I help you?"

"I need a ticket on the next plane going to Atlantic City," Valerie told the receptionist.

"Oh, you're in luck! I just sold a ticket to someone earlier. We have a plane boarding now."

"That's perfect," Valerie said. "I'll take it."

As Valerie gave the receptionist her information and paid for the ticket, she turned around and gazed out the door with a frown on her face. She hated to leave town so suddenly, especially when things seemed to be in such disarray...but when she returned, she was going to make sure that her family was back on track.

And that Melissa Maddock's would be crashing and burning.

executive producer
Ira Madison