"Hank's manipulating me?" Gwen's voice filled with disbelief. "How can you say that? You don't even know him, Mother."
"I know everything I need to know," Rebecca huffed. "I mean, the man flat out admitted to you that he was partially after Sheridan for her money—who's to say he's not doing the same thing to you?"
"Hank's never shown any interest in our family's money," Gwen argued. "And, yes, the Crane fortune may have tempted him at one time, but he was completely honest with me about that—and about all of the other mistakes he's made."
"I'm sure that that's what he wants you to think," Rebecca retorted.
Fresh tears sprang to Gwen's eyes. "Why are you trying to make Hank out to be a liar? Why can't you just be happy for me?"
"Why couldn't you have just dated one of the guys from the country club?" Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest. "Why must you continue to humiliate me?"
"Humiliate you?" Gwen's heart dropped.
Rebecca glared at her. "Yes—first, you helped Sam Bennett put me in prison, and now you're marrying his low-life brother!"
"Please don't speak about Hank like that," Gwen pleaded.
"I'll speak about him any way I want to," Rebecca said. "This dalliance—this engagement of yours—it's going to completely destroy any chances I have of getting back in with this town's finest citizens once this whole jail business is over."
"Is that all you care about?" Gwen's voice cracked. "Reclaiming your social standing?"
Rebecca narrowed her eyes on Gwen. "If you were a better daughter, you'd care about it, too."
"If I were a better daughter?" Choking back a sob, Gwen inched back toward the cell door. "How can you say something like that to me?"
"Easy," Rebecca scowled. "Despite everything I've done for you—you continue to betray and humiliate me."
"You want me to work with you at Crane Industries?" Mike asked, his eyes widening.
"Yes . . . I . . . I want to offer you a position with our new outreach division," Julian stammered. "In fact, I was hoping you would head it up."
"Why?" Mike wrapped his arms around his chest. "What if it turns out that I'm not your son? Would this position still be on the table?"
"Yes, of course," Julian said. "The position isn't contingent on that. Between what Sheridan has told me about you and the independent research I've done on your work myself, I think you're uniquely positioned for the job."
Julian glanced down at the floor and then back up at Mike. "Besides . . . with all the evidence pointing to you being my son, I'd be floored if it turns out you're not," he said, his eyes locking on Mike's. "Don't you think it's worth giving this idea a shot?"
"I don't know . . . maybe . . ." Mike said. "But I was hoping that if I am your son, we could get to know each other on a personal level—not just as business associates."
"I understand." Smiling sadly, Julian laughed and shook his head. "I'm sorry—I don't know how to do this. My other children—my two daughters and my other son—I don't know how to relate to them either."
"I might have other siblings besides Dr. Russell's daughters?" Mike asked. "I might even have a brother out there?"
"Yes, Fox, my youngest son—or younger I should say." Julian sighed and rubbed his chin. "It's only recently that I found out that the older of the two boys I raised—Ethan—was actually sired by the local police chief."
"Wow." Mike blinked. "I don't know what to say to that."
"Don't worry—neither do I," Julian said. "But if you'd like to speak with Ethan about his experiences working alongside me at Crane Industries, I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you."
Mike studied Julian. "I can't just give up the youth center."
"No, no—of course not," Julian said. "If you decide to join us, we'd find a way to work all of that out. After spending decades of my life bending over backwards to please my father, I just want my children to be happy."
"It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this," Mike said.
"Yes, I have," Julian replied.
"May I have some time to think about all of this?" Mike asked.
"Yes, of course," Julian said. "Take all the time you need."
"Send me the details, and I'll give it some thought," Mike promised. "But whatever I decide, I appreciate you reaching out to me like this. . . . Thank you, Mr. Crane."
"Betray and humiliate you?" Gwen cried. "Don't you care about doing the right thing—or even my happiness?"
"How can you even ask me that?" Rebecca scoffed.
"Because you seem to care a lot more about other people's opinions than about the fact that Hank loves me," Gwen said. "How can you even justify that?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen, Gwennie—it's not attractive on you."
"But it's attractive for you to call me names?" Gwen grabbed the cell bars and nodded at the guard. "To try to make me feel guilty for trying to protect my best friend? To shame me for marrying the man I love?"
Rebecca shrugged. "I know you think he loves you, but he will never love you like I do."
Gwen shook her head. "You're trying to do it again. You're trying to control me with guilt trips."
"I most certainly am not!" Rebecca huffed. "I can't believe you keep accusing me of that."
"I can't believe I have to, Mother!" Gwen bit down on her lip and hugged her arms to her chest. "All I'm asking you to do is to treat me with kindness and respect. To be a real mother to me."
"I am a real mother to you, Gwen."
"No, you're not." Gwen swallowed hard and nodded her thanks to the guard as he opened the cell door. "You haven't been for quite some time."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rebecca grumbled. "Look at everything I did to help you get Ethan back."
"Yes, let's talk about that," Gwen said. "I'll regret going along with that scheme for the rest of my life. It cost Ethan his family, Grace her baby, and so many other people a whole lot of pain."
"As I recall, you were more than willing to go along with my plan at the time," Rebecca said.
"Yes, I was," Gwen cried. "And, like I said, I will never stop regretting that. To know that I didn't give a second thought to destroying so many people's lives—I will always be ashamed of that."
Rebecca shrugged. "You've got to do what you've got to do to get ahead, Gwennie."
"No—I don't accept that." Gwen stepped out of her mother's cell, moving aside to let the guard shut and lock it. "I want to live a life I can be proud of—a life that makes me proud of myself."
"Do whatever you want to," Rebecca dismissed her. "The truth is that you can't survive out there without me."
"I know that's what you want me to believe." Wiping tears from her cheeks, Gwen straightened her back. "But if I've proven anything to myself over these past few months, it's that I'm more than capable of doing that."
