Written by: Dallas Walsh

A pale looking Sabine Andrews exits the hospital room where Nathan Lockhart was recovering from his gun shot wound. She had been sitting with her fiancé when the monitors he was hooked up too started beeping rapidly. Before Sabine knew what was happening, more and more medical staff came into tend to Nathan, but he flatlined and the doctor pronounced him as dead. Her mind is racing as she can't believe that she just witnessed her fiancé die in front of her own eyes.

She slowly walks towards the waiting room where Lucinda Rockwell and Dane Ashby turn to see Sabine, who looks distraught.

"Sabine?" Lucinda asks her as she turns to face her son's fiancé. "What's wrong? You look like you've been hit by a truck."

"It's Nathan," she gasps for air as another tear falls down her cheek. "He's…he's gone."

Lucinda looks at Dane before she looks back at Sabine. "What are you talking about? I was just visiting him a short time ago," Lucinda quips back to her, trying to stay calm but she feels her lower lip start to quiver. "This is impossible!"

"Okay, okay," Dane comes up to Sabine and leads her to a chair where she sits down. "Why don't you start at the beginning? What happened?"

"I," she gasps for air. "I was sitting with him. A nurse came in and was checking his vitals. Suddenly, everything went crazy and he…he flat lined. The doctor tried to bring him back…oh my God," she cries as she puts her hands over her face as she starts to weep.

Dane looks back at Lucinda with worry on his face. Lucinda is about to leave the room when the doctor emerges. "Mrs. Rockwell, I'm glad you're still here."

"Tell me it's not true," Lucinda rushes up to him quickly. "Tell me my son isn't dead!"

"I'm so terribly sorry," the doctor tells her. "We did everything we could…"

"No!" Lucinda starts to cry immediately. "Nooooooo!" she cries as she falls to the ground in tears.

Dane rushes over to her, but Lucinda slaps him away as she cries while kneeling on the ground in agony over the loss of her child.

***

"Jesus, I can't believe this," Chase Cooper says into his cell phone as he stands in the police station in downtown Kelsey Lake. Chase runs his hand through his hair as he listens to the person on the other end of the phone. "Yes, yes, thanks for the update."

He hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath before he looks to the holding room where Mac Rockwell is sitting in. He knows that the news he just got will change the case against Mac drastically moving forward.

"That call," Chase says as he opens the door to the holding room where Mac is in. "It wasn't good news."

Mac stands up from the chair that he is sitting in and sighs heavily. The last thing he needs is more bad news considering he has already been arrested for attempted murder; he has no idea what could have happened now that could make things worse for him.

"What's happened? What's going on?" Mac finally asks his lawyer.

"It's Nathan," Chase looks back at him with intent. "He died a short time ago."

"What?" Mac gasps back to him. "I have to get to my mother, she's doing to be devastated."

Chase stops Mac from leaving the room, knowing that he can't just walk out since he's been arrested. "Whoa, whoa," Chase blocks his arms across the doorway. "You've been arrested Mac, you can't just leave. I know you're worried about your mother, but you will have to reach out to her in time."

"I didn't shoot Nathan!" Mac protests back to him. "This is bullshit!"

"I know, I know," Chase tries to calm him down. "But until we can prove that, you have to follow the rules that police have, Mac. You running out of here will only get you into more trouble."

"Ugh, fine, but what are the next steps? What's going to happen now?"

"Well," Chase nervously looks back at him. "With Nathan dying, the charges will likely move from attempted murder to murder."

"I'm going to be charged with a murder I didn't commit?" Mac yells back at him in frustration. "This is unbelievable! You have to do something, Chase! You have to prove that I didn't kill anyone!"

"I know that and you know that," Chase looks back at him. "Now we just have to prove that, okay? In the meantime, you have to stay calm, Mac. Any of these outbursts will only hurt you and the case."

***

Cole Rockwell moves into the living room of the Rockwell mansion and immediately moves to the bar where he starts to pour himself a shot of tequila. He quickly downs the shot before he turns around when he sees Celeste Baldwin move into the room.

"Celeste," Cole tells the woman that he has been involved with for years. "I didn't know you were stopping by this morning."

"I wanted to see you," Celeste admits to him as she moves up to him. "I mean, we've seemingly been estranged lately and I wanted to make things right. I, also, wanted to know if there has been any update on Nathan's status."

Cole sighs heavily back to her. "I actually just got off the phone with Dane," Cole looks back at her. "I do have news, but it's not good, I'm afraid."

Celeste arches her eyebrow back to him. "What are you talking about? What's going on with Nathan? Did he have a set back?"

Cole bites his lower lip. He knows that Celeste will not take this news well. "It's more than a setback," he grabs her hand and moves her to the sofa, where he sits her down. "There's no easy way to tell you this."

"Just tell me," Celeste looks back at him with concern. "What is going on?"

"Nathan," Cole begins to tell her. "He passed away earlier today. He's gone, Celeste."

"No," Celeste shakes her head back to her as tears flood her eyes. "No! This can't be happening!"

"I am so sorry," Cole pulls her into a hug and holds her as she cries. "I know you cared about Nathan, Celeste. If there's anything I can do…"

"Just hold me," Celeste weeps into his shoulder. "Please just hold me, Cole."

***

Carmen Santos opens the door to the main office at Rockwell Mining and ushers herself inside. She walks, quickly, to the desk and sets her large Gucci purse down on it. She moves to the bar and pours herself a cup of coffee as she thinks about the previous day and Lydia Rockwell stopped by her office and gave her a proposition. She hasn't been able to think about much else other than her suggestion; if she goes through with the plan, it would change everything.

"The question is," she says as she takes a sip of the coffee. "Can I trust Lydia Rockwell? That woman has been out to get me since I came into her life. Why would she want to partner with me now?"
She slowly walks back to her desk and sits down. "But if I can trust her, this would be a game changer. This would help me keep this position, regardless of when Nathan returns."

Before she can say anything else, Carmen's cell phone rings and she picks it up. "Carmen Lockhart," she says into her IPhone. "What? Are you sure? … Yes, I'll be fine thank you."

She slowly sets her phone down and covers her mouth in shock. "Nathan's dead," she tells herself as she gets a sly grin on her face. She stands up and moves to the bar. She opens the small fridge and pulls out a bottle of champagne. "It's time to celebrate," she says as she pops the cork.

She pours herself a glass of the bubbling drink and immediately takes a sip. "You dying means that I will remain as CEO of Rockwell Mining," she giggles to herself. "And that's all that I could have asked for. So, rest well, you son of a bitch," she smirks to herself before she takes another sip of her champagne.

***

"I came over as soon as I heard," Stacey Rockwell says as she moves into the living room of the penthouse that Kent Blackmore lives in. She came over to see her, sometime, lover as soon as she got the news about Nathan passing away as she knows that Kent has been worried like everyone else about his health.

"I must be missing something," Kent shakes his head back to her as he follows her into the living room. "Other than how beautiful you look today."

Stacey blushes back to him. "Kent, we agreed…"

"I know, but I can't help myself," he says with a sly grin on his face. "Anyways, you said that you came over as soon as you heard. What did you hear, exactly?"

"So you don't know?" Stacey looks back at him. "It's Nathan, he died this morning."

"My God," Kent gasps back to her. "I thought he was improving?"

"We all did," Stacey replies to him quickly. "I am sure my grandmother is beside herself."

"Can I do anything for you?" Kent asks her.

"No, I'll be fine," she tells him as the doorbell rings.

"Excuse me for one moment," Kent says before he moves towards the front door of the penthouse. He opens the door and sees a short man standing in the hallway. "May I help you?"

"Kent Blackmore?" he asks as Kent nods back to him. "You've been served."

Kent accepts the large envelope and shuts the door. He slowly walks back to the living room while Stacey arches her eyebrow back to him.

"What was that all about?" she asks him out of curiosity.

"I have no idea," Kent admits to her as he opens the envelope and pulls out some legal documents. Immediately, he realizes what is going on.

"Well? Are you in some kind of trouble, Kent?"

"No," Kent looks back at her. "It's your mother…she's signed the annulment papers that I gave her."

Stacey looks back at him in surprise as she had no idea that they were going to end their marriage. "You two are ending your marriage already? What's happened, Kent? What is going on?"

***

"Mother, I'm so glad that you came," Mac stands up from the chair he is sitting on the holding room at the police station when Lucinda enters while Dane follows her quickly. He pulls her into a hug while Lucinda tries to remain strong. "Chase told me everything about Nathan, I am so sorry."

"I appreciate that," Lucinda tells him as they exit their embrace. "I know you and Levi were not close, Mac."

"How are you holding up, Mac?" Dane asks him, treading carefully with Mac he knows that he hasn't fully accepted the fact that he is Mac's biological father yet.

"I'm fine," Mac tells him before he looks back at Lucinda. "Chase seems to think that he will be able to beat these charges, which will now be murder vs. attempted murder."

"That Helena Grant is a complete moron if she thinks that you did this," Lucinda huffs back to him. "She has no evidence!"

"They only have Nathan pointing me out as the shooter," Mac replies to her quickly. "Chase seems to think that he can spin it that he wanted to get back at me for Slate's death."

"Good," Lucinda gets a small smile on her face. "I'm going to trust Chase because there is no way in hell that I can lose another son."

***

Lydia looks at herself in her small compact and then applies a fresh layer of bright red lipstick before she fixes her skirt. Once she feels like she is presentable, she quickly moves towards the main office door at Rockwell Mining and opens it.

"Carmen, good morning," Lydia says as she moves into the office. "I'm hoping that we can talk."

"Lydia," Carmen looks back at her in surprise at the sight of her. She thought that Lydia would have given her more time to think about her proposal, but it is clear that Lydia wants an answer sooner than later. "I wasn't expecting you to return again so quickly."

"I barely slept last night," Lydia admits to her as she sits in the chair across from Carmen. "I couldn't stop thinking about my proposition to you. Have you given it any thought at all?"

"I thought about it all night," Carmen nods back to her. "And this morning until I heard the news."

"News?"

"You haven't heard?" Carmen asks her back as Lydia shrugs her shoulders. "Nathan died this morning."

Lydia's eyes open wider in surprise. "My God, I thought he was getting better? What happened?"

"I don't know all the details," Carmen admits to her. "The fact is, Nathan is dead which means that I will stay on as CEO for longer than anyone thought."

"Then this is still the best time for you to consider my proposition," Lydia smiles back to her. "The two of us, we could turn the business world upside down."

Carmen chuckles back to her. "I couldn't agree more, Lydia," Carmen smiles. "That's why, I've decided to accept your offer. Let's do this!"

***

"I must admit, I was surprised that Quinn agreed to do this," Dyhannah Cooper tells her son, Deacon Cooper, and Marat Kafelinkov as the three of them stand in the waiting room of the hospital. The three of them are at the hospital so Quinn Cunningham can have a paternity test completed on her unborn child; they are all eager to find out if Deacon or Marat is the father of the child as they all realize that they need the truth to, finally, come out.

Deacon nervously chuckles back to his mother. "Despite everything that happened, she still believes that I am the father of the child."

"Without sharing too much information about our time together," Marat chimes into the conversation. "Quinn and I only spent one night with each other. So, based on percentages, I'd say that it is more likely that Deacon is the father."

Dyhannah looks back at her son and grabs his hand. "I still believe, with everything in me, that you're not the father of this child. If you are, Deacon, I don't know what will come of your political career."

"That doesn't matter right now Mom," Deacon replies to her. "If I can't run for Senate, I will happily go back to practicing medicine. I spent a lot of money getting my education."

"You have to trust me on this," Marat looks over at him. "If you are the father, it is unlike anything else in the world. I love my kids very much."

"And your children are going to be getting a little brother or sister," Dyhannah smiles back to him. "I know it. I just know this."

***

"I think it is very brace of you to take this paternity test," Sabine tells her daughter, who is collecting her personal belongings from the small hospital room. Sabine came the hospital to be with Quinn while the paternity test took place because she didn't want her daughter to go through the situation alone. She knows that Dyhannah is out for blood when it comes to Quinn and wanted her to have support.

"We all need the truth, one way or the other," Quinn closes her large Chanel purse and looks back at her mother. "I still believe that Deacon is the father, but this test will confirm it once and for all. How are you? And don't lie to me, I know you must be devastated with Nathan's passing."

Sabine feels her eyes swell with water as she thinks about seeing Nathan die in front of her. She never imagined that would be the case but the scene keeps replaying over and over in her head.

"Oh Mom," Quinn moves up to her visibly shaken mother and pulls her into a hug. "What can I do? How can I help?"

"There's nothing anyone can do," Sabine says through her tears. "It's just still so…raw, you know?"

"I'm here if you need me," Quinn tells her as they exit their embrace. "I mean that, anything you need, anything at all, you let me know."

"I will," Sabine wipes her eyes dry. "Okay, you keep me posted okay? I have to get out of here."

"As soon as I know, I'll call you," Quinn tells her. "And remember what I said, okay?"

Sabine leaves the hospital room which allows Quinn to move to her purse. She pulls her out phone and dials a number quickly.

"Hi, it's me," Quinn purses her lips together. "Remember when I told you that I would need your help? Well, the time has come. I need your help with something and I need it right now."

***

"Are you feeling any better?" Cole asks Celeste as he brings a brandy in hopes of calming her down. He knew that she was going to take the news of Nathan's passing difficult, but she had a complete emotional breakdown.

Celeste takes the drink and has a long sip of it. "I'm still in shock," she admits to him. "I thought Nathan was getting better. Him dying, I just didn't see that coming."

"I guess the shooting did more damage than we thought," he tells her. "The person I feel the worst for is Lucinda. She only got Nathan back in her life and now, he's gone."

"It just…it doesn't seem fair," Celeste looks back at him. "He still has so much life to live, you know?"

"Yea, unfortunately, I don't think he did himself any favors since he got to Kelsey Lake," Cole replies to her quickly. "He was making a lot of enemies."

"He was broken after Slate died," Celeste informs him. "I was with him a lot after that; he just seemed difference, like he really just snapped. He said was going to do some crazy things."

Cole arches his eyebrow back to her. "What do you mean by that? What was Nathan going to do?"

Celeste gulps heavily. "Never mind, I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's too late now, you did say something," Cole looks at her with intent. "And now that he's gone, it's not like you'd be betraying his confidence. So, tell me Celeste, what was Nathan going to do."

Celeste sighs heavily back to him. "Nathan blamed Mac for Slate's death," she reveals to him as Cole nods back to her, already knowing that piece of information. "So, Nathan was going to get revenge on Mac by…well, uh, he wanted to kill you. He told me that he was going to kill you, Cole."

"What?" Cole gasps back to her.

"Obviously he never got the chance because someone shot him first," Celeste tells him. "If you still believe that Mac is innocent, then maybe someone else found out about his plan to kill you and stopped him dead in his tracks."

Cole gulps as he thinks back to how odd Celeste has acted since the news of Nathan's shooting broke. He looks back at her and can't help but wonder if the woman he is sleeping with shot his uncle because she knew he wanted Cole dead.

***

A short time later, Sabine storms into the living room of the Rockwell Mining and finds Cole pacing back and forth. She stops and looks at her nephew, wondering what is on his mind that he is pacing.

"Let me guess, you heard about Nathan and are reeling like the rest of us?" Sabine finally asks Cole, who stops walking and looks back at her.

"I heard, yea," Cole nods back to her. "How are you? I am sorry that you lost your fiancé, Sabine."

"Thanks," Sabine bites her lower lip. "I'm…I don't know to be honest. I'm just trying to keep it together long enough to figure out how any of this happened."

"I have to ask you something," Cole looks at her with intent. "I heard something today and am trying to figure out if it's true or not."

Sabine arches her eyebrow back to him. "What did you hear?"

Cole gulps back to her. "I heard that Nathan was going to kill me; He wanted to get revenge on Mac because he believed my father killed Slate, so he was going for an eye for an eye type of situation. Is that true? Was my Uncle going to kill me?"

Sabine sighs heavily as she puts her hand to her forehead for a minute. "You have to understand that Nathan was a very complex man," she tells him.

"I don't care how complex he was!" Cole shouts back to her. "I want to know if it's true; did he say he wanted me dead? Was Nathan going to kill me?"

"Yes!" Sabine cries back to him. "He told me and I was stunned. That's when…that's when I told him that I am pregnant! I was trying anything to get him to realize that it was a mistake."

"You're pregnant?" a stunned Cole asks her. "And the father of your baby just died?"

Sabine gulps again, knowing that she can't tell him that Mac also might be the father of her unborn child. "I just hoped that had he known about the baby, it would have made him think twice about killing you."

"I can't believe this."

"He didn't get a chance to try anything, Cole, because someone shot him before he could," Sabine tells him. "I don't know why this happened, but whoever did this might have saved your life."

Cole moves to the bar and pours himself a drink of scotch. He downs it quickly, his mind wondering if Celeste is the one who actually shot Nathan to protect him. It is the only thing that makes sense to him, but if his theory is right, it means that he is sleeping with the woman that killed his uncle.

***
Stacey takes a sip of her martini as she sits at a table on the patio of the country club. Her mind is racing over the news that Lydia has signed the annulment papers from Kent; she has no idea why her mother would do this since she was so desperate to marry him that it doesn't make sense that she wants to end the marriage already. Then there was the conversation that she had with Kent where he indicated that he felt like he was about to lose everything.

"Uh, earth to Stacey," a voice calls out causing Stacey to snap out of her train of thought. She looks up and sees Houston Blackmore standing in front of her. "I called your name three times, where were you just now?"

Stacey sighs back to him. "Sorry Houston," she says as he sits across from her. "I guess I was lost in my thoughts."

"That was pretty obvious," he chuckles back to her. "Are you alright? It's not Drake or Poppy, is it?"

"No, no," she waves her hand back to him. "The children are fine. It's my mother, actually."

"Lydia?" Houston asks her quickly. "What has she done this time?"

"That's the thing, I have no idea," Stacey admits to him. "But whatever it is, it's not good. I have to figure out what she's up too before it's too late."

***

"I do want to send my deepest condolences to you and your family," Casper Ross tells Lex as they move into his small office at his private investigator firm. Casper had heard about Nathan's passing and knows that Lex, and his entire family, must be going through a lot right now.

"Oh, thanks Casper," Lex smiles back to him. "If I'm honest, I wasn't close to my uncle but the fact that my father is behind bars for shooting him is insane. I know that Mac didn't shoot Nathan, I just hope his lawyer can prove that."

"I am a firm believer that the truth always comes out, no matter what," Casper replies to him. "Am I safe to assume that you're here for update on seeing if the nurse you saw at the hospital is your dead husband, Jarek Williams?"

Lex nods back to him eagerly, hoping that the PI has been able to uncover some evidence to support whether Jarek is alive or not. He hasn't been able to stop thinking about how he saw someone that was a dead ringer for Jarek at the hospital; he knows, logically, that Jarek died when he fell off the balcony at the Rockwell mansion but he can't explain how he saw another man that looked just like him. He just hopes that there is a logical explanation to this all.

"I am hoping that you have found something out," Lex admits to him. "Despite everything going on with my family, this Jarek situation has been on my mind non-stop. What have you uncovered?"

Casper looks back at him and is taken by how attractive Lex is for a moment. He knows that he can't think about his client that way for many reasons; he is still dating Grant Shaw, and Casper had a torrid affair with Lex's brother, Cole. But he still can't help but think Lex is looking very good.

"I have nothing concrete yet," Casper tells him as Lex loses the smile on his face. "But I have pulled Jarek, and his mother's, medical files to see if that will help determine anything."

"You pulled Odette's file? Why? What could that show?" Lex asks, thinking about how much trouble Jarek's mother, Odette Williams, caused for him and his family before she passed away.

"I am not sure what it could reveal," Casper admits to him. "But I don't want to leave any stone unturned. If her file can help solve this mystery, then I will review it."

***

"After our conversation this morning, I was you wanted to see me for lunch today," Celeste tells Cole as they sit across from one another in the country club. She takes a sip of her white wine before she looks back at Cole and wonders if something else has happened, although she can't imagine anything worse than Nathan dying. "Has something else happened?"

Cole nervously looks back at her as his mind continues to race about whether or not Celeste could have been the one who shot Nathan because she overheard his uncle admit that he wanted to kill Cole. He hopes it isn't true but he knows that Celeste does have a track record of acting without thinking first.

"I had hoped you could have met me at the house," Cole reveals to her. "I wasn't sure that I wanted to have this conversation in public."

Celeste looks back at him in surprise. "What conversation, exactly, Cole? What is this all about?"

Cole gulps before he looks back at her. "You said you heard Nathan admit that he wanted to kill me," Cole replays their last conversation to her.

"I did," Celeste tells him. "I was horrified, like anyone would be in my position."

"What did you do with that information?" Cole asks her quickly.

"What do you mean? I'm not understanding where this is going."

Cole nervously looks back at her. "Did you shoot Nathan to stop him from hurting me?" Cole blurts out in a whisper to her while Celeste chokes on her mouthful of wine.

Once Celeste stops coughing from swallowing her drink down the wrong hole, she looks back at him in shock. "I … I can't believe that you just asked me that, Cole!"

"I'm sorry, Celeste," Cole replies to her quickly. "It's just…you acted so oddly when I told you that Nathan had been shot."

"So you immediately assume that I am the one that shot him? This is unbelievable," Celeste huffs as she stands up from the table.

"Where are you going? We aren't finished with this conversation."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong," Celeste looks back at him with intent as she grabs her purse. "This conversation is long over."

***

Next to the large desk in the main office at Rockwell Mining, there is a podium set up and there are reports waiting for the press conference that Carmen has called. Within a few minutes, Carmen emerges from the side door wearing a tight black mini dress that has sparkling rhinestones all over it. She moves quickly to the podium and tapes the microphone to make sure it's on.

"Good afternoon everyone," Carmen says to the press. "And thank you all for coming today. Today is a wonderful day for Rockwell Mining because, as CEO, I am going to make an announcement that will change the game in the world of diamond mining forever."

Carmen pauses to take a sip of her sparkling water before she continues. "Before I continue, I'm going to invite someone to join today to make this very special announcement. Lydia Rockwell, everyone!"

The press look over in surprise as Lydia emerges from the same door that Carmen entered the office from. Lydia is in a bright red pant suit with matching lipstick and a necklace with five of the largest diamonds that Carmen has ever seen in her life.

"Thank you Carmen," Lydia says as she takes control of the microphone. "Not everyone is aware of this, but I am, officially, the owner of Blackmore Ltd.," she reveals as a murmur goes through the press that are in attendance. "And, as my first order of business, I've decided that one is better than two."

"That's right," Carmen continues. "Instead of Rockwell Mining and Blackmore Ltd. being competitors, we have decided that the time is right to merge the companies together, into one multi-billion dollar organization that will lead the way into the future of diamonds."

"You can expect nothing but the best from us," Lydia smiles to the press. "Because as women in power, we will stop at nothing but the best from both of us."

"When will this merger take place?" someone asks from the crowd of reporters.

"In a few weeks once all the papers have been officially drawn up," Carmen reveals to everyone, as more and more questions start to come in to the women. They look at one another with huge smiles on their faces, thrilled that their announcement has gone better than they ever could have thought.

***

A short time later, Stacey steps off the elevator at Blackmore Ltd. and races to the main office. She opens the door and sees Kent talking to a man, who is removing some of Kent's personal belongings as he is clearing out the office, officially.

"What the hell is going on?" Stacey asks him as she drops her large Chanel purse on the sofa. "You gave my mother your company?"

Kent nods to the mover, who leaves the office quickly, allowing him to be alone with Stacey. "So, you saw the announcement with Lydia and Carmen?"

"How could I miss it?" she asks him quickly. "Everyone saw it. What the hell is going on, Kent? It's one thing for you to annul your marriage, but why would you give her Blackmore? You love this company; it doesn't make sense that you would just give it to Lydia."

"There's a lot that you don't know, Stacey."

"Then tell me, Kent," Stacey pleads with him. "Maybe if I know, I can help before it's too late. The merger will take place in a few weeks, there's still time to stop this."

"I…I can't," Kent shakes his head back to her. He knows that if he tells Stacey the truth, she will be furious that Lydia is using their affair against him. "This is between me and Lydia."

Stacey moves up to him and grabs his hand. "You and I both know that together we make one hell of a team," she says as she looks into his eyes. "Now, tell me what is going on because this doesn't make any sense."

"It's…well," Kent sighs back to her. "Your mother overheard us talking in the hospital after the situation with Mateo and Lex," he reveals to her. "She knows that we slept together the morning of our wedding."

"What?" Stacey gasps back to her. "She hasn't said anything to me about knowing the truth."

"No, she hasn't said anything to you, but she came to me and demanded an annulment."

"Well that part makes sense," Stacey nods her head back to him. "But just because she wants the marriage to be over, doesn't mean that she should get your company? You have put so much into Blackmore, it doesn't seem fair."

"It's not fair," Kent replies to her. "But I had no choice. You see, Lydia threatened to go to the media unless I gave her the company. She was going to expose us to the tabloids; the last thing I wanted was for you, for us, to be dragged through the mud that way."

Stacey uneasily smiles back to him, slightly touched that he thought of her in this decision to give up his company, his truest love.

"You, you did this for me?"

Kent nods back to her. "I did this for you, I did this for us, Stacey. I couldn't have our names in the press that way. So, I gave Lydia exactly what she wanted."

"I can't believe you did this, Kent," Stacey admits to him. "I know I should thank you, but I have to tell you that this isn't over. We still have a few weeks to come up with a plan to prevent Lydia from merging the companies together. We have to stop her and Carmen; we have too."

***

Lydia sits on the patio of the country club with a bottle of the most expensive champagne the club has in front of her. She picks up her glass of the bubbly beverage and takes a sip of it. As soon as the press conference was over, she came to the club to celebrate the success of how well it went.

"I see you're celebrating," Houston announces to his former step mother as he approaches her table. "I saw the announcement that you and Carmen made and I have a question for you."

Lydia purses her lips back to Houston as he sits across from her. "Ask away, Houston. I have nothing to hide."

Houston chuckles back to her. "Are you out of your fucking mind? Partnering with Carmen Santos, after everything that woman has done to our families? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Lydia glares back at him with intent. "How dare you speak to me that way!" she hisses back to him. "I saw a business opportunity and I jumped on it, nothing more Houston."

"Bullshit," he grits his teeth together. "You may think you have won, Lydia, but this is far from over. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you don't ruin everything my Dad as built over to the years. There's no way in hell that I will let Carmen take over Blackmore Ltd."

Lydia giggles back to him. "You look so cute when you get worked up, Houston. But let me give you a word of advice," she continues to tell him. "Stay out of my way because I will stop at nothing to get what I want this time. And merging the companies is exactly what I want."

***

The following day, the living room of the Rockwell mansion has been transformed into the setting for Nathan's memorial service. There are chairs lined up for the guests to sit in while the minister speaks about Nathan's life and speakers discuss their favorite memories of him. Next to the minister is a large, golden framed picture of Nathan, smiling in a tuxedo.

Sabine can't stop looking at the picture as the service comes to a conclusion. She slowly stands up and moves up to the picture and runs her finger over Nathan's cheek. She gets more tears in her eyes and uses the Kleenex in her hand to dry her eyes.

"I don't know how I'm going to go on," she says as Quinn and Lucinda come up to her. "I can't believe that he's gone. He's really gone."

"We will be here every step of the way," Quinn pulls Sabine into a hug while she nervously looks at Lucinda, knowing that Sabine will likely be struggling with this for some time.

"For the record," Lucinda looks at Sabine. "I thought the service was rather lovely. You did a marvelous job with it, Sabine."

Sabine nervously chuckles back to her through her tears. "You know, Lucinda, that might be the first nice thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't get used to it," Lucinda winks back at her. "But your daughter is right, we will get through this together. It will just take some time."

Sabine looks over Lucinda's shoulder and feels the blood drain from her face when she sees someone move into the living room. "What is she doing here?" Sabine asks as Quinn and Lucinda turn and see Celeste walking into the space. "She has a lot of nerve showing her face here!"

"Do you want me to take care of it?" Quinn asks her mother, who quickly shakes her head no.

"Leave this with me," Sabine says coldly as she storms up to Celeste and puts her hand on her hip. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"I came to pay my respects," Celeste replies to her. "I'm not trying to create a scene, Sabine, but despite your petty insecurities, I did care for Nathan. He gave me…"

"Blah, blah, blah, he gave you a second chance," Sabine rolls her eyes as she does her best Celeste impersonation. "We've heard it before. I warned you when Nathan was alive to stay away from him and I will warn you now that he's gone; stay away from me and my family, Celeste, or so help me God, I won't be responsible for my actions."

***

Lucinda closes the front door of the mansion as the last guest from the memorial service has just left. She turns and slowly moves back into the living room where she makes a beeline for the bar as she is desperate for a drink.

"Today seemingly went well, not a lot of drama," Dane tells her as he moves into the living room and sees her pouring a drink.

"Until Celeste Baldwin showed up," Lucinda turns to him before she pours another drink. She passes him a brandy as she moves closer to him. "That she-devil doesn't know when to stop."

"I have to admit," Dane says before he takes a sip of his drink. "I am glad that MacKenzie was in jail. I am not sure that today would have gone as smoothly had he been out on jail."

"I was thinking the same thing," Lucinda replies to him. "With Nathan gone, the most important thing is to ensure that Mac beats these charges. Once he is free, this nightmare can finally be over. The feud between my sons will be over and we can, somehow, try to pick up the pieces and move on."

"Do you think that's possible?"

"I know it is," Lucinda takes another sip of her drink. "We just have to make sure Chase does everything in his power to get Mac off because we all know he didn't kill Nathan."

***

The following morning, Chase opens the door to the courtroom and quickly moves inside. He sets his briefcase down on the table and looks over as Mac is brought into the courtroom by a police office. Mac sits down and looks at his lawyer.

"So, what is the plan for today?" Mac asks him as he caresses his wrists, as he is freed from the handcuffs.

"To win this trial, of course," Chase replies to him as he sits next to him. "I'm going to warn you, Mac, the prosecution is going to call your children, Lydia, Celeste and Sabine all to the witness stand. The most important thing that you can do is to remain calm, no matter what is said about you, can you do that?"

"If it means helping me win this case, I will do it."

"Good, that's what I want to hear," Chase tells him quickly. "We got this, okay?"

Before Mac can respond, the doors to the court room open. Mac stands up when he sees Lydia, Cole, Stacey, Lex, Lucinda, Celeste and Sabine all moving into the room. He nods to his family to let them know that he is okay before they take their seats. Before he can say anything to his family, the plaintiff emerges and clears his throat.

"All rise," he announces to the room. "The honorable Sebastian Cartwright resides."

Mac gulps nervously as he sees the Judge emerge from his chambers and moves to his seat. He knows that the next couple of hours could determine his fate forever; he just hopes that Chase is able to get him off because he knows that he didn't shoot Nathan. Now, they just have to prove that.