Written by: Dallas Walsh

Detective Garrett Owen stands in the visitors room of the state penitentiary, waiting for the prison warden to arrive so he can get an update on Odette Williams. He knows that he probably shouldn't have taken an interest in Odette, but after everything she has been through, he can't help but feel bad for the woman.

Her husband, Bernie Williams, was working at the Kelsey Lake mine when it was under the Rockwell Mining umbrella. Bernie had moved up to be a supervisor, however, an explosion in one of the mines took his life too short which left Odette a widow and a single mother to their son, Jarek Williams. Years later, when Odette discovered that Jarek was dating Lex Rockwell, Mac Rockwell's son, she came up with the idea that Jarek should marry Lex so they could get their hands on a part of the Rockwell fortune; Odette believed that had Bernie not been killed at Mac's mine, that he would have continued to move up the ranks at Rockwell Mining and they would have been extremely wealthy. Odette soon got her wish: Jarek and Lex were married, and she convinced Jarek to get Lex to change his will, leaving all his money to his husband. Odette then convinced Jarek to try to kill Lex; Jarek started to drug Lex, which resulted in Lex needing a liver transplant. Odette, meanwhile, wanted to have a backup plan incase Jarek failed; she seduced Mac and videotaped them having sex. She tried to blackmail him but he refused to give her any money. Livid, Odette stormed into the hospital and fired a gun at Mac. The bullet hit Mac's other son, Cole Rockwell, and Odette was arrested. She's been in jail ever since, but she had hoped that Jarek would still get some of the Rockwell money. Lex, however, discovered that Jarek was the one who tried to kill him and Jarek died as he fell from a balcony at the Rockwell mansion.

Detective Owen was the one who told Odette that Jarek was killed, and to his surprise, she has taken it very well. She's doing so well in jail that the warden actually thinks she will make parole early. The detective sees Odette move into the visitor's room.

"Good day Odette," he smiles at her.

"Hi there," she purses her lips together. "I was surprised to see you, I don't get many visitors anymore. Not since Jarek died."

"How are you holding up with the fact that your son is gone?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Circle of life," she replies to him. "I hate to cut this short, but I really do want to get outside. I only get an hour out there a day. You don't mind do you?"

"No, of course not," he tells her. "I'm glad that you're doing so well. I think about you often."

"I appreciate that, but yes, I am fine," she says as she stands up. "See you around."

He nods back, wondering how she is taking the news so well. Meanwhile, Odette slowly moves towards the exit as she quietly repeats the same thing over and over again. "Tick, tock….tick, tock….tick, tock…"

***

Lex paces back and forth in the office at Blackmore Ltd, his mind racing about the previous night when he was listening to the bug that Brock Jennings and Tanner Young planted in his father's, Kent Blackmore's, penthouse. He overheard Kent take a phone call where he admitted that he was the one who set up the attack on Lex's sister, Stacey Rockwell. Lex knows that Kent wasn't happy with Stacey's behavior while she was running Blackmore Ltd, but he never believed that his father would try to have Stacey killed. Who does that? Lex thinks to himself.

Now, the big question for Lex too is what he is going to do with the information. Should he go to Kent and confront his father? Should he go to the police? Should he tell Stacey? Lex feels very confused by what his next steps should be.

And, to top it off, today is the day that both Blackmore Ltd. and Rockwell Mining are meeting with Grant Shaw to present their offer to get the Kelsey Lake mine; Lex has been working so hard on his contract and presentation. This new information is the last thing that he needed as a distraction.

He moves over to the bar and pours a shot of whiskey into a glass and he quickly downs the liquid. He then races back over to the desk and picks up his cell phone. He dials a number quickly.

"It's me," he says into the phone. "I know that you're busy, but you have to listen to me. Your future depends on it."

***

Marat Kafelinkov moves into the dining room of the country club and immediately sees Celeste Baldwin sitting at a table by herself. He moves up to the woman that he slept with at the hospital recently, hoping that they can have a quick conversation together. He has to make sure that she doesn't say anything to Stacey about them having sex, because he can't risk losing his marriage over an one night stand, especially since Houston Blackmore is alive and making a play for Stacey.

"Celeste, good morning," Marat announces as he arrives at her table. "Do you mind if join you?"

"Not at all," Celeste replies to him. "I'm surprised that you're not at the mansion for breakfast."

Marat shrugs a little. "I needed some air," he admits to her. "But, I am glad that we ran into one another. I think we should talk about what happened at the hospital the other day."

"No need to," Celeste waves her hand in the air. "I know that you're married and you want to make your marriage work. Us sleeping together was a moment in time, nothing more. No one needs to know about it."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Marat replies to her. "Thank you. I have enough going on with my marriage that I don't need this complication."

"Don't mention it," Celeste winks back to him. "And, what else is going on with you and Stacey? Is Houston that much of a pain point?"

"You have no idea," Marat tells her. "I got back to the mansion last night and Houston had delivered red roses to Stacey."

"That's not so bad," Celeste shrugs her shoulders. "She did just get out of the hospital."
"He kissed Stacey," Marat then reveals to Celeste. "That son of a bitch kissed my wife! That's why I have to focus on my marriage; Houston Blackmore has no boundaries."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Celeste tells him. "But, you're married to Stacey. That gives you the upper hand, don't forget that."

"I know, I just feel like they have this connection."

"Nonsense," Celeste replies to him. "You're married to the woman, you have a connection with her too. You know what I think you should do? You need to fight for her, Marat. Don't hold back; Stacey is your wife, you should be ready to defend that."

Marat finds himself nodding back to her. "You're right," he looks into her eyes. "I have to fight for what is mine."

***

Mac peers through the small window on his mother's, Lucinda Rockwell's, hospital room door. He can see his mother laying in her hospital bed with her eyes open; he got a call from Dr. Chen this morning that Lucinda had woken up. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is still the same as it was before she woke up: Lucinda will likely be a vegetable for the rest of her life as she inhaled too much smoke when her house was on fire; her brain lacked oxygen and now it has permanent damage. Now that Lucinda is awake, he has to make the difficult decision to move into a long-term home, where she will be cared for.

"Good morning Mr. Rockwell," Dr. Chen comes up behind Mac.

Mac turns to face the doctor. "Hi Dr. Chen," Mac uneasily smiles back to him. "I see my mother is awake; this is good news, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course it is," Dr. Chen tells him. "But the fact of the matter is, she is still not coherent. She can't speak nor will she speak again. The brain damage has left her this way."

"I hate seeing her this way," Mac admits to him.

"I understand that," Dr. Chen replies to him. "But the facility that you're moving her to is one of the best in the country. She will be in good hands."

"I'd like to see her before she's transferred."

"Of course, just don't be too long."

Mac turns and moves into his mother's room. He sits next to her, but Lucinda doesn't even acknowledge that he is there. She just stares forward.

"Mom," he bites his lower lip. "I'm glad that you finally woke up. I was getting worried that you would stay in your coma forever. But, now that you're awake, the doctors want to move into a long-term facility. Don't worry, I've made sure it is the best. I wouldn't send you somewhere that wasn't the best."

He grabs her hand. "I wish I knew why you did what you did," he admits to her. "Making everyone believe that Houston and Lydia had died and the entire time you were holding them hostage in a cage? I don't know Mother, for as much as I love you, I can't fathom what you have done. And because of the fire, I will never closure on this."

"Mr. Rockwell," a nurse opens the door to Lucinda's hospital room. "It's time. We are ready to transfer your Mother."

Mac slowly nods as he stands up before he looks back at Lucinda. "I'll see you soon," he whispers to her.

***

"Darling, I'm rather surprised that you're not at the office," Lydia Rockwell announces to Kent as she walks downstairs from the second level of the penthouse that the share. "I know that today is the day of the Kelsey Lake mine bid. I thought you would have wanted to review the application with Lexington."

"I have all the faith in the world in our son," he replies to her quickly, as he passes her a cup of coffee. "Besides, I just got you back, is it wrong that I wanted to spend some more quality time with you?"

Lydia chuckles a little. "Of course not," she tells him. "I love spending time with you as well."

"Do you think you're ready to come back to Blackmore Ltd? You know that the company hasn't been the same since you left."

"No, I'm not ready yet," Lydia admits to him. "I'm still getting my head around being back in the world of living. I want to reconnect with my children and find out who tried to kill Stacey. Those are my priorities right now."

Kent uneasily nods back to her, knowing that no one can ever know that he was the one who arranged the hit on Stacey. "Well, I was going to ask you something, but maybe it is not the right time."

"What were you going to ask me, Kent? You know that you can ask me anything."

Kent looks back at her and grabs her hand before he kisses it. "I love you so much, Lydia. You have no idea how lost I was when I thought you were dead. My entire world felt like it had come crashing down around me."

"Oh darling," Lydia caresses his face with her hand. "I'm right here and I'm never leaving you again. We will never be apart again."

"That's what I'm counting on," he admits to her, as he pulls out a ring box from his jacket pocket. "Before you left, we were planning our wedding. I want to marry you Lydia; what do you say? Be my wife?"

She gasps a little when he opens the ring box and there is a large, original, Blackmore diamond ring inside. The ring, if possible, is bigger than her last engagement ring that he gave her.

"Oh Kent," she says as she looks into his eyes. "It's beautiful."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," he replies to her as he slides the ring over her left ring finger.
"Well, what do you say? Be my wife?"

"Of course I'll marry you," she leans in and kisses him passionately on the lips. Their lips part and she looks at him before she looks at her ring again. "I want you to see me with this ring on and nothing else," she purrs at him. "Make love to me."

"I thought you'd never ask," he says with lust in his eyes, as they kiss again.

***

Lex sits at the desk in office in the Blackmore Ltd. building, finishing up the final touches on his contract to Grant Shaw for the Kelsey Lake mine. He is feeling rather confident about the offer, mostly because he did so much of the bids at Rockwell Mining when he was working with Mac. He puts his pen down and reads over the final offer, happy with himself and the offer.

"What are you still doing here?" a voice calls out from the doorway of the office. Lex looks up and sees Houston standing there. "Shouldn't be you be getting ready for your meeting with Shaw?"

"I'm just about to head out," Lex stands up from the desk. "I was just putting the final touches on my offer."

"It better be good," Houston spits at him. "Blackmore Ltd. needs the Kelsey Lake mine under its umbrella."

"You don't have to tell me that," Lex replies to him. "I'm the one who has been running this company, Houston. I know the ins and outs better than anyone."

"No, actually you don't. The person who knows this company better than anyone else is my father."

"Our father," Lex reminds him, as he rolls his eyes. "Look, I get that you're upset that I'm in charge, but like Kent said, there's room for both of us."

"As long as you're the CEO, right? Save your 'we can get along' bullshit, I'm not buying it. And, while we are being honest with one another, I don't trust you. You have the last name of Rockwell, which means you could turn your back on us at any given moment."

"That's ironic," Lex says as he starts to collect his things. "Because the woman you wanted to marry also has the last name of Rockwell. Do you think Stacey would turn on your at the drop of a dime?"

"Don't mention her to me," Houston warns him. "What Stacey and I have is nothing like our families competing in business."

"Don't be so sure about that," Lex tells him. "Stacey will always be loyal to the Rockwell's, and that is something I'm sure of. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a deal to close."

"You better close it," Houston calls out as Lex leaves the office. "Because, it will be the end of you as CEO if you don't."

***

"So, Grandmother is at Avondale now?" Cole Rockwell asks his father, who pours himself a brandy in his office at Rockwell Mining. Cole knew that Lucinda was being moved to the Avondale care facility today; he can't imagine what Mac is going through having to see Lucinda in that state.

"The transfer happened this morning and it was successful," Mac nods back to him as he takes a sip of his brandy. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

"We can make plans for the entire family to visit her when she's settled," Cole suggests to him. "Would you like that?"

Mac smiles back to his son, pleased with his suggestion. "I'd like that very much," Mac tells him. "That's kind of you. How are you holding up? No more drugs?"

Cole shakes his head back to him, thinking back to how Mac assisted him when Dixie Ryan overdosed and died under his care. He still hasn't been able to get the image of her head body out of his mind, but he is trying to move forward and on with his life the best way he can.

"No more drugs," Cole tells him. "I told you that it was over; I can't go back down that path. I actually had an AA meeting this morning. "

"I'm very happy to hear that," Mac replies to him quickly. "We need to get to work, I have that meeting with Grant Shaw soon about the Kelsey Lake mine."

"Yes, I was thinking about that on my way over here this morning," Cole admits to him. "And, I think I have the perfect way to ensure that Rockwell Mining secures the deal."

Mac arches his eyebrow as he takes another sip of his brandy. "I'm listening, what is this idea of yours?"

Cole smirks back to him. "Think about how Rockwell secured the Kremlin Diamonds with Yuri Kafelinkov," Cole tells him. "We used Lex's idea of offering the Kremling 5% profits from the mined diamonds. Now, with Lex over at Blackmore Ltd, I'm positive he will try a similar tactic to get the mine. So, I'm suggesting that we do the same, only we increase our percentage ever so slightly. Instead of offering 5%, let's offer 7 or 8. What do you think?

Mac nods back to his son as he comes up and shakes Cole's hand. "I think that's a very good and clever idea," Mac admits to him. "Well done, Cole."

***

After making love to Lydia all morning, Kent decided to grab a lite lunch at the country club. He has already received an update from Houston that Lex went to meet with Grant Shaw regarding the Kelsey Lake mine; at this point, there is nothing more for Kent to do other than trust that Lex will obtain the mine for Blackmore Ltd. He trusts that Lex will keep the Kelsey Lake mine at Blackmore Ltd; anything else is an unacceptable option.

As he moves into the dining room, he can't help but notice Vivian Blackmore sitting at the bar with a champagne cocktail in front of her. He wonders what his ex-wife is doing drinking at this hour since she just has a newly adopted child at home that she should be caring for.

"Vivian, a bit early to be drinking, isn't it?" he asks as he sits next to her at the bar.

Vivian takes another sip of her drink before she turns and looks at him. "Not if you've had the last couple days that I've had."

"I thought you won the custody case?" he reminds her of her victory. "That shouldn't lead you to drink more. Unless, you're celebrating?"

"No," Vivian quickly snaps at him. "Cole used me, again. That son of a bitch played me for a fool and I can't let him get away with it."

"Oh Vivian," Kent sighs back to her. "You know, I never believed that you and Cole were a good match. You need to find someone who deserves you. Cole Rockwell is not the man for you."

"I know that now," Vivian admits to him. "He won't get away with how he treated me, I will promise you that."

Kent grabs his ex-wife's hand as she looks at him wondering what he is doing. "Listen to me," he tells her. "You should focus on Ashlee. That little girl needs you at home. And, you should focus on the fact that we have our Houston back. That is a miracle in itself. Let this thing with Cole Rockwell go. He's simply not worth your time."

"That's easier said than done," she replies to him. "I'm not that forgiving."

"Try," Kent tells her. "For Houston's sake, try?"

***

"It's nice to see you walking around a little bit," Marat announces to Stacey as he moves into the living room of the Rockwell mansion. After his meeting with Celeste earlier, he knew that he had to take action and fight for his marriage. And, that's exactly what he is planning on doing.

Stacey takes a sip of the water she just poured herself as she turns and sees her husband. "There you are," she purses her lips together. "I missed you at breakfast this morning."

"Yea, sorry about that," Marat comes up to her and kisses her cheek. "I had to take care of something."

"Something so serious that you missed eating? You must be famished?"

"I'm fine, but thank you. What are you up to today? You're looking good."

"Thank you," she smiles back to him. "I'm feeling better than I have in a long while. I really believe that I will make a full recovery from the shooting."

"That is music to my ears," he tells her. "Because, I have a surprise for you; the thing I had to take care of this morning."

Stacey arches her eyebrow. "What have you done, Marat?"

"I've planned us a second honeymoon," he reveals to her. "Since our first one got cut short. What do you say? Let's go away together?"

"I'd love too," Stacey uneasily smiles back to him as he pulls her into a hug.

"That's great," he tells her as he holds her. Stacey looks over at and sees the bouquet of red roses that Houston brought her the nice before; the roses that they shared a kiss over afterwards. She shakes her head , trying to tell herself that she is going away with her husband; she has no time to be thinking about kissing Houston Blackmore.

***

"I was hoping to see Mac today," Celeste announces to Cole as she moves into Mac's office at Rockwell Mining. Cole looks up from the desk and smiles back to Celeste. "Is he in? I'd like him to look over some of my latest designs to see if he wants any alterations."

"I'm afraid he's in a meeting with Grant Shaw," Cole tells her.

"Oh right, the contract with Kelsey Lake mine is today. I completely forgot."

"It's okay," Cole shrugs his shoulders. "I'd be happy to take a look at your designs, if you'd like?"

"Sure," Celeste moves over to stand next to him at the desk as she opens her briefcase and pulls out her sketch pad. Their hands briefly touch and their eyes lock on one another. "Sorry," she tells him.

"Don't be sorry," he whispers back to her before he grabs her hand. "It's nice to touch you again."

She uneasily nods back to him. "Cole, what are you doing?"

"You tell me," he replies to her as he looks into her eyes. "I guess I was hoping that everything we have been through, we could give us another try. No more secrets, no more drama, just us being in love."

Celeste chuckles a little back to him. "That sounds really nice, actually."

"So, is that a yes? We can give us another try?"

"I'd like nothing more," she nods back to him as he leans down and kisses her passionately on the lips. Their lips part and she looks at him with lust in her eyes. "How long before your father gets back?"

Cole rushes over to the office door, closes it and locks it behind him. "Long enough," he takes of jacket and she removes her dress, revealing her white lace bra and panties. "God I want you," he says as he kisses her again.

"Then have me," she moans back to me. "Make love to me Cole."

***

Lex opens the door to the main office at Blackmore Ltd and quickly moves inside. Kent, who is pouring himself and Houston a brandy, turns to see his son.

"Lex," Kent calls out as he passes Houston his brandy. "I was just getting a drink. Would you like one? You can tell us all of the details of the proposal? Maybe, it could even be a celebratory drink?"

"I'd love one," Lex nods back to him, as Houston glares at him.

"Well, don't keep us waiting," Houston sneers at him. "How did it go? Did Shaw accept your proposal?"

"I'm not sure," Lex admits to him. "He was meeting with Mac after me. I'm assuming we will find out by the end of the day."

"Patience was never my strong suit," Kent replies to them, as he passes Lex a drink.

"For what it's worth, I have a very good feeling that this will work out exactly the way that I want it too," Lex holds his glass up and looks at Houston and then Kent. "I think Grant Shaw and I understand each other; I can't imagine that anything will prevent this from happening my way."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Kent toasts his son, as Houston rolls his eyes, upset that Lex is seemingly succeeding at the CEO position at his family company.

***

"Can I be honest with you about something, Dad?" Houston asks Kent, as they sit on the sofa in the office at Blackmore Ltd. After Lex finished his drink, he decided to go out for a late lunch, leaving Kent and Houston together.

"Of course you can," Kent replies to him. "I wouldn't expect anything else from you, son."

"I don't think you're going to like what I have to say," Houston admits to him. "But, I don't trust Lex. There was something smug on his face today when he got back from the meeting."

"Oh come now," Kent says back to him. "He was just happy that the meeting with Shaw went so well. You'd be smug too if you thought you just closed a huge deal for Blackmore Ltd."

"There was more," Houston tells him. "I can't place it, but just the way he was talking; I get the feeling that something else is going on here."

"I don't know what else could be going on," Kent admits to him. "You know he and Mac aren't even seeing eye to eye right now? I had a business associate at the club the other day tell me that Mac and Lex had an argument over the Kelsey Lake mine in front of everyone."

Houston shakes his head back to Kent. "I guess we'll have to wait and see what Shaw says," Houston tells him. "But something is going on with Lex; I can feel it."

***

"I just had to get out of the house," Stacey tells Cole and Celeste, who are fresh from making love to one another, as they stand in Mac's office at Rockwell Mining. "I was going stir crazy."

"Just make sure you don't overdo it," Celeste tells her. "You just got out of the hospital."

"I know," Stacey waves her hand. "I just needed a break, you know?"

"I would imagine these last couple of days have been a whirlwind for you," Cole tells her. "Finding out Houston is alive when you thought he was dead. Your head must be spinning."

"That's putting it mildly," she nods back to him, still unable to get the kiss that she and Houston shared out of her head. "I'm just trying to figure everything out."

"If we can help with anything…" Celeste replies to her quickly.

"Thanks," Stacey uneasily nods back to her, as the door to the office opens and Mac appears. "Oh, Daddy, welcome back. How did your meeting go?"

"Yes, Dad, how did the presentation go? Do you think Grant Shaw was excited by the contract?" Cole asks him.

Mac pours himself a brandy and then looks back at his children. "He seemed very interested in the deal," Mac informs them. "He said he would review the applications and let me know by the end of the day."

"That's good to know," Cole tells him. "I hope my idea pays off."

"I suspect it will," Mac takes a sip of his scotch.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Lydia announces as she walks into the office, seeing her children, Celeste and Mac standing in the room. "Is there a celebration of some kind?"

"It's too early to tell," Mac advises her, as Lydia gives Stacey and Cole a quick hug and kiss. "But, Rockwell Mining might have just got the Kelsey Lake mine back."

"I think I'll refrain from saying anything," Lydia chuckles back to him. "You know that Kent is also bidding to keep the mine at Blackmore Ltd."

"Yes, yes," Stacey tells her. "It's the never ending battle between Rockwell and Blackmore Ltd."

"Could you please give your father and I a moment alone?" Lydia asks her children. "There's something I need to discuss with him in private."

"Everything is okay, isn't it?" Cole asks her, hoping that there isn't more drama in the family.

"Everything is fine," Lydia nods back to him. "You two and Lex will have to come by for dinner soon. I've missed you all so much."

"That sounds lovely," Stacey hugs her mother goodbye.

Once the children have left the room, Lydia looks over at Mac. "Would you care for a drink?"

"Thank you," Lydia nods back to him, as Mac passes her a brandy. "I went to see Lucinda," she reveals to him. "I told her that I forgave her."

"You did?" Mac replies in surprise. He knows that he asked her to forgive Lucinda to start to put the mess behind them, but he didn't think that she actually would. Lydia has never been one to forgive and forget. "I don't know what to say."

"I guess I'm trying to learn from past mistakes," she purses her lips together. "And, you were right. Holding on to some grudge won't change the fact that I lost months with my family. I just have to move forward and make the most of the time I have in front of me."

"You never cease to amaze me," Mac looks into her eyes. "Cheers to moving on."

"Cheers, darling."

***

"I can't believe that Stacey almost caught us getting dressed," Celeste giggles to Cole as they move into the dining room at the country club, thinking about how they made love in Mac's office and were just finishing when Stacey arrived.

"Well, we have good timing," Cole stops and looks into her eyes. "Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

Celeste blushes as she smiles back to him. "I never get tired of hearing that," she admits to him. "But, thank you. I can't tell you how much I've missed this."

"What? Us being this close?"

"Yea," she nods back to him. "I love you, Cole, with my whole heart."

"I know," he admits to her. "And, I love you too. I'm so sorry for everything…"

"You've apologized more than enough," she stops him. "Going forward, no more apologizes, okay? We can just build our life together."

"I love the sound of that," he leans in and kisses her on the lips.

At the bar, Vivian sees the two of them kissing and spins back around. She picks up her champagne cocktail and finishes all of the liquid in her glass, secretly fuming at the sight of Celeste and Cole kissing. She knows that Kent told her to move, but the sight of them flaunting their reunion makes her sick to her stomach.

"I don't think so," she whispers to herself.

***

Mac opens the front door to the Rockwell mansion feeling like he is riding a high. He can't believe that Lydia forgave Lucinda for holding her hostage for months; he feels like everything is finally coming together for his family. He just hopes that it lasts.

He moves into the living room and freezes in his tracks when he sees Sabine Andrews standing in the room wearing a long white dress. Next to her, there is a man holding some paper work. Sabine turns around and looks Mac in the eyes.

"You're home," she purses her lips together as she moves up to him to greet him. "I'm so glad. I have a surprise for you."

"What is all this?" he asks her.

"This is a justice of the peace," Sabine informs him. "I want to marry you tonight. I want us to build the future we wanted. I know that you said you needed time, but Mac, life is so precious, let's live and love and be happy together."

Mac sighs heavily as he runs his hands through his hair. "I wish you would have spoken to me about this first," he admits to her as he turns away from her.

"Why? You're not happy with the surprise?" she is rather surprised. She had hoped that he would have been thrilled that they were finally going to get married."

"I don't think I'm ready to get married," he admits to her. "So much has happened, Sabine."

Sabine shakes her head as she gets tears in her eyes. "I can't believe this," she tells him. "Your mother was right! As soon as Lydia came back, you were done with me. You're still in love with your ex-wife, aren't you?"

Mac turns and looks at her. "Don't pit this on Lydia; she's the victim here, not you!"

"Oh please," Sabine laughs at him. "Lydia is never the victim. She uses people the way most people breathe air."

"We can stop bashing her now, okay?"

"God, I was so stupid to think that you loved me," Sabine tells him. "The entire time you wanted my sister."

"Is it so bad if I do still love Lydia? She is the mother of my children, after all!"

Sabine shakes her head at him. "I can't stand here and listen to another word of this," she tells him. "I hope you're happy with that woman, because she certainly doesn't deserve you. On second thought, maybe she does. Maybe you deserve each other."

***

Mac moves upstairs and into his office, reeling from his encounter with Sabine. He knows that she is upset but he can't marry her after she knew about Lydia and Houston being alive and not saying anything. He doesn't know how he would ever be able to look at her the same way again, or now how he could trust her.

"In time, she will realize that this was for the best," Mac whispers to himself as he pours himself a brandy. He takes a sip as he feels his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulls it out and reads the incoming text message.

"We did it," he reads the message that he got from Lex.

Mac then feels his phone start to ring. "Mac Rockwell," he says answering the call. "Grant Shaw, good to hear from you. I trust you have accepted Rockwell Mining's offer?"

"Excellent," Mac feels a sense of pride as he finally got the Kelsey Lake mine back under the Rockwell Mining umbrella. "You won't be sorry. We'll talk soon?"

Mac hangs up his phone and pours himself a celebratory brandy. "To us, Lex," he whispers with a twinkle in his eye.

***

"Damn it!" Kent slams the phone down on the desk in the office of the Blackmore Ltd. building, having just got word from Grant Shaw that Rockwell Mining outbid Blackmore Ltd. on the Kelsey Lake mine. "What the hell did Lex do?"

"I told you, he can't be trusted," Houston replies to him. "Blackmore has had the Kelsey Lake mine for years; under his leadership we lose it? Unbelievable."

"No, what's unbelievable is you," Lex appears in the doorway of the office. "Did you really think I'd let you get away with what you did?"

Kent looks back at his son in surprise, not knowing what Lex is talking about. "What are you talking about, Lex? What did you do?"

"I know Kent," Lex whispers back to him. "I know that you tried to kill Stacey," he continues, as Houston immediately looks over at his father in horror. "Did you really think that I would let you get away with that? I made sure you would lose something that you wanted so desperately; I made sure that you would lose the mine. If you care so little about my sister's life, then you don't deserve the mine that has made you millions."

"It's not true," Houston snaps at him, before he looks back at Kent. "Please tell me what he is saying isn't true!"