Written by: Dallas Walsh

"Do not tell me to not freak out," Carmen Santos Rockwell tells her brother, Mateo Santos, as she pours a stiff brandy as she stands in the living room of the lavish Rockwell Mansion. She and her brother are trying to cover up the fact that she accidently killed her husband, Mac Rockwell; they had buried his body in the garden in the back yard on the Rockwell estate until they could come up with a cover plan to tell the Rockwell's. However, when they went to retrieve the body, it was not there. She is now worried that someone has Mac's body; she has no idea who could have it or where the body could have been moved too. "Mac's body is gone! Where the hell did it go? Who could have removed it? Oh my God, someone knows that we killed Mac!"

"Can you please calm down?" Mateo asks his sister, who is taking a healthy sip of her drink. "I need you to keep your voice down. I don't need anyone in the house to hear you having a breakdown about Mac's body missing."

"I don't think I can calm down right now!" she replies in a whispered voice. "Mac's body is gone!"

"Okay, okay," Mateo tries to keep her from escalating anymore. "Let's think about this realistically Carmen; we killed Mac, we know that. There was no pulse after you accidently hit him on the head. If anyone, and I mean anyone, in this house or grounds saw us bury him, why haven't they come forward? You know damn well the Rockwell's would use this to get rid of you. I don't think anyone knows about what we did to Mac. We would have heard about it by now, Carmen."

Carmen takes another sip of her brandy while she thinks about what her brother is telling her. She can't deny that it does make sense; if anyone would have known about them killing Mac and burying his body, they would have stepped forward by now.

"You make valid points," Carmen tells him, finally speaking a calmer manner. "However, it still doesn't explain where the body is?"

"Maybe the body disintegrated already, or maybe we were digging in the wrong spot," Mateo says back to her immediately. "There are other alternatives than someone knows what we did. That garden is huge, maybe we were just in the wrong location?"

"Fine, I believe you, I don't like this, but I'll choose to see the positive," Carmen waves her hand in the air. "But, now we have another problem: I told the Rockwell's that Mac's body was coming home from Paris. What the hell are we going to do now?"

"Leave that to me," Mateo grins back to her. "I have an idea that will get us out of having to produce Mac's body."

***

Celeste Baldwin slowly opens her eyes in the queen size bed in the small cabin that she and Mac are staying in. She still can't believe that she found an amnesiac Mac at the Rockwell mansion all those weeks ago; he had a head injury at the time and was covered in mud. To help nurse him back to health, she brought him to a small cabin that has been closed for the winter as they are on a camp site. Within a few days, Mac and Celeste became lovers again, including as most recently as the night before. She had almost forgotten what a magical lover Mac is; he fills her every last need and she couldn't be happier. She still realizes that, eventually, they will have to find a new place to go because spring is coming which means the camp site will be opening again soon.

"Good morning," Mac rolls over and sees Celeste laying awake. "Have you been awake long?"

"Not too long," Celeste turns and looks at her lover. "I was going to get up but I was so cozy next to you."

Mac chuckles back to her. "This has been really nice getting to know you, Celeste," he tells her. "I wish I could remember everything about my past some times but when I'm with you, I realize that I have everything I need right in front of me."

Celeste blushes back to him. "You're such a sweet man, Mac. I guess that means you haven't had any memories at all?"

"None," Mac says finally sitting up in the bed, exposing his toned chest. "I am beginning to think that I will never remember anything. And, that might not be such a bad thing."

Celeste leans over and kisses him on the lips. "I think you're right," she tells him, knowing that if he remembers their new romance will forever be changed. "This might be the best thing in the world for both of us."

***

Lydia Rockwell opens the door to the main office at Rockwell Mining and quickly moves inside as she sees her children, Cole Rockwell, Stacey Rockwell and Lex Rockwell all waiting for her. Also in the office is Lydia's former mother in law, Lucinda Rockwell. She has called an urgent family meeting this morning to discuss what their plan of attack is going to be so they can remove Carmen from the family and the company as Lydia knows that she doesn't deserve to be the head of the family now that Mac has passed away.

"Thank you all for being here, I know it's early," Lydia says as she sets her large Chanel purse down on the desk. "I wanted to ensure we met before Carmen showed up this morning."

"You made it sound incredibly important," Stacey tells her mother. "What is going on?"

"It's about your father, it's about Mac," Lydia looks at her children as she pours herself a cup of coffee.

"What about Dad?" Cole asks her, wondering what this is about. "Has his body arrived home from Paris?"

"Not to my knowledge," Lydia replies to him quickly. "And, I don't think it will."

"Why would you say that? Why don't you think Dad's body will show up?" Lex asks the next question to Lydia.

Lydia takes a sip of her coffee as she looks over at Lucinda as they have been on the same page about what they believe is happening. "Your mother and I suspect that Mac isn't dead after all," Lucinda reveals to her grandchildren. "We believe this is a rouse that Carmen is creating to further cement her status in this family."

The three Rockwell siblings look at one another in surprise. "That doesn't make any sense," Cole immediately tells his mother and grandmother. "If Dad is in fact alive, where is he?"

"And why hasn't he come home?" Stacey asks the next question, still reeling from Lydia's theory.

"That's exactly what we have to find out," Lydia tells everyone as she puts her hand on her hip. "We can't let Carmen get away with this, the question is, how are we going to figure out what is really going on here?"

***

A short time later, Carmen opens the door to the main office at Rockwell Mining and freezes in her tracks at the sight of all the Rockwell's huddled together on the sofa. She arches her eyebrow immediately wondering what they are doing together; the last thing she needs is for them to figure out what she and Mateo are up too with covering up Mac's death. She pats her purse knowing that she has her secret weapon ready to go if they question her at all.

"What is going on in here?" Carmen asks everyone as she moves into the office. "A meeting without the CEO? That's unheard of."

"Actually, we were discussing MacKenzie," Lydia stands up and glares at the younger woman. "We were having a family meeting about the man we have lost."

"I would have loved to have been included considering the man we lost was my husband," Carmen snarls back to her. "In any event, I am glad you're all here. I have some news regarding Mac and you should all hear it from me."

"More news?" Lucinda rolls her eyes. "It seems like every damn time we see you, you have more news for us Carmen. And, none of it is good."

"The Paris officials have been in touch with me," she ignores Lucinda's comments. "At first, they believed that they would have been able to transport Mac's body home, but on second review, there were no remains to be found. The plane crash was so severe that no human remains could be salvaged."

"How is any of this possible?" Lex asks her as he stands up and shoots her a look. "Just the other day you said everything was set for my father's body to come home. How could they have missed that there were no bodies remaining in the crash site?"

"I don't have all the answers," Carmen replies quickly to him. "I just have these documents from the police in Paris," she says as she pulls out an envelope from her purse. She passes it to Lydia, who snaps it from her and opens it immediately. She gets a sly grin on her face as she knows that Mateo's forged documents look legitimate and all of the Rockwell's will not be able to tell the difference.

"Well, what does it say Mom?" Cole asks her as he can feel the tension building in the room.

"There were no bodies found," Lydia puts the paper down from her face. "Mac's body was lost in the crash."

"Oh my God," Stacey covers her mouth and immediately hugs Cole. "We will truly never see our father again!"

Carmen forces herself to look upset like the rest of the Rockwell's, even though she is secretly thrilled that her plan is working perfectly. "I don't want you to worry about anything," she tells the family. "We will still hold a memorial for Mac, of course, there just won't be a coffin."

"I can't believe this," Lex mumbles as he moves to hug Lucinda. "How can we truly never see him again? This doesn't seem fair."

"No it doesn't," Lucinda holds her grandson as she looks over at Lydia, who is covering her mouth and getting tears in her eyes. "None of this is fair."

***

Houston Blackmore steps off the elevator and slowly walks up to the front door of this father's penthouse. He has been giving Kent Blackmore space since Kent was about to announce Houston as the new CEO of Blackmore Ltd when Lex interrupted with video of Houston and Sabine Andrews, Kent's lover, making love. Kent was naturally furious with Sabine and Houston and hasn't spoken to either of them since. However, Houston is tired of waiting for Kent to make the first move. He has to make his father understand that what he and Sabine did was a horrible mistake and it will never happen again. He just wants his life to go back to normal and that means making amends with Kent and Stacey.

He knocks loudly on the door and then opens it to move inside. He sees Kent at the bar pouring himself a brandy. "Hi Dad," Houston says as he walks into the living room. "We need to talk."

"Do we?" Kent hisses back to his son before he takes a sip of his brandy. "From where I stand, you and I have nothing left to discuss, Houston."

"Please don't say that," Houston pleads with him. "I know I made a mistake, okay? But that's what humans do, we make mistakes and we try to move on."

"The funny thing, Houston, about this so-called mistake, as you called it, is that it happened over and over again. How many times did you sleep with Sabine? How many more times would you have slept with her if you weren't exposed?" Kent demands to know from him as Houston's face flushes red. "See, you have no idea how to answer that!"

"You're right, I don't," Houston admits back to him. "But, I know that Sabine and I just got caught in something. You know what that's like, you've had your share of women. Some of them just captivate you!"

"Do you know many times I slept with my father's woman?" Kent yells at him. "ZERO! I never had sex with any of my step mother's or any of his girlfriends, and believe me, there were many of them! You on the other hand, you are running a list, first Lydia and now Sabine."

"Dad, please, you have to understand…"

"You're fired from Blackmore," Kent spits back to him quickly. "And, you're no longer my son! As of today, Lex is my only child. Now get the hell out of here before I throw you out!"

***

"I know you're dealing with a lot of Mac and the family right now so I really appreciate that you can take some time to have lunch with me," Sabine Andrews tells her sister as they sit together in the dining room of the country club. Sabine picks up her champagne cocktail and takes a sip of it as she hopes that Lydia can shed some insight into how she can make Kent realize that her torrid affair with Houston was a mistake and a thing of the past.

"I know we always haven't, exactly, been close Sabine," Lydia replies to her quickly. "But at the end of the day, we are family and after everything that has gone on lately, I am reminded that family is all we have."

"I wish I could make Kent understand that," Sabine admits to her sister. "He is furious with me and I don't think there's anything that I can do to make him realize that my sleeping with Houston was a horrible mistake."

Lydia sighs back to her. "I am afraid I might not be the best one to discuss this matter," she tells Sabine before she takes a sip of her champagne cocktail. "Considering my own illicit affairs, including ones that I had or involved Kent Blackmore."

"Why is that we always seem to mess up the best things in our lives, Lydia?"

Lydia chuckles back to her. "I wish I knew," Lydia shrugs back to her. "I just know that if you are determined to get back together with Kent, then that will happen. Once you put your mind to something, nothing stops you from making that goal a reality."

"I appreciate you saying that," Sabine raises her glass to toast Lydia. "To making our goals reality."

"Cheers," Lydia toasts her and then takes a sip of her drink.

***

Cole parks his Mercedes out front of the large mansion that Vivian Blackmore lives in and jumps out. He rushes to the front door as he is desperate to see Vivian and Chase Cooper about the fact that they drugged him and put him in bed with Vivian, who was wearing a blonde wig, to make it appear that he was having an affair on his girlfriend, Madison Stewart, while she is in jail. As a result of Madi's parents lying to her, she changed her plead from not guilty to guilty in her trial for killing Celeste. Now, Madi has been sentenced to a longer term and have been placed in a higher security facility.

Cole reaches the front door and starts to bang on it. "Vivian! Chase! Open this damn door! I'm not leaving until I see the two of you!" he yells as he feels his anger growing.

Finally, the door opens and Chase Cooper appears. He immediately crosses his arms over his chest, showing how muscular he is, almost hoping to intimidate Cole. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You know that this is a gated community, don't you?"

"I need to talk to you and Vivian," Cole pushes his way past Chase and moves into the foyer of the mansion. "You two have a lot of explaining to do."

"What is going on?" Vivian rushes into the foyer of the mansion. "Cole, do you have any idea the commotion you are creating?"

Cole laughs back to her. "The commotion I created?" he replies flabbergasted. "You two drugged me and made me look like I was sleeping around on Madi! Because of the two of you, Madi will spend years in jail! I ought to have you both arrested!"

"We only did what we thought was best for our daughter," Chase sternly replies to him. "You being in her life is not acceptable."

"So you'd rather see you spend her life in jail?" Cole asks him back. "God, you guys are pathetic!"

"You've had your say," Vivian moves closer to him. "Now kindly leave before I call the police. Chase and I will do whatever we can to get Madi out of jail!"

"I will leave and I will get Madi out of jail," Cole spits back to them. "But the two of you need to know that this is all your fault. If anything happens to Madi in that jail, you two are to blame."

***

Sabine moves to the front door of the penthouse feeling great after her lunch with Lydia. She wants to make her goal come to a reality; she is determined to get Kent to understand that her affair with Houston was a mistake and it will never happen again. She also wants him to understand that she loves him and wants to be with him again.

She turns the door handle, opens it and swiftly moves inside. "Good, you're home, we need to talk."

Kent rolls his eyes back to her. "I need to lock my damn door," he huffs back to her. "What do you want, Sabine?"

"I've missed you Kent," she moves closer to him. "This distance between us, it needs to end. You and I, we belong together, and you know that it is the truth."

"The truth?" he chuckles back to her. "Is that you slept with my son on more than one occasion despite you claiming to want me. That's a pretty funny way of proving that you want to be with me, don't you think?"

"I admit that my sleeping with Houston was a mistake," Sabine nods back to him. "I don't know why we did what we did, but I can promise you that it will never happen again."

"You and Houston sound like you rehearsed your speeches together," Kent laughs back to her. "He was here earlier and he said the same thing."

"Doesn't that prove that we are on the same page and that we mean what we are saying? We both want to move past this and get our lives back."

"You can have your life back Sabine," Kent glares at her. "But you and I, we are over and I will never take you back. Sleeping with my son," he grits his teeth at her, still disgusted that she would have sex with Houston. Sabine gulps heavily as she has never seen Kent so upset; she finds herself shaking slightly since he is yelling so loudly at her. "Is unforgivable! Now get the hell out of my face before I do something I will regret!"

***

Stacey quickly moves into the living room of the Rockwell Mansion desperate for a drink. After the morning meeting at Rockwell Mining where the family learned that Mac's body was unable to be recovered from the plane crash because it was burnt so badly, she raced home to have some time with her thoughts. The thought that she will truly never see her father again is devastating to her. She knows that seeing him dead was going to be a jolt to everyone but at least she could see him one last time.

She pours herself a brandy at the bar and immediately takes a sip of it. "Stacey, I'm glad you're home," a voice calls out from behind her. Stacey turns around and sees Houston moving into the living room.

"What the hell do you want?" she hisses at her former fiancé. "I am in no mood to deal with you today, Houston."

Houston looks back at her hoping to show he that he wants to make amends with her. "I was hoping we could talk," he admits to her. "I am tired of this rift between us."

"It's more than rift," Stacey says back to him. "You were sleeping with my Aunt!"

"I know and I'm sorry," he says. "I made a mistake, sort of like you did with Marat a few times."

"How dare you!" Stacey tells him. "Sleeping with a man that I got engaged too while I thought were dead is much different than sleeping with my Aunt, especially considering you also slept with my mother!"

"I can only say I'm sorry," Houston pleads with her. "I don't know what else you want from me."

"That's just it Houston," Stacey glares back to him. "I don't want anything else from you. You and I, we will always be parents to Drake but anything more we are completely done. I want nothing more to do with you."

"You don't mean that," Houston shakes his head back to her. "After everything we've been through, Stacey, we can get through this too."

"You threw that away the moment you slept with Sabine, not once, not twice but God knows how many times," Stacey continues to tell him. "The sooner you realize that we are over, the better off we will all be."

***

"How did it go with the family this morning?" Mateo asks Carmen as they sit in the back table of the country club together. Mateo has been eager to find out if the family believed his forged documentation stating that no bodies were found in the wreckage of the plane crash that supposedly killed Mac; he hopes that it worked, but based on the fact that Carmen is sitting across from him, he thinks it did work.

"They were all devastated by the news that they would never see their beloved Mac again," she tells him as she takes a sip of her tequila sunrise. "The documentation was the cherry on the sundae. Without that, I doubt that they would have believed a word I said."

"Then I'm glad I worked all night to create those documents," Mateo replies to him. "I had to tell Lex I was working late, but he understood."

"We should be in the clear then," Carmen purses her lips together. "As long as Mac has left me with shares in the company; I am currently majority shareholder and I will then retain my position as CEO."

"I would think that Mac would split his shares evenly amongst you and the children," Mateo tells her. "Why would he do anything differently?"

"I don't know," she nervously tells him. "But this is the last piece Mateo. If I get those shares, the family will not be able to get rid of me."

"Then let's hope that happens."

She nods back to him quickly. "And you, keep an eye on Lex. We might be able to get information from him since you two are so close now. Report back to me anything that he divulges to you."

***

"I heard about Mac and his body not being able to be recovered from the site of the plane crash," Kent tells Lex as he pours two brandy's from the bar in the living room of the penthouse. "I'm terribly sorry."

"Thanks," Lex nods back to his biological father. "And, I am sorry that it has been so long since I came to see you. After everything that went down at your announcement, I wanted to give you some space to comprehend everything that happened between Sabine and Houston."

Kent uneasily chuckles back to him as he passes Lex his brandy. "To be honest with you, I'm still trying to wrap my head around that betrayal from those two. And, while I don't approve of your methods of how you exposed them, I do appreciate you having my back."

"I really didn't have time to talk to you before the meeting," Lex replies to him. "But, I knew that Houston shouldn't be the CEO of Blackmore Ltd, not after he slept with Sabine. It didn't seem like it was the right move on your part."

"Like I said, I appreciate that you were looking out for me," Kent takes a sip of his drink. "That's part of the reason why I wanted to see you, Lex."

Lex arches his eyebrow back to him. "I'm listening."

"Come back to Blackmore Ltd," Kent tells his son. "Come back and be the CEO of my company?"

Lex chuckles back to him. "I'm flattered that you're asking me to go back to the company," he tells his father. "But, I'm afraid I can't do that, not right now."

"Because of Mac's passing?"

Lex nods back to him. "We don't know what his will is going to reveal but regardless, we are going to have to get Carmen out of that CEO seat," he tells him. "The company is suffering every minute that she is running the company, so my focus has to be on Rockwell Mining and maintaining Mac's legacy."

"I understand that completely," Kent tells his son. "But, the moment you are feeling like Rockwell is in good shape, please let me know. I'd love to have you back at Blackmore Ltd, this time for good."

***

Celeste paces back and forth in the cabin as she tries to rack her brain about where she and Mac could go next. She doesn't know the exact date that the camp site will reopen but she can only imagine it will be within the next couple of weeks; she would like to be long gone before that happens, so she doesn't get caught with an alive Mac Rockwell by her side.

"Come on Celeste," she whispers to herself. "Where can I go? Where could I take Mac that would ensure that his identity isn't revealed to anyone?"

Before she can say anything else to herself, Mac opens the door to the cabin and rushes inside. "It is a beautiful day out there," Mac tells her as he moves up to her to give her a quick kiss on her lips. "The snow is melting pretty quickly."

"I see," Celeste replies to him quickly. "I guess that means we better start packing."

Mac arches his eyebrow back to her. "This is a camp site," Celeste reminds him. "We can't stay here forever, especially now that you're feeling better."

"And where do you think we should go?" Mac asks her.

"You leave that to me," she purses her lips together. "And you can focus on making love to me for the rest of the afternoon."

Mac chuckles as he moves up to her and kisses her passionately. "That is something I can definitely do."

***

"Darling, it has been too long since we've had a drink together," Dyhannah Cooper looks over at her son before she takes a sip of her chardonnay. She knows that Deacon has been looking forward to putting his name in the Senate race, which she was able to land him because she uncovered the truth about Chase's connection with Kent. Chase was worried about Deacon running for Senate while Madi was in jail, but Dyhannah refuses to allow her son play second fiddle to Chase' bastard daughter with Vivian Blackmore for a moment longer. "Tell me, how are things going with the campaign?"

Deacon takes a sip of his scotch before he looks back at his mother with a grin on his face. "You will never believe this," he grins to her. "But, I actually won the nomination. I'll be able to officially run for Senate, starting in a couple of weeks!"

"My word, all of my hard work has finally paid off!" Dyhannah claps her hands together. "I am so proud of you my son."

"I couldn't have done this, any of this, without you and your support," Deacon tells his mother.

"This is cause for celebration," Dyhannah continues to feel giddy. "Waiter, waiter!" she calls as a man rushes up to her. "Please bring us a bottle of your finest champagne! We are going to celebrate this huge success, Deacon because you are about to change this country for the better!"

***

"I have to tell you that I haven't seen Cole that mad in a very long time," Vivian tells Chase as they stand in his hotel room, which is upstairs from the country club. Vivian recalls how Cole went to her mansion and lashed out at her and Chase for drugging him and making it appear that he was having an affair on Madison. This, of course, made Madi change her plead to guilty and she is now in jail; as if Chase and Vivian didn't feel guilty enough, they now must deal with Cole's rage.

"I can deal with him," Chase waves his hand back to her. "He is a boy playing in an adult playground."

Vivian chuckles back to him. "You did seem to handle him pretty well," she admits to him. "But, I suppose he is the least of our problems. We still have to find a way to get Dyhannah off our backs. I still can't believe that she is blackmailing us to be apart. I don't want to be apart from you, Chase. What are we doing to do?"

Chase sighs back to her as he runs his hands through his hair. "This one is a bit more complicated, I'm afraid. Dyhannah is a very clever woman; the documentation she has on Kent and I, could send us both to jail for a very long time."

"But, you and I are in love and we deserve to be happy," Vivian protests with him. "We can't let her win, not this time."

"Don't you worry about that," Chase replies to her quickly. "The last thing I will do is let Dyhannah win. We just have to figure out how to stop that woman."

***

A loud buzzer rings as Deacon sits behind some plexiglass in the visiting center of the state maximum prison as he is awaiting to see Madison. He is still having a difficult time believing that she changed her plead to guilty and now she is facing a longer time in jail for killing Celeste. Deacon still believes that his sister is innocent; there is no way in his mind that Madi actually could have taken a life.

Suddenly, Madison arrives on the other side of the glass. She gets a small grin on her face, pleased that she is able to see some family, which she hasn't happened in a while.

"Hey sis," Deacon says into the telephone receiver. "How are you holding up?"

Madi shrugs her shoulders back to him. "As well as to be expected," she replies to him quickly. "I am getting settled though. I don't think it will be that bad in here."

"You know it's not too late to change your mind and admit that you made a mistake with your plead," he tells her. "You don't have to stay in jail for a crime you didn't commit."

"The fact that I know that Mom and Dad set it up to make it look like Cole cheated on me makes my blood boil," she admits to him. "If I was out there, I might kill one of them for what they've done to me."

Deacon chuckles back to her. "They probably have some lame justification like they were trying to protect you."

"They can save that lame ass excuse," she rolls her eyes. "Anyways, what's going on with you? I thought I read in the paper that you won the Senate nomination."

"Yea, I did," Deacon smiles back to her. "I'm officially in the political race!"

"Dyhannah must be over the moon."

"You have no idea," he chuckles back to her. "That's part of why I'm here today though, Madi."

"To tell me the news?" she asks him back.

"That," he nods to her. "And to tell you that I'm going on the campaign trail, so I don't know when I'll be back to see you again."

"That's fair," Madi smiles to her brother. "You have a life to live, go live it Deacon. And do me a favor?"

"Sure?"

"Win the damn seat in the Senate," she winks back to him. "Make your dreams a reality."

***

"God, what a day," Lex opens the door to the lavish condo that he is living in with Mateo. He was going to ask Mateo to move into the Rockwell mansion with him but considering how the rest of the family is dealing with Carmen, he thought it would be best if he got his own place. Lydia, Cole and Stacey were against the idea, but Lex hasn't felt this comfortable with a man or a relationship in a very long time, so he moved in with Mateo. "I need a drink."

Mateo chuckles back to him, knowing what Lex has gone through already because he was helping Carmen with the forged documentation surrounding Mac's body. "What can I pour you to start?"

"I want a brandy but I think I should start with something a little less strong," Lex tells him as he throws his shoes into the corner and puts his feet up on the sofa.

"How about a gin and tonic? A double?"

"That sounds perfect," Lex smiles to him as Mateo starts making the drink in the kitchen.

"So, talk to me babe," Mateo calls out from the kitchen. "What's going on? Are there any updates on your Dad?"

"I take it that means you haven't spoken to your sister today?" Lex chuckles to him as he takes a sip of his gin as Mateo sits next to him.

Mateo shakes his head no, not wanting Lex to know that he has been helping Carmen with her cover up. "I was too busy at work to really talk to her today. Why? Did something happen?"

"It's a long story," Lex admits to him. "Short version is that my Dad's body was destroyed in the plane crash; we will never get to see him again."

"Wow, I'm so sorry," Mateo puts his hand on Lex's leg. "That had to be tough to hear."

"My entire family is devastated," Lex says back to him before he takes another sip of his drink. "We really thought seeing my Dad's body would make this entire nightmare real. It still feels like a dream. And now, we have to deal with the fact that he's gone and we won't see him."

"If there's anything I can do…"

"There is," Lex tells him quickly as they lock eyes. "Convince your sister to give up control of Rockwell Mining, regardless of what my Dad's will says. Every day she is in control, the company is taking a hit."

Mateo uneasily chuckles back to him. "Babe, you and I made an arrangement, remember? We wouldn't let my sister and your Dad's relationship interfere with us. I can't just go back on that now. Whatever Mac's final wishes are, I have to respect that."

Lex uneasily nods back to him. "Yea, I get that. I'm sorry I asked, it wasn't fair of me to do that. I just hope my Dad left the shares of the company to one of us so we can regain control of the family company before Carmen runs into the ground."

"Whatever happens, it will be at your father's request," Mateo says back to him. "Try to remember that, okay?"

***

Carmen walks to the bar in the master bedroom of the Rockwell Mansion only wearing a white satin robe and pours herself a brandy. She takes a sip of it as she desperately needed a drink after the day she has had. She can't believe that the Rockwell's bought the forged documentation confirming that Mac's body was completely destroyed in the plane crash that "killed" him. She still hopes that she can continue this ruse until, at least, the reading of the will is over. By then, she will have secured her place in the family and Rockwell Mining, and the family won't be able to touch her.

She turns when she hears a ping! on her phone. She slowly walks over to the large king size bed where her phone rests and looks at it. She gets a sly grin on her face when she sees that she has a new notification from Tinder; since Mac is gone, she has been feeling lonely and she decided to join the dating app. She isn't expecting anything to come from it, but she enjoys the eye candy every once in a while.

She opens the app quickly and sees a man who swiped right over her profile. Carmen licks her lips a little. "Tall, dark and very handsome," she whispers to herself as she looks at his pictures. "Yea, I can swipe right back at this stud."

Within minutes of her swiping right, she receives a message to chat with the guy. Carmen moves on the bed so she is leaning up against the headboard, a drink in one hand and her phone in the other as she starts chatting with the sexy stranger.

***

The following morning, the Rockwell's are once again huddled in Mac's office at Rockwell Mining. Lydia has, once again, called a family meeting to discuss the reading of Mac's will, which will take place that afternoon. She feels like the family has to have a plan in place in the event that the will leaves Carmen with some shares of Rockwell Mining, and thus, she is allowed to retain control of the family company.

"I barely slept a wink last night," Stacey admits to her family as she pours a coffee for herself. "Does anyone else want coffee?" she asks as everyone nods back to her, so she keeps pouring more cups. "This will reading is causing me stress."

"I'm afraid we are all stressed out by what Mac's will is going to say," Lucinda tells her granddaughter. "I am just hoping that he didn't have time to change his will from the time he married that wench."

"We need to think of something, anything, that will help us get rid of Carmen in the event that Mac did leave her shares of Rockwell Mining," Lydia tells the family. "The last thing we need is for Carmen to remain in control and continue to damage the company."

"But what can we possibly do?" Cole shrugs his shoulders back to everyone. "There's no way we can fight what the will says, right?"

Lydia gulps heavily back to him. "I guess not but damnit, I won't give up on this. I refuse to allow Carmen Santos to destroy everything Mac worked so damn hard for! Now, we have a couple of hours before the reading of the will; I need each and everyone of you to think of something, anything, to stop this woman before it's too late!"

***

In the cabin, Mac looks over at Celeste as she rests after they just finished making love. He smiles at the sight of her sleeping as he likes how close they have become in such a short amount of time. He almost doesn't know what he would do without her in his life.

"Maybe once we leave this camp site," he whispers to himself as he rolls onto his back. "I'll ask you to marry me. You and I, we could be together forever, Celeste."

Suddenly, Mac has a bright flash in front of his eyes. He closes his eyes for a moment and has a vision in front of him of Celeste kissing a younger, very handsome man, who looks oddly familiar to Mac. He opens his eyes and the vision is gone.

"What the hell just happened?" he asks himself, as he uneasily looks over at his lover, who is still fast asleep and unaware that Mac just had a vision of her kissing Cole.

***

"I am surprised you're here considering everything that is going on with your family and your Dad right now," Madi says into the telephone receiver in the state maximum prison that she is in. She looks through the plexiglass and sees Cole sitting across from her. The media coverage of Mac's passing has been impossible to ignore and she can't imagine what Cole, and the rest of the Rockwell's, are going through right now.

"I have to admit to you," Cole looks back at her. "That is has been very challenging. Losing my Dad is one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through."

"I wish I could hold you," Madi replies to him. "I hate that I can't support you right now."

"You are though," Cole nods back to her. "Seeing you and coming here is really the bright spot of my day right now, Madi. You have to know that."

"I can tell," she says back to him. "But Cole, you're free, I don't want you wasting around and waiting for me. It could be years before I get out of here."

"I won't stop giving up on you," Cole tells her. "I love you Madi and I will do whatever I can to ensure you get out of this place, you have my word on that."

"I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do," Cole smiles back to her. "And, once my Dad's will is read, I'm going to put all of my energy into figuring out a way to get you out of here, once and for all."

***

"Can I get you anything other than a sparkling water?" Vivian asks Houston as she pours him some club soda from the bar in her living room. She is glad that her son stopped by as she has been worried about him since she heard about his affair with Sabine was exposed at Kent's announcement for who he was going to have running Blackmore Ltd. She, herself, was actually stunned by the revelation as she had no idea that Houston had started seeing Sabine, even though that is a stretch.

"It's too early for me to have a drink," Houston admits to her. "I have to stay clear headed so I can figure out a way to get back in Stacey and Dad's good graces. They are both still livid with me."

"I know you don't want to hear this Houston," Vivian brings her son the water and sits next to him. "But maybe it is time you move on from Stacey Rockwell. That woman has done nothing but cause you heartache and misery."

"That is easy for you to say," Houston takes a sip of his water. "But, ever since I saw her for the first time at the mine, I have been head over heels in love with her."

"If that is true, why did you sleep with Sabine?"

"Sabine and I had a physical relationship," Houston explains to her. "Nothing more, and we both knew it. I'm not overly worried about Stacey, to be honest. We have had ups and downs before and we always come through. I'm more worried about Dad."

"Your last visit with Kent didn't go so well?" she asks her son.

"He fired me from Blackmore Ltd. and basically disowned me," Houston reveals to her mother, who gasps back in shock.

"He did what?" she shrieks. "I can understand firing you because he's upset, but disowning you? Kent has gone too far with that statement!"

"Mom, please try to stay calm about this."

"Don't tell me to stay calm," Vivian stands up and moves to the bar where she pours herself a brandy. "Kent Blackmore doesn't disown his children, and if I have to remind him of that, I damn well will."

***

Stacey sits at a table at the country club with a glass of rose in front of her. She feels her heart pounding as she can see Marat Kafelinkov sitting at the bar; he hasn't seen her yet and she is hoping that he doesn't. The last thing she wants is for Marat to come over and talk to her about Houston's affair with Sabine since she told Marat that things between her and Houston would be different this go-around. Now, she has thrown Houston out of her life and she has no idea what she is going to do next, but getting back involved with Marat is not an option; she doesn't want to keep going around in the same circles.

"You look a million miles away," a voice calls out causing Stacey to snap back into reality. She looks up and sees Kent standing over her table. "Mind if I join you?"

"Kent, hi, sure," Stacey replies to him quickly. "I'm just having a drink before the reading of my father's will."

"I am so sorry about your loss," Kent sits across from her. "I can only imagine what you and your family are going through right now. I was never close to Mac, but this is the last thing I wanted to have happen."

Stacey uneasily smiles back to him. "Our families have a lot of history, don't they?"

"You can say that again," he agrees with her. "I can probably guess why you looked so far away when I got here; you were thinking about Houston and Sabine, weren't you?"

"It is impossible for me not to think about it."

"You and I are in the same boat," Kent tells her. "They have both come to see me and have begged me to forgive them but I don't think I can."

"Houston has asked the same of me," Stacey admits to him as they lock eyes. "And, I told him we will always be parents to Drake but beyond that, I am done. I can't keep going around the same damn circles with him. Enough is enough, you know?"

Kent chuckles back to her. "I know exactly what you mean because that's exactly how I am feeling, Stacey."

***

Dyhannah moves into the country club and looks for a stop at the bar. She has been on cloud nine since Deacon told her that he won the nomination for the Senate seat and wants to continue to celebrate further. As she moves up to the bar, she can't help but notice a very attractive man sitting alone. Dyhannah scoots in next to him and immediately orders a champagne cocktail. She then looks over at the man and realizes that it is Marat Kafelinkov.

"Mr. Kafelinkov," she purses her lips together. "Why is a handsome man like yourself drinking alone?"

Marat looks over at Dyhannah and smiles to her. "You know my name but I'm afraid I don't know yours? Have we met?"

"Dyhannah Cooper," she extends her hand to his. "We haven't met officially but I have been following the news about Rockwell Mining and Blackmore Ltd. for years, so I am well aware of who you are."

"I suppose I am flattered," Marat says before he takes a sip of his scotch.

"You never did answer my question," Dyhannah continues to look at him. "Why are you drinking alone? I'm surprised there isn't a beautiful woman on your arm."

Marat chuckles back to her. "I'm afraid that ship has sailed," he admits to her. "I was actually just contemplating leaving Kelsey Lake and going back to Moscow."

"That would be a loss," Dyhannah tells him.

"Well, my children's mother has passed away and the woman I was engaged too has moved on with another man, despite him being a cheating jerk."

"You have children?" Dyhannah asks him quickly.

"A daughter Ashlee and a son Ivan," he nods back to her. "They are my world, I have to say."

"Isn't that sweet?" Dyhannah clasps her hands together. "You wouldn't want to move them around at this age. What if I made it worth your while to stay in Kelsey Lake?"

Marat turns to her and arches his eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"I have a proposition for you and I don't think you will want to turn this down," Dyhannah smiles back to him as she gets a sparkle in her eyes.

***

"I'm so glad that I caught you before Mac's will reading," Sabine announces to Stacey as she moves into the living room of the Rockwell mansion. Sabine knows that the family is gathering for the reading of the will but she has wanted to reach out to her niece to apologize for her affair with Houston. She will not stop until both Stacey and Kent realize that she is sorry for her actions. "We have to talk."

Stacey turns around from pouring herself a brandy and glares at Sabine. "I don't want to hear a damn word you have to say Sabine," Stacey tells her. "So, save it, okay?"

"I know you're upset with me," Sabine ignores Stacey's request and moves up to her. "But you have to know how sorry I am. I really mean that."

Stacey's palm lands hard on Sabine's cheek causing her to fall back in shock that her niece just slapped her. "You have to know how sorry I am that I just hit you," Stacey grits her teeth together. "I really mean that too."

"How could you?" Sabine gasps back to her, as she holds her red cheek. "I know what I did was wrong but to hit me?"

"You're lucky that's all I do," Stacey yells back at her. "You slept with my fiancé, the father of my child Sabine! What did you think? I was going to hold your hand and sing 'We Are Family'? You're delusional, I want nothing more to do with you!"

"Please, Stacey, just hear me out…"

"I told you, I have nothing left to say to you," Stacey tells her as she rushes out of the room. "I'll be back for the reading of the will but you, you better stay the hell away from me Sabine. As far as I'm concerned, you're dead."

***

A short time later, the Rockwell family is all seated around the living room as their lawyer, Winston Marshall, sitting in an arm chair by the fire. He has Mac's will in his hand and he is prepared to read it to the family.

"Before we begin," Carmen looks over at Winston. "Can I offer you a drink?"

Winston looks back at Mac's widow. "No, I'm fine thank you. I'd like to be clear headed while reading this will," he tells her as he looks at the family. "Before I begin, I will let you all know that I knew Mac Rockwell for many, many years and he was a good man. I am truly, terribly sorry for all of your losses."

"Thank you Winston," Lucinda replies to the lawyer. "Mac was always very fond of you."

"Let me begin," Winston says as he opens the will that is resting on his lap. "This is the final will and testament of MacKenzie Rockwell, husband, father, uncle, and founder of Rockwell Mining. If you are reading this, I have moved on to a different place; a place, one day, we will all be reunited in. Please, don't be sad right now. I love each and every one of you very much and you have made my life so very rewarding."

Stacey, Lex and Cole and grab hands as they hear their father's words to them. Lydia also moves a tissue to her eye, which causes Carmen to roll her eyes.

"I love my mother dearly," Winston continues to say. "However, since she is extremely well off, I am not leaving her any of my assets. Instead, I am leaving her with one sixth of my shares in Rockwell Mining and all of my father's belongings that I inherited. These belongings belong with you, Mother, since you and father were together for so many years. Some of these belongings include, my original 1922 Rolex watch, my 1934 Mercedes Benz and the loft in Milan, Italy."

Lucinda takes a sip of her brandy as she then clutches her pearls, wishing that her son was still with her.

"To my children, Cole, Stacey and Lexington," Winston continues to read. "You three were my heart and my soul and easily the one thing I am most proud of that I accomplished in my life. I am leaving each of you with one sixth of my shares in Rockwell Mining; I am trusting you to carry on the legacy of the company I built up from the ground. I have nothing but faith in all of you to carry out my visions for the company. I am also leaving each of you a quarter of my accumulated wealth, the final figures to be determined after Winston reviews all of the bank statements."

"To my wife of many years, Lydia Andrews Rockwell," Winston says as Lydia looks at her children. "You and I have a complex history of being married and being rivals, but one thing was always true and that is how much I respected and admired you. Now that I have passed, please watch over our children and guide them with anything that they need. I am leaving you with one sixth of my shares in Rockwell Mining and all of my jewelry as this will be a way for you to remember me by."

"Lastly, to my current wife Carmen Santos," Winston continues as the family looks over at the widow, who is trying to bring tears to her eyes. "While we haven't been married for that long, I am deeply in love with you and you have made me incredibly happy. I am leaving you with the Rockwell estate, including the mansion, one sixth of my Rockwell shares and one fourth of my accumulated wealth. I hope this will leave you set for the rest of your life."

The family gasps back in shock at everything that Mac left Carmen, who smiles at what she just heard. She realizes that Mac split his shares in Rockwell Mining, which means she will retail complete control of the company, which is exactly what she wanted. The fact that she was also left with the house and millions of dollars are just added perks.

***

A short time later after Winston has left, the Rockwell's are all sitting around with brandy's in their hands, most of them still have tissues in their hands.

"That woman was left with enough shares to stay in control of Rockwell Mining," Lydia tells her children, noting that Carmen has also left the mansion as she claimed she had to run an errand. "This reading of the will was a complete disaster."

"Mom, do we really have to go over this right now?" a devastated Stacey asks her. "I don't know if I can handle talking about this while hearing Dad's final wishes are so fresh in my mind."

"Stacey is right," Cole nods to everyone. "We need time to mourn Dad. We always have time to come up with a new plan to get rid of Carmen from Rockwell Mining."

"I wish that were true," Lucinda tells her grandchild. "But the fact remains, the longer Carmen is running the company, the more damage she is doing. Remember, your father's last wishes were for you three children to carry on his legacy. We have to figure out a way to get rid of Carmen before that legacy has been completely ruined."

***

Carmen skips through the hallway of the second level of the country club as she is thrilled by what just happened at the will reading. She was left with more than enough shares at the company to remain the CEO, she will get the Rockwell Mansion and she will get millions of the Rockwell fortune.

"I couldn't have asked for more if I planned this myself," she smiles to herself as she approaches a door to one of the suites. "Marrying Mac was honestly the best thing I've ever done. But, he is dead and gone and I still have a life to live."

She pulls out her phone and opens her Tinder app again. She re-reads the message from the man she was chatting with and then looks up at the door to see if she is at the right suite. She closes her phone and takes a deep breath before she knocks on the door.

The door opens and Carmen smiles at the sight in front of her. "I hope you're in the mood to celebrate because I am!"