Beach House, Hamptons

Dear Daniel,

I'm writing this letter, because that way it's easier for me to tell you the truth. And besides, you have to listen to me and can't interrupt me. First of all... No more lies! When you read this letter, you know all about me. There are no more secrets.

How do I start? I think it's best I start at the beginning. Do you remember how we met the first time? I spilled the drink on your jacket and so we got into a conversation with each other. But it was not a mishap. I did it on purpose. I wanted access to your family and you were the key in order to reach that. How so? Now that you know that I'm really Amanda Clarke, you will have guessed the answer. To take revenge. To take revenge on the people who brought my father to jail. I had made a list with the people who were responsible for it. Your parents were at the top of the list. Do you know how it is when you lose the only person you have loved and trusted? Your parents and some others, I don't want to bring up here, were responsible that I lost my father and became an orphan at an early age. I've been in different children's homes, had foster parents who only took advantage of me and then ultimately became a criminal and ended up at the juvie. But the good thing was that I met Emily Thorne there, and the decision to avenge myself on those who had stolen my father and my childhood was quickly made. I couldn't return as Amanda, so Emily and I switched identities, and I became Emily Thorne. With a new identity, I returned to the place of my childhood and started my revenge campaign. Your mother had been right all along. I've only used you to get entry into your family. I was amazed how quickly she was aware of my true intentions. But I think it was only because we are alike. To make it short, I will summarize the events which took place after that.

My goal was to destroy your family, to take everything away from them that they had taken from me. I had obtained a good training and build-up on Rebun Island and was ready. I met Aiden there, too. But more later about that. It wasn't difficult to become the new owner of the beach house. From there I had a good view and could navigate my actions. The plan was simply perfect. But then something happened which I hadn't reckoned with. I fell in love with you. When you proposed to me, I didn't have to fake my enthusiasm. I really wanted to marry you. At the time, I was so naive to believe that I could do both, take revenge and be happy with you. But you were a Grayson, even though you never wanted to be one. I didn't realize that until you sided with your father. I decided to break up with you, though it wasn't easy for me. I know you thought it was because of Jack and the kiss we'd exchanged at the time. But we were never lovers. It was only the memory of the past that we both wanted to hold on to. I think he truly loved Emily when she appeared as Amanda in the Hamptons. If she hadn't died, they would still be together. But maybe it was fate, otherwise he wouldn't be together with Ava now. But I get off the point...

Shortly after our split-up, Aiden appeared. We had had a love affair on Rebun Island and he wanted me back. He helped me to continue my way of reckoning, and I helped him with his affairs. The mutual urge to take revenge on those who had wronged us bound us together. In hindsight, I wonder if I really loved him. At least I thought it at that time why I was ready to go with him. We had a final plan before we could begin our lives together on the Maldives. Victoria Grayson had to be destroyed. In order to do that I had to get closer to you again. So Aiden and I faked a break-up, and you were more than ready to give me a second chance. A re-engagement, a new plan. But then Sara arrived on the scene, and I could almost see how everything slipped out of my hands. You suddenly didn't want to marry me any longer, and I decided to take more drastic measures to hold you. So I faked a pregnancy. I knew that you would never have the heart to abandon your own flesh and blood. I always wondered if things would have been different if I had already known that I was really pregnant. But back then I had no idea about my condition and continued with my plan. After the wedding, I wanted to feign my death and then pin the blame on your mother. She would have ended up in jail. My revenge would have finalized and I could have started a new life with Aiden, with a new identity, on the Maldives.

But the plan failed, as you know. I still don't quite understand what happened with me when I suffered from amnesia. I only know that I was given a new life. And for that I'm really grateful. Because I got a new chance to make things right, got a new chance of love and happiness. I know you don't believe me when I tell you that I've fallen in love with you a second time before I've even regained my memory. I really thought we would make it this time. For me, I had finished with everything that was in the past. I wanted to start a new life on your and Julian's side as Emily Grayson. I had no idea that my father was still alive. It was a shock to me when he showed up in the Hamptons. But the past is always catching up with you. I know that now. So I decided to leave and start a new life somewhere else, far from the Hamptons and with a new identity.

I'm sorry that I had remained silent and had to lie to you for such a long time. However, I have never lied about us. I love you, Daniel, even though you hate me! Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And that's something I have to live with for the rest of my life. Good bye,

Emily

P.S. I'll give the rings back to you because they have no meaning for me where I'm going. They belong to you now. You can keep them or throw them into the ocean.

He dropped the letter and stared into space. Although he had read the words, he couldn't grasp their meaning. His hands trembled slightly as he pulled the rings out of the envelope and frowned at them. What did this mean? As fast as his drunken state allowed him, he rose and walked down the stairs with slightly staggering steps. Horrified, he stopped on the lowest staircase, when he saw the devastation in front of him. But his befuddled mind was too confused to make sense of what had happened here. He saw a baseball bat lying in a corner, and he reflexively held his breath. It was his racket, which lay in the middle of demolished pieces of furniture and shards of glasses, he recognized. His head began to throb painfully when he tried to remember. Had he done that? He bent down and took a picture frame that had been completely destroyed. It was the wedding picture that had stood on the fireplace. As he stared at it, he tried to remember the words in the letter. But he was not sober enough to bring it to mind. He could only recollect one sentence. "I have never lied about us. I love you, Daniel, even though you hate me!"

"Daniel?"

Startled, his head jerked up and he had to blink twice to get a clear view. In the doorway stood his sister, giving him a sympathetic look. "Char?" He croaked.

"Where is Emily?" She asked, frowning.

"Emily?" He repeated puzzled, then clutched at his head. "How... how did I get here...?"

"Don't you remember?" She asked cautiously as she approached him.

He shook his head, then pointed to the smashed furnishings. "Did I... do that?"

She nodded hesitantly. "You really don't remember anything," she realized and took the picture out of his hand. She looked at it briefly and then put it aside. "I had to call Jack and ask him to come," she told him in a low voice. "You were completely wasted and no longer in control of yourself. You smashed everything to pieces that got in your way."

"Oh God..." He fell to his knees, horrified about his actions. "I... I can't... remember... anything."

Charlotte reached for his hands. "You were injured. That's why we had to patch you up."

He stared at his hands and only noticed then that they were bandaged. Just like parts of his arms. "Injured?" He repeated stunned.

Charlotte helped him to get up. "There are shards everywhere. You shouldn't be kneeling, or you'll get hurt again." She looked at him worried. "We should go back to the manor now. I think Emily went home, too. We can clean up later, when you're a bit more sober."

Emily had gone home? The moment the thought crossed his mind he remembered the letter, which was still lying in the bedroom. "Char, wait!" He gestured to the top. "The letter..." He stammered. "She... she wrote me a letter... and the... the rings..." He clutched at his forehead and groaned with pain. "Oh damn! I need a... headache pill. My skull..."

Being driven by a sense of foreboding, Charlotte ran upstairs and found the letter and rings Daniel had spoken of. Although not addressed to her, she read the lines and then groaned frustrated. Emily had actually done it. She had left the Hamptons and had gone to Paris without saying good-bye to her. Had Daniel's havoc been the trigger why she had left the country? She had to talk to Nolan as soon as possible. He certainly knew more about it. But first of all, she had to take care of Daniel, who was still not sober enough to understand the consequences of his actions. She put the letter and the rings into her trouser pocket and left the bedroom. She found him in the living room, kneeling again on the ground because there was nothing left to sit on. Everything was destroyed. "Let's go!" She pulled him up and then put her arm around his waist to support him. A last look back and she and Daniel left the beach house and went over to the manor.