Written by: Dallas Walsh

"I still don't know why you were at the prison that day," Houston Blackmore looks back at Celeste Baldwin as they stand together in his office at Blackmore Ltd. Celeste just revealed to Houston that Carmen Santos knows their deep, dark secret: that Celeste miscarried Mac Rockwell's child but at the hospital, Houston gave Celeste Stacey Rockwell's child because he didn't want the love of his life raising a child with his father, Kent Blackmore. The result is that Stacey and Kent believe their child is dead when Celeste is actually raising her. "If you had just stayed away, none of this would be happening."

"Don't you dare put this one me," Celeste wags her finger at him. "I went to see Carmen that day because she was threatening to stall her divorce with Mac. I just wanted her to know that no good was going to come from making us wait for the divorce to be finalized. We ended up having words, and I started to have massive cramps. The next thing I know, I was in the infirmary and the medic at the prison told me that I miscarried. Carmen must have overheard, and she has been holding that over my head ever since."

"Which is the real reason you dropped the charges against her," Houston looks back at her as Celeste nods to him. "Why didn't you tell Mac about the baby?"

"Because," Celeste feels water swell in her eyes. "I didn't want to lose him. He was already struggling to get over the fact that I was trying to keep him from regaining his memory. I thought if I told him about the baby, he would leave me for good. So, I pretended to be pregnant. I didn't know what I was going to do but I just went with it. And, that's when you and I saw one another."

"I was depressed at the thought of the woman I love and my father having a baby together," Houston recalls their chance meeting at the country club, many nights ago. "I still have a hard time believing my father slept with Stacey and got her pregnant."

"And, I revealed to you that I miscarried but didn't tell Mac. It was your idea to give me Stacey's baby, Houston."

"I…I just didn't want my father raising Stacey's child. And what was Drake going to think? His half sister is also his Aunt? That's fucked up."

"I know, I know," Celeste tries to calm him down. "But, as soon as I came home with a baby, Carmen knew something was up. She immediately figured out when she heard that Stacey's child died that I was raising her daughter. Charlotte is really Poppy; if we don't give Carmen what she wants, she will expose us. What are we going to do?"

"Have you tried talking to Mac about increasing the settlement offer in the divorce?" Houston asks her back quickly.

"Of course, I have," Celeste quickly replies to him. "He won't budge. The more I press, the more questions he starts to ask me. I have to play my hand very carefully."

Houston uneasily nods back to her. "I will think of a way to handle Carmen Santos," Houston tells her. "If she has a distraction, maybe she will realize that this is all meaningless. I just have to figure out what that distraction is."

"I'm counting on you," Celeste warns him sternly. "We have both come too far for this to blow up on us now, Houston. Take care of Carmen before she exposes us both."

***

"You stupid bitch," Celeste looks over at Carmen as they sit together in the visitors center of the state prison, where Carmen is being held with charges of attempted murder hanging over her head. "Don't you realize that the longer you stall this divorce, the bigger the mess it will become?"

Carmen chuckles back over to her. "You of all people should know how ruthless Mac can be when he wants a divorce."

"I didn't ask for money when Mac and I ended our first marriage."

"Because you were fucking his son!" Carmen hisses back to her. "You were still in the golden world of the Rockwell's!"

"How dare you!" Celeste stands up, revealing her slightly large belly, and points her finger in Carmen's face. "You are a disgusting monster! You only care about yourself, and no one…ah!" Celeste grabs her stomach as she feels a sharp pain. "Ahh, my God, what is happening to me?"

"Bravo! Bravo, fucking Bravo!" Carmen hisses before she realizes that Celeste isn't faking. "Wait, Celeste, are you okay?"

Carmen moves around to try to help Celeste, who is clearly in distress. "You stay away from me, ahhhh!" Celeste yells back to her, before she collapses on the floor!

"Help! Guard! I need help over here, this woman just collapsed!"

A short time later, Carmen paces back and forth outside the infirmary as she waits to hear if Celeste will be okay. The last thing she needs is to have more charges laid against her when she didn't do anything to Celeste. She moves closer to the door and puts her ear to the door.

"I am terribly sorry," the doctor looks at Celeste, who is laying on a small cot. "But, the baby, it didn't make it."

"No," Celeste covers her mouth as tears flood to her eyes. "This can't be happening again."

"I'll give you a moment to be alone," the doctor stands up and moves to the door, which alerts Carmen to move away.

"She lost the baby," Carmen whispers to herself. "Celeste had a miscarriage."

Carmen opens her eyes and comes back into present day, where she is sitting at the bar at the country club. She picks up her vodka tonic and takes a hearty sip of it.

"Thank God I was there that day," she whispers to herself. "Because, now I hold all the cards. Celeste must do everything I tell her too or I will reveal to everyone that she lost her baby and that she is raising Stacey's child. I will get the money that I deserve, or else she will pay."

***

"I'm only here because I am curious as to what you think we could do to get back at my parents," Madison Stewart moves into Dyhannah Cooper's office at Blackmore Ltd. Madi recalls how Dyhannah overheard her phone call with Cole Rockwell, where she admitted that she has information on her father, Chase Cooper, that could damage him. Madi was stunned when Dyhannah suggested that they could work together to get back at Chase and Vivian Blackmore, as they made Madi believe that Cole, her fiancé, was cheating on her while she was in jail. Of course, he wasn't as it was a set up, but the thought that Cole was having an affair made Madi plea guilty to a crime she didn't commit and as a result, she spent months in jail.

Dyhannah purses her lips back to Madi, thrilled that she might have found a way to get back together with Chase after all. She knows that the sex she has with Marat Kafelinkov is great, but her heart still belongs to Chase; it always has.

"I am assuming this information you have on Chase has to something to do with Kent Blackmore as well?" she asks her without giving too much information away.

"Um, yes," Madi uneasily nods back to her. "It appears we know the same information, Dyhannah."

"Yes, it certainly does," Dyhannah smiles back to her. "This is going to be perfect."

"What is? What do you think we should do?"

"What are your parents planning to do right now?" Dyhannah asks her quickly. "Planning their wedding, of course. If you want to hurt them, Madi, you will break up their union because that will hit them where it hurts most."

Madi looks back at her in surprise. "Break up their wedding?" Madi asks in confusion. "But they have wanted to get married for so long. I don't know that I should break them up?"

"Did they give second thought to breaking up you and Cole by lying to you about Cole cheating?" Dyhannah reminds her of what her parents did to her. "No, they just wanted you and Cole to be apart. And what happened? You spent months in jails, Madi!"

"You don't have to remind me of that," Madi sneers back to her. "I know what they did to me."

"Perfect," Dyhannah looks back at her. "Then this should be a no-brainer. They tried to ruin your romance, so you can ruin there's. What do you say? Break up Chase and Vivian?"

Madi turns to her and finds herself nodding back to her. "Yes, fine," she tells Dyhannah, realizing that this might be the perfect way to get back at her parents for what they did to her and Cole. "I will break up my parents; I will make them suffer the way they made Cole and I suffer!"

***

A short time later, Dyhannah moves to the bar in her office and pours herself a brandy, thrilled that she has been able to convince Madi to help her break up Vivian and Chase. After the couple called her bluff earlier this year about threatening to expose Chase's criminal past, she thought that she might have to give up on the idea of reuniting with him. Never in a million years did she expect Chase's own daughter to be the one that she can use to help get him back.

She takes a sip of her drink and gets a wicked grin on her face. "I know that being with Marat is wonderful," she thinks about her lover. "And, he has kept me company and more than satisfied. But, if there's any chance for Chase and I to reunite, I have to take it. He has always been the one truly in my heart."

She pauses for a moment and then nods to herself. "Yes, Marat will understand that I am still in love with my ex-husband. We have been nothing more than friends with benefits."

At the door, Houston listens to Dyhannah admit that she still cares about Chase and has only been sleeping with Marat as a placeholder. He arches his eyebrow and wonders if this new found information will come in handy at some point.

***

NEW YORK CITY

Sabine Andrews paces back and forth in the living room of the luxurious condo apartment in New York as she recalls how she saw Stacey Rockwell the previous day at a bar in the city. She knows that the Rockwell family has been worried about Stacey since she lost her baby; she is wondering if she should reach out to Mac or Lydia Rockwell and tell them that she has found Stacey.

"You look a million miles away," Nathan Lockhart says as he emerges from the bedroom and looks at his lover. Nathan is a top dog in real estate in New York City; he knows the city almost better than anyone else and has been the top seller for over a decade. Since real estate is so expensive in the city, Nathan has created his own fortune. Nathan and Sabine met a few months ago at one of his open houses and quickly fell in love; within weeks, they were living together in Nathan's apartment and they have been joined at the hip ever since. "And, it started when we went for drinks last night. What's going on with you?"

"You know me so well, Nathan," Sabine moves up to him and gives him a kiss on the lips. "You're right, I have been thinking about something."

"Do you want to talk about it? I am always hear for you to listen, Sabine."

"My niece Stacey," Sabine begins to tell him. "She lost her child a few months ago."

"My goodness, I am so sorry to hear that."

"She was devastated, obviously," Sabine continues to tell him. "And, she left Kelsey Lake quickly. My family has been worried sick about her."

"She hasn't been in contact with anyone?" Nathan asks her, still trying to understand the full situation.

"No," Sabine replies to him. "She has been disconnected. Until yesterday."

"Did Stacey reach out to you yesterday?"

"I saw her at the bar that we went into," Sabine looks back at him. "Stacey is in New York and now, I am left wondering what I should do. Should I reach out to her? Or, should I tell my sister that her child is here."

"I think you need to follow your heart, Sabine. It will not lead you in the wrong direction."

Sabine puts a smile on her face. "Thanks baby," she moves up to him and hugs him. "I guess I have to search my soul to figure out what the right thing is."

***

THE CAMPBELL, NEW YORK CITY

Stacey Rockwell sits at the corner table of the bar with a tall martini in front of her. She was here the previous day to have a couple of drinks and she returned today because she enjoyed the atmosphere. She knows that she has been drinking a little more heavily than usual because she is trying to mask the pain of losing baby Poppy.

"Maybe tomorrow I will finally start to feel normal again," she whispers to herself as she takes a sip of her of drink.

She looks down at her phone when she sees an incoming text message. She sees Houston's name flash on the screen with the caption, "Drake saying hi!" with a picture of her son.

Stacey feels her eyes swell with water. "I do miss you Drake," she tells herself. "I just need more time to get my head on straight. I promise I'll be back with you soon."

"Stacey? My God, what are you doing here?" a voice calls out at the base of her table.

Stacey slowly looks up and sees Marat Kafelinkov standing in front of her. She can't believe that her former fiancé is in front of her in New York City. "Marat, what are you doing here?"

"I asked you first," Marat sits across from her. "Have you been in New York this entire time?"

Stacey uneasily nods back to him. "I needed to get away. Being in Kelsey Lake, being so close to Poppy, I couldn't handle it. I needed time for me."

"I understand," Marat replies to her. "I am just so glad that you're okay; everyone has been worried about you."

"I know," Stacey nods to him. "I've gotten the voicemails, texts and emails. I just haven't had it in me to reply yet."

"Like I said, I am just truly glad that you're okay."

"Okay, you're turn," Stacey looks back at him. "What are you doing in New York?"

"I'm here on a business trip," Marat reveals to her. "I am actually doing really good right now both professionally and personally."

"I'm glad one of us is," Stacey looks back at him. "I'm so lost, Marat and I'm not sure that I will ever find myself again."

***

Lucinda Rockwell opens a family photo album and then moves to the large sofa in the study in the Rockwell mansion. She sits down and looks at some of the pictures inside. She runs her hand over a picture of herself, Mortimer, Mac and another small boy. Almost immediately, she gets tears in her eyes at the sight. She pauses for a moment and wonders if writing this memoir is a good idea; it is bringing up so many memories that she is finding it difficult to stay composed.

She looks up from the photo album when she hears the door to the study open. "Good morning Mrs. Rockwell," Grant Shaw says as he moves into the room. "Are you feeling up to continuing talking about your life so I can make notes for the memoir?"

Lucinda sighs back to him. "Yes, of course," she nods back to him. "But please, call me Lucinda. Mrs. Rockwell sounds so…stuffy."

Grant chuckles back to her as he notes that she is looking at a photo album. "Looking at old pictures, I see. Does this help you with your memories?"

"Some good, some bad, some painful," Lucinda quickly tells him as he sits next to her.

"That picture," Grant looks at the open page of the photo album. "Is that you, your husband and… Mac?"

"Yes," Lucinda traces her finger over the picture. "This was taken when Mortimer, my husband, first bought this house. We were so excited to move into such a lavish looking home."

"And who is this?" Grant asks as he points to the other child in the picture.

"That…" Lucinda gasps to herself a little as she feels water swell in her eyes. "Is my other son. Mac's brother, Levi. "

Grant looks back at her in surprise. In all the time he has been around the Rockwell's, he had never known that Lucinda had another son; he just assumed that Mac was an only child. "I had no idea that you had another son."

Lucinda uneasily nods back to him. "It is a long, complicated story," she quickly tells him as she closes the book. "Enough of that, okay? We can talk about something else."

Grant arches his eyebrow wondering what the story could possibly be. He can tell that Lucinda is uncomfortable about talking about Levi, but he wonders why and how he can get her to open up about it because this might the story that makes his book a best seller.

***

"Yes, Winston, that sounds perfect," Mac says into his phone as he sits behind his desk at Rockwell Mining. He is talking to his lawyer, Winston Marshall, about his latest settlement offer to his current wife, Carmen Santos. He just hopes that Carmen will, finally, accept the offer because he wants to divorce her so he can marry Celeste. "Please, present the offer to Carmen's lawyer and let me know. You know how pressed I am to get this divorce finalized."

Just as he hangs up his phone, he looks over and sees Celeste moving into his office. "Celeste, hi darling," he smiles as he moves up to her and kisses her on the lips. "How's your day progressing?"

Celeste sighs back to him as she thinks about her meeting with Houston. "It has been really great," she lies to him as she is still worried about Carmen exposing her and Houston's dirty little secret. "Was that Winston you were just talking too?"

"Yes, it was," Mac nods back to her as he moves to the bar to pour himself a brandy. "Would you care for a drink?"

"I'd love one," Celeste admits to him. "Please tell me that you and Winston are increasing the settlement offer to Carmen? Mac, you know that I just want this to be over."

Mac moves back to his wife and passes her the brandy. "I know you do sweetheart," Mac looks back at her before he takes a sip of his brandy. "The piece that you have to remember is that my family has worked our way to this fortune from next to nothing. My father started Rockwell Mining with the support of Lucinda," he continues to explain. "I refuse to give that woman a single cent more than she deserves and I won't change my mind about it."

"I know that is how you feel," Celeste takes another sip of her drink. "But, I just worry that the longer this goes on, the longer she will stall the divorce Mac. I want to marry you more than anything else in the world, so you, Charlotte and I can be a family together. Can't we just give her what she wants so we can do that? Please?"

"I'll tell you what," Mac looks back at her. "If Carmen refuses this offer, I will increase it a little. But, not by much because that woman is dangerous, you of all people should know that."

"Thank you Mac," Celeste forces a smile on her face. "I just want this to be over so we can move on with our lives. That's all I want."

***

THE CAMPBELL, NEW YORK CITY

Sabine slowly moves up to the front door of the and prepares to moves inside. She sent Stacey a text message asking if she was okay and if she was in New York to meet up; of course, she didn't hear back but she was hoping that Stacey would be back at the same bar so she could talk to her niece. She wants to ensure that Stacey is okay since she knows that she is still grieving the loss of Poppy.

She moves inside and looks around the bar. She freezes when she looks at the back table and sees Marat and Stacey sitting across from another in a deep conversation. She arches her eyebrow as she didn't realize that Marat was in New York; she wonders what they are doing together.

She moves back outside on the streets of New York City and pulls her phone out of her large Louis Vuitton bag and dials a number quickly.

"Houston, hi, it's Sabine," she says into her phone. "It has been a while, I'm good, thanks. Listen, I'm telling you this as a friend," she continues to tell her former lover. "But, Stacey is here in New York. And, she's with Marat right now."

Sabine pauses while she listens to what Houston has to tell her back. "I know that you still love her, Houston," she tells him. "That's why I called you. If you want to get Stacey back, you should get to New York as soon as you can."

***

Celeste pushes Charlotte 's baby stroller into country club as she was hoping to grab some lunch before she heads back to the Rockwell mansion with her daughter. As she moves towards the dining room, she notices Kent Blackmore walk out of the dining room. They immediately lock eyes with one another.

"Celeste, how nice to see you," Kent says as he moves towards her and the stroller. "How is little Charlotte doing?"

Celeste smiles back to him. "She is wonderful," she tells him, knowing that she is actually raising Kent's daughter with Stacey. "She is such a good baby; so much better than Ivan was."

"Do you mind if I take a look at her?" Kent asks her.

Celeste uneasily gulps as she realizes that if she says no it will look suspicious but the last thing she wants is for Kent to look at his daughter; she wants him to have nothing to do with her. "Sure, she might be sleeping but you can lift the cover and see her."

Kent slowly lifts the top of the stroller back and looks inside to see the sleeping infant. He immediately feels his heart warm at the sight of the baby. He reaches in and caresses her soft cheek as he feels his eyes swell with water as he is unable to not think about the Poppy, the child he lost with Stacey.

"She's beautiful Celeste," Kent looks back at Celeste with water in his eyes. "You're so very lucky."

"Thank you Kent," Celeste gulps heavily back to him. "I should get going, you take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too Celeste, and thank you for letting me see Charlotte."

***

A short time later, Kent opens the front door to penthouse and scurries inside. He moves immediately to the bar and pours himself a brandy. He feels like he needs a drink after seeing Celeste and Charlotte; seeing the child has brought up a lot of thoughts and feelings of Poppy, the child he and Stacey lost. He can't explain it but he knows that he felt a connection to baby Charlotte when he caressed her face but he is chalking it up to the fact that he is still grieving.

"Kent," Lydia says as she comes down the stairs and sees her lover taking a sip of his brandy. "It is early to be drinking, darling. What is going on with you? Are you okay?"

Kent finishes swallowing before he turns back to look at Lydia. "I just ran into Celeste and Charlotte at the club. I guess seeing the baby hit me harder than I thought it would."

"Oh darling," Lydia comes up to him and puts her hand on his back. "It is understandable, you are still grieving Poppy. Stacey is going through the same thing."

"I still can't believe you forgave me for sleeping with your daughter," Kent admits to her as he thinks of the sorted history between the two of them. "And, getting her pregnant."

Lydia sighs back to him. "We have all made mistakes, Kent. Lord knows, I have made my fair share. That is all water under the bridge. You and Stacey are grieving but you don't have any lingering feelings for you. You are back with me, where you have always belonged."

Kent takes another sip of his brandy as he thinks about Stacey and how she is still in his heart, even though he has tried to get her out of his head; he just hasn't been able too yet. He looks back at Lydia and forces a smile on his face. "You're right about that," he winks back to her before he takes another sip of his brandy.

***

The next morning, Kent pours himself a cup of coffee as he stands in the living room of the penthouse. He didn't have the best of sleeps the night before because he couldn't stop thinking about seeing baby Charlotte at the country club the previous day. He doesn't know why he is so drawn to the child, but he seemingly can't get it out of his head. He just hopes that he is able to move forward today because the grief of losing Poppy is starting to get to him.

He looks over at the front door when he hears a knock. He looks at his watch and realizes that Lydia has already left for the morning but he is left wondering if she forget her key. He moves up to the door and sees Lex standing on the other side of it.

"Lex, good morning," Kent says as his son moves into the penthouse. "Do you want a cup of coffee?"

"No, I had some at the mansion earlier," Lex replies to him quickly. "Is this a good time? I need to discuss something with you and it is important."

"Of course, anything for you. What's going on?"

"As you know," Lex looks back at him. "After everything that happened between me and Mateo in Cabo, I needed to take some time for myself to get my head on straight and to figure things out for myself. I've done that and I am ready to get back into the thick of things work wise."

"I am very happy to hear that," Kent nods back to him. "You know that your mother and I were worried about you after your ordeal in Mexico."

"That's why I am hoping that you will give me my old job back," Lex reveals to Kent, who looks back at him in surprise. "I want to run Blackmore Ltd. again. And, before you say anything, I know that Houston has the job now and has been doing a good job. But, he isn't the CEO that I was and you damn well know that. I have so much more experience than Houston does."

Kent sighs back to him as he thinks about how far his relationship with Houston has come in the last few months. After Houston's affair with Sabine was revealed, Kent disowned his son. However, after Stacey lost the baby, Houston really supported him in ways Kent didn't think possible.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Kent admits to Lex, who puts his head down. "Houston and I have come a long way in our relationship, Lex. For me to remove him from Blackmore now, it would send us back and I don't want to do that. That being said, I am sure that there is a job for you at Blackmore. The company would be more than happy to have you working there."

"That's the thing," Lex looks back at him with intent. "I have run both Blackmore Ltd. and Rockwell Mining, I am not going to belittle myself and settle for anything other than the CEO position. So, it is either the CEO chair or nothing at all."

"Then I'm afraid you will have to find work elsewhere because I do not want to rock the boat between Houston and I."

"Well I appreciate you for at least hearing me out," Lex forces a smile on his face. "I'll see myself out. Have a good day, Kent."

"You too Lex."

Lex storms out of the penthouse and shuts the door behind him. Once he's in the hallway, he sighs heavily. "I guess this means that I will have find a way to get Houston out of Blackmore because he is more liable than Mac leaving Rockwell. And, finding something against Houston shouldn't be too hard because he's such a fuckup."

***

NEW YORK CITY

"You tossed and turned a lot last night," Nathan notes to Sabine, who is lounging on the sofa in their New York apartment.

"I know, I am sorry if I kept you awake Nathan," Sabine looks back at her lover as she pulls her robe closed. "I couldn't stop thinking about seeing Stacey here in New York."

"I thought you were going to try to see her?" Nathan asks her as he pours himself a coffee. "Did you see her again at the bar?"

"I did," Sabine nods back to him. "When I went back to the bar, Stacey was sitting with Marat Kafelinkov; they used to be engaged. They have a sorted history together."

"I see," Nathan moves closer to her. "So, she was with her ex….what do you think that means, Sabine? Have they gotten back together?"

"I wish I knew," Sabine sighs back to him. "I think I need to call my sister," she admits to him. "I think I should tell Lydia that Stacey is here in New York city."

"Is that wise? I know you and Lydia have had a heated relationship in the past."

"That's putting it mildly," Sabine chuckles back to him. "But, at the end of the day, Lydia is a mother and I am sure that she is worried about Stacey."

"You're a good woman Sabine," Nathan comes up to her and gives her a quick kiss on the lips. "Your family is lucky to have you."

Sabine smiles back to him. "We will see how Stacey feels about that if I tell Lydia where she is," she chuckles back to her. "But, regardless, I appreciate your support on this Nathan."

***

Grant slowly unlocks the front door of Lucinda's mansion and moves inside. He is planning to meet her later in the day at the Rockwell mansion to continue to work on her memoir together, however, she gave him permission to come to her house to see if he wanted to talk about anything in particular that he found in the mansion. As he moves into the foyer, he can see some boxes lined up as Lucinda has made the decision to move into Mac's home full time.

He moves up to the boxes and wonders if he will find anything of interest that he can write about in the memoir. Of course, his mind is racing on the fact that Lucinda revealed that she had another son; he is still stunned by this because no Rockwell had ever mentioned this child. He can't help but wonder what happened that no one speaks of the son that Lucinda had.

"What could have happened?" he asks himself as he opens a box and starts looking through some of Lucinda's belongings. He closes the box when he doesn't see anything of interest inside and moves to the box next to it. He starts looking through the second box and pulls out a large book.

He opens it and is startled by what he sees. Inside the album are pictures, newspaper clippings and reports of Kent's up-bringing, starting when he was a teenager.

"What the hell is this?" Grant asks in confusion. "Why would Lucinda have an entire scrap book about Kent Blackmore that cornicles his life?"

***

Meanwhile, at the Rockwell mansion, Lucinda moves up to the bar in the living room and pours herself a gin and tonic. She takes a sip before she pulls her small locket out of her pocket. She opens the locket and sees the pictures of the man and the small child inside. She sighs to herself as she thinks about her other son, wishing that things could have been different.

The truth about her other son, Levi, is that Mortimer paid more attention to Mac, as he was the oldest. Mortimer wanted Mac to take over Rockwell Mining and spent the majority of his time grooming his heir. Seeing Mortimer and Mac together so often left a sour taste in Levi's mouth, and when he was old enough, he turned to women and drugs to cope from the lack of love he felt from his father. When Mortimer and Lucinda realized how far Levi had fallen, they tried to get him help for his drug use. However, Levi completely snapped and started the paper work to be emancipated from the family. Shortly after, Levi left Kelsey Lake and she hasn't seen her son since. He has, in fact, only called her twice in the many years that he left. She has no idea where he is, how he is, or if Levi is even still alive.

"Just because I haven't heard from you," she takes a sip of her drink. "Doesn't mean that I don't think about you Levi. Every damn day."

She moves to the sofa and looks at her large Chanel purse when she hears her cell phone start to ring. She sits down and puts her gin on the coffee table before she opens her purse and pulls out her phone.

"Hello, Lucinda Rockwell speaking," she says as she doesn't recognize the number that displayed on her screen.

"Hello Mother," a voice says into her phone causing Lucinda to freeze.

She covers her mouth as she gets tears in her eyes. "L…Levi? Is that you?"

"It's been a long time," Nathan says as he stands in his New York apartment. "Aren't you going to ask your son how he is doing?"

***

THE KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL, NEW YORK CITY

The Knickerbocker is a high-end boutique hotel just off Time's Square. Houston waits in the hotel lounge as he knows that Marat is staying at the hotel because they booked it through Blackmore Ltd. Blackmore Ltd. has used this hotel for years when they travel to the Big Apple, which is often because they have an offer there. He takes a sip of his whiskey sour and hopes that he runs into Marat soon; ever since Sabine called him and told him that Stacey was in New York with Marat, he has been thinking about how he can get Marat to help him with Stacey. He knows that Stacey has been devastated with the loss of Poppy; he is relieved to know where she is, now he just needs to ensure that she comes back to him. They belong together, he believes with his full heart. Houston wouldn't have gone to the trouble of thinking of the baby switch if he didn't want the end game to be him and Stacey being together.

He looks over and sees Marat move into the lounge. "Marat," Houston smiles over to his former rival.

Marat looks over at Houston in surprise as he was not expecting to see his boss in New York. "Houston, this is a surprise," Marat says as he moves up to him. "What brings you to New York? You're not checking up on me, are you?"

Houston chuckles back to him. "Far from it," he tells him quickly. "I know that Stacey is here. I came to see her but I also realize that I need your help."

"I'm not helping you with Stacey," Marat firmly tells him. "She is old enough to make up her own mind about her life, Houston. And, she is still in pretty rough shape after losing Poppy."

"Stacey isn't what I need your help with," Houston replies to him. "It's Carmen Santos; I need you to, how do I say it, woo her?"

Marat looks back at him in surprise. "You want me to romance Carmen? What the hell? Where is this coming from?"

"I need Carmen to be distracted," Houston admits to him. "She's a beautiful woman, Marat. I'm not sure what the problem is?"

"Then why don't you romance her?"

"I am in love with Stacey," Houston reminds him. "She has to be my focus."

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble," Marat looks back at him. "But, I am enjoying my time with Dyhannah very much. She is a breath of fresh air and unlike Stacey, she knows what she wants."

"That she does," Houston takes a sip of his drink. "I happen to overhear a conversation with Dyhannah and Madi, just the other day. And, you know what they were talking about?"

Marat shrugs his shoulders back to him. "You're going to tell me anyways, so just spit it out."

"They were talking about how Dyhannah is still head over heels in love with Chase Cooper and how Dyhannah wishes she could stop him from marrying Vivian. So, you see, you might be enjoying your time with Dyhannah, but you're nothing more than a placeholder for her until she can get Chase back."

Marat feels his blood boil at the words Houston just told him. "I…I…"

"It's fine to be in shock," Houston takes another sip of his drink. "All I'm asking is that you take this anger you have and you put it towards growing closer to Carmen. There are worse things that I could ask of you, Marat. I would hate for your contract not to be renewed at the end of this."

"You're threatening my job now?"

"I am just reminding you that I have a lot of cards in my hand," Houston winks back to him. "Look, I'll give you tonight to think about it, but I will expect an answer tomorrow morning."

***

The following morning, Lucinda moves to the bar in the living room of the Rockwell mansion and pours a coffee. She looks over her shoulder to ensure no one is watching her before she adds a shot of whiskey into her coffee. She barely slept the previous night as she can't stop thinking about how her other son, Levi, called her the previous day. She hadn't heard from him in years, and now suddenly he reached out to her. She can't help but wonder why he called her after all this time.

"What do you want now Levi?" she asks herself as she takes a sip of her laced coffee. "And, why are you contacting me now, after all these years?"

"Good morning Lucinda," Grant announces as he moves into the living room and sees the woman that he is helping with her memoir. "I thought we could get an early start today?"

"Yes, yes, very well," Lucinda waves her hand in the air, still thinking about Levi.

"I went to your home yesterday, just as you asked me too," Grant moves closer to her. "And, I found a scrap book based on Kent Blackmore's entire life. Why do you have that?"

"Oh that old thing," Lucinda uneasily chuckles back to him as she reaches her pocket and feels the locket there. She holds it for a moment before she looks back at Grant. "That should have been thrown out years ago."

"I guess I don't understand why you have it in the first place?" Grant admits to her. "It's no secret that Mac and Kent haven't gotten along for years, so why would you have a book about Kent's life? Is there something you don't want to talk about regarding Kent?"

"Like I said," Lucinda looks back at him with intent. "It should have been thrown out years ago. There is no other story about the book or Kent Blackmore, so you can drop it, okay?"

Grant uneasily nods back to her, wondering if there is more going on than meets the eye. He can't shake the feeling that maybe Kent is, somehow, Lucinda's other child. Who knows how many other children Lucinda has had that she hasn't told anyone about. Grant realizes that if Kent is truly a Rockwell, then everything will change as it would mean that Kent had sex with his niece and Houston and Stacey would also be related. Surely, Lucinda wouldn't allow this to happen, he thinks to himself, as he recalls how Lucinda held Houston hostage to prevent him from being with Stacey when they first got together.

"Uh, sure," Grant uneasily nods back to her, even though he realizes he has to get to the bottom of this mystery. "I'll drop it."

***

"Don't you look lovely this morning," Dyhannah announces to Madi as she moves into her office at Blackmore Ltd. Dyhannah doesn't actually think that Madi looks nice in her short, simple, lime green dress but she wants to ensure she is being a pleasant as possible in hopes of getting her to split up Vivian and Chase.

"Thank you," Madi looks back at her. "You seem to be in a good mood today?"

"I've been on cloud nine since we spoke yesterday," Dyhannah admits to her. "I haven't been able to stop thinking that Vivian and Chase will finally get what they deserve; that is, of course, unless you have decided not to help me split them up with the information that we have over them?"

Madi sighs back to her quickly. "I haven't thought about much else," Madi tells her. "I barely slept last night because I was thinking about every possible situation."

"And, what have you decided?" Dyhannah eagerly asks her, hoping that she will help her split up the couple.

"The reason I wrestled with this so much is because my parents have wanted to be together for a very long time," Madi replies to her quickly. "My Mom has wanted to marry my Dad for years; so if I did this, it would be very upsetting to them. That being said, they didn't give a second thought to the idea of drugging Cole and making it appear that he cheated on me. They didn't care about me, my feelings or my relationship."

"What are you saying?" Dyhannah asks her. "Are you saying…?"

"That I'll help you?" Madi looks back at her as she finished her question. "Yea, I will. I will break up my parents, and I'll do it today," Madi says as Dyhannah gets a devilish grin on her face. "I know I agreed yesterday but I am fully on board today."

***

Cole moves into the dining room of the country club hoping to grab some breakfast before he heads back to Rockwell Mining to help Mac finalize his deal with Dane Ashby. As he looks over at his table, he can't help but see Casper sitting at a table by himself. As he looks at his lover, he knows that he ended their affair because he has to focus on his upcoming marriage to Madi; at this point, nothing else matters to him other than marrying the woman of his dreams. Cole just has to get Casper out of his mind now.

"Morning stud," Casper says as he moves up to Cole. "Were you looking for me?"

"I wasn't," Cole admits to him. "I just came to grab some food before I head into the office. I told you before," Cole looks over his shoulder to ensure no one is around him. "You and I are over. The other morning at your place, it was the last time that we will be together."

Casper sighs back to him. "I was hoping it would make you realize how much you still wanted me, how much you clearly still need me."

"No," Cole tells him as they move into the stairwell to move to the second level of the club to have some more privacy. "I am marrying Madison; I have to stay focused on that."

"I wish it didn't have to be this way," Casper looks back into his eyes. "I really like the way you…"

"Just stop," Cole cuts him off. "The sooner you realize that we are over, the better it will be for everyone."

"Okay, I get it," Casper nods back to him. "I won't pursue you anymore, Cole. You have my word on that."

"Thanks Casper," Cole tells him. "For what it's worth, I have enjoyed our time together too."

"You don't have to say that," Casper looks back at him. "But, I appreciate that."

Cole and Casper lock eyes for a moment. "Anytime, take care of yourself," Cole tells him as he turns to leave, but Casper grabs his wrist and turns him and gives him a quick kiss on the lips, which Chase happens to see as he moves into the country club.

Stunned, Chase quickly does a double take to ensure he is seeing Cole actually kissing another man. Startled, Chase quickly leaves unseen, not sure of what to make of what he just witnessed.

Cole, meanwhile, breaks away from Casper. "Goodbye Casper," Cole looks back at him before he turns and rushes away from his former lover.

***

THE KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL, NEW YORK CITY

Marat moves into the lounge of the hotel and immediately sees Houston sitting at a table by himself with a eggs benedict in front of him. Marat walks up to his table, knowing that he has to give Houston an answer to his request to woo Carmen.

"Marat, good morning," Houston says before he takes a bit of his breakfast. "Do you want to join me? The eggs benny here are amazing."

"No, I ordered room service," Marat explains to him quickly. "I have an early flight this morning back to Kelsey Lake."

"The conference is over? I thought it was going on a couple more days?"

"The part of the conference that I needed to attend is over," Marat replies to him quickly. "Besides, me going home is what you want, isn't it? Now you can have time with Stacey here in New York. And, I'll be getting to know Carmen Santos."

Houston looks back at him and gets a sly grin on his face. "Does that mean…?"

"Yea, I'll try to take Carmen's mind off whatever it is that she is focused on with you, Houston," Marat rolls his eyes back to him. "But, don't make me regret this, okay?"

"You get to spend time with a beautiful woman," Houston reminds him. "There could be worse things in the world, Marat."

***

CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK CITY

Houston moves through the large park in the middle of Manhattan as he needed some fresh air after he saw Marat at breakfast. He knows that he has to try to find out where Stacey is; Houston had gone to the bar where Marat saw Stacey, however, it was still closed because of the time of the day.

"I have to find you Stacey," he whispers to himself. "I have to know where you are. Our son needs you."

He looks up and can't believe his eyes: sitting on the large fountain in the middle of the park is Stacey. She is watching the water sprinkle down into the pond. Houston feels his heart skip a beat at the sight of the woman that holds his heart.

"Stacey," Houston rushes up towards her. "I can't believe I found you, thank God, you're okay."

Stacey turns her head and looks back at him in shock that he has seemingly found her. She jumps up from the edge of the fountain. "Houston? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was here for work," he tells her. "I can't believe I found you! My God, I've missed you," he says as he pulls her into a hug. "You have no idea how worried I've been about you; how worried we've all been about you."

"You have to go," Stacey tells him as she exits their embrace. "I am not ready for any of this to be happening."

"I'm not leaving you," Houston shakes his head back to her. "Not after all this time, Stacey. Do you know how much Drake misses you? He needs his mother."

Stacey feels her eyes swell with water at the sound of her son's name. "I miss Drake too, more than anyone knows," she looks back at him. "But, when I lost Poppy, I lost a part of me and I need time to come to terms with that. You have to understand that, Houston!"

"I understand that I love you Stacey and so does Drake!" he pleads with her. "Please tell me you're come home with me so we can start to mend together?"

"I am glad that you want to mend, Houston," Stacey glares back at him. "But, this is something that I have to do on my own. Now, I need you to forget that you saw me here and don't you dare tell anyone else, is that understood?"

***

Sabine uneasily paces back and forth in the large apartment she shares with Nathan in Manhattan. She is trying to figure out if calling Lydia to tell her that Stacey is in New York is the best idea; on one hand, she knows that her sister must be worried sick about Stacey but on the other hand, if Stacey needs time away, she can understand where her niece is coming from.

She grabs her cell phone and finds Lydia's contact. "After everything that has happened between us, I guess I owe you this much," she whispers to herself as she pushes "call" on her phone and then moves the device to her ear.

Lydia, who is standing in the living room of the penthouse, grabs her phone and arches her eyebrow when she sees Sabine's name on the screen. "Sabine," Lydia answers the call. "This is a surprise; I haven't heard from you in months."

"I know and I am sorry about that," Sabine tells her sister. "How are you? How are things?"

"Do you really expect me to believe that you called to make small talk with me after all this time?" Lydia rolls her eyes back to her. "What do you need from me Sabine?"

Sabine chuckles back to her. "See, this is exactly why I was wrestling with whether or not to call you to tell you about Stacey because…"

"Stacey?" Lydia cuts her off intently. "What about my daughter? Have you heard from her? Where is she? Is she okay?"

Sabine sighs back to her. "She's here, in New York City," Sabine reveals to Lydia. "I saw her the other day; she was with Marat. I haven't spoken to her but she is here and she looks well."

"Thank God she's okay," Lydia breathes a sigh of relief. "I know you and I haven't always been close, Sabine, but I do appreciate you telling me about Stacey."

"I thought you and the entire family would have been worried about her."

"We have been," Lydia nods back to her. "Do me a favor Sabine? Keep an eye out on my daughter? She's going through a lot of pain right now and needs the support."

"I'll do my best, Lydia. I really will."

***

Lex moves into the living room of Lucinda's mansion and looks around. The house is slowly getting packed up so Lucinda can officially move into the Rockwell mansion; this is a bittersweet moment for Lex because he spent so much time with Lucinda in this house. He has many nostalgic memories from his past here. He only came by today because Lucinda told him, and Cole, that there are boxes of items from their childhood that she is going to donate if they don't want them.

He turns around when he hears the front door open wondering who else is at the house. He arches his eyebrow when he thinks he hears Houston's voice on the phone. Without thinking, he rushes towards the kitchen and hides in the hallway, just as Houston moves into the living room.

"Yes, Celeste," Houston says into his cell phone. "I just got back from New York; I saw Stacey and she is still struggling. But listen, I have an update for you but I want to tell you in person. Can you meet me at Lucinda's mansion? She's moving out so we will have privacy."

Lex wonders what Houston has to tell Celeste in private but he is curious about it. "Perfect, I'll see you shortly Celeste," Houston says into his phone, unaware that Lex can hear his every word.

***

THE CAMPBELL, NEW YORK CITY

After seeing Houston earlier in the morning, the vodka martini in front of Stacey is exactly what she wants. She stirs the olive in the glass before she takes a healthy sip of it.

"You're back again," the bartender comes up to Stacey as she sets the glass down. "You must like my drinks, huh?"

"Best martini in town," Stacey looks back at him and, for the first time, notices how attractive of a man he is. His dark hair and dark eyes match his scruffy face. "At least, that's my opinion."

He smiles back to her. "Well, I'm happy to make the best martini in town for a beautiful woman like yourself," he winks. "I'm Slate, by the way."

"Stacey," she reaches her hand over to shake his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Slate," she says as she feels her cheeks flush when he touches her hand back.

***

Madi opens the door to Vivian and Chase's house and quickly moves into the foyer. After her meeting with Dyhannah this morning, she didn't see any reason to wait to tell her parents what she wants to have happen. She moves into the living room just as she sees Chase move up to kiss Vivian on the lips.

"I hope I am not interrupting," Madi announces to her parents, as they stop kissing and look over at Madi. "But, this is important."

"Madison," Vivian turns and smiles to her daughter. "We always have time for you, especially if it's important."

"Your mother is right," Chase looks back at Madi. "Whatever it is, we are happy to hear you out. What is going on?"

"You two tried to screw me over," Madi puts her hands on her hips. "You drugged Cole and made it seem like he was having an affair on me. That is unforgiveable!"

"Darling, please," Vivian moves up to her. "We want to move beyond this, if possible. We want to have a great relationship with you again. Can't we please find a way to move beyond this?"

"You tried to ruin my relationship," Madi glares back at her. "And, that's exactly what I'm going to do to yours."

"What are you talking about, Madison?" Chase asks her quickly.

"You two are over, officially," Madi announces to them. "And, if you don't break up, I will go to the police and tell them what you and Kent Blackmore did, Dad. I finally found a way to use the information that I learned in jail and it is perfect, right? You tried to ruin my life with Cole and now, I am going to ruin yours," she says as a sly grin comes across her face.

***

"I got here as soon as I could," Celeste says quickly as she storms into the living room of Lucinda's mansion and she spies Houston looking into the fire place. "What's going on?"

Houston turns around and looks at Celeste. "No worries," he replies to her. "No one knows that you're here, right?"

"Of course not," Celeste tells him, as Lex peers around the corner and wonders what they are doing. He gulps as he hopes they aren't having an affair; the last thing he needs is to tell Mac that Celeste is sleeping with his half-brother. "What's going on? You made it seem important."

"I think I figured out a way to get Carmen off our asses," Houston reveals to her. "Marat is going to…how do I say this? Pursue her?"

"Wait, what?" Celeste asks him in shock. "Marat is going to romance Carmen to distract her?"

"Pretty genius, huh?" Houston chuckles back to her. "Just think about it, if Carmen has her own love life to focus on, the last thing she will want is to drag out the divorce to Mac, which means she will sign the divorce papers and then she can leave town. Then, we are in the clear."

Celeste nods back to him. "She'll leave town and take our secret with her!"

"Exactly," Houston smiles to her. "No one will ever know that baby Poppy is alive and well and being raised by you and Mac."

Lex feels the blood drain from his face at what he just heard even though it doesn't make any sense. "Poppy?" he whispers to himself as he leans up against the wall. "She's alive? How is that possible?"

"I can't believe you did this!" Celeste smiles back to Houston as she pulls him into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Don't worry about it," Houston winks back to her as they exit their embrace. "Now, you have to get Mac to send Carmen a good settlement and I have to get Stacey back into a good headspace. Then all will be right in the world."

"I'm going to do that right now," Celeste tells Houston as she grabs her purse. "We'll be in touch."

Houston watches as Celeste storms out of the room. He smiles to himself. "Job well done Houston," he tells himself. "Okay, let's get out of here. I have to figure out how to get Stacey back."

"Not so fast," Lex emerges from the hallway. "What the hell did I just overhear?"

Houston turns and gulps seeing his brother standing there. "Nothing Lex, you didn't hear anything."

"That's where you're wrong," Lex looks back at him with intent. "I heard you say Poppy is alive. So, start explaining, Houston. How, exactly, is my sister's dead child really alive?"