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Title: Love Me Like You Do
Summary: Jason has been presumed dead for two years. Elizabeth meets the mysterious 'Jake' and a connection is formed as she takes him under her wing. Ric witnesses the growing bond between them and does everything he can to sabotage their relationship so he can make Elizabeth his. How far will he go and will he succeed? Set after 3/31/2015. Liason Endgame.
Chapter 28
(After a day of spending time with the boys, Elizabeth and Jake knew their happiness would only last so long until Ric needed to be told of their reconciliation. Jake voted for telling him straight up. However, Elizabeth didn't want to break his heart. What she didn't know though, was his dark dealings that involved keeping her)
(Elizabeth, Jake, Cameron, and Aiden arrive at home after a fun day at the park. Everyone had smiles on their faces as they took off their coats)
Cameron: "That was so much fun! Thanks, Jake, for playing football with me!"
Jake: (laughs) "While it would have been better to have more players besides your mother and Aiden, it was a blast indeed."
Liz: (jokingly) "Aw, are you saying Aiden and I didn't help much?"
(Jake chuckles as he takes Elizabeth in his arms. After kissing her, he smiles tenderly)
Jake: "Anytime I'm with you guys, I have fun. I know Cameron and Aiden aren't mine biologically. I consider them mine in every way that counts."
Liz: (smiles) "I'm glad because they adore you. It makes me happy to see you and my kids playing together. I love you."
Jake (smiles) "I love you more, baby."
(Their blissful moment is short-lived by a knock at the front door. Elizabeth goes to the door and answers it, revealing Ric)
Liz: (polite smile) "Ric, hi."
Ric: (smiles wide) "Hello, Elizabeth. How are you?"
Liz: (stutters) "Uh…um…"
(Ric looks towards the living room to see Cameron, Aiden, and Jake. Ric's wide smile goes away when he sees Jake)
Ric: (clears his throat) "Jake. I didn't know you'd be here."
Jake: (nods) "I didn't know you'd be stopping by, either."
(Elizabeth quickly glances between Jake and Ric before giving her attention to Ric)
Liz: "Can we talk….privately?"
Ric: (nods) "Of course."
Liz: "Let me get my coat. We can go for a walk." (to Jake) "Can you watch the boys for a bit?"
Jake: "No problem. Take your time."
(After retrieving her coat, Elizabeth leads Ric outside and shuts the door behind them. They make small talk until they get to the woods)
Ric: (chuckles nervously) "I get the feeling you weren't expecting to see me."
(Elizabeth moves a strand of hair that fell in her face behind her ear)
Liz: "You're right. I-I wasn't expecting you." (polite smile) "The truth is, Ric, I've been doing a lot of thinking since our last encounter."
(Judging from seeing Jake at her place just now, Ric knew where this conversation was going to go)
Ric: "Okay."
Liz: "Ric, I will always care about you." (smiles) "We were married twice." (sighs) "But the truth is, I don't feel the same way towards you that you do for me."
(Ric looks away from her and scratches his chin as he didn't want to hear the break up speech)
Liz: "I'm sorry, Ric. I know that you wanted to stay together. I just don't feel comfortable leading you on when I don't love you."
Ric: (raises his eyebrows) "Elizabeth, I know you love me. Like you stated, we were married twice."
Liz: (nods) "True. But…I'm not in love with you. Not the way you are with me. I'm sorry."
(Ric laughs hard in response, catching Elizabeth off-guard. He couldn't contain his hatred for Jake or the fact that Jake won anymore! He walks in a circle and wipes his face before facing her)
Ric: "I can't believe this! You're choosing that son of a bitch over me! Elizabeth, you don't even know Jake! Is that even his real name? What do you know about him? I mean, really?"
(Elizabeth was getting pissed off from Ric's attitude. A part of her felt like an idiot for giving him the time of day. At least he's showing his true colors right now. She angrily points at Ric)
Liz: "Jake may not have his memories back yet, but that's not his fault. He was in a horrible accident when someone ran him over. We still don't know who that was. For the record, that person deserves to be in jail as they were never caught. It was a hit and run. If it was an accident, they should have stayed with Jake until the ambulance and police came." (scoffs) "People blame him for things that are out of his control. Tell me something, Ric. Have you ever lost your memory?"
(Ric folds his arms over his chest and looks away)
Liz: "I didn't think so. So, until you do, it'd be best to keep your thoughts to yourself. Jake is the most honest, unselfish, and loving person I've ever met." (laughs) "That's definitely more than I can say for you!"
(Elizabeth sighs deeply as she composes herself and faces Ric again)
Liz: "I don't want to be with you anymore. I'm sorry. I love Jake and want to be with him. Please accept that and move on. Goodbye, Ric."
(Elizabeth walks away from a fuming Ric. He absolutely couldn't believe he lost….to that fucker! He vowed in that moment to take care of Jake or whatever the hell his name is…once and for all)
***Hours Later***
(After enjoying time with her man and two boys, Elizabeth decided to check in with Nikolas. He had left her a voicemail/text saying they needed to talk. She couldn't help the curiosity from escaping her thoughts when she wondered what it was about. Jake graciously offered to watch the boys so she could go to Cassadine Island. Upon arrival, she immediately confronts her friend)
Liz: "Okay, what's this about?"
(Nikolas and Elizabeth go into the living room and get comfortable)
Nikolas: "Hayden Barnes….or whatever she is calling herself."
Liz: (scoffs) "I already know she's playing a game. She's trying, miserably I might add, to keep Jake."
Nikolas: (shakes his head) "It won't happen because he loves you. I've been meaning to talk to you."
Liz: (nods) "Okay. Go ahead."
Nikolas: "After digging up dirt on Hayden, I found out that's not her really name. It's Rachel Berlin."
Liz: (surprised) "Excuse me?"
Nikolas: "She got into a lot of trouble in her past, financial trouble, because of her dad. So, in an attempt to stay out of it, she changed her name. It worked for awhile until she moved here. She was found out by some of her dad's enemies as he was in financial trouble. To get out of her financial troubles, she was hired by Ric Lansing."
Liz: (caught off-guard) "Ric? I-I don't understand."
Nikolas: (smiles proudly) "It gets better. Ric wanted you for himself, but he secretly knew you didn't return his feelings. So, what does he do? He hires Hayden or 'Rachel' and this guy named Pete Ross. He then has them claim in a wedding photo that Pete was actually Jake and Hayden is/was Jake's wife because Jake's face was different after the surgery."
(Elizabeth's blood was boiling hearing what Ric has done to try keeping her)
Liz: "Doesn't that asshole know I will never love him? I love Jake. Ric claimed that no one knows what Jakes real name is. While that's true, I know what's in Jake's heart." (sighs deeply) "It hurts me that people keep trying to go after Jake when he's innocent in all of this. He doesn't have his memory back. At least, not that I'm aware of." (scoffs) "I don't give a rat's ass how much financial trouble Hayden is in. Didn't she know that teaming up with Ric is bad news?"
Nikolas: (raises his eyebrows) "Well, she probably does now."
Liz: (serious tone) "Good. I'll make sure her life is blown apart, same as Ric's." (shakes her head) "We still don't know who ran over Jake before his face was badly damaged."
(Nikolas nervously fidgets when Elizabeth brings that subject up. He knew the details surrounding the accident. He wasn't sure whether to tell her or not. If the roles were reversed, he would want to know the truth. Elizabeth saw his nervous state and grew concerned)
Liz: "What's wrong? You look worried about something."
Nikolas: "I was debating whether or not to tell you what I found out."
Liz: (lowers her head slightly) "About?"
Nikolas: "Jake's accident."
Liz: (confused) "You mean who ran him over by the bridge?"
Nikolas: (nods) "Yes."
Liz: (surprised) "Do you know who ran him down, Nikolas?"
Nikolas: "Yes, I do."
Liz: (serious tone) "Tell me who it was."
Nikolas: (sighs) "Even though I hate the person, it wouldn't be fair to place the blame on them. They didn't know who the person was that was on the road."
Liz: (shrugs) "Did they stop to help Jake or call 911?"
Nikolas: (shakes his head) "No, they didn't."
Liz: (scoffs) "So, how do you know it was an accident?"
Nikolas: "Because Jake started to cross the road and the driver was going too fast and didn't see Jake until it was too late."
(Elizabeth scoffs in disbelief before pointing at Nikolas)
Liz: "That doesn't matter, Nikolas! It was an accident, yes. But, as soon as the accident happened, they could have gotten help instead of leaving the scene! You still didn't tell me who it was that hit Jake."
(Nikolas clears his throat and briefly looks around before facing Elizabeth)
Nikolas: "It was Ric."
(Elizabeth stares at Nikolas for the longest time, causing him to grow concerned)
Nikolas: "Are you okay?"
(Elizabeth shakes her head and clears her throat to come back to reality)
Liz: "Yes, I'm okay. Just a little surprised it was Ric. It sounded like you were defending him."
Nikolas: "No. Just didn't want you to hit the roof."
Liz: (chuckles) "I'm calm. Don't worry." (narrows her eyes) "But, I will be talking to Hayden and Ric about everything."
(Elizabeth places her hands over her brunette hair and faces Nikolas again. She smiles gratefully at her best friend)
Liz: "Thank you for your help. I never would have found any of this out of it wasn't for you."
(The friends share a hug)
Nikolas: "I was happy to help. You and Jake don't deserve what Ric and Hayden have done. I'm just sorry it took me so long to uncover their dirty dealings."
Liz: (shakes her head) "I'm not mad, Nikolas."
(They share a smile before Elizabeth makes her exit. Outside the Cassadine front door, her voice turns hateful)
Liz: "I'm coming after you, Hayden. You lying bitch."
Chapter 28 Done
