Eve was reading a book when the heard the front door slam.

“ TC? Whitney? Simone?”

There was no answer, but she heard the footsteps. Suddenly her door flew open and Whitney came into her room, kneeling at Eve’s bed. She put her head into Eve’s lap, sobbing uncontrollably.

” Whitney, Baby, what’s wrong?”

Whitney couldn’t say anything to her mother. Only cry and cry and cry until she was spent. Once the tears couldn’t come forth anymore, Whitney just kept her head there. Eve stroked her hair. After awhile Whitney lifted her face and looked at her mother. Eve had never seen Whitney so hurt. The pain was in her eyes. Whitney got up and got into the bed with Eve.

“ Whitney, what’s wrong?”

” I……I found Chad in bed with another girl.”, Whitney said quietly.

“ Oh.”

” Mom….it’s not just that.”

” What is it?”

” The girl…..the girl was Theresa.”

” Your best friend?”

“ She’s no friend of mine!”, Whitney said bitterly.

Whitney began to sob quietly in her mother’s arms. Eve closed her eyes and shuddered. She felt Whitney’s agony.

” Did you surprise Chad? Did he know you were coming?”

“ No. We had an appointment. I thought we had a breakfast date.”

” Oh.”

Eve knew for sure now. Chad had planned it. Her heart ripped in two for BOTH her children; Eve knew how hard it must have been for him to hurt Whitney like this, but it’s necessary.

“ Mom….even if I could believe it about Chad…what about Theresa? She’s been my best friend our entire lives?”

” Whitney, maybe things are complicated.”

” You know, Theresa has talked about the Cranes like they were some sort of Gods. I thought it was harmless, until she went after Ethan. Then, the crazy thing was she actually GOT HIM. Of course, it didn’t last, and he left her. I thought her obsession was over. It’s not. Now, she’s just moved onto another CRANE.”

” It’s probably more than that.”

” Are you defending her!”, Whitney said angrily.

” No. I’m not going to defend Chad or Theresa. Them hurting you in inexcusable.”

” You know, you warned me, Mom. You told me Chad was no good, but I didn’t listen.”

” Whitney…”

” You were right. He’s absolutely NO GOOD. He’s a lowlife, just like you said. And, why not? He’s a Crane.”

” Whitney!”

“ Daddy was so right. The Cranes are no good. Every last one of them.”

“ Whitney, I know you’re hurt. I know you’re in pain. I think you have every right to be. But, honey, I don’t like to hear this kind of bitterness in you.”

” Mom…he was the first guy I ever loved.”, Whitney said, in between her tears.

Eve held her daughter close, shivering at the disaster that could have happened if her relationship with Chad had been revealed later.

“ Whitney, no matter what. You’re young, beautiful, smart. You’ll be Ok. I’ll help you. Your father will. Simone will. You won’t die because of this. It hurts like hell right now, and will for some time. But, don’t think it will last forever. You have to trust me. Do you trust me?”

Whitney looked up at her mother and nodded.

” You just stay here with me for awhile. Let me share your pain.”

Whitney hugged her mother a little tighter, and Eve held onto her daughter for dear life.
 

Chad and Theresa were on the floor underneath a blanket. Neither one knew exactly what to say to the other. Chad got up first and put on his robe. He went to his window and stared out.

“ Chad….I don’t know what to say. What happened here?”, Theresa said, wrapping herself in a sheet, sitting on the bed.

“ It’s quite simple. I had to break Whitney’s heart, and I used you to do it.”

” That’s what I don’t get. Why break Whitney’s heart? You could have just broken up with her.”

Chad didn’t answer Theresa. He started looking for his clothes, and put them on.

” Where are you going?”

” Out.”

Before Chad could get to the door, Theresa was there, blocking it. “ What the hell is wrong with you?”

” More than you could ever imagine.”

“ I don’t understand.”

“ Neither do I.”, Chad said, moving Theresa out of the way and leaving the apartment. Theresa sat down at Chad’s desk, tears streaming down her face. She had been so good at planning things, and now, everything seemed to be out of control. Her friendship with Whitney was OVER. She knew it would end, but she never thought it would end like this. So brutal. And, what the hell had happened between her and Chad. The way that they were together. She was so confused. What did it mean? Was it over? Had she lost Chad?

Theresa sadly got her clothes on and left for home.
 

The doorbell rang and a maid went to open the door.

“ Mr. Harris!”

” IS HE HERE? I NEED TO SEE HIM!”

Chad didn’t wait for the answer, he stormed into the living room, with the maid running after him.

“ Julian’s not here.”, Ivy said.

“ You know when he’ll be back?”

” No idea. But, if you want to leave a message..”

” No.” Chad felt defeated. He needed to talk to Julian. He thought it had to be Julian, because he would be the one who understood all of this.

“ Are you sure? I’m an ok listener.”

” Lady, you don’t know anything about me.” Chad began to walk towards the door when Ivy said with some force,

“ I know who your mother is.”

Chad turned around and looked at Ivy, and she smiled and nodded. “ Yes, I know who she is.”

Chad shook his head. “ But…”

” Why don’t we go talk in the Library.”

Chad followed Ivy to the Library, and closed the door.

” I can’t believe that sonuvabitch would tell anyone! How could he betray me tha..”

“ Oh, will you pipe down! Julian didn’t tell me…I knew.”

” Knew? How could you know?”

” Honey, your mother and I have an interesting history between us. I guessed about you long before your mother would accept it..”

” Are you saying..”

“ That Eve knew and didn’t tell you? No. Eve loves her daughters too much for that. It’s why she was so interested in your DNA test. She wanted to know. When it came back negative, she was hurt. Truly hurt. I was surprised about that.”

” My…my mother wanted me even though she knew what it would do to her family?”

” Yes. She did.”

“ Wow.”

“ Yes, wow. So, you see, you can tell me anything you’d want to tell Julian.”

” I doubt that.”

“ Honey, I’ve been married to Julian for twenty-five years. You think anything you could tell me would be a shock?”

Chad shook his head. “ What the fuck, why not? I arranged for Whitney to walk in on my sleeping with another girl today.”

“ Oh.”

” Yeah, Oh. I….I hurt her.”

” It was necessary.”

” You don’t know..”

“ I don’t know that? Yes, I do. I know about making hard choices when it comes to the person you love and can’t love anymore. I know that.”

“ You and Chief Bennett?”

” Yes.”

” It’s different situations.”

” True. Sam wasn’t my brother, but the truth of the matter is, I had to destroy Sam in order to keep him safe. My father threatened his life, and I couldn’t have that on my conscience.”

“ Whoah. I didn’t know that.”

” Nobody knows…not even Sam.”

” So, why’d you tell me?”

“ So, we’d have a secret on one another.”

” It’s just that..the look on her face…”

“ Chad, she had to be hurt. If she wasn’t hurt like that, she might think that there’s a possibility for the two of you. You hurt her because you had to. You had no choice.”

” I just felt so cold and ruthless.”

” Like a Crane.”

” Yeah, like a Crane. I’m afraid of how easy it was to me.”

” Chad, you’re a good young man. You hurt Whitney to help her. The sooner she begins to get over you, the easier it will be for her when the truth is revealed about your true relationship to her.”

” Yeah, I guess.” Chad looked at Ivy. “ Why are you being decent to me?”

” Well, Julian called off the divorce.”

” How come? He was trying to get rid of you.” Chad looked at Ivy. “ Oh, me.”

” Yes, you. A little information is a good thing. So, I’m your Stepmommy….not a wicked one either.”

” I don’t know about that.”

Ivy laughed. “ Well, it’s better to have me IN your corner, than against you.”

” Now, THAT I believe.”

They both laughed, not hearing the door open.

” My parasitic wife and my son laughing. Why does this send a chill down my spine.”