Before he even got started with it, Hunter realised there was a huge flaw in the plan to tell Stephanie more lies in order to tell her the truth about Ronda without her totally losing it. Saying that Laura Molinaro had broken the news to him earlier in the day could easily be exposed as a lie by Stephanie simply asking her about it. Why would Molinaro lie to back him up? Then he realised that if he did go through with the lie there would be another problem too: Why would he have been so quick to believe the word of an almost complete stranger when she claimed to have seen DNA results that proved Ronda was his child?

No, he decided as he walked into the living room with Stephanie following behind him, the lie was off the table. He had to tell the truth. The consequences for his marriage would likely be bad, but at least he wouldn't be keeping secrets anymore. If they could somehow move past it, he would be sure to focus a lot more on family rather than business, as he should have been in the past. What he had to do now was make Stephanie and Ronda see that and believe him. It was going to be easier said than done.

"What's going on, baby?" Stephanie asked, voice full of concern. "You don't look so good. It's not the feds is it?"

"No, it's not the feds," Hunter said, sitting down on one of the couches and gesturing for her to sit beside him. "It's more of a family thing."

"A family thing?" Stephanie sat down and looked at him, a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah." Hunter hesitated, trying to think of the best way to actually say what he wanted to say. "Steph, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently. You know, since we came back from Barbados and everything that happened with Dwayne Johnson. And before that of course. You know, what happened to you. I can't stop thinking that we, I mean I, have been focusing way too much on business and not enough on family. If I'd done things differently, if I hadn't taken the decision to kill Roman Reigns, things would have been so much different for us."

Stephanie had always been a very strong woman. She still was. Coming back from the ordeal that that she'd been through was proof of that. Talking about it was always hard for her though, and Hunter saw her eyes fill with tears as she took his hands and squeezed them tightly. "You shouldn't blame yourself, Hunter. You always did your best for me and for Ronda. We both know that."

"No," Hunter insisted. "Like I said, I could have done things differently. And I'm not just talking about the Reigns thing anyway. I'm talking about for years. It's all been about business. I found myself thinking that yeah, Helmsley effectively owns Warren City, but what good is that if my family aren't happy? I know you're not happy and I totally understand why. We came back her from Barbados before you were ready because of the business. I know Ronda's not happy either. She doesn't want to be a businesswoman and she's finding it very hard to try and adapt. This new opportunity came along for her and I didn't want her to take it because I was thinking of the business. Yes, I was thinking of her safety too, but I was still putting the business ahead of what she wants."

"What are you saying? That you're thinking of selling the business?"

"Not selling it, no. I'm going to start stepping back though and putting family first. You and I have worked hard enough for enough years that we should be enjoying the money we've made, not killing ourselves to make more. We don't need more. We already have more than we'll ever need."

"So you're talking about some kind of partial retirement?" Stephanie asked. He could see the hope in her eyes. She'd been trying for some time to convince him that she was happy to be back in the city and working for Helmsley now that the business had gone legit, but he knew that it wasn't really true. Given the choice, she would much rather have stayed in Barbados.

"Sure, you could call it that. It wouldn't be able to happen right away as I still need to help Ronda. I'm going to tell Shane to take on more a role as far as that's concerned though. He's a plenty good enough businessman himself, and weirdly, I think she might listen to him more than she does to me."

"I seriously doubt that," Stephanie said, managing a grin. "I'll be honest, I'd love it if we could have more time together and enjoy what we've earned. That really does sound perfect. There are so many places around the world that I've always wanted to go."

"Then make a list," Hunter smiled. "Make a list and I'll make sure we go to every single one of them. I promise. Okay?"

Stephanie leaned forwards and kissed him softly on the lips. "Thank you, Hunter. You have no idea how much I needed something like that to look forward to."

The conversation had gone so well to this point, but Hunter knew that was about to change. "There's something else that's been on my mind, Steph."

"What is it, baby?"

"It's uh, about Ronda."

"What about her?"

"I have to tell you something, Steph. Something I should have told you long before now." There was no easy way to say it, so Hunter just blurted it out. "She's my daughter, Steph. Ronda's mine."

Stephanie took her hands back from Hunter as her mouth fell open in shock. "She's what?" she almost whispered, as if unable to raise her voice.

"She's my daughter. Just before you and I got serious I had a thing going on with Trish. She got pregnant and she..."

"I don't fucking believe this," Stephanie said, standing up from the couch.

"She told me the baby wasn't mine, Steph, I swear. I specifically asked me and she said it wasn't."

"So when did you find out the truth?" Stephanie demanded, glaring down at him.

Hunter took a deep breath and admitted, "When she was three. Trish got a DNA test and..."

"Three!" Stephanie screeched at him. "When she was fucking three? You mean you had me adopt your daughter, and you didn't even tell me she was your daughter?"

"It was a big mistake, honey. I know that. I should have told you back then, but I didn't. Since then I always just thought it was best to leave things how they were."

Stephanie had began to pace around the room; her anger seeming to prevent her from hearing him. "That fucking explains it all! Why you wanted to adopt her so bad. Why you're always so fucking wrapped around her little finger. Why it's always been Ronda before me. I couldn't give you a child, but I didn't need to did I? You already had one!"

"Steph, calm down please..."

"Calm down!" she screamed at him. "You've lied to me and had me playing mother to your kid for the last fifteen fucking years! And now you want me to calm down? Fuck you, Hunter! You've done some awful things in your time, but this is the worst. How could you let me adopt Ronda with you without knowing the truth? Fifteen years of my life I've given to that bitch..."

"Don't blame her for this," Hunter snapped back, standing up and looming over Stephanie. "She doesn't know the truth either, so you will not take it out on her."

Stephanie face had turned red with anger. "Oh, of course! Let's all defend Ronda as usual shall we? Wouldn't want her to get upset would we? You know what I say to that? Fuck Ronda! How about that? And fuck you as well. Fuck you and your fucking daughter! I wish I'd have had her killed all those years ago..."

Hunter cut her off by slapping her hard in face, snapping her head to the side. "Don't you fucking dare talk like that," he growled at her.

Holding her sore cheek, Stephanie backed away from him. The revelation that she'd just heard, combined with being struck by her husband was the final straw. Their whole marriage had been nothing more than a pack of lies. Even his claim about sleeping with Trish before they were serious was probably a lie. The timeline with Ronda's age didn't quite tie up right.

It all made sense now. Why Hunter had been so insistant to adopt someone else's child, who wasn't actually someone else's at all. Why they had always been so close. Why Hunter always caved and gave Ronda whatever she wanted. For fifteen years she had tried to put her jealousy aside, and for what? Lies.

And now Hunter had hit her. That hadn't happened for many years. She had threatened to leave him the last time, but he had promised it would never happen again. Another lie.

That was it, she decided. She was done. It was time to get away and get away for good; from Hunter, from his daughter, City, from all of it.

"Hitting me, Hunter?" she hissed at him. "After everything that's happened, you hit me? You come in here and tell me you've lied to me for fifteen years about the child we adopted and you hit me? Fuck you. Fuck you and your abuse. Fuck your daughter. Ugh, it makes me sick even to say it. Fuck your business too, and fuck your fake ass promises about changing. You're an animal, and you're a lying bastard."

"Steph, I'm sorry," Hunter attempted.

"No you're not. I told you never to hit me again. This is typical. Anyone who doesn't say or do what you want, you react with violence. That's why I ended up being kidnapped and raped. It was all your fucking fault." The tears started to come, but they didn't didn't slow her down. "Actually, no. It was you and your precious fucking daughter. And while we're on the subject, why exactly are you so proud of her? Don't you actually realise that you've raised a psychotic murderer? That's all she is; a fucking psycho. I'll be glad to get away from her and from you. It's over, Hunter. I can't forgive you for this, ever. I want a divorce."

When Stephanie turned and rushed from the room, Hunter was left standing there in silence, wondering what to do next. His expression hardened as he thought about it.

Stephanie quickly stormed up the stairs, heading for their bedroom. All she wanted to do was throw some of her things in a case and get out of the house, never to come back. As far as she was concerned Hunter could have his daughter. Ronda could have her dad. As long as she was away from them, they could do whatever the hell they wanted. There was a case in her walk-in wardrobe, which she dragged out and tossed onto the bed. Almost frantically, she started dragging clothes out and tossing them onto the bed beside it. When she thought that she had a case full she walked over to the bed, opened the case and started to stuff the clothes inside. She heard Hunter's footsteps as he entered the room behind her.

"Don't even fucking bother, Hunter," she told him, without stopping what she was doing. "I'm done with you and your lies. I'm done with this marriage. I'm done with you. I'm going. Don't try and stop me."

Hunter placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to stiffen.

"I'm sorry, Steph," he told her quietly. It actually sounded like he meant it.

Hunter reached up and in one quick but powerful motion wrapped his right arm around her neck and jerked upwards as hard as he could, snapping it like a twig. "There's no way I could let you leave. Not with what you know." Lowering himself into a crouch, he gently let Stephanie's lifeless body drop to the floor and then closed her staring eyes with a deep sigh.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he stood up, took his phone out of his pocket and walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs as he made a call.

"Ronda," he said when the call was answered. "I need you to come over right away please."

"It's not about the meeting. I just need you to come over."

"Yes, I know you're working the night shift at the casino. Put someone else in charge and get over here. Now."