Written by: Dallas Walsh

"You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" the figure of Celeste whispers back to Carman as they stand in the master bedroom of the Rockwell mansion with just the bright light from the moon shining into the room.

Carmen had been trying to sleep when the window suddenly blew open; after she closed it, she heard something behind her only to open the drapes and see Celeste, whom she killed, standing in the room with her. Carmen immediately started to scream at the sight of the woman she murdered months ago standing in front of her. She almost can't believe that this is real or possible.

Carmen shakes her head as the screaming turns into hysterical sobbing. "This … can't … be … happening," she tells herself as she closes her eyes and then looks back up and sees Celeste, still grinning at her.

"Boo!" Celeste laughs back to her as Carmen starts to scream out in horror again.

Suddenly, there's an intense knocking on the bedroom door. "Mrs. Rockwell? Mrs. Rockwell?" Ingrid calls out from the hallway. "Are you okay? What is going on in there?"

Carmen rushes past the figure and moves towards the door. She opens it and collapses into Ingrid's arms.

"Sweet girl, what is wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?" Ingrid asks as she moves into the bedroom, still holding Carmen. She lays Carmen down in the bed and Carmen points towards the window.

"She's over there," Carmen manages to say, her voice cracking through her sobs.

"Who is over there?" Ingrid asks her.

"Cel…Celeste."

Ingrid gasps back in shock as she turns on the lamp before she moves around the corner to where Celeste and Carmen were standing a few moments ago. Ingrid doesn't see any sign of Celeste or anyone, for that matter, having been in the room.

"I think you must have had a nightmare," Ingrid tells her as she moves back to the bed and tucks her in. "Do you want me to stay with you until Mr. Rockwell gets home? Or I can go get you a warm glass of milk?"

Carmen uneasily shakes her head back to her. "No, no, I'm fine," Carmen waves her hand, her mind racing about what just happened. "Thank you for coming to check on me Ingrid."

"You're welcome dear, try to get some sleep," Ingrid replies to her as she moves to the door and leaves.

Carmen lays in the bed silently wondering if she did imagine everything that just happened. "It just felt so real," she whispers to herself, her heart still racing a million miles a minute. "What's happening to me? Why can't I let this go?"

***

The next morning, Carmen emerges into the Rockwell mansion living room still wearing her robe as she sees Mac pouring himself a cup of coffee from the bar. She moves up to him and puts her arms around him, pulling him into a deep hug.

"Good morning to you," Mac whispers into her ear. "I'm sorry I was so late at the office last night."

"Do you have to go to work right away? I had a terrible nightmare last night and I could use your company."

"A nightmare?" Mac looks back at her in surpirse. "What on earth did you have a nightmare about?"

Carmen waves her hand back to him nto wanting to get into the details of her dreams as she knows it will just lead to more questions. "I don't remember all the details," she lies to him. "I just remember I was screaming. I scared poor Ingrid half to death."

"I am so sorry that I wasn't here for you," Mac pulls her into another hug. "I don't have to go to the office right away, I can say with you this morning."

Carmen looks into his eyes and leans in and kisses him. "I need you to make love to me Mac," she whispers to him. "I need your touch so badly this morning."

Mac kisses her back and then looks into her eyes. "Whatever my beautiful wife needs, she gets," he winks at her as they quickly exit towards the bedroom.

***

"I didn't see you at the penthouse this morning," Kent approaches the table where he sees Sabine sitting at a table in the country club with her cell phone in her hand and a mimosa next to her. He knows that they have been at odds since he realized that she was snooping through his personal files in his study and she learned that he and Chase Cooper made an arrangement years ago where Kent would paid for Chase' political campaign, if in turn, Chase would allow Kent and Blackmore Ltd. to mine on restricted lands. At the time, it was a win-win situation.

"I thought I'd let you sleep in this morning," Sabine replies to him quickly. "Besides, if I was at home, would you have brought me breakfast in bed? You've been so incredibly distant lately."

"Can you blame me?" he asks her as he sits across from her at the table. "I feel like my personal space was invaded. I feel like my privacy was invaded."

"Oh for the love of God Kent," Sabine huffs back to him. "I am trying to help you with this, not use it against you for crying out loud!"

"It doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't have to help me with this!" he pounds his fist into the table.

"I've already reached out to Chase and Deacon this morning," she ignores him as she sets her phone down. "We are going to meet on the beach at Kelsey Lake bay," she tells him. "Tonight, this will all finally be over. And then maybe, just maybe, you can try to get over yourself and realize that I'm helping you."

***

"Dad, are you here still?" Deacon calls out as he rushes down the large staircase in Vivian's mansion and moves into the living room, where he sees Chase pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Good, you haven't left for the day. I need to talk to you."

Chase takes a long sip of his coffee as he looks back at his son. He knows that Deacon hasn't been very happy with him since he put his foot down and told his son that he couldn't run for Senate because their family will soon be dragged through the mud with Madison's upcoming murder trial.

"I hope this doesn't have anything to do with your political career," Chase says back to his son. "Because, I told you the other day, there is no room for negotigation on this, Deacon."

"You'll understand me once I have a chance to tell you what's going on," Deacon replies to him quickly. "I got this weird message from Sabine Andrews this morning."

Before Chase can say anything, he hears his phone ping with a new text message. He walks over to the desk and grabs his phone. "Meet Kent and I are Kelsey Lake Bay tonight at 9 pm. Tell no one," the message from Sabine reads.

"I suspect I just got the same request as you did," Chase uneasily looks up from his phone screen and over to his son. "Kelsey Lake Bay?"

Deacon nods back to him. "What do you think this means? Do you think Sabine and Kent are trying to make a power play against us?"

"I have no idea," Chase sighs back to him. "But, I will tell you this much: I will be at the bay tonight, and so will you. Whatever this is, it will end tonight."

***

A short time later, Deacon emerges from his washroom with a white towel wrapped around his waist. As he moves into his bedroom, he realizes that the perk of not running for office is that he can more relaxing mornings, like the one he is having. Of course, he still has his medical practice, but he gets to pick and choose when he wants to see clients there.

He moves over to his closet and opens it, wondering what he should wear. As he looks at all of his freshly pressed shirts, pants and suit jackets, he can't help but feel his blood boil. He hates that Chase has put an end to his political career before it even got started this go around. Now, he has to wait at least four years before he will have the chance to run, all because of Madi's pending murder trial.

"I still hate this," he whispers to himself as he closes the closet and moves to the bar in his room. He pours himself a scotch and takes a quick sip of it, his muscular chest glistening form the sun that is coming into his room. "I should be able to pursue my future as I see fit, Madi's trial be damned!"

He moves over to the desk and grabs his cell phone and calls a number quickly. "It's me," he says into the phone. "You won't believe what's happened now."

***

"This office is pretty sweet," Mateo smirks as he moves into the main office at Blackmore Ltd. and sees Lex sitting behind the large desk. He still can't get over how some of the 1% not only live, but also work. The office is one of the nicest places he has ever seen, and considering he has been to the Rockwell mansion, that is saying something.

"Yea, it's alright," Lex stands up and moves closer to Mateo. "If you're here today, I am assuming you have good news for me?"

"I have excellent news for you," Mateo licks his lips as he looks at how handsome Lex looks in his suit. "The job you gave me, it's done. I did it last night."

"That was fast," Lex nods back to him. "I'm impressed."

"I told you that I would help you to help make it up to you," Mateo replies to him quickly. "I am a man of my word."

"As I am," Lex turns and moves back to the desk where he picks up an envelope. "I told you that I would compensate you and I meant it. This is for you."

"You're too generous," Mateo grabs the cheque from Lex. "You know, before I leave here, I think I know the bigger reason you and Grant didn't work out. It's not my place, I get that but it was pretty obvious."

Lex looks back at him with intent as he crosses his arms over his chest. "You do? Well, now I'm super curious."

"You're both bottoms," Mateo winks back to him. "Someone had to compromise big time, and that's a pity."

Lex feels his face flush at his words. "See you soon, I hope," Mateo tells him before he turns and walks out of the office, leaving Lex feeling hotter and more bothered than ever before as he knows that Mateo is completely right.

***

"Good morning," Dr. Jefferson announces as she walks into Stacey's hospital room and feels tension as she sees Stacey, Houston and Marat all in the room. Normally, she would wonder why the expectant mother has two men in the hospital room with her, but after getting Stacey's request late the previous night to have a paternity test completed on the unborn child, she doesn't think it's out of the question. She can only imagine what is going through the minds of the two men and Stacey. "How did you sleep Ms. Rockwell?"

"Better than I thought I would," Stacey tries to smile back to her, despite her feeling the tension from both Houston and Marat as they are all eager to find out who the father of her child is. "I guess being away from home was the best thing for me."

"That's good," the doctor nods back to her. "I have your discharge papers here but I have to continue to emphasize to you that you need to remain calm. Any additional stress on you, could impact your diabetes, and thus the baby, okay?"

"I promise I will stay calm," Stacey replies to her. "I think I will feel better once I know, once we know, the results of the paternity test. Do you have them?"

"I do," Dr. Jefferson says back to her. "But, I need the word of all three of you that you will all handle this well. If you need to scream or shout, do it on your own time, not in this hospital, is that understood?"

"Yes," the three of them nods back to her in unision, even though Stacey looks uneasily back at both men.

"Very well," the doctor continues. "We ran the test with the baby and compared it to Mr. Blackmore's DNA as he was here last night. The DNA of the baby does not match Mr. Blackmore, therefore, the father of the baby is Mr. Kafelinkov."

Marat pumps his fist and moves over to Stacey to grab her hand. Houston notices this and feels his face drain of the blood that was in it. He doesn't say anything, he just rushes out of the room, clearly devastated by the results.

"Houston!" Stacey calls out but it falls on deaf ears as he leaves the room without looking back.

"Let him go," the doctor advises her. "He needs time to process this."

"We are going to be parents," Marat leans down and puts his hand on Stacey's belly. "I can't believe that we are going to be a baby in this world, Stacey."

***

Kent turns his head when he hears the front door of the penthouse open and then slam closed. He sees Houston, who is fuming, immediately move to the bar and pour himself a double scotch. Kent arches his eyebrow at the sight of his son, clearly upset about something.

"Houston?" Kent says as he moves up to his son. "It is a bit early to be drinking, don't you think?"

"Not if you've had the morning I've had," Houston tells him as he takes another drink of his scotch. "My life is falling apart, Dad. Completely falling apart."

"Oh come on," Kent puts his hand on Houston's back. "It surely can't be as a bad as you think it is?"

Houston chuckles back to him before he looks at his father. "Really? You refuse to do anything about Lex being in that damn CEO position at Blackmore Ltd and I don't know how much longer I can fucking handle that! And then, today, I found out the Stacey's baby was fathered by Marat Kafelinkov! The child I thought of as my own, isn't mine after all! So forgive me, Dad, if I do think it's as a bad as I made it sound."

Kent looks back at him in surprise. "I am sorry to hear about Stacey and Marat," Kent tells him. "I know first hand how messy pregnancies can get. I know that doesn't make it any easier for you."

"You can stop acting like you care," Houston spits back to him. "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't by your actions of keeping Lex in the power position at Blackmore."

"We've been over this, Houston," Kent replies to him sternly. "What you did to try to get Lex to lose sight of the company by hiring Mateo to split up Lex and Grant was uncalled for you. A CEO needs…"

"A CEO needs to take action, and that's exactly what I did," Houston cuts him off. "Just forget it, I'm not going to get through to you about your precious Lex, so why fucking bother?"

***

"You have no idea how happy we are that you're home and that you and the baby are safe," Lydia beams to her daughter as Marat helps Stacey move into the living room of the Rockwell mansion, as the family has gathered to welcome Stacey home from the hospital.

"Darling, can I get Ingrid to bring you anything at all?" Mac asks Stacey, who is sitting down on the sofa.

"Maybe just some sparkling water," Stacey nods, as Ingrid rushes out of the room to get Stacey's order.

"How are you feeling Stace? You gave us a scare," Cole asks his sister as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"I'm fine," Stacey uneasily chuckles back to her family. "I wish everyone would stop fussing over me. As long as I stay calm, the baby and I will be fine."

"Well, we will make sure that you're stress free," Lydia puts her hand on Stacey's leg. "The most important things are the health of you and our grandchild."

"Your mother is right," Mac agrees with Lydia. "Anything you want, you let us know, and we will get it for you."

"Anything, hey?" Stacey giggles. "Daddy, that sounds like it is a dangerous offer."

"I will do anything for you," Mac leans down and kisses her forehead. "My baby girl will always be the most important thing to me."

"Speaking of," Stacey changes the topic to her family. "Marat and I have some news, and you all need to hear it from us."

"What is going on Stace?" Lex asks her, curious about what she has to tell everyone.

"You all know that there was a question about the baby's paternity," Stacey starts to tell everyone. "While I was in the hospital, I had the doctor run a paternity test."

"And?" Cole asks his sister. "What did the results say?"

"I am going to be a father…again," Marat chuckles to the family, as Mac shakes his hand.

"This is great news," Lex gets a grin on his face. "Congratulations Marat!"

"Yes, we should have a toast to Stacey and Marat," Lydia announces as she stands up from the sofa and moves to the bar. "Who wants what to drink for this toast?"

***

Lucinda opens the front door to the Rockwell mansion and scurries inside as she is running late for the homecoming of Stacey. She hates that she is late for her granddaughter's homecoming since they were all so worried about Stacey and the baby, but she had a rather late night and her driver was slow on the road to the mansion. Now that she is at the house, she is desperate to see Stacey and have a drink.

As she moves towards the living room, she happens to see Carmen slowly walking down the large staircase. "Well, isn't this interesting," Lucinda stops and looks at the younger woman. "The entire family is celebrating that Stacey is home from the hospital and that she is healthy, and you're sulking by yourself."

"I am not sulking," Carmen hisses back to her. "You know what Lucinda? I am not in the mood to deal with you today."

"What's wrong? You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks," Carmen rolls her eyes as she reaches Lucinda. "If you must know, I didn't sleep well last night. I was coming to welcome Stacey home and then I was hoping to have a nap."

Lucinda arches her eyebrow back to her. "Usually people don't sleep well if there is a problem in there life. What is your problem?"

"I told you I wasn't in the mood for you today and I damn well meant it," Carmen turns to face her. "Get away from me before I do something that I will regret!"

"You best go back upstairs to bed," Lucinda walks past her. "Because I'm not leaving without seeing my granddaughter, Carmen."

***

"It's almost 9," Sabine tells Kent as they slowly walk towards the meeting spot at Kelsey Lake Bay. It is pretty dark outside but she knows that this is the perfect place to get rid of any evidence that they have that will incriminate Kent and Chase in their deal that they made all those years ago. "I think Deacon and Chase will be here anytime."

"I just want to get this over with," Kent replies to her. "I still think this meeting could go very wrong."

"Trust me, please?" Sabine asks him as she reaches one of the fire pits on the bay. She sees a couple of pieces of wood inside the fire pit so she opens her coat and pulls out a small vile. She opens the lid of the vile and pours the liquid inside over the wood; fumes of gasoline creep into Sabine and Kent's noses. Sabine then pulls out a match and lights it. She throws the burning stick into the fire pit and a fire quickly lights up, thanks to the gasoline. Just beyond the fire pit, there are some shrubs and bushes that line the beach. Neither Sabine or Kent see the figure crouched down into the bushes, watching their every move.

"We got your message, what is this all about?" Deacon asks Sabine and Kent as he approaches them with Chase following behind him.

"It's about the damn documents you wanted me to find," Sabine replies to him. "The ones that confirm that Chase and Kent were working together years ago; the ones that could send both of them to jail for a very long time."

"I told you that this meeting was not going to end well," Chase whispers to Deacon in shock and horror. He never believed this would come to light again but here they are.

"This has to end," Sabine tells the men. "We have to destroy these documents so no one can ever see them again. That's why I invited you all here tonight. This ends here and now."

The men watch as Sabine pulls out the envelope from her inside pocket of her jacket. "The documents are in here," she explains to them before she throws them into the fire. They all watch the envelope start to burn slowly. "There, it's over. No one will ever know what happened."

Meanwhile, from the bushes behind the figure kneels down and starts taking pictures of the action unfolding in front of four people standing by the burning fire.

"Is that all?" Chase asks her back. "Because it's cold and I am ready for my night cap."

"It's over," Sabine nods back to them as she grabs Kent's hand. "We can move on with our lives now, finally."

They all leave the bay as figure from the bushes creeps out and races to the fire. Without thinking, they grab the envelope from the ashes and clutch them tightly. While the documents have been badly burnt, they certainly were not destroyed. The figure then quickly leaves the bay, having not been seen by anyone.

***

A short time later, Kent and Sabine are standing in the living room of the penthouse as she tries to open a bottle of champagne. She hears the cork pop and she moves over to pour two glasses. She proceeds to pass Kent a glass as she gets a coy smile on her face.

"I think we should celebrate, don't you?" she asks him as she purses her lips together. "After all, we have destroyed the documents and no one will ever know about you and Chase's arrangement now."

Kent uneasily nods back to her. "I don't approve of your methods Sabine, not at all," he admits to her. "First snooping in my personal belongings and then the production of tonight," he continues to tell her. "It would have been far easier to just throw the documents in the fire here. We didn't have to engaged Chase or Deacon."

"I wanted them to know that the documentation was destroyed as well," Sabine defends herself. "We all have a stack in this, Kent. We all had a right to know that it was finally over."

"We will agree to disagree," Kent nods back to her. "But, I am grateful that it's over Sabine. For that, I thank you so much."

Sabine gets a smile on her face as it is the first time Kent has admitted that she did a good job since this nightmare began. "You're welcome my love. You know that I would do anything for you."

Kent uneasily smiles back to her before Sabine leans in and kisses him. He can't help but respond to the kiss. "This is the start of us getting back on track, I can feel it," she purrs to him.

***

Meanwhile, at the Blackmore mansion, Deacon pours himself and Chase two bourbon's before he moves back to the sofa and sits next to Chase, who has a fire roaring on.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Deacon passes his father a drink. "Sabine destroyed the documents, that's a pleasant surprise."

"How the hell did she know that the documents even existed?" Chase asks him back before he takes a sip of his drink.

"I told her," Deacon reveals to him. "I knew that if anyone could locate them it would be Sabine. I told her to bring them to me. I wanted them destroyed so I could run for office and not fear that this would haunt us."

Chase chuckles back to him. "And now you can't run for office anyways. Oh life has a funny way of working out. Still, it is a very good thing that those papers are burnt to a crisp."

"I've been thinking," Deacon admits to his father. "Are you absolutely sure that there is nothing that can be done so I can still run for Senate? You know how much this means to me, Dad."

"I know son," Chase replies to him quickly. "But this is for the best, not just for you, but for the entire family. A political campaign while a member of our family is standing trial for murder would not end well. Our focus has to be get Madi off of these charges and you, you can continue to run your practice and in four years, you can run."

Deacon sighs heavily back to him. "I know it's not want you wanted to hear Deacon, but this is for the best. You have to trust me," Chase tries to sooth his son.

***

The following morning, Vivian emerges into the living room and sees Chase pouring himself a cup of coffee. She arches her eyebrow at the sight of her lover as she wonders where he was the previous night; he didn't get home until she was already in bed and he was up before she was today. She hopes that she doesn't have to worry about him but the lack of presence the last 24 hours is leaving her feeling insecure.

"Good morning," Vivian announces herself to him as Chase turns around to face her.

"Morning, coffee?"

"I'd love one," Vivian nods back to him. "So, where have you been?"

"What do you mean?" Chase asks her as he passes her a coffee. "I'm right here."

"You were out last night and were up before I awoke today," Vivian takes a sip of her coffee. "Did you even spend the night here last night?"

Chase chuckles back to her. "You're so cute when you're jealous," he winks back to her. "I was with Deacon last night. He is struggling with the fact that he can't run for office. You have nothing to worry about, Vivian."

"I believe you," Vivian tells him. "I'm sorry I questioned you."

"You don't have to be sorry," Chase sits next to her. "But, today is a very busy day for us."

Vivian arches her eyebrow back to him. "Really? I think I was only going to see Madi and the lawyers to find out the next steps. What else is on our agenda?"

"We are going to break up Cole and Madison," Chase reveals to her. "The sooner that relationship ends, the better."

"I couldn't agree more," Vivian tells him. "The question is, how are we going to break them up?"

"Leave that to me," Chase replies to her. "I have a plan."

***

"I am surprised you're not in better spirits," Cole looks over at Madison as they sit across from each other in the visitors center of the jail. After seeing that Stacey was going to be okay, Cole came to see his girlfriend hoping that she would be in good spirits because they finally got a trial date. "We know that this nightmare will be over soon, doesn't that make you happy?"

Madi sighs back to him as she looks over at him. She can't help but notice how handsome Cole is looking; she almost feels bad that he has to see her in the state that she is currently in. She doesn't feel very attractive.

"I don't know," she admits back to him. "I want to get out of here so badly but I don't want to get my hopes up Cole. What if…"

"Don't even think that way," he stops her and grabs her hand. "You will get out of here, Madison. I believe that with every fiber of my being."

"I'm trying to stay positive, I really am."

"Just think about how amazing it will be to get out of here," Cole smiles to her. "We can go on a vacation or spend hours in bed together. We have so much to catch up on."

"Being in your arms is the only thing that is keeping me going," Madi replies to him. "I can't wait to spend all night with you again."

"Soon baby," Cole tells her. "We will be together forever once you are free. I promise you that."

***

"Stacey is resting upstairs," Lydia tells Lucinda as she moves into the living room of the Rockwell mansion and sees the older woman grabbing her purse. "I'm so glad she is home and safe."

"You and I both," Lucinda nods back to her. "I'd love to stay and chat but I have a busy day planned."

Lydia arches her eyebrow back to her. "Really? What's going on? More of your plan to remove Carmen from our lives once and for all?"

"Keep your voice down," Lucinda snaps back to her. "If anyone, especially Carmen, hears you, my entire plan will be exposed."

"I wouldn't have to ask if you would just tell me what you're up too," Lydia replies to her quickly. "You know that I just want to help, I will do anything to get that woman out of our lives once and for all."

"If you truly mean that," Lucinda looks back at her. "Then you'll ensure Mac is home late again today. Don't let him come home early. I can't say anything more than that."

Lydia shakes her head in confusion. "I'll do what I can," she replies to her. "I just wish you'd trust me with more information."

***

Later that night, Lydia sits at a table in the country club with a glass of red wine in front of her. She continues to look at her phone waiting to see if Mac will reply to her text message asking him to join her; she knows that she has to keep him out again tonight so Lucinda can continue with her plan to get Carmen out of their lives. She still wishes that Lucinda would just tell her what she is up too; it would make things so much easier if she knew the full story.

"Sorry I am late," Mac announces to his ex-wife as he moves up to her table. "I was swamped at Rockwell. Do you still want to have a drink together?"

"Of course I do," Lydia tells him as he sits across from her. "How are you feeling about everything that has happened with Stacey?"

Mac sighs as he takes a sip of his scotch. "I'm glad she's home and that she is out of danger. The paternity issue, well, I think that will take time for everyone to get over."

"I do feel bad for Houston," Lydia admits to him. "He thought that the child was his, he would be devastated by this news."

"It's incredibly difficult to learn that a child you thought of as your own isn't," Mac says back to her, thinking about when he learned that Lex wasn't his son. "Houston is young, he will rebound. But, I do think that it will strain his relationship with Stacey."

"It might be the end of them once and for all," Lydia uneasily nods back to him. "We will have to be there for her if she still loves Houston."

"We will be Lydia," Mac smiles back to her. "The nice thing about you and I is that we always come together for the children. And we always will."

***

Carmen emerges from the washroom in the master bedroom and moves towards the large king size bed. She is exhausted and hopes that she can have a sleep without having a nightmare; she still can't believe that she saw Celeste the other night. She has to get a grip on reality because she feels like she is losing control slowly.

"It's time," a whisper fills the room, causing Carmen to look around as she pulls the blankets down on the bed.

"Who is there?" she asks as she is unable to see anyone in the room.

"It's time," the voice says back to Carmen.

"I said, who is there?" Carmen moves closer to the end table, where she turns the lamp on. She turns and sees the figure of Celeste standing in front of her.

"It's time," Celeste whispers to Carmen.

"What do you want?" a shaken Carmen asks her back. She can't believe that she is seeing Celeste again; is this another dream?

"You have to pay for what you did to me," Celeste continues to whisper to her. "You won't get away with it. It's time for you to pay."

Carmen shakes her head to herself. "This isn't real, you're dreaming. You're dreaming Carmen!"

"You will pay," Celeste continues to mock her. "I will make sure of that."

Carmen picks up a figure from the end table and throws it towards the figure! It misses Celeste and it shatters everywhere on the ground. Carmen looks back at Celeste with anger on her face. "Leave me alone!"

Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. Carmen and Celeste look at one another before Celeste rushes away into the washroom of the bedroom. Stacey opens the door and looks at Carmen.

"Hey, are you okay? I heard a loud crash," Stacey tells her step mother. "What happened?"

Carmen rushes up to Stacey and hugs her. "I … I saw Celeste," she admits to her. "I think she's haunting me."

***

The following morning, Carmen and Mateo are jogging around the grounds of the Rockwell estate. Once they get near the stables, Carmen stops and looks at her shirtless brother with concern on her face.

"I know that look," Mateo tells his sister. "You had another nightmare?"

"They are getting worse," Carmen tells him as she wipes her forehead with some sweat. "I am seeing Celeste in the mansion. Like, she's so close I could almost touch her."

"Dios mio," Mateo shakes his head back to her. "You have to get this under control before Mac or anyone else in the family starts to think you could have killed Celeste."

Carmen bites her lower lip. "I might have told Stacey last night that I saw Celeste."

"What?" Mateo gasps back to her. "Carmen, you're asking for trouble. Now Stacey will wonder why Celeste is haunting you! This isn't good, not at all."

"I know, okay?" Carmen huffs back to him. "I'm trying, I really am. But…"

"But nothing," Mateo cuts her off. "You need to go to a spa or something. Pull yourself together Carmen before you ruin this new found life you have."

***

"Are you sure this will work?" a nervous Vivian asks Chase as she paces back and forth in the living room of her mansion.

"I am positive it will work," Chase moves up to her and puts his hands on her shoulders. "We have to do whatever we can to ensure Madi and Cole break up. You still agree with me, right?"

"Of course I do," Vivian nods back to him. "It's just, this plan you have, it seems extreme."

"Extreme times call for extreme measures," he winks back to her. "In all seriousness, Madison is an extremely dangerous situation right now. If the jury finds her guilty…"

"We can't think that way," Vivian spots him. "We have to believe that she will be found innocent because she is."

"Yes, I know," Chase nods back to her. "But getting Cole of out her life, that has to happen. We have to do this, Vivian."

"Okay," Vivian moves past him towards her large Chanel purse. "I'll get Cole to come over this afternoon. And then we will carry out our plan, Chase."

***

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Lucinda looks over at Lydia, who has barged into the living room of the mansion that Lucinda lives in. Lucinda can only imagine what Lydia wants this morning; she is probably there to harass her about the plan to get Carmen out of Mac's life, but Lucinda knows that she can't say anything to her about that.

"You wouldn't have answered," Lydia quips back to her. "God, I haven't been here in so long."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It just brings up memories for me."

"Yes, the basement," Lucinda winks back to her. "Want a tour? I've since remodeled."

"Very funny," Lydia rolls her eyes back to her. "Mac and I had a drink last night at the club, I hope that you were able to carry out your plan with Carmen?"

"Yes, yes," Lucinda waves her hand in the air. "You were a big help, thank you."

"You're welcome," Lydia replies to her. "But, I won't help you anymore Lucinda. Not until I know what's going on."

"I told you…"

"I know what you told me," Lydia cuts her off. "But I mean it, I need to know what is going on with you and Carmen and I'm not leaving here until you tell me everything."

***

"Last night was wonderful," Sabine tells Kent as she pours herself a coffee in the living room of the penthouse. She recalls how the previous night, they finally were able to share a close moment after they burnt the documentation that proved Kent and Chase worked together in the past to mine on restricted land. Sabine hasn't felt that close to Kent in weeks, she just hopes that they can take the next step soon and make love again. "I can't thank you enough."

"It was nice, I agree with you," Kent replies to her as she passes him a coffee. "I want to try to put all of this madness behind us Sabine. We need to get back to being on solid ground."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that," Sabine purses her lips together. "How about we spend the morning making love the way we used too? God knows I could use it."

Kent chuckles back to her. "I love the way you think," he tells her, as they hear a loud knock on their front door. "Whoever that is has horrible timing."

"Make them go away," Sabine giggles back to him as he moves to the door and opens it.

Kent freezes when he doesn't see anyone at the door. He peers into the hallway but it is empty. "That's odd," he says as he then notices an envelope on the ground. He bends over and picks it up. He closes the door and moves closer to Sabine.

"What is it?" Sabine asks him as Kent looks back at her in confusion.

"Let's find out," Kent tells her as he opens the envelope and sees a note inside. "My God," he whispers in horror.

"Kent? What's wrong?" Sabine asks him as she moves up to him so she can see the letter. He passes it to her. On the piece of paper, there's one sentence: "I know what you did".

"So much for this nightmare being over," Kent huffs as Sabine feels the blood drain from her face.

***

Lex looks up from the mountain of paper work on the desk in the main office of Blackmore Ltd when he hears the office door open. He stands up when he sees Mateo walking inside. "Morning," Mateo smiles to him, as Lex is unable to stop looking at the muscular chest that is present in Mateo's tight white shirt.

"Mateo, morning," Lex smiles back to him. "What brings you by? Can I get you anything?"

"I wanted to see you," Mateo admits to him. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about our arrangement."

Lex arches his eyebrow. "You mean the favor I asked you for? Why haven't you been able to stop thinking about it?"

"I changed the paternity test results," Mateo admits to him. "Your sister's baby, Houston is really the father."

"I know," Lex nods back to him. "We can never say anything to anyone. You promised me."

"I did," Mateo licks his lips. "But I might need something more to help keep me quiet."

"I gave you money," Lex reminds him. "What else could you want?"

Mateo moves closer to him and grabs his ass pulling him closer to him. Their lips lock and Lex is unable to stop kissing Mateo back. "I think you know exactly what I want," Mateo tells him as Lex looks into his eyes with lust.

"God, I need it too," Lex kisses him again as he starts to unbutton Mateo's jeans.

***

"Answer me Lucinda," Lydia demands from her former mother in law. "What is your plan with Carmen? How are you getting her out of our lives?"

"I don't have time for this Lydia," Lucinda snaps back to her. "I have told you that the plan is going accordingly to my schedule. You just have to be patient."

"I'm not a patient woman!" Lydia barks back to her. "I can help you, you have to know that."

Suddenly, there's a loud noise coming from the kitchen in the mansion. Lydia arches her eyebrow to Lucinda. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Lucinda waves her hand in the air.

"It wasn't nothing," Lydia tells her as she moves towards the kitchen.

"Lydia, don't go in there! It was nothing!" Lucinda races after her.

Lydia opens the door to the kitchen and freezes in her tracks. "What the hell?" she gasps out as she sees Celeste standing in the kitchen with a glass of wine in her hair. "Celeste? Is that really you?"

Celeste uneasily looks back at Lydia and then over at Lucinda, who is fuming. "Lydia, it's so nice to see you," Celeste purses her lips together before she takes a sip of her wine. "Surprise!"