Written by: Dallas Walsh

"Tell me that what Lex just said isn't true!" Houston Blackmore yells at his father, Kent Blackmore, as they stand in the main office of Blackmore Ltd. Lex Rockwell just walked into the office and didn't seem surprised that Blackmore Ltd. lost their bid to retain the Kelsey Lake mine; he revealed that Kent was the one who tried to kill Stacey Rockwell, Lex's sister and Houston's love. Houston has never trusted Lex, so he is hoping that Kent will be able to put an end to the nonsense. "You didn't try to have Stacey killed; you didn't try to kill my fiancé!"

Lex chuckles back to Houston. "Of course he did," he looks at his father, who is beat red. "He wanted revenge on Stacey for her behavior while she was acting CEO of Blackmore Ltd. See, this all took place before Kent knew that you and Lydia were alive, because he wouldn't have tried to kill the daughter of the woman he loves or the fiancé of his son had he known that you were both alive. But, because you were dead, Stacey could have died too."

"Dad, please say something," Houston pleads with Kent, who moves over to the bar and pours himself a scotch. "The longer you let Lex ramble on like this the more it looks like he is telling the truth."

"I am telling the truth!" Lex yells at them. "I had a bug planted in the penthouse. I overheard Kent's entire conversation to the man he paid to shoot my sister! That's why I lost the mine contract; Rockwell certainly didn't outbid me. I worked together with my father, my real father, Mac to sure that Rockwell got the mine."

"You're unbelievable," Kent finally turns and sneers at Lex. "You could have come to me and we could have spoken about this! Instead, you cost me and my company millions of dollars? Where the hell do you get off?"

"Where do I get off?" Lex lashes back at him. "Where do you get off trying to kill Stacey? What she did was wrong, but to have her killed? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I can't believe this," Houston runs his hands through his hair, realizing that what Lex is saying is true: his father tried to kill Stacey. "It's true, you tried to kill Stacey. You had her shot!"

"Houston, calm down, I can explain."

"Like hell you can!" Houston yells at him. "There's nothing you can say that will justify trying to take her life, Dad!"

"Do you see what you've done?" Kent looks back at Lex. "You've turned this entire family upside down!"

"I'm not a part of this family; I never was and I never will be," Lex laughs back to him. "Hey Houston, you want the fucking CEO job so badly? It's yours! I quit and I will never step foot in his building again."

Lex turns and quickly leaves the office, leaving Houston and Kent alone together. "Now that he's gone, we can talk about this," Kent moves Houston, but Houston punches his father in the face.

"I have nothing to say to you," Houston spits at him, as he caresses her clenched fist. "Nothing you say or do will make this right, Dad. Nothing."

***

"Daddy, why are you opening champagne?" Stacey Rockwell asks Mac Rockwell as they stand in the living room of the Rockwell mansion, and he is popping open a bottle of some bubbles from their reserve in the basement of the house.

"Because, darling, we are going to celebrate," Mac smiles to her as he pours two glasses of champagne. He moves over to her and passes her a glass.

"What are we celebrating?"

"Rockwell Mining officially has the Kelsey Lake mine back under its umbrella," he reveals to her. "It never should have left Rockwell all those years ago."

"That's incredible," Stacey nods back to him before she takes a sip of her bubbles. "How did this all happen?"

"I think I can answer that," Lex announces as he walks into the living room and up to his sister and father. "Congratulations, Dad."

"Lex," Mac pulls him into a hug. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"Our plan worked perfectly," Lex nods back to him. "Pretending to be at odds with one another to make it seem like we were competing for the mine, when the entire time we were working together."

"You came up with a great plan," Mac smiles as he passes Lex a glass of the champagne.

"Wait, why did you conspire against Blackmore?" Stacey asks her brother. "I thought you were CEO and enjoying it?"

"Lex's place was and always will be at Rockwell Mining," Mac doesn't allow Lex to reveal the truth he knows about Kent. "I think it's high time that we make this wrong a right; Lex, come back to work at Rockwell? What do you say, son?"

"I say, I'd love too," Lex smiles back to his father.

"Great, then it's settled. Starting tomorrow, you're back where you belong."

"I never should have left," Lex takes a sip of his champagne.

"You know what?" Stacey gushes to her father and brother. "I think we should do something else to celebrate; a bottle of champagne isn't enough."

Mac arches his eyebrow. "Well, what are you suggesting? How else should we celebrate all these successes?"

"Let's throw a ball here at the mansion," Stacey suggests to him. "A masquerade ball; a way to honor our friends and family and business."

"I really like that idea," Mac replies to her quickly. "If you make the arrangements, I will be there."

"I'd love to plan the party" Stacey giggles as the three of them toast again.

"What's the celebrating for?" Cole Rockwell asks he moves into the living room and sees his siblings and father toasting one another. "What am I missing?"

"Grab a glass Cole," Mac tells his other son, knowing that he played a big part in getting the deal approved. "And, we will fill you in on all of the on-goings."

***

Lydia Rockwell slowly steps off the elevator at Blackmore Ltd, trying to find her fiancé to take him home. She knows that today was a big day at the office within regards to the Kelsey Lake mine contract, but she would like nothing more than to have dinner with him since they did just get re-engaged.

As she approaches the main office, however, the door fires open and Houston emerges in the hallway, looking like he is going to explode.

"Houston? What is it? What's wrong?" she asks him coming up to him.

Houston looks back at Lydia and realizes that it's the first time he has seen her since they were saved from the cage; it seems like a life time ago since they were saved, but while they were trapped together they had become lovers. Of course, no one knows how close they became in the cage and no one else can ever know that. It would ruin Kent and Stacey forever to know that they were lovers.

"I have to get out of here," Houston replies to her, not answering her question. "I can't breathe in here right now."

"You need to calm down," Lydia tells him. "Take a deep breath."

She grabs his arm and he immediately looks into her eyes, feeling the spark between them. They haven't seen one another in days but the chemistry is still there. "What are you doing?" he asks her.

"Trying to help you," she tells him. "Don't worry, I'm not coming on to you. We are free, that was in the past. It has to stay that way."

He nods back to her. "I'm glad you realize that," he whispers back to her. "Because, no one can ever know what happened in that cage."

"We are on the same page," she tells him. "You know that it would ruin your father and Stacey if they knew."

"Like I said, I have to get out of here," he looks back to her. "See you around, okay?"

"Wait, you never told me what was wrong?" she asks as he gets on the elevator, not answering her about what was troubling him. She shrugs her shoulders. "Oh well, I hope he figures it out."

***

The next morning, Stacey sits in the mansion living room going over some of the details for the ball that she is now planning for the family to celebrate. She has a guest list that continues to increase, caterer's already booked, wait staff hired, and a shipment of champagne headed her way.

She stands up and looks at everything she has she has accomplished in a short time and can't help but be pleased with herself.

"Of course, I still have to find a costume," she whispers to herself as she pours herself a cup of coffee. She takes a sip before she turns around when she hears someone walk into the room. Her heart skips at beat when she sees Houston standing there.

"Morning," he looks over to her. "You look beautiful this morning."

Stacey blushes back to him a little. "Thank you. You're up early, what is going on?"

"I needed to see you," he admits to her. "I hadn't seen you since I kissed you the other day."

"That is true," she nods back to him. "But, I'm glad that you're here because we have to talk about that. I am married to Marat," she reminds him. "You still have feelings for me, I get that…."

"Don't tell me to stop," he cuts her off. "Because, I can tell by the look in your eyes that you still have feelings for me too."

"Houston, please," she pleads with him as he moves closer to her. "I can't do this, not today."

"Fine," he replies to her quickly. "I am here because I have news for you. Something has happened and you need to hear it from me."

Stacey arches her eyebrow out of concern. "What's happened?"

"It's about your shooting," he reveals to her. "I know who tried to have you killed."

"What?" she gasps back to him. "Who was it? Who tried to have me killed?"

"My father," he admits to her as he puts his head down and she covers her mouth in surprise. "Kent tried to have you killed."

***

Celeste Baldwin lifts her head from the toilet bowl in the washroom that is connected to Cole Rockwell's bedroom in the Rockwell mansion. She doesn't know why she felt ill this morning but she did get sick. She slowly stands up as she can hear Cole walking around the bedroom beyond the closed door. She flushes the toilet and then washes her hands face in sink. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she almost can't believe that she and Cole are back together and she is spending the night with him again. After everything that they went through, she thinks that getting back together is nothing short of a miracle. Now, she just has to ensure that they get it right this time.

She opens the door and sees him standing there naked. "Sorry I took so long," she tells him, unable to stop looking at him.

He grins back to her. "No worries, are you okay? You're looking a little pale."

"Yea, I'm fine," she waves her hand at him. "You're looking amazing this morning."

"Who me?" he winks back to her. "I only look good because you're next to me."

"You don't have to flatter me that way," she teases him. "I'm already yours."

"You are?" he asks her as she nods back to him. "Prove it to me. Get on the bed."

Celeste chuckles as she slips out of her silk nighty and moves over to the bed. She turns and sees how eager Cole is to make love to her this morning. He grabs her and kisses her passionately, as her hands find his erect member.

***

Mac opens the door to his office at Rockwell Mining, unable to erase the smile from his. For the first time in years, he is back at work knowing that he has the hometown advantage because he finally has the Kelsey Lake mine back with Rockwell Mining. After so many years of being away, he feels like it has come full circle. Especially since he always knew that Kent didn't obtain the Kelsey Lake mine legally all those years ago, but now, that is all a moot point.

He pours himself a cup of coffee and turns around to see Sabine Andrews standing in the doorway of his office. He can tell that she has had a rough night; her make up is smudged and her hair is a mess. In her left hand, she is carrying a bottle of vodka. He realizes that this might be another uncomfortable conversation with her.

"You're finally here," she says barely able to walk in a straight line. "What took you so long?"

"It's called sleeping, something that looks like you need a lot of."

"No, I'm fine," Sabine replies to him. "We have to talk Mac. We have to put our relationship back together. We can't end it like this."

"There is no us anymore, Sabine," he tells her. "Now come on, let me help you get home. You need to rest."

"Please don't touch me!" she screams at him as he comes up to her and tries to usher her out of the office. "Not unless you are going to make love to me again."

"You know that will never happen. What happened, happened, Sabine. Now come on, we don't want this to get any messier than it already has."

"Why am I never good enough for anyone? Why is it always Lydia that people want?" she cries to him, as she puts the bottle of vodka to her mouth. "I just wanted you to love me the way you loved her. But no, it's always Lydia!"

"Come on Sabine," Mac tries to take the bottle away from her. "Let's not do this, okay? You need to stop drinking. You'll be fine once you get sober."

"No," she cries back to him. "I don't think I'll ever be okay again."

***

"I'm glad that you could come today," Tanner Young smiles to Lex, as he arrives at the table with Tanner and Brock Jennings are sitting next to one another.

Lex looks at the two men that he has been involved with and wonders what this is all about. While he has been single and enjoying the fruits that come with that title, he can tell that the two men want something from him.

"Well, I was curious to know why the two of you summoned me here," Lex sits down across from them. "We don't need the bug anymore, so I'm not sure what this could be about?"

"You really have no idea?" Brock asks him back. "Come on Lex. You were seeing, sleeping, with both of us. We just want to know who you want to be with. Surely, you don't expect both of us to keep on going the way we have been."

Lex chuckles back to them. "Well, this is nice. You two have this all figured out, huh? To hell with what I want?"

"What do you want?" Tanner asks Lex. "I kinda agree with Lex; you can't keep going this way."

"I don't see why not," Lex reveals to them. "I told both of you that I wasn't ready for a serious relationship, and frankly, I like both of you for different reasons. So, I'm not going to make a decision. I'm a single guy who likes options right now. If you two can't handle that, then it's on you, not me, but don't make me choose who I want to be with because I will choose myself. I'm not ready for a relationship, end of discussion."

***

"Did I just see someone escorting my sister out of the building?" Lydia asks Mac as she walks into his office, having witnessed one of Mac's employees taking Sabine to an uber that was waiting out front for her.

"You did," Mac nods back to her. "She has been drinking heavily and I wanted her to get home safely."

"Don't tell me she's still staying with you at the mansion?" Lydia asks him, knowing that Sabine shouldn't be forgiven for letting her and Houston stay in the cage that Lucinda had them in.

"No, she's not," Mac replies to her. "I put her into a room at the country club for now. I'm not sure what her future plans are now that we are over."

"You ended things with my sister?" Lydia asks him, as he nods back to her. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"I couldn't stay with her, not after what she did to you and Houston," Mac looks his ex-wife into her eyes. "If she could lie to me about something like that, I have no idea what else she could lie about."

"Your support, still, means everything to me."

"Of course," Mac smiles at her, before he sees the large diamond ring on her left finger. "New ring?"

"Kent asked me to marry him," she uneasily advises him. "We want to get married since we never got the chance to last time."

Mac feels his heart move into his throat at the news, even though he shouldn't be surprised by the news. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

"Thank you," she purses her lips together. "That means a lot to me."

Mac uneasily smiles back. "All I want is for you to be happy, Lydia. After everything we have been through, all I want is for entire family to finally be happy."

***

After Lydia left him alone, Mac left his office to visit his mother at the Avondale. He was with his Lucinda right before she was transferred to the center, but now that she is settled, he wants to make sure that she is comfortable. A part of Mac still can't believe that his mother will never be her old self again; the fact that she isn't able to speak or use her smarts is devastating to him because Lucinda was always a very clever woman.

He arrives at her room and moves inside, surprised by the size and space of the room. It is decorated unlike any other hospital room that he has ever seen; there are two large sofas, an arm chair, a TV, and a small kitchenette, with a small washroom off to the side. Next to the washroom is a bedroom, with a king size bed. Lucinda is sitting in an armchair looking straight ahead.

"Mother, it's me," Mac tells her as he moves up to the chair next to Lucinda and sits next to her. "I hope you're enjoying it here. It's not as big as your mansion, but it seems pretty nice all things considering. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are comfortable. The last thing that I want is for you to be uncomfortable in anyway. Mother, can you hear me?"

There is no response from Lucinda; she continues to stare into the space in front of her. Mac fights a tear in his eye seeing her in this state. "Just as I thought everything was going to get back to some kind of normalcy, things seem to be gearing up again. Lydia told me that she came to see you to forgive you, which I thought was really nice on her part. There's been too much revenge and holding grudges in this family. But, today, damn it, she told me that she was engaged to Kent Blackmore again. I know I shouldn't be surprised by the news, but I guess, thinking she was dead, it stirred up old feelings for me. You were right to tell Sabine that I was in love with Lydia, because the truth is, I am. And, I know you wouldn't approve, but I was hoping that she would realize that she loved me too. We could have put our family back together. Anyways, I won't keep you anymore. I'll be back soon, mother. I love you."

Mac slowly stands up and leaves the room leaving Lucinda all alone. She slightly turns her head to face the doorway as she slowly clenches a fist. "Nnnnooooo!" she moans out loud to herself.

***

"So, do you guys think you can handle that?" Lex asks Brock and Tanner as they continue to sit at the table in the country club. "Are you going to accept that I don't want to have a relationship right now?"

"I mean, you haven't really given us much choice," Brock looks back to Lex. "I mean, this is 2017, we can handle that everyone has a different idea of what they want in their life."

"I'm not saying I want this forever," Lex replies to him quickly. "It's just, after everything that happened with Jarek, the last thing I want is another serious relationship."

"I get it," Tanner chimes in. "In fact, I think I have a really good solution to all of this."

"You do?" Brock asks him back in surprise, as he feels Tanner's hand touch his leg. "What are you suggesting?"

"Well, it's clear that you and I are both into Lex," Tanner licks his lips. "And, I have to admit, at first I didn't appreciate the way you spoke to me, but we grew closer while helping Lex deal with his Dad."

"Yea, you're not such a bad guy," Brock admits to him, looking at Tanner. "I guess I can see what Lex saw in you."

"I feel the same way," Tanner leans in and kisses Brock on the lips, to Lex's surprise.

"Wait, what is happening right now?" Lex interrupts their kiss.

"We are all single men," Tanner looks back at him with lust. "We are just following your lead."

Lex looks back in surprise as the two men kiss in front of him again. "My room is upstairs," Tanner says as their lips part. "How about the three of us go upstairs?"

Brock looks back at Tanner and then over at Lex. "Yea, sure, why not?" Brock chuckles back to Tanner.

"Lex, you in?" Tanner asks him with an arched eyebrow.

"I can't believe this is happening, but yea, I'm totally in. Let's go," Lex quickly stands up, eager to be with the two men in front of him.

***

Mac returns to his office from seeing Lucinda and moves over to the bar to pour himself a brandy. He didn't realize how upsetting it would be to see Lucinda in that state, but he really doesn't like it. He has a hard time accepting that Lucinda will never speak to him again.

He takes a long sip of his brandy as he thinks about Lydia's engagement to Kent. He knows that he shouldn't have been surprised by the news, but like he told Lucinda, he had hoped that Lydia had realized that she still loved him while she was away and they would reunite. He shakes his head, thinking that he was being foolish; after all, he and Lydia didn't have a real relationship for so many years before they actually got divorced.

"I just have to get over these feelings," he whispers to himself. "Because, Lydia will marry Kent this time. There's nothing that will stop them from being together."

Before he can think about anything else, his phone starts ringing on his desk. He moves over and quickly picks it up. "Mac Rockwell," he says into the telephone. "What? You're kidding me? How did this happen?"

"Good behavior means that Odette Williams can get paroled early? You do know what that woman did to my family, don't you?"

"Fine, very well, just make sure she doesn't come near me or my family! She has caused us enough grief," he says before he slams the phone down in frustration. As if he needed some other news that was upsetting, now he learns that Odette has been released from jail because of her good behavior. He can't believe that the woman who tried to blackmail him, shot Cole and drugged Lex is now running free again, because he is sure that she will be looking for one thing: Revenge.

***

Lex slowly walks down the stairs at the country club, having finished his intense threesome with Tanner and Brock. The other two were going to have a drink together, but Lex knew that he still had some work that needed to get done at Rockwell Mining. He has a lot of things to catch up on at the company, and he doesn't want to waste any time. However, he has to admit that the sex just had with him, Tanner and Brock was fantastic. He had seen threesomes in porn, but it was his first time experiencing it; and he can't wait to do it again.

As he reaches the lobby, he rolls his eyes as he sees Kent walking in. He knows that he can't dodge his father because there is nowhere to hide, even though he has nothing more to say to him.

"Lex, I'm glad I ran into you," Kent says coming up to him.

"Are you?" Lex replies to him. "I'm not sure we have anything else to say to one another, Kent."

"How could you do this to your family? How could you do this to me?" Kent asks him. "I thought we were actually bonding as father and son; I thought you wanted what was best for Blackmore Ltd."

"I did," Lex nods back to him. "Until I found out that you tried to have my sister killed. You have to realize that learning that changed everything for me. It cemented my original belief that you are a son of a bitch," Lex spits at him. "What kind of monster does that?"

"You know what she did to me!"

"No, I don't," Lex stops him. "You were the one mixing drugs and alcohol, she just didn't stop you. Take some ownership of your actions. Stacey not stopping you certainly doesn't give you the right to take her life."

"You're right," Kent puts his hands up in defeat. "I made a mistake. You can't forgive me? I'm your father?"

Lex laughs back at him. "Forgiveness? You would still be standing there asking me that if Stacey had died? You know what? Don't answer that, I don't care. You're dead to me, Kent. We will never be father and son again, not that we ever really were. You're not half the man Mac is."

Before Kent can reply, Lex storms past him, leaving Kent alone wondering how he can repair his damaged family.

***

"What the hell am I going to do?" Stacey paces back and forth in the living room of the Rockwell mansion. "How am I going to make sure that Kent doesn't come after me again?"

She still can't believe that Houston just told her that it was Kent who arranged for her shooting; Stacey realizes that Kent must have wanted some kind of sick revenge from when she was the CEO of Blackmore Ltd. She knows that she became someone else, and she's not proud of that, but she certainly didn't think it meant that she deserved to be killed.

"I can't believe this is happening to me!"

"Don't worry," Houston comes up to her and stops her from pacing. "You have to know that I will protect you. I won't let my father hurt you."

"You mean, hurt me again," her lower lip quivers. "I could have died!"

"I know, but you didn't," Houston pulls her into a hug as Marat walks into the living room. "And, like I said, I will protect you from Kent. He won't hurt you again."

"What is going on in here?" Marat asks the two of them, fed up with how close they are still. He is married to Stacey, she shouldn't always be in Houston's arms.

"Oh Marat," Stacey rushes up to him and hugs him. "I found out that it was Kent; he's the one who arranged the shooting."

"What?" Marat looks into her eyes. "That son of a bitch!"

"Calm down, I already told Stacey that I will protect her from my father," Houston puffs out his chest to him.

"You'll protect her? You're the reason this is happening," Marat spits back to him. "You and your father, you're both toxic!"

"Marat, please," Stacey pleads with her husband.

"No," Marat tells her. "He has to hear this," he says looking back at Houston. "You come back acting like nothing has changed, but everything has. You're not engaged to Stacey anymore, I am married to her. Stop acting like you own her, because your time has passed."

"You arrogant…" Houston clenches his fist and punches Marat. "Son of a bitch!"

Marat gets back up and looks back at Houston and immediately punches him back. "Stop it!" Stacey screams at them, as an end table is tipped over, causing a vase and lamp to shatter on the ground. "Stop it right now! This is unacceptable from both of you!"

"I'm sorry," Marat looks back at her. "But, I had to get that off my chest," he tells her before he looks back at Houston, who has a bleeding lip. "And you, you stay the hell away from my wife."

***

Upstairs in Cole's room, Celeste looks at the pregnancy test that is resting on the washroom counter top. She knows that the doctor told her that she can't have any more children as a result of her fall down the stairs that happened a couple years earlier, but she has been feeling so sick all day. Then, she realized that she was a couple days late with her period, so she thought she rule out the chance of a baby just in to be safe. After all, she has heard of people who were told they couldn't have any more children only to discover that they were pregnant.

As she waits for the timer on her phone to go off, she can't help but think back to the night at the hospital after Stacey woke up from the shooting. She had called out Houston's name and Marat overheard her. He was upset and she comforted her friend to the extent that they had sex with one another. She knows that if she is pregnant, the baby would have to be Marat's. There would be no other explanation as Cole had left her.

She hears the chime start on her phone. She takes a deep breath and looks at her pregnancy test, immediately feeling water move to her eyes.

"My God," she whispers. "I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby."

***

"I'm just so glad that my children could all join me tonight for dinner," Lydia tells Cole, Stacey and Lex as they sit at a table in the country club. Lydia wanted to get her children together so she could spend time with them because she had missed them desperately while she was away. In her mind, this is the most important thing to her; her children. "I feel like we have so much to catch up on."

"It's just good to have you back, Mom," Cole says before he takes a sip of his beer. "We were all so cruel to one another before you left. It's time that we put that behind us and move forward."

"I couldn't agree more," Lydia nods back to him as she picks up her glass of wine.

"What is that?" Stacey gasps at the ring on her mother's finger. "Are you engaged to be married?"

"Oh," Lydia smiles at the sight of her ring. "Yes, Kent asked me to marry him and I've said yes. It's wonderful isn't it?"

"No!" Stacey stands up. "You can't marry him! You can't marry that man!"

"Stacey," Lydia looks around the dining room as Stacey is creating a scene. "Please sit down. I thought you liked Kent? What is going on with you?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Stacey says, her voice filled with anger. "That son of a bitch is the one who tried to have me killed. He arranged for my shooting!"