Past and Present Danger, Chapter 10
by blueeaglex
 

"Break up?" Chad shook his head, not willing to accept this declaration. "Whitney, you can't be serious."

"I've never been more serious in my life." Whitney walked across the hospital room, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I'd like to think that what happened today is the worst of it, but it's only the beginning."

"How can you be so doom and gloom?" Chad said, gripping his hand into a fist, frustrated with all of this. "I mean, look at Theresa. She managed to come out on top, even though her family wasn't exactly down with her hooking up with Ethan."

"That was a different situation." Whitney turned her head, not wanting to look at Chad. Seeing him was just too painful. "And maybe she and Ethan lived happily ever after, but Gwen..."

"You think someone's gonna die because of us, like what happened with Gwen?" Chad asked. He stepped behind Whitney, and as she heard him draw closer, something inside her started to weaken. "That's not gonna happen. Your family's stronger than that."

"This isn't about Gwen," Whitney insisted. "It's not even about you. It's about me not wanting to break up my family..." Whitney turned back towards the man she loved, her heart breaking inside. "You've never had a close family, so you can't understand this, Chad. My family means EVERYTHING to me."

"And that's one of the things I love about you." Chad stepped even closer to Whitney, his voice low. "But to break up? That's drastic. Whatever happened to being true to yourself?"

"Being there for my family IS being true to myself."

They paused. It seemed to last forever, but was only for a minute.

"Can this really be the end?"

Whitney said nothing in reply.

"This morning everything seemed perfect, now it's all gone to pot. I can't accept that this is the end. I can't!"

"I have no choice." Whitney spit out the four words as though they were snake venom.

"I can't leave without one last good-bye kiss, Whitney." Somewhere inside, Chad believed that this one kiss would change Whitney's mind, make everything all right with them again. Whitney said nothing as Chad took the final step towards her. Wrapping his arms around Whitney, Chad locked his lips on hers, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

The kiss finally finished, Chad pulled away, looking into Whitney's eyes for a reaction.

***************

Do you have so little to do with your day that you go around spying on other people, Rebecca?" The irony that she was exactly quoting what Eve had asked her earlier was lost on Ivy, who held her purse close to her. "Shouldn't you be out job hunting?"

Rebecca flinched at the mention of being forced to look for a job. "Don't change the subject, Ivy; what exactly is it that you need?"

"I don't know why I should bother to give you an answer," Ivy said haughtily. "It's none of your business."

Rebecca eyed Ivy carefully, sure that Ivy was hiding something. Rebecca was no longer the bitchy social climber out to take over the Crane empire; she could still be a first class bitch, but the events of the past year had left her a different person. Unable to get her hooks into Julian, thanks to Alistair's posthumous insistence that Julian and Ivy remain together, Rebecca had been left near-penniless; never doubting that she would win Julian, she had divorced Jonathan before securing the Crane fortune, and Jonathan managed to take off with almost everything.

But the final cruel blow had come to Rebecca the day of Ethan and Theresa's lavish wedding. Gwen had insisted on attending, despite Rebecca's efforts to keep her from going, so Rebecca had joined her increasingly fragile daughter at the ceremony. Throughout the nuptials, Gwen stayed quiet, not giving so much as a hint of what she was thinking. Yet when the "I dos" were said, Gwen had stood to her feet, crying out, "Noooooooo!" Rebecca was forced to drag her sobbing daughter out of the church.

For the next several hours, Gwen was almost completely silent, her face masking whatever she was feeling. Finally, Gwen told her mother she was going to bed.

That was the last time Rebecca saw her daughter alive.

That night, Rebecca had tiptoed into her daughter's bedroom to make sure that everything was all right. No one was in the bed, but Rebecca could see the bathroom light on. "Honey? Is everything okay?" No answer.

Stepping into the bathroom, Rebecca shrieked at the horrifying sight inside. Gwen's body was slumped over the toilet, her wrists pouring blood. The bathroom mirror was broken, and Gwen had used a shard of glass to cut herself open. Sobbing, Rebecca bent down to save her daughter.

But it was too late. All that was left to explain Gwen's actions was a short suicide note: "I can't live without Ethan...life just isn't worth living without him."

And from that moment on, Rebecca vowed to do everything in her power to bring down the Crane empire. With Ethan and Theresa on their trip around the world, Rebecca was forced to focus her energies on Julian and Ivy. The revelation about Ethan's paternity hadn't destroyed the Cranes, but Rebecca was convinced there was something in the Crane's past which could bring them down for good. She would not rest until the Cranes had suffered as much as she suffered now.

"I can smell a lie a mile away," Rebecca told Ivy. Noticing that Ivy had an unusually strong grip on her purse, she added, "I'd bet anything you have it hidden away in that purse of yours."

"Don't be silly, Rebecca," Ivy said, giving her nemesis a fake smile. "Like I would keep my secrets in a purse." A pause, then, "Not that I have any secrets. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should be going." And Ivy was gone seconds later, leaving Rebecca to wait behind.

"You're hiding something, Ivy," Rebecca thought to herself. "I don't know what it is, but God help me, I'll discover your secret and destroy you forever!"

**************

T.C. and Simone sat in the living room of the Russell home, neither speaking a word. The revelations about Chad and Whitney were still on their minds, despite their best efforts to think about other things. T.C. was examining his school schedule for the next week, while Simone had her nose in a book.

The front door slammed shut, catching both T.C. and Simone's attention. They looked up as Whitney stomped into the room. "You'll both be happy to know that Chad and I are through," Whitney said, her voice echoing the defeat she felt.

A part of Simone wanted to smile, but she withheld this urge. Despite his dislike for their relationship, T.C. took on the tone of a concerned parent, as he asked, "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Whitney said, moving to leave. "Especially not to you two," she muttered under her breath. "You can be happy that it's over, Daddy. You got what you wanted."

Simone still refused to speak to her sister, and went back to her book. As Whitney went to leave the room, Simone's face softened as she saw a tear form in Whitney's eye. Resolved to continue hating her sister, however, Simone did her best to scowl at the departing Whitney anyway.

Whitney hurried down the hallway towards her bedroom, her feet almost unable to carry her. She collapsed on the bed, not tired from being in the hospital, but emotionally exhausted from everything which had happened so far today.

Had it only been a few hours since they were in the shed together, professing their love, come what may? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Whitney sighed, then, putting her head to her pillow, started to cry, the tears coming without hesitation.

***************

"How did she seem?" A concerned Eve stood next to T.C. in the living room, the two waiting for Sam and Grace to arrive. "Maybe we shouldn't go out tonight."

"I don't think Whitney wants to talk to us tonight," T.C. pointed out. "Especially me. I think it may do her some good to be by herself for the evening."

"I think it might take more than one evening to get over this," Eve pointed out gently.

Standing, T.C. kissed his wife. "I know that. But I think it's for the best. Whitney's future depends on her focusing on tennis, and I don't want to see anything get in the way of that. Besides, she's been lying to us for weeks now...any relationship built on a lie is bound to be bad for you."

A knock at the front door kept Eve from responding. She walked over and opened the door, revealing Sam and Grace, who entered the house. "You look lovely tonight, Eve," Grace said with a smile, admiring her dress.

Eve smiled back, then, looking down at her clothes, added, "I didn't underdress over overdress did I? You still haven't told us where we're going, so I didn't know what to wear."

"You're dressed perfectly for the occasion," Grace declared.

"So spill...where are we going?" a curious T.C. asked.

Sam and Grace looked at each other. "Maybe you should find out once we get there," Sam teased.

"I can't stand the anticipation," Eve said, laughing.

"We're going to the jazz club," Grace said. "That sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"It sounds lovely," Eve agreed. She stopped a moment to reflect on how differently she felt about the place, as compared with how she would have felt about it just a few months ago. She'd once obsessed over the possibility of meeting up with someone from her past there; now, the possibility seemed extremely unlikely. And if she did, so what? Eve was sure that nothing from her past could threaten her current life.

Eve had no idea how wrong she was.

***************

In Simone's bedroom, Kay talked excitedly about her latest plan to snag Miguel away from Charity. "I'm going to throw myself into the water when Miguel comes walking by. Miguel's saved Charity so many times I've lost count! Once Miguel has a chance to save me, he'll realize we're meant to be together." Simone rolled her eyes at Kay's lack of logic. "What? You have a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Simone said proudly. "I'm going to spend the evening with Chad."

"Chad, the guy who broke your heart by revealing he's in love with your sister? Wake up, Simone, it's over."

"Chad and Whitney are through," Simone pointed out. "He's going to need someone to comfort him tonight, and I'm going to be that person."

"You mean you don't have any problem with what he did to you?"

"What he did to me? It's what WHITNEY did to him that I have the problem with...she seduced him before I had a chance. But tonight, that's all going to change." She stopped, reflecting on the possibilities of what would happen to her sister. "Whitney will get over losing Chad to me...after all, she has her tennis, but what do I have?"

"You have me, Simone," Kay said, in a concerned voice. Kay suspected that Simone would lose out anyway, and wanted to be there for her friend. "Are you sure you want to do this tonight?"

"If you've taught me anything, it's that you gotta act immediately," Simone said, reaching for her cell phone. "If I had worked harder on Chad a year ago, maybe he wouldn't have been seduced away by Whitney. It's time to get what's rightfully mine." Kay bit her upper lip as Simone dialed a number. "Chad? It's me, Simone. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight..."