The doorbell buzzed and Brooke happily got up to answer it. She had no idea who could be on the other side but it really didn't matter. She was desperate for company, for any little human contact. Felix had only been gone a few hours, out in the heart of the city for business but already loneliness was consuming her.

"Mrs. Brooke Scott?"

"Can I help you?"

"Telegram", the courier said, handing her a card before walking off.

Brooke examined it carefully before opening it. It was a message directed to her stating to meet at an outside café in the Village concerning custody and the next court date. Brooke cursed to herself. She didn't feel like leaving the apartment and she certainly didn't feel like having a discussion at an outside table in the dead of New York winter.

Throwing a hat, dark glasses, and scarf on, she summoned Felix's driver to take her to the designated location. When she arrived, she was pleasantly surprised to see that the place was low key and fairly empty, void of all prying and intrusive eyes. Her smile of relief somewhat disappeared when she saw a familiar dark coat and blue stocking cap.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. I received this telegram this morning from my lawyers."

"Me too. That's odd, Luke. Why would your attorney want to discuss stuff with you in front of me and vice versa?"

"I don't know", he sighed. "I guess we're going to find out. Can I buy you a coffee?"

"No thank you", she said after a few seconds.

They waited and waited in silence, both curious and beyond anxious. Their personal thoughts were running wild, so wild that they did not hear the click of heels coming up behind them. Finally Lucas looked up, his blue eyes widening.

"Anna. What…what are you doing here?"

Her face was stoic as she fought to control the butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She wore an off white business pants suit, her long dark hair pulled into a neat ponytail. A large envelope lay in her trembling glove clad hands.

"Well, well. Isn't this cozy?" Brooke rolled her eyes as she stood to leave. "I think I'm going to call my lawyers and get a rain check on this one."

"No, wait", Anna said. "Please. The telegrams you both received this morning did not come from your attorneys. They came from me. I needed to see you both and at the same time. Brooke, this is very important. Please don't leave. You need to hear everything I am about to say."

"Anna, what's going on?" Lucas asked.

"I don't even know where to begin", she sighed sadly. "First of all Lucas, I want you to know that I do care for you very, very much. Always remember that, even after I say what I'm about to say."

"You're scaring me", he laughed nervously.

"And you're disgusting me", Brooke muttered.

"Okay. My name is Anna Maria Rojano Aggabao. Rojano is my mother's maiden name and Aggabao is my father's last name. My mother is Guadalupe Rojano Colwell Aggabao."

"Colwell?" Brooke and Lucas repeated at the same time.

"Colwell was the name of her first husband that died. They had a son together before she married my father. His name is Felix. Felix Colwell is my older half brother."

Brooke looked up utterly speechless. Lucas felt like he had been punched in the gut.

"Anna…"

"That's not all. Please just let me finish. Brooke, it wasn't a coincidence that my brother came to work at Sascha Naj or that he took an immediate interest in you and was so insistent on developing a friendship. The party on the boat, the long talks, the baby shower present and everything that happened in Italy was planned from the very beginning. It was a trap to lure you in so he could gain your trust."

"No", Brooke said. "That's not true. You're lying. It's all lies. Everyone is just trying to make me think I'm crazy."

"Not everyone. But yes Felix intentionally got close to you and he had it planned down to the tee when he came back from London. And spending time with you, telling you what you wanted to hear, going to your friend Peyton's art exhibit then starting the fight with Luke, it was all planned."

"Why?" Lucas asked flabbergasted. "Why would he do that?"

"He was just going through the motions. Then the Friday you left for the gym, he called Brooke and invited her to his party. When you got there Brooke and you had a few glasses of champagne, you didn't pass out because you were drunk. Felix slipped you something. GHB, they call it the 'date rape' drug on the street. You were out for hours and that was the plan because he knew that was the only way he could get you on that flight to Hong Kong."

"No. No. You're making this up. Felix would not do that."

"Yes he would. And he did. He is an evil man, Brooke and he has done much worse to you", she said, opening the envelope and pulling out a cell phone. "You see this phone? It is identical to the nanny's. This phone was linked to her real phone, number and all and this is what she used when you called her. It couldn't be traced with her original phone but if you run stats on this one, you will see the calls made from Brooke on the plane and from Hong Kong."

"But my lawyer said there was no record of calls made from Brooke on the plane and in Hong Kong", Lucas said.

"Felix had those erased as well but this phone here is all the proof you need."

"This does not make sense", Brooke shook her head. "Why would Felix do this? What would he have to gain? And why would he have Judith Patterson's phone?"

Anna pulled more contents from the envelope. There were several pictures everything including mug shots and society photos of Mrs. Patterson.

"See this woman? Judith Patterson aka Laura Brown aka Margaret Geho aka Nancy Sykes, real name Katharine McDonald. She goes by Kate. This is her police record dating back to her teens with raps for everything from petty theft to forgery. She made a nice habit of marrying rich, older men so she has run in some pretty elite social circles but I guess you can't take the old Bonnie and Clyde mentality out of the sophisticated socialite. She has been acquainted with the Colwells for years."

"Impossible", Lucas stated. "Brooke and I checked…"

"Her impeccable references and employment history? All right here. All created along with the alias of Judith Patterson."

Brooke and Lucas could barely breathe as they sat looking over the information.

"Why? Why in God's name would he do all this?"

"In a nutshell, blackmail", Anna said, pointing to various newspaper clippings about Felix's father. "Harold Colwell built his fortune by stealing millions away from various oil and jewelry companies throughout Texas. His business partner was on to him and about to expose the whole scandal but one of Harold's equally shady acquaintances agreed to help him out. People were bought off, scared off…whatever it took and the story never broke. Harold Colwell remained indebted to this man until the day he died and when he died, that debt sort of got passed on to Felix. There's family name, reputation and a hell of a lot of money at stake here."

"So you're saying the man who helped Felix's dad is the same person who made Felix do this to Brooke and me?"

"Yes."

"Why? Who?"

"Dan Scott", Anna breathed. "Luke, your father is behind this all."

Lucas felt a cold chill run through the core of his bones as he could no longer hear, see or think straight. Like Brooke had been before, now it was his turn to lapse into a profound state of denial. Dan had been a bastard in the past. He was the man who had left his pregnant, frightened teenage mother. He had callously ignored Lucas almost half his life. He had taken great joy in the taunting and misery of Deb, Keith and Nathan. He had lied and manipulated, dominated and alienated everyone around him. For so long Lucas had spent many years hating him, then it all began to turn around late in high school. By college, they were an amicable and civil duo. As an adult the relationship was strained but still present. And in the last few months following the birth of Harmony and all the turmoil with Brooke, it had been Dan who had finally stepped up and decided to be a father, a friend. It was Dan who listened and tried to give advice, Dan who held him when he cried and who had shed tears himself before going back out to conduct a second search for the "missing" Brooke. How could this be happening? After so many years and so much pain, Dan had finally turned out to be someone Lucas could depend on, maybe even trust. Now the truth was out. An ugly, horrific truth that was inexplicable. Once again, Dan Scott had betrayed his son. This time was the most devastating.

"I'm his son. His own flesh and blood son. Why would he do this to me?"

"Control. Greed. Power. Farfetched dreams of heading a Kennedy like dynasty. But it wasn't about you, Lucas. In his mind, his twisted, sick and delusional mind, he honestly feels like he is doing this out of love for you. He wanted you and Harmony and Haley and Nathan and their boys. This was all aimed at Brooke. Dan hates Brooke."

"Why Brooke? Why Brooke and not Haley?"

"In his eyes Haley is weak and demure but he feels she is loyal to Nathan and the Scott name. No matter what, she would never ever leave him. That makes her safe. Brooke was outspoken and strong and independent and when she wanted out, he saw a threat. He couldn't have that."

At that moment, that one moment it all clicked inside Brooke's head.

"She's right. Oh my God, you're absolutely right. I should have known when he threatened me before…"

"Threatened you? Brooke, what threat?" Lucas asked.

"The morning of Harmony's baptism. We met for breakfast and he told me that divorce was not an option, basically everything that Anna just said. He was pretty pissed when I refused to back down and I got the feeling it was a 'do what I say or else' type deal. I just had no idea what the 'or else' would be."

"And Michael Quirk? He's the most crooked lawyer this side of the globe. He was hired to botch your case and make you lose custody of your daughter, Brooke. Quirk is on Dan Scott's payroll."

"Unbelievable", Lucas kept saying over and over again. "This is un-fucking believable. So what, did Dan send that girl to me in Sacramento that night? The Holly girl."

"No. He actually had nothing to do with that one but it was the one event that sort of got the ball rolling."

"And what? Felix sent you to seduce me?"

"No", Anna said taking a huge breath. "Lucas, there's more…"

"I don't know if I can take much more. Anna, do I want to hear this?"

"No. It's going to hurt you and it hurts me too. I am not proud of this by any means. I wasn't directly involved with this plot and neither Felix or Dan know that I was seeing you. Felix had no idea I was even seeing Dan."

"So what was the point? What were you doing in Tree Hill that night?"

"I was there to see Dan. We've been having an affair for over a year."

"What? You were sleeping with my father?"

"Yes. Lucas, I'm sorry. Things just sort of happened with Dan and me and before I knew it, I was head over heels in love. Then I found out about his little plan and that he was using my brother. Felix and I never really got along and frankly it felt good to see someone finally stand up to him after all these years. The bastard had met his match and that made me even more attracted to Dan. He told me that he loved me and that he would leave Deb and we'd be together. They were all lies. He was using me for sex and I'm sure keeping me around in case he needed extra leverage with this sick plot of his."

"It was all a lie", Lucas whispered.

"Not all of it. That night at the mall you and I met by chance. I knew who you were but when I got to know you, I really started to like you. Lucas, you're a great guy and I love spending time with you. I thought I loved your father but he wouldn't commit. That hurt me very badly but when I was with you, you gave me the things he couldn't…honesty, friendship, respect. I was in deeper and deeper by the second and I knew that when I started falling for you, too. I couldn't let this go on anymore. I…I'm sorry."

She took one final look at the two devastated faces before her before standing to leave. She had done the right thing. Her job was done.

"What now?" Lucas asked, not believing he still cared.

"You and Brooke know the truth and now you can rebuild your lives. That's the most important thing to me. I'm going out of the country for a while. I need to regroup and it's only a matter of time before Dan and Felix find out everything. I know what those two are capable of so it's best that I remain out of sight, out of mind for the time being. Lucas, Brooke…I'm sorry for you both. I know I can't erase the damage or change the past but maybe this is what you needed for the future. You both must hate me…I hate myself right now. I just hope one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me."

She turned to walk away.

"Anna?"

"Yes, Brooke?"

"Thank you", she said quietly as a tear fell.

"I can't take all the credit. I needed a little convincing and I got that when your mother, Mary, and your friends Gordon and Peyton paid me a little visit in Florida."

"What?"

"Those three should work for the CIA or something", Anna chuckled quietly. "From early on they had their suspicions about Felix and Kate and then you told Peyton the night you thought you saw me with Dan. They were just trying to put the pieces together and they ended up on my doorstep. They don't know everything but they knew I did so they begged me to come clean. They really love you and they really believe in you so don't thank me. Thank them."