Some say the only way to start the day is with a nice, hot cup of coffee. I say the only way to start the day is with a little, white lie. It’s kind of like exercise, stretching you out, getting you ready for the whoppers you’ll have told by the time you’re turning in again. After all, what are our days, if not compositions of lies and sabotages and debaucheries and betrayals?
So, rise and shine, Oak Harbor! You’ve got a busy day ahead of you!
Rose O’Meara woke to the sound of her beloved, Alec, getting ready for his day.
Alec: I hope I didn’t wake you.
Rose: No, you didn’t. Busy day today?
Alec: I’m taking the day off from Deveraux. Josh is flying in from Paris today, to see Mom.
Rose: That’s wonderful.
Alec: I should get going, I told him I’d pick him up at the airport.
Rose: Can we have lunch later?
Alec: Absolutely. Oh, before I forget, I left my checkbook on my desk. Just write one out for however much you need for the music program.
Rose: That’s awfully trusting of you, giving me such access to your finances.
Alec: You’re my fiancée. I trust you. Besides, you could never steal from me. You don’t have a dishonest bone in your body.
Rose: …Thanks.
Down the hall, Jessica Lindsey-Deveraux woke up alone. She brushed her teeth, took a shower and was about to return to her room to get dressed when she overheard her husband, Xavier, speaking with someone on the phone. At first, she was glad he was home – until she heard what he had to say.
Xavier: Thank you, Harold. I want this finalized as quickly as possible, it was a grievous error on my part and I just hope Jessica isn’t too upset.
He was talking to his lawyer? Quickly, Jessica retreated back into the bathroom, unseen.
Jessica: Oh, God. He’s going to divorce me. That bitch has barely been out of her coma for a day and already, I’m losing everything! I have to do something…but, what?
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Lara was intercepted on her rounds by her twin sister, Amber.
Amber: Lar—erm, Dr. Dawkins, Dr. Fields needs you to scrub in for an emergency surgery.
Lara: What are we looking at?
Amber: Female, approximately 25, single GSW to the lower-left quadrant of the abdomen.
Lara: Name?
Amber: Giada Serdahl.
Lara: Oh my God.
Ree Bennet made coffee for herself and her boarders, though Damian was up with the sun and gone. Madienne, however, joined her.
Ree: Good morning.
Madienne: Good morning.
Ree: Did you sleep alright? First night in a new room and all…
Madienne: Well, now that you mention it, I was woken twice by noise coming from the attic.
Ree: I apologize. I was…um…moving some things around.
Madienne: It’s alright. The coffee makes up for it. This is delicious.
Ree: Old family recipe. Speaking of food, I’m going shopping today. Do you need to add anything else to the list?
Madienne: No, I don’t think so. Damian brought it by last night while I was settling in. I think I got everything and I left money for my share in the envelope. If you need anymore, though, just swing by the library. I’ll be there all day.
Ree: Alright.
Later that day, Josh Deveraux got settled in at home and joined his brother downstairs for a game of chess.
Josh: I don’t remember you being so good at this.
Alec: I’ve had practice.
Josh: Mom really looks good, doesn’t she?
Alec: Incredible. Lara says all of her tests are great and, if she continues like she is with no setbacks, we’ll be able to bring her home soon.
Josh: How does Jessica feel about that?
Alec: I don’t really care. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I’ve seen how Dad looks at Mom. She’ll be yesterday’s news by the end of the week.
Josh: I think maybe you might be seeing what you want to see. Dad can’t shut up about Jessica. I even heard him earlier, at the hospital, talking to Harold about finalizing an amendment to his will so Jessica will be included....
Alec: What?! Great, now she’ll kill him and take his money and sell Deveraux off for parts. We have to get rid of her before she destroys this family.
Josh: You’re overreacting. I know I said I’d give it six months, but I really think she’s here for good. And, she’s not that bad…
Alec: Turning to the dark side?
Josh: There is no dark side. I’m just reconsidering my stance. Anyone who can make Dad smile like she does can’t be all bad.
Speaking of the she-devil, Alec heard her come in and plop down on the couch in the adjoining living room. He excused himself.
Jessica sat on the couch, reading a book she’d picked up from the bookstore. It wore the jacket of a cooking book, but was really a how-to guide for the trophy wife called, “How To Keep Your Rich Hubby Once You’ve Got Him.”
Alec: What are you doing?
Jessica: Reading.
Alec: I’m surprised you can. Is that a skill they teach in Gold Digger School?
Jessica: Look, I don’t have time for you.
Alec: You didn’t even have time to put on clothes. A bit underdressed, don’t you think?
Jessica: For your information, I was just out by the pool, but I had to come inside. My skin is delicate. I burn easily.
Alec: Not easily enough.
Jessica: Do you know where Xavier is? I tried reaching him at the office, but he wasn’t there.Alec: He was with my mother, I suppose. I’m sure he mentioned to you he’s moving her in for the duration of her physical therapy?
Jessica: Of course he did.
Alec: Liar.
Jessica: Well, he would have if –
Alec: Oh, that’s right, I forgot. He spent last night at the hospital with Mom. What was it like waking up in a cold bed all alone? You should get used to it.Jessica: I don’t have to get used to anything. I’m here for the long haul, so you’re just going to have to get used to me. By the time the day is out, I am going to be inextricably linked to you.
Alec: What’s that supposed to mean?
Jessica: Leave my marriage to me. You should go focus on Rose.
Alec: I have nothing to worry about with Rose. Unlike you, she has zero interest in my money.
Stefanie Serdahl, however, had a great deal of interest in Alec’s money – specifically that of it which would be used to provide her a fresh start far away from Oak Harbor…and her father.
She visited with her sister once she was out of surgery. Giada was in the ICU and she wasn’t supposed to have any visitors, but Amber had allowed Stefanie a few minutes, so long as she was quick. She didn’t know why Giada came back, but prayed she made a recovery. Giada was proof they could survive, they weren’t both doomed to wind up like their older sister. Stefanie needed to believe that, if she could believe in nothing else.
Lara’s emotions got the best of her on the hospital roof. She couldn’t believe Giada was back, or that someone could hurt her like that. All those emotions she thought long since buried came flooding back. She was only happy she could hold it together in the OR. She was so caught up in the hurricane of emotions wreaking havoc on her mind, she didn’t hear the door opening behind her.
Rose: Lara, are you alright?
Lara: Yes, fine. How did you know I was up here?
Rose: Amber said sometimes you take your breaks up here.
Lara: I was actually getting ready to head home. Thought I’d hang out a few minutes longer. I had a patient in the OR today, nearly lost her. I didn’t want to leave just yet.
Rose: I was here to see Nora, but I thought I might ask you something…I was hoping you could recommend a psychiatrist on staff?
Lara: Dr. Holden is the best and I think he has a few slots open in his patient roster.
Rose: Thanks.
Ree went up to the attic and unlocked the door. She let herself inside the small, dusty room. There wasn’t much up there, a bunch of things in boxes that she could bear to neither part with nor look at, and some things that had belonged to the person who lived in the attic.
Ree: I brought you lunch, I thought maybe you might be hungry. Hey, I have an idea. I know how much you like sitting there, by the window, watching the people of Oak Harbor coming and going, but how about if we eat together? We could go downstairs – Madienne and Damian are going to be gone all day and … and, you’re not interested, are you? Okay, well, I’ll leave it here by the chair and you can eat when you want to. I just, um, I love you and if you need me, just page me. I promise, I’ll come running.
When Xavier came home, Jessica ran into his arms.
Jessica: Xavier! You’re home! I missed you last night.
Xavier: Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve been at the hospital with Nora. I only came back long enough this morning to retrieve some papers. I didn’t want to wake you.
Jessica: How is Nora?
Xavier: She’s doing wonderfully.
Jessica: I’m sure she must be thrilled that Josh came home for a visit.
Xavier: She is. I need to tell you something, Jessica. I wanted to prepare you before Harold contacts you about the paperwork –
Jessica: I’m pregnant!
Xavier: What?
Jessica: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, I’ve just been holding on to the news all day and it just popped out.
Xavier: You’re going to have a baby?
Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Xavier: We’re always so careful, I thought you didn’t want children so soon?
Jessica: Nothing’s 100%. Are you mad?
Xavier: No, of course I’m not mad.
Jessica: So, I guess I don’t need to meet with your lawyer after all.
Xavier: Why not? This doesn’t change anything. The papers still need to be filled out and filed.
Jessica: But, I thought –
Xavier: I have to go. Someone from the hospital is coming over to evaluate the house for equipment for Nora’s therapy.
Jessica: I love you, Xavier.
Jessica kissed her husband, in hopes maybe it would make him remember that he loved her, not knowing that their kiss was being spied on by someone whose intentions were far from good.
Alec: Enjoy it while it lasts, Jess. You’ll be out on that pert little ass before you know it.
Damian was out for a walk when he encountered an old friend.
Damian: Of all the gardens in all the towns in all of the world, he has to walk into mine.
Josh: Hey, stranger.
Damian: How have you been?
Josh: Good, good. I’m in town seeing my mother.
Damian: I heard she was awake.
Josh: Awake and having a hankering for food that wasn’t prepared by the hospital cafeteria. I
said I’d go get her a sandwich from that shop on Main she likes so much, but then I passed this place by … I’d almost forgotten how mild the winters are here, how beautiful the gardens are all year. Damian: Yeah, it’s a very special place.
Josh: I should get going. Mom really wants that sandwich.
Damian: Me, too. I’m having a late lunch with a friend.
Josh: It was good seeing you again, Damian.
Damian: You, too, Josh.
Stefanie decided to leave the hospital. There was nothing she could do for Giada now and their mother needed to be told she was in the hospital. In the downstairs lobby, she found Jason.
Stefanie: Thank goodness you’re here.
Jason: I shouldn’t be – it’s not safe. But, I had to see you. How is Giada?
Stefanie: The doctors say she’s stable, that the bullet missed the major organs and she should pull through. It’s just scary. She’s so pale and …
Jason: Hey, it’s going to be okay.
Stefanie: I thought she got out, Jason. I thought she was free and I was going to get out, too. What if we’re never free? Jason: You will be. We’re going to get your father off the streets and you and Giada and your sister will all get the lives you want.
Stefanie: I hope you’re right, Jason.
Jason: Did Jessica come through with the money?
Stefanie: I don’t know yet. Damian’s having lunch with her now.
The friends – a term both used very loosely – had sushi in the restaurant of the Bridge View Hotel. The restaurant didn’t normally serve sushi, but when the wife of one of the world’s wealthiest men and one of the nation’s most successful film company CEOs asked for sushi – they got sushi.
Damian: What’s wrong with you?
Jessica: I need to get pregnant.
Damian: Don’t look at me!
Jessica: I wasn’t asking you.
Damian: Good, because there isn’t enough alcohol in the world.
Jessica: I told Xavier I’m pregnant.
Damian: And, you aren’t?
Jessica: Right. Damian: Then, why did you say you were?
Jessica: Because, he’s going to divorce me! I came out of the bathroom this morning after my shower and I overheard him saying to Harold, his lawyer, about how he wanted to get papers finalized and how he made a “grievous error” and hoped I wouldn’t be too upset. So, I read a book about how to keep your rich husband once you’ve trapped him into matrimony and it
recommended a pregnancy ruse in emergency situations and this is an emergency! Damian: The inner workings of your mind are fascinating. I think I might make my next movie about you.
Jessica: Oh, hush. Are you going to help me or not?
Damian: What do you want me to do?
Jessica: Give me sage advice.
Damian: Get pregnant.
Jessica: How?
Damian: When a boy really, really likes a girl, his body responds by –
Jessica: I know how. I just don’t know how.
Damian: He thinks you’re already pregnant, right? Well, why don’t you set up a romantic evening here at the hotel to “celebrate?” Then, you’ll have sex and hopefully
conceive.Jessica: You’re a genius!
Damian: Yes, I am. By the way, what’s the status on that money?
Jessica: I transferred it into the Cayman account before I left for lunch. The wire transfer should complete by midnight. Are you going to tell me what this special project is?
Damian: Let’s just say I’m helping a friend the same way I helped you, once upon a time.
Yes, he’d helped her in ways she could never really repay him for. He’d helped her become someone else. If only Xavier knew who Jessica was before, he never would have married her. But, he did marry her and he was completely clueless – both that she was a fraud and that his son was sabotaging him.
Alec: Josh said you wanted to see me?
Xavier: I need your help, son. I know you’re taking a day off, but I need you to handle a conference call for me with Mr. Mukilteo. He’s being a thorn in my side over the potential merger.
Alec: I don’t have his contact information.
Xavier: Here, you can get it out of my phone.
Just as Alec took his father's phone, Xavier got a text. Alec read it when he realized it was from Jessica.
My love, I know we’re having problems, but if there’s a chance of saving our marriage, meet me at the Bridge View Hotel, suite 413. I want to celebrate us and our love and I know we can make it through anything. – Jessica.
Alec deleted it.
Alec: I’ll take care of everything, Dad. Don’t you worry, by the time I’m done that thorn will be thoroughly extracted from your side.
That night, the Bridge View Hotel was the site of much drama. Three beautiful women – the Dawkins sisters, Amber and Lara, who resided in apartments within the hotel, and Jessica, who waited in the room she’d reserved for her husband, all were paid unexpected visits.
Amber was the first to discover her mystery guest.
Amber: Sam!
Sam: Hello, darling. Oh, how I have missed you.
Amber: I didn’t expect you back so soon.
Sam: The job I was running back home, in Melbourne, didn’t pan out quite the way I wanted it to, but I have a new job here, in Oak Harbor.
Amber: What kind of job?
Sam: Let’s not worry with that. Right now, I just want to make up for the time I have missed with my girl.
Amber folded herself into his arms. It’d been far too long since she’d been held by Sam. Thank goodness he was home!
Lara, however, wasn’t as lucky with her mystery guest.
Lara: What are you doing in my room?
Vittorio: I hear my daughter was in your OR this morning?
Lara: I assisted the surgeon, part of my training as an intern.
Vittorio: How is she?
Lara: Stable. No thanks to you.
Vittorio: You honestly think I could shoot my own daughter?
Lara: I put nothing past you.
Vittorio: She’s my blood, my family –
Lara: She’s a possession to you, just like your other daughters. You don’t care about the women in your life, the way you try to control your daughters, the way you’re always keeping mistresses on the side and making an embarrassment of your wife—
Vittorio: And, you would know all about my mistresses, wouldn’t you? Lara: That was the past. I was weak.
Vittorio: I put you through school.
Lara: You made me steal for you to pay you back.
Vittorio: Right, I’d almost forgotten that impressive skill set of yours. But, I didn’t make you steal. You did that on your own. In fact, you’re still doing it, aren’t you?
Lara: No.
Vittorio: I know about Serum-419.
Lara: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Vittorio: A drug manufactured by Falcon Enterprises. Clinical trials suggested it's beneficial for stimulating brain activity in comatose patients. I know you contacted them about Nora Deveraux and they refused to release their treatment before it could be mass produced and
marketed, at which time it would have cost fifty thousand dollars per injection, something your hospital would never pay for. Nora’s family probably would, but she wasn’t your only patient. So, you hacked into Falcon’s databases, stole the compound and reproduced the drug. You tested it on Nora Deveraux. And, if anyone finds out … well, you wouldn’t be practicing medicine anymore.
Lara: How do you know?
Vittorio: Because, you were one of mine, once, Lara. I always keep an eye on those who belong to me.
Lara: What do you want from me?
Vittorio: A simple trade. I’ll keep my mouth shut about your dastardly dealings if you’ll just remember how good we were together…and how good we can be together again.
And, Jessica’s visit was even worse.
Jessica: What are you doing here?
Alec: I have a message from my father.
Jessica: What?
Alec: He got your text. He won’t be joining you this evening or any other evening.
Jessica: No. No, you’re lying. He’s going to come here and we’re going to talk and then we’re going to make love and everything will be fine!
Alec: Everything won’t be fine. You’re out, Jess. Get used to it.
Jessica: He’s going to divorce me. He’s going to divorce me and it’s all your fault!
Alec: My fault?
Jessica: You just can’t let him be happy. I made him happy. I can make him happy!
Alec: He belongs with my mother. I told you the first time I laid eyes on you that you were nothing but a place keeper. Why don’t you leave with dignity?
Jessica: Because, I love him.
Alec: You love his money.
Jessica: Maybe in the beginning I cared about the money, but that’s not the only reason I love him. He’s sweet and he’s kind and he makes me laugh. It’s been so long since anyone has made me laugh.
Alec: There are lots of rich men with senses of humor.
Jessica: Do you have to gloat? God, I hate you.
Alec: I hate you, too. In fact, you make my skin crawl, just the sight of you.
Jessica: You make me sick.
Alec: You make me … Damn it.
That very night, while some bargained with their bodies…
Lara: Let’s just get this over with.
And, others conspired in afterglow …
Amber: Are you sure this is going to work?
Sam: Trust me, honey. This is foolproof. Xavier Deveraux is going to make us very, very rich.
Amber: I just have a bad feeling. This could easily blow up in our faces.
Sam: Between the two of us, we have it covered. You just make sure nothing happens to that CNA job you got until we're ready to implement phase two.
Two got tangled up in webs built of their own deceptions.
But, careful, little spiders – you’re stuck now and look more like flies to a much, much more dangerous spider who now has you both in his sights.
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On the next EMPIRE...
-- Old lovers try to resist the pull of proximity.
-- A filmmaker discovers peculiar activity by his new flatmate.
-- A night of passion causes someone to lose their life.
