The final straw was seeing her grandmother's ring on Sabrina's hand. Emily felt the pressure build and boil over, and she couldn't keep it down any longer. She marched over to her mother and let it fly.

"How could you?" she asked, ignoring Sabrina.

"What?" her mother countered.

"You gave her the ring!"

"Gave who what ring?"

Emily hated when her mother did this: played stupid. It drove her crazy.

"You gave Sabrina my grandmother's ring," she said clearly, trying to keep calm.

"Why wouldn't I? Leviathan is the grandson. He's getting married next, so he gets the ring. Carmella didn't want it."

"Because she knew how much it meant to me," Emily added. She'd had that very conversation with Carm, and her sister had told her because Emily had a closer relationship with their grandmother, she figured Emily should have it. Carm hadn't wanted to hear anymore about it when Emily tried to insist it was okay if she had it. And Emily was fine if Carm was the one to wear it if she wanted to. Not Sabrina. Never Sabrina. That horrible bully did not deserve to have Emily's loving grandmother's ring on her finger.

"I didn't think anything meant anything to you," Sabrina chimed in now. Emily resisted stomping her foot with her heel and kept looking at her mother.

"It's just a ring, Emily Rose. What importance of it is it to you?" Valerie asked.

"You really have to ask that question?" Emily asked, incredulous.

"I don't understand why you're making a scene about it," Valerie said. "It's just a ring. Your fellow will get you one of your own when you finally get proposed to. Or not since I still think he's pretending."

"You basically said I'm never getting married!" Emily exploded, and her mother blinked at her.

"Excuse me? When did I say such a thing?"

"To Sabrina! Yesterday! I heard you! You gave her my grandmother's ring because you said you have no hope of me getting married and you want it to stay in the family!"

"My goodness," Valerie said, waving her hand. "Settle down, Emily Rose. Don't get so excited."

"Stop doing that!" Emily shrieked, making her mother jump slightly. "You always do that! You wind me up and wind me up and when I finally have enough and explode, you tell me to calm down, that I'm being dramatic! I wouldn't be this way if it wasn't for you! So if it's anyone's fault, it's yours!"

"Well, I...I..." Valerie stuttered, clearly taken off guard.

"And you," Emily said, rounding on Sabrina. "You're such an insufferable bitch! You've done nothing but bully me for the last 15 years, and I still don't know why! I'm sick of it! I don't deserve it! Just leave me the hell alone!"

"Emily Rose, that's enough," Valerie said sharply, getting her voice back. "You're being very, very rude, and no wonder. The company you keep...Sabrina told me the nasty things Leland said to her. He's rubbing off on you, and that's not a good thing." Emily turned back to her.

"You...you go at me and at me and at me for reasons I never understand, and I'm left with the conclusion that you must hate me because you never do or say anything kind to me. You never have. You tolerate me, and sometimes you pat my head and say 'Good girl,' but there's always a tone. It's like I'm not even your daughter or something!" Emily yelled now. "That's got to be it because it's the only way I can explain your hatred towards me!" She was shaking hard core, and then she saw something pass through her mother's eyes. She looked to see Walter slightly hanging his head, and her heart clenched. Just what the hell was going on?

"Well," her mother said, her voice low. "That's because you're not."

There was a collective gasp in the room, and Emily stared at her. Then everything started to slowly spin until she felt herself losing her balance. She couldn't put words together either. She felt herself falling, but strong arms caught her and held her upright.

Lee.

"It's alright," he said in her ear. "I got you."

"I...I don't..." she tried, but she couldn't make sense of anything. She was very aware of everyone tittering amongst themselves. Then, she was lifted up into Lee's arms and carried somewhere quieter with Barney leading the charge and telling people to get the hell out of the way. A glass of water was handed to her next. When she finally came out of the fog, she found herself in the powder room with Lee sitting next to her and Georgia and Mary standing in front of her. Barney was guarding the door.

"What just happened?" Emily asked.

"You've had quite a shock, dear," Georgia answered. Emily tried to breathe but kept stopping and starting. She felt Lee's hand on her back rubbing soothing circles.

"Did my mother just tell me I'm not her daughter?" Emily asked.

"Yes," Lee answered.

"Yes," Georgia concurred. "I'm so sorry, luv. You're adopted."

"Oh my God," Emily whimpered, burying her face in her hands. That explained why her own mother treated her like shit.

"I have never liked Valerie," Georgia said. "I have always told her to tell you the truth, but she insisted she didn't need to."

"You knew?"

"Mary and I knew, and we are so, so sorry for not saying anything, but it wasn't our place. We did our best to make up for what Valerie fell short on. I'm afraid that made her dislike you and us even more, though." Mary nodded in agreement along with Georgia.

"I don't...I don't understand," Emily said. "If I'm adopted, then is Levi...? Carm...?"

"No," Georgia said softly.

"So...did everyone know but me?" Emily asked tearfully.

"Levi knows," Mary replied, "but only because he was six when you came along. He remembered you being brought home, although I don't know how much of it he fully understood."

"Well, I guess Carm knows now," Georgia said, realizing.

"Oh my God," Emily said again, hiding her face once more. She felt so embarrassed. She felt so guilty for ruining her sister's wedding, but she was still stuck on the fact she was adopted. "But...but how come I look like my father?" Everyone had always said it.

"Perhaps I can answer that," Walter said, standing in the doorway now. Barney let him in after getting Emily's nod of consent, and he sat on the other side of Emily. Lee still had his hand on her back comfortingly.

"What are you going to tell me?" Emily asked. "Maybe I don't want to know."

"I had an indiscretion," Walter said slowly. "We'd been trying to have another baby after Levi for so long, and we got frustrated with each other. We fought. We called each other names. It got really bad. I made a mistake after having a little too much to drink, and I slept with your biological mother."

"Oh. My. God," Emily said, feeling worse now.

"I never heard from her again, but then one day, I get approached by a lawyer who tells me that I have a 5 month old child and am now the primary caregiver because the mother was dead, and her will left you to me. It was a shock. I had told Valerie what I'd done, after all, and this was just a painful reminder to her. I convinced Valerie to let me raise you. She took some time to come around with you, but eventually she did...although, not as fully as I hoped."

"So you didn't name me," Emily said, getting it. "My mother did."

"Yes," Walter confirmed. "I'm sorry, Emily, for all of this."

Emily's head hurt so much. She tried to keep it all straight, but it was hard.

"That's why she hates me," Emily said in a whisper a moment later.

"It certainly reminds her of what I did, yes," Walter agreed, "but she doesn't hate you."

"It seems like she does, though," Lee pointed out. "I've seen enough."

"She couldn't bond with you," Walter stated, looking at Emily. "She tried. Then when you bonded with Mary and Georgia better than her, she got angry and resentful, so she decided that if she was never close with you, then it wouldn't hurt as much."

"I can't..." Emily tried to say. "I can't..." She didn't even know what she was trying to say. She couldn't what? She felt Lee's grip on her hand tighten a little bit. His other hand was still on her back.

"I'm sorry I never stopped your mother from treating you the way she has. I was always wrapped up in my own guilt and problems that I never felt I could stand up to her, that I never had a right to because of what I'd done, and I didn't want a divorce when you all were young, so I tolerated it. I'm sorry, Emily, for being a coward. I don't know how to make it up to you."

"Telling me I'm a product of an affair wasn't the best way to start," Emily retorted, pressing her fingers into her eyes after tugging her hand free from Lee.

"I'm sorry," Walter said again. Emily felt a bit angry at her father. Why hadn't he told her? She didn't fully understand his logic for letting Valerie treat her like crap either. She'd never do that if it was her child. He was right. He was a coward.

"Incoming," Barney said after Valerie burst through the door and dodged his hand to stop her. Emily immediately tensed up.

"Leave us," Valerie told them all.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lee replied firmly, remaining by Emily's side.

"Me either," Georgia said, shaking her head. "I love Emily like my own child. I always have. I'm here to support her."

"Me too," Mary added.

"She's my daughter. You can't tell me what to do," Walter insisted.

"And I'm here too," Barney finished. "Although I'm not sure why, but I like Emily, and you're kind of being a bitch, so I'm staying to have her back." For a moment, it looked like Valerie was going to let them all have it, but she thought better of it. She turned to look at Emily instead, her face beet red.

"Look," she started.

"No, you look," Emily cut her off, standing up now and slightly towering over her. "I've spent my entire life thinking there was something wrong with me, and I've just realized that it's not me, it's you. I have spent so long trying to make you love me, and I'm tired of it. I can't do it anymore. What hurts is that I just figured out that you can't love me, because if you love me, then that is accepting what my father did. If you love me, that means you've forgiven him, and you still can't, so you treat me like garbage because not only does it hurt me, but it hurts him. Am I right?"

"No..."

"Yes," Walter interrupted. "Emily's right. You've been hurting me through my daughter for years. I always thought that if I let it slide with you on your thoughts about Emily, you'd eventually, finally see I was on your side and cared about you and would stop taking your anger on me out on Emily, but I learned that'll never be the case, which is why we are no longer married."

"E-Excuse me?!" Emily exclaimed, looking between them both.

"Walter!" Valerie practically shouted. "You promised!"

"Yes, I did, but after watching you treat Emily like you have all weekend, the deal is off. I'm not hiding it anymore."

"When did this happen?" Emily asked him, still shocked.

"A month ago."

"A month?!"

"We've been separated for two years," Walter added.

"Two...oh God," Emily said, her head spinning. "So...so you've faked being married for two years?"

"It wasn't that hard really." Walter gave a shrug.

"I think we all just need to calm down and talk this out," Valerie insisted.

"No," Emily said firmly. "There is no more talking. I'm done. You finally got your way, Mother. I will no longer be in your life because I no longer want you in my life."

"Emily Rose..."

But Emily was already leaving. She wanted to get her things and leave right away. She didn't even want to stay the night anywhere near her mother. She heard steps coming after her and turned to see Lee.

"Come on," he said, placing his hand on her elbow gently. "I'll get you out of here."

She felt grateful for him in this moment, even though she knew she was going to be breaking his heart later.

"Emily?" Carm said, running after her. She stopped and faced her sister.

"I'm so sorry, Carm," she said. "I didn't mean to wreck your day."

"You didn't. I'm so worried about you. Are you okay?" Carm asked, pulling her into a hug.

"I'll be fine," Emily lied. She patted Carm's back gently. "Enjoy your night and your trip. We'll talk soon okay?"

"Okay..."

Emily left her standing there and kept walking with Lee by her side to the car. She hadn't seen Levi. She found she didn't really care. If she was honest, she was kind of mad at him for knowing this about her, even though it wasn't his fault. She didn't speak as Lee drove, and he waited in the car as she ran inside the house to get her things. She didn't bother changing; she'd do it in her hotel room. She put the bags in the backseat and got back into the passenger side before Lee drove off again.

"Where to?" he asked.

"A hotel."

"You sure? You're welcome to crash at my place."

"No thank you," Emily replied. "I...I just want to be alone right now."

"Okay."

She could hear the bit of hurt in his voice at this. She tried not to care. There was just too much going on inside of her head in this moment. She couldn't take it anymore.

Then, her phone rang.

"What?" she asked roughly, seeing that it was Andy. What could she possibly want now?! The words "storm," "cancelled flights," and " enraged Miranda" all came through between panic and gulps of air.

"Andy, I can't help you," she said when there was a pause. "It's your job to get her back home. Figure something out!"

Andy was crying about it being impossible when Emily hung up on her. She couldn't take on Andy's crap either. She knew Miranda would definitely rip Andy a new one when she got back, though.

"What's going on?" Lee asked.

"I don't know," Emily answered, pinching her nose. "My boss's flight has been cancelled, and Andy is trying to get her a new one."

"Why is it cancelled?"

"I dunno. Bad weather or something."

"Well, good luck to Andy. There won't be any flights going out if it's bad weather."

"I know."

Lee parked the car now, and he turned off the engine. Emily wasn't sure what he was expecting. She turned her head to look at him, waiting for him to talk first.

...

"What are you thinking?" Lee asked her when she said nothing after looking at him.

"I'm thinking that this entire thing is finally over," she answered. "I'm already thinking about work on Tuesday."

"Was it all terrible?" he asked, feeling like she was looking forward to leaving him behind. She seemed to sense his hurt and put a hand over his.

"No," she replied, giving his hand a slight shake on the table. "If it wasn't for you, I would have hated every second of it, but you made it all tolerable. The best parts of this weekend were with you and your family, so thank you."

"I get the feeling you're going to cut me loose," Lee commented. She took her hand back and rubbed her face with it a little.

"I just don't know how it is going to work," she explained. "I live in New York. You live in New Orleans. I'm crazy busy with work, and you're gone all the time for yours. I mean, it's a nice thought, but I think the odds are too stacked against us." She looked sad, and Lee felt sad.

"You know," he said, "my grandparents did long distance when they met."

"They did?"

"Uh huh," he replied, nodding slowly. He had her interest. He could tell. "My granddad lived in London, and my grandmother was abroad in New Zealand for school."

"Wow," Emily said, surprised. "How did that work?"

"Letters. Phone calls," he answered. "Visits once a month or every other month. Then he went to war, and they barely had contact for a while."

"I don't think I could have done that," Emily reasoned, and Lee looked at her seriously.

"They were too crazy about each other to give up," he said softly. "And in the end, they made it work." She looked down at her hands for a moment and then back up at him.

"I know you're trying to convince me," she started, but he held up his hand to stop her.

"I'm just trying to get you to see that anything is possible if you want it badly enough," he corrected. "I guess the question is: how badly do you want this? Us?"

"Eventually, one of us will have to move," she said quietly. "One of us will have to make adjustments, and I'm not in the right place to do that yet."

"Who said it would be you?" Lee challenged. She gave him a skeptical look.

"You're ready to give up your job and home?" she asked.

"I've never been one to get too tied down," he replied.

"I can't ask that from you," she insisted.

"I'm offering," he said back, just as insistent. "Em, I don't want to give up on this, not yet. I think we were meant to meet here. I think we were supposed to know each other...supposed to be together. I don't want to throw it away because of things that can be changed."

She looked more conflicted now, but Lee was being honest. He didn't want her to walk away without knowing how he felt, and he was feeling some strong feelings right now. It wasn't because of their kissing or their night together; it had started well before that. It had started when he first watched her with his family and Barney. Kissing her had just sealed the deal for him, and being with her had made it even clearer. It had made him have stronger feelings and an inescapable feeling that she was his soul mate. He'd never felt so connected to anyone like he did her, and maybe he was crazy because it really had just been three days, but it was long enough for him to know.

"Lee," Emily said now. "I really just think we should leave it. Why ruin this good thing that happened with the stress of trying to make it work?"

"I have been looking my whole life for someone to love as much as my father loved my mother...as much as my granddad loved my grandmother," Lee explained, looking intently at her. "I wanted to find that person who loved me for me and would be there no matter what. That someone is you, Emily. I felt it the moment we met, and that's only gotten stronger the longer I've been with you."

"It was three days, Lee," Emily reminded him. "I...I'm not that someone you're looking for..."

"What are you afraid of?" he asked, knowing she was scared. She'd told him so.

"I...I don't know..."

"You don't think I'm scared too?" he asked. "I've never fully given my heart to someone before, but I've never felt like this before. I want to at least give it a shot."

"I can't," she whispered.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a wreck, Lee!" she exclaimed. "I'm a huge wreck. You deserve so much better than that."

"We're all a wreck, Em," he advised. "In one way or another, we're all a wreck, but not everyone sees that in us, and even if they did, not all of them care. I don't care that you're a wreck. I just care about you."

"I've had someone tell me they loved me and not mean it. I can't do that again."

"I'm not Dougie," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you like that."

"You don't know that!" she exclaimed, dropping a hand onto the table now. "You can't make a promise that you can't keep!"

"Em..."

"Dougie was the only serious boyfriend I've ever had," she went on. "I had a few months with a guy here and there, but he was four years. Four. Years. He broke my heart." Her voice cracked, and she pressed her hand against her mouth now, closing her eyes tightly.

"Emily," Lee tried again, hurting at seeing her like this. All the words he wanted to say were stuck. He wouldn't do that to her. He wasn't Dougie. He was struggling to vocalize it when she spoke again.

"I can't do this, Lee," she said when she regained her composure. "I'm sorry, and I know it hurts you, but I just can't. There's been way too much dumped on my lap this weekend, and I...I don't even know who I am anymore. I need to just be alone and figure shit out. I...I'm sorry." She pushed open her car door then, and he did as well.

"Em..."

"Please, just let me go," she said tearfully, pulling out her bags from the backseat. "Thank you for everything, and I really hope you find what you're looking for." Then she backed away before turning to walk away. Lee stood there feeling completely gutted. He felt like he was never going to come back from this. It killed him to drive away and leave her there, but he had no choice.

It was over.