It's strange and slightly terrifying how a person can completely change overnight. To go to bed one person, secure in the knowledge that you are exactly who you think you are. Wrapped up tight in your husband's arms, knowing that everything tomorrow will be the same as it was yesterday. You are you, your husband is your husband, and the baby girl you created together is safe in the next room. Everything is right in the world. Everything is real. Everything is true.

And then to have all your illusions shattered simply by waking up knowing the truth. Everything you thought was right is a lie. That man in the bed next you, the one who, even now, reaches for you in his sleep as you move away in horror? That man is not your husband. That man is a monster. And he has destroyed your life.


Carly Corinthos stared at the sleeping form of Lorenzo Alcazar and tried not to scream. Sometime, during the night, her memory came back. With it came the realization that Lorenzo had been playing with her for a year.

Carly clutched the top sheet to her chest as she scrambled away. Lies, she thought, all of it was just a big lie. All those times he assured her that yes, her memory would return one day but until then they could make new memories. Better memories.

The bastard.

She forced herself to take a breath and tried to calm down. Right now the last thing she needed was to become hysterical. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about the past year.

Lorenzo began to stir and Carly debated running before he woke. She didn't know where she could go but she wanted to grab her daughter and run. But she sat there on the edge of the bed staring at the man she thought she loved.

Lorenzo yawned and stretched. His eyes still closed he rolled onto his side and reached for Carly. Finding just empty space he slowly opened his eyes and looked up. Whatever words he'd been about to say froze on his lips as she stared at him.

He nodded his head in recognition to the look in her eyes. "Your memory…"

"Is back, yes." She finished for him, her voice icy. "How could you do this to me?"

He looked at her with a soft smile, which only made her want to hit him. "I did it for us."

"God! Can't you even tell the truth for once?" She spat at him. She rolled off the bed, taking the sheet with her, leaving him uncovered. "You did it for yourself! Because you're selfish and you don't give a damn about anyone else's wants or needs."

"Didn't I make you happy, Carly? You were happy and you were in love. I didn't fake that and you couldn't either. You wanted to be here with me."

"Because I didn't know! I had no choice!" Carly cried. "If I knew what was happening, if I understood…I would have ever chosen you."

"There's something between us Carly. There's always been and you've always known it. You try to deny it but you can't. You even saved my life."

"I would have saved anyone that night. There was no reason for you to die…then." She glared at him. He got off the bed and casually walked over the chair his robe was thrown over. He slipped into it and faced her calmly.

His calm irritated her. How could he be so relaxed when her whole world was crumbling around her?

"You had to know this wouldn't last forever. I would remember and I would catch you."

"Of course I knew you would some day remember." He admitted. "I always knew it would happen."

"And now that it has…you can't keep me here!"

"I wouldn't-"

"I'm leaving and I'm going home!" Carly cut in, her voice sharp and edging on hysterical.

"Like that?" He raised an eyebrow reminding her that all she wore was a bed sheet.

She glanced down at her outfit and looked back at him in frustration. He silently passed her own robe. She snatched it out of his hands and stared at him pointedly until he got the hint and turned his back.

She quickly pulled on the robe, tightening the belt with angry movements. "I want to go home."

He nodded. "You can. Or you can stay here. It's your choice."

"I already chose. Home. Where my family is. My God, everyone thinks I'm dead, even Michael." She gasped suddenly realizing this.

"Yes, unfortunately. But I swear that even if I could, I wouldn't go back and change a thing. I don't regret our time together."

She gaped at him. "Our time together? Our time together? This wasn't some quick vacation, Lorenzo. This," she waved her hands around widely, "was a carefully orchestrated lie."

She continued, her lips curling in disgust, "You feed me lie after lie. Like how we met. How did it go again? Oh yes, we were at a party. And it was love at first sight but I played hard to get but you wore me down. Right?"

He moved restlessly. "Carly…"

"And then it was one big whirlwind romance complete with the fairytale wedding." She smirked. "But the wedding pictures were in our house in…South America and you never got around to sending for them. Right?"

"Carly…"

"But you managed to sneak in a few truths. We celebrated my birthday." Carly narrowed her eyes. "You investigated me obviously. So I guess everything wasn't a lie."

"Condemn me if you want Carly. I didn't hurt you in any way and you never wanted for anything. Yes, I was selfish because I wanted you-"

"And you don't care who you hurt in the process." She hissed.

"And I didn't care who I hurt, yes, because you were always my goal. I love you, Carly."

"You don't know the meaning of love so don't throw that word around. I'm not going to fall into your arms and say it's okay because you claim to love me."

He smiled and shook his head. "I know. I knew it wouldn't be easy. But I don't give up easily, Carly, you should know that."

She sank down onto the bed. "I can't even look at you. Everything I believed in. Our life here, the life we made with our…my daughter. A big joke. Just a big joke by a man obsessed."

He came over to her, kneeling in front of her. He took her hands and tried to get her to look him in the face.

"None of this was a joke. I am not obsessed. I just…I love you. Deny it all you want but I know what I feel and I know what you felt here with me. Now you can curse me all you want but I'm not going to pretend that we don't have something together. You told me we bonded during Mariela's delivery."

"I was a fool." She whispered, looking down.

He tilted her chin up. "No, you-"

Forcing herself to stand up, she stared over his head at the wall. "Please leave now. I'm not a prisoner? I need to get dressed and get Mariela ready."

"Carly…"

"Go. Please."

Sighing, he nodded and decided to let it go for the moment. He swiftly left the room.

Once he was gone Carly flopped back onto the bed, her hands covering her eyes. "What am I going to do?"


"You're packing already." He stated this simply.

Carly paused only once in her packing to raise an eyebrow at him. Then she threw another handful of baby clothes into a bag. She may be taking only a few items of clothing that he bought her but she was going to make sure her daughter had everything she needed.

Lorenzo stood in the doorway of the nursery. He wore dark slacks and a light blue shirt; open at the neck with a thin gold chain she brought him a few months ago on a day trip. His hands were clasped behind his back and he regarded her with a serious look.

"Where is Mariela?"

"In the garden with Donata." Carly told him, keeping her head down and concentrating on her task. "I told Donata we were leaving and she wanted to say goodbye."

"You're not taking Donata with you?" He asked casually.

"Of course not. I have a nanny at home." Carly paused. "Hopefully she's still with Michael."

"Here." He strolled into the room and over to her. He pulled a folder out from behind his back and waved it at her.

She took the folder from him slowly and gave him a suspicious look. "What is this?"

"Information so you don't have to go back blind. I kept watch over certain people in Port Charles just in case."

"Just in case." She murmured. She walked over to the antique rocking chair he'd brought her a month after giving birth to Mariela. She swallowed the sudden lump that appeared in her throat as she remembered the nights of watching him rock Mariela to sleep in it. He'd used it more often than she did. Stop that right now. Enemy. He is the enemy and a few good memories don't change that fact.

"Carly?" She'd been standing there, staring at the rocking chair, not moving or saying a word. It worried him. "Are you all right?"

Carly slid into the rocking chair. "What kind of information?"

She flipped through the pages in the folder, not really seeing the detailed reports and photographs.

"Useful." He shrugged. "You can take it with you. Read it on the plane."

Carly closed the folder and sat it on her lap. She looked up at him. "You've read it. Give me the highlights."

"Who do you want to know about? Michael? He's doing well. A few months after your…Corinthos had him moved to your mother's house."

She frowned. "Why?"

"Safety precautions I suppose." He shrugged. "There was tight security-"

Carly sat up, an idea suddenly coming to her. "You were going to take Michael!"

He shrugged again. "If there had been a chance to, I would have brought him to you."

Carly muttered something under her breath.

Lorenzo continued. "Not shortly afterwards the Quartermaines tried to sue for custody."

"There is no way Sonny would have left them get their hands on my son. AJ signed over his rights and Sonny legally adopted him."

"The Quartermaines did not get Michael. Whatever judges Corinthos didn't cover, I did."

She gave him a dark look. "Don't look smug. I'm not going to thank you for that. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Aren't you curious about how Corinthos has been spending his time?"

"And you seem awfully excited to tell me." She clenched her jaw. "So spit it out."

"I don't take delight in telling you this…or maybe I do."

"So tell me already."

Lorenzo strolled around the nursery, taking his time. "A short time after Corinthos discovered he was the father of Alexis Davis's child."

"What?" Carly forced herself to stay seated. "But there'd been tests done…"

"Faked."

"Who told him this? Ned?" "Alexis told him herself. Actually it was maybe," He thought for a moment, "a month or two after your memorial service."

"Why would she?" She murmured more to herself than to him. "So what happened?"

"He fought for custody."

"Naturally."

"Yes, naturally. He sent away your son for his 'safety' but is trying to gain custody of another child."

"You don't get to look down on anyone." She sneered. "He's still trying to get custody?"

Her insult rolled off his back. He expected it. "Long fight. So far all he has is supervised visits, last I heard. There might be updated information in the folder."

"And I'm sure there's more you're not telling me."

"Look in the folder." He urged.

She opened the folder again and flipped until she found the part about Sonny. She ignored the written reports and went to the photos. Her eyes grew soft as she looked at the pictures of him.

"Sonny…" She went through the pictures, some of Sonny alone, a few with Michael which she stopped at and smiled, others with business associates and then finally the ones with Alexis. Alexis and her daughter and Sonny. At the park, at Kelly's, at other places. Some with the little girl and some without. Together.

She looked up Lorenzo, frustrated. "So?"

He'd stopped walking around the nursery and was leaning against the wall by the window. "I could tell you more. I could explain but you know."

"He moved on." She whispered. She forced herself to look him calmly in the eye. "How could I expect him not to?"

"You're taking it better than I thought."

"It's been a year. I didn't think he would shrivel up and die. It doesn't matter, whether he's moved on or not. Nothing would make stay here with you. Now I'm going to finish packing and then I'm taking my daughter and getting the hell out of here."


Hours later, Carly paused in the doorway of the Lorenzo's study. He sat behind the desk, his chair turned towards the windows. She could just see his profile, his head was down and his eyes were closed. He looked tired. Her hand curled around the doorjamb. Another day she would have gone to him, asked him what was wrong, tried to raise his spirits.

Instead she rapped her knuckles against the door and said loudly. "I'm ready."

He stood and after a moment he turned to her. "All right. I'll give you a ride to the airfield."

She fiercely shook her head. "No. I'd rather just have someone else drive me."

"I'm taking you and Mariela." He said firmly.

What did it matter as long as she was leaving. She threw her hands up. "Fine, whatever. We'll meet you at the car in a few minutes."


It was over so quickly before Carly could realize it. The ride over to the airfield was quick and silent. She didn't have anything else to say to Lorenzo and he didn't bother coming up with weak chitchat. What was there left to say?

A cheerful flight attendant helped Carly bring Mariela and their things on board. Lorenzo followed them but didn't speak. For a moment she wondered if he was coming with them but she pushed the thought away.

Once everything was situated she turned to Lorenzo, unsure of how to say goodbye.

"This is Edgar." Lorenzo gestured towards the large hulking man already on board. He nodded at them. "He's going with you."

"I don't want-"

"I'm not going to send you back without help or security." He said with a determined glint in his eye. "He'll take care of you if there is anything you need done and he can contact me for you."

"Not going to happen. I won't ever need anything from you." She vowed. "And after this I hope to God I never see you again."

"I'm letting you leave Carly…" He gazed down at her, his eyes soft. "But I'm not letting you go."

"I don't care what you think or feel. I'm going home, Lorenzo, and I'm going to forget all about you and be happy."

"Anytime you want to come back, the plane will be ready." He said as if she hadn't said a word. He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek and smiled briefly before leaving the plane.


Carly tried to rest during the flight home but it seemed impossible. Every time she closed her eyes she wondered if this was all a dream. If tomorrow she would wake up back in Lorenzo arms, blissfully ignorant of the truth.

She groaned and sat up in her seat, trying to avoid looking at Edgar. The man didn't sleep and he kept watching her. A few times she stopped herself from telling him that Lorenzo didn't mean for him to watch over like that. It wasn't that important and right now she had to think.

She glanced over at Mariela, who slept peacefully in her car seat next to her. Carly wondered again how she was going to explain this to Sonny. How would he react to missing so much of their daughter's life?

For the first time in a long time Carly didn't have a ready plan. She was coming up with blanks. The only thing on her mind since regaining her memory was getting home and leaving Lorenzo.

She wanted to hate him more than she already did. He destroyed her life twice. He took her away from Sonny and her family. Then he gave the most perfect year of her life and that was destroyed this morning.

The solo flight attendant came over to Carly and murmured, "Mrs. Al-"

"Corinthos." She corrected sharply. "My name is Mrs. Corinthos."

The woman didn't bat an eyelash. She nodded. "We will be landing in Port Charles soon, Mrs. Corinthos."

"Fine." Carly sat back in her seat. Just as the attendant turned to go Carly called out. "Is there a phone or something I could use?"

"Yes, there is." She walked over to the other end of the cabin and returned with a phone. She passed it over to Carly with a blank smile. "Is there anything else?"

"No." Carly shook her head. She stared at the phone not really knowing whom to call. Finally she heaved a sigh and dialed the only person she knew she could count on. She just prayed he'd be there to answer her call.

Her mouth dry, she waited for him to pick up. "Yeah?"

"Jason? Oh God, Jason…it's Carly."