Rebecca opened the door of the Ryback home, surprised to see Kristin standing on the front step, "Kristin," Rebecca greeted, "I didn't expect you to ever speak to me again let alone show up on my doorstep. How are you doing?"
"Better than you would think," Kristin admitted, "Can I come in?"
Rebecca stepped out of the doorway to let Kristin in. Although she hated to see the woman who'd taken Ted away from her, she couldn't very well make it obvious. She led Kristin into the living room and offered her a seat, but she didn't take it.
"Ted actually came by the house and explained everything to me," Kristin started, "We've talked and have decided to work through our problems."
"Oh," Rebecca responded, trying to hide her disappointment, "Well I'm glad you can be so forgiving after Ted's and my history together. I could never just let go of a betrayal like that."
"I love him. I can't just throw that away over something that happened such a long time ago. Besides, his daughters need him. They've been through so much already and it would benefit them to have their father around. I can't deprive them of that. It wouldn't be fair."
"You'd do anything for those two girls, wouldn't you?"
"Yes I would," Kristin admitted, "I love them and I want what's best for them. It's what a mother does, Rebecca."
"Laurel and Sutton are lucky to have you as a mom," Rebecca replied, doing everything she could to hide the disgust for Kristin and her perfect world. What would she do if she knew the truth? What would she do if everything came crashing down on her?
"Thank you," Kristin replied, "but as Sutton loves to remind me I'm not her mother."
"Oh that's right, Sutton's adopted. Sometimes I just forget with how much she looks like Ted," Rebecca hinted.
"Yeah," Kristin responded, smiling, "We used to get that a lot with her. People would say she looks just like her father, not realizing that she was adopted. I always assumed people were seeing what they wanted to see."
"I guess," Rebecca acknowledged.
"I mean that's what people do isn't it? They look for what they want to find. They see patterns and similarities when there really aren't any."
"When you really want something, you can be blinded by it."
"And sometimes people use that to hurt others. I know I've had my fair share of people use Sutton's adoption as a way to hurt me. God even Sutton has used that against me. It can hurt so much to be fooled by someone you trust."
Rebecca was getting suspicious of this conversation, but she wanted to see where this was going. From what she knew about Kristin she could trust her. She was an honest straightforward person. Maybe she was just trying to relate to Rebecca and put the past behind them. Then again, maybe she did have an ulterior motive. No, it couldn't be that. This was Kristin. She didn't have a deceptive bone in her body, "I'd bet."
"I wonder what goes through those people's minds. I mean, how do they prey on those vulnerabilities? How do they gain a person's trust only to betray them with it? It doesn't make sense to me."
"I couldn't help you," Rebecca deflected.
"Oh but I think you can," Kristin stated, "I mean isn't that what you did to Sutton?"
Rebecca paused. What was Kristin talking about? How did she know about that? Things were starting to unravel and it was up to her to tie the loose threads, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I understand."
"I think you do," another voice entered the conversation that made Rebecca's blood run cold.
Ted watched as Alec took a seat across from him. After everything that happened last night, he needed to have it out with his so-called best friend. The man had lied to him for 14 years just to cover his own ass. He'd subjected Emma to years of endless abuse. He'd nearly torn his family apart doing what he thought was best. This time he really had screwed him.
"Ted," Alec greeted, "I'm surprised to see you here after our last conversation. I mean you were pretty pissed at Rebecca and I."
"A lot has happened in the last two days. I was wrong to blame you and Rebecca for a mistake I made."
"I'm glad you're taking ownership for what happened 18 years ago."
"Oh I'm not talking about sleeping with Annie," Ted retorted, "I'm talking about trusting you."
Alec paused for a moment, "What are you saying, Ted? I've had your back through all of this. I've risked my career on countless occasions to keep your secret safe. How can you say I'm not trustworthy?"
"Last night Kristin called me over to the house," Ted began, "Laurel disappeared. She left a note saying that there was something she had to do and she couldn't tell us where she was going, or when she would be back."
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She came home around eleven last night."
"What does this have to do with me, Ted?"
"She wasn't alone. You know who was standing with her?"
"You got me?"
"My daughter, Alec. The one you told me died in a fire 14 years ago. The one you swore was dead, because you'd seen her remains. How could you lie to me about that and then dump her in the foster system in Nevada? I thought you were my friend. I thought you had my back."
"I was protecting you," Alec spat, "You were about to tear your family apart over this girl. You were about to risk my career for her."
"She was my daughter, Alec."
"I did what I thought was best," Alec defended, "You couldn't see it, because you were so freaked out about Annie having her. Putting her in foster care was the best thing for her."
"How? She nearly died when she was 13 because her foster father went after her with a nine iron."
"So I made a few mistakes along the way," Alec admitted, "I've made up for them. Emma's life could've been a lot worse if I hadn't checked in on her. I'm the one that got the charges on Emma dropped. I'm the one that got Sutton released from jail. I was the one that saved her that night when she was 13 and last year as well. I might've put her in foster care, but I also made sure she survived it. Let's not forget what I've done for Sutton down her. I've kept her out of a lot of trouble here in Phoenix as a favor to you. Don't act like you don't remember."
"Nothing you've done in the last 14 years could make up for the pain you put me through when you made me believe my daughter was dead. Everything Emma has been through is on you. You're the reason Annie took her away. You're the reason she ended up in foster care. You're the reason she needed saving in the first place."
"I did what was best for everybody," Alec shouted again.
"No," Ted denied, "You did what was best for you and now I'm doing what's best for me."
Ted walked away from his seat and left his closest friend behind. Alec had screwed him over on more than one occasion. He subjected Emma to years of abuse. He subjected Ted to a level of pain he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. He nearly tore Ted's family apart. That wasn't what a friend did.
"You can't walk away from me," Alec shouted, "I could bury you with the information I have on you."
"Then bury me," Ted responded, turning back, "You don't control me, Alec, at least not anymore."
He slammed the door to the room closed and walked down the hallway to leave the police station. He was done with Alec and surprisingly he was okay with it.
Sutton stepped into the living room of the Ryback home and smiled at the bitch who'd used her. Emma was still hiding around the corner. They'd come in the front door silently and stood off to the side listening to every word of the conversation. She kept her hands behind her back, hiding the last piece of the puzzle from everyone
"Sutton?" Rebecca greeted, "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Some things are more important," Sutton stated, "For example, confronting the woman whose been lying to me for weeks now."
"I'm sorry, Sutton, but I don't follow," Rebecca evaded, "What is this about?"
"You know exactly what this is about. Do I really need to say it aloud?"
"Kristin, could you give us a moment?"
"I think that would be best," Kristin responded, "I'll be out in the car."
Kristin slipped out of the room and Sutton waited for the front door to slam closed and then she smiled at Rebecca, "So, when were you going to tell me that you were playing me?"
"Sutton, what are you talking about?"
"Last night I called you about your blood type. You said you were B positive. Do you know what my dad's is?"
"Not a clue," Rebecca admitted.
"It's B positive. Do you know what mine is?"
Rebecca was silent.
"AB positive. So that means that either you are not my mother or my dad is not my father. One way or another you're lying and I would like to know which part is true."
Rebecca smiled and laughed a little too devilishly, "You know Sutton if you want to talk about lying and betrayal we could talk about you. What happened to not telling anyone? What happened to keeping all of this a secret? That was your idea remember?"
"I remember. I remember how you promised me this would all work out for the better. I remember how you made it seem like we were both going to get what we wanted. You had hoped Kristin would refuse to speak with him. You had hoped he would run into your arms like it was supposed to be all of those years ago. I had hoped that you were right. Well Laurel screwed that up."
"How?"
"Laurel disappeared last night. She said nothing about where she was going or when she was coming back. Luckily she eventually came back, but my mom freaked and called my dad. They started talking and the whole truth came out. You didn't sleep with my father. You blackmailed him about sleeping with Annie. You're not my mother. Annie is. You used my need to find my real mother to exact your revenge on Alec and my dad. I trusted you and you betrayed me."
"Oh Sutton," Rebecca cooed, "Why would you believe Ted over me? He could just as much not be your father as I could not be your mother."
"Either way you lied to me."
"You don't know that. I could've made a mistake. You don't know who else I might have been sleeping with at the time."
"Yeah," Sutton stated, "except there is this."
Sutton pulled the file out from behind her back and pulled out the paternity test her dad had given her this morning. It proved without a doubt that he was their father.
Rebecca snatched the report out of her hands and read it. Busted. She looked up at Sutton and for a moment she saw fear in Rebecca's eyes, but then she blinked and it was gone. She smiled again, "So what's your next move, Sutton? You've proved I'm not your mother. You know the truth about your birth parents. You have your family to yourself. You got everything you wanted and I expect you kicked more people down than I did to get it. Mads hates you. Your twin left you. I'm surprised Thayer still speaks to you after everything you've done to him. The only thing left is Ethan. How many people are you going to betray to get him?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means we're not all that different. Don't forget that when you point the finger at someone else there's always three pointing back at you."
"Don't act like Sutton is the same as you," Emma's voice floated into the room. Sutton turned to see her standing in the doorway looking livid, "She's seventeen years old. She found out her parents had been lying to her for her entire life. You've been holding a grudge toward a man you tried to ruin 18 years ago because he didn't love you. Sutton got hurt because she dared to trust her parents. You got hurt because you built up a world that didn't and couldn't exist."
"Never thought I'd see you sticking up for the girl who tried to screw your boyfriend, Emma. Are you really falling for her act again? When are you going to learn, Emma? She's been playing you this whole time."
"When are you going to learn, Rebecca, that I'm not as naive as you think? I didn't put up with Sutton's crap because I believed she wasn't trying to ruin me. That was obvious the first time she tried to get me to leave. I stayed because I care about these people, Sutton included."
Rebecca paused as if to compose herself, but then she continued, "You know I'm the one who told Sutton she needed to get you back here. She didn't even want to bring you back. She was happy to let you go back to Vegas and never speak to you again."
"You think that Sutton was the one that brought me back? Wow, you give her way too much credit. You seriously think after everything she's done to me she would have any say in this?"
"I thought you said Mads and Thayer were the ones that drove her to the bus station," Rebecca said to Sutton, "That they were willing to let her go."
"They were," Sutton responded, "Laurel wasn't."
"Laurel?"
"Apparently, we're not the only ones capable of keeping secrets."
"Laurel knows?"
"For a long time now," Emma explained, "Apparently we aren't as good at lying as we thought."
"Where exactly is this going?" Rebecca questioned, obviously trying to regain control of the situation, "I mean why did the two of you really come over here?"
"To give you a chance to explain yourself," Emma stated.
"You're lucky Emma is such a good person, because I would've just slapped you across the face," Sutton explained.
"The two of you seemed to have all of it figured out," Rebecca stated, "It doesn't sound like you need an explanation."
"Then I guess we're done here, right Emma."
Emma nodded and Sutton dragged her toward the door. Just before she left the room she turned back to Rebecca, "Don't try and explain yourself to Thayer and Mads. They already know the truth."
She pushed off of the doorway and stomped down the hallway, a hint of a smile crossing her face. Rebecca was right that she had treated her friends poorly, but not anymore. She was done doing that sort of thing. She needed her friends. She was wrong and all of them needed to hear it.