Zach Slater sat at the desk in his casino office, still catching up from a month in Europe. The fact that he had been working practically the entire time he was there did not diminish the amount that had greeted him upon his return. Two weeks had not been enough time to put a dent into the re-organization of his original businesses now that he was spearheading the take-over of Cambias Industries. When all was said and done, though, Zach still hoped to return to the life and businesses that he had acquired for himself—without the aid of the Cambias name, money or influence. He and Bianca had made good progress and he knew that the European division was in capable hands. He, however, had to deal with the United States branch—and Ethan. His meeting with Ethan at the Pine Valley jail went even worse than he had anticipated, and Zach found himself once more incapable of understanding or communicating with his son. At least his ability to harm others was limited by his current circumstances.

Zach and Kendall had seen each other a few times since their one night together—and been able to maintain a pleasant and friendly façade. Zach had even joined Bianca and her sister for dinner before Kendall had returned to home and work. He and Bianca had agreed to return Fusion/Enchantment to Kendall and Greenlee's control once everything was finalized. In fact, all the businesses that had been seized through Michael's machinations were to be returned… even Chandler Enterprises, although Zach expected no favors or thanks from Adam Chandler—senior or junior. However, Adam had made it possible for Miranda's return to her mother, and that meant more to Zach than any amount of posturing and irritation delivered by the son. He felt sure that JR Chandler would create his own hell on earth—just as Ethan had done… Zach did not need to lift a finger, and did not intend to expend another ounce of energy in his direction now that Ethan was removed from his influence.

Since his return to Pine Valley, his contact with Kendall had been brief meetings in the courtyard of their condos, and Zach reminded himself that he needed to invite her to dinner soon. Although he had no intention of repeating their single night of passion—he had promised Bianca that he would keep an eye out for her and make sure that she didn't revert back to her self-destructive ways. After seeing a glimpse of the generous and loving woman that she truly was, he did not consider it a hardship to remain her friend.

At a knock on his door, he barked to his assistant, "Come on, Edie! I said no interruptions!"

The lovely black woman opened his door saying, "Sorry, boss. But I've got a woman here… she says she is an old school 'chum'… only visiting from England for a few days… her name is Anne Shipley."

"I don't remember anybody by that name… oh, alright… show her in," Zach answered in exasperation. He wasn't really interested in meeting this old friend—who was probably just hoping to use an old connection for credit in the casino—as much as he wanted the distraction from another late night of trying to find a way to keep the casinos running without his daily attention.

Zach concentrated on his computer screen as the woman entered his office, but looked up in startled confusion as she said quietly, "Hello, Alex."

"Hannah…" Zach breathed, looking into the face of Ethan's mother—the woman he was sure had died, for she had certainly fallen off the face of the earth.

"That's right, Alex… but not for a long time now… twenty years…" she replied. He stood and walked around his desk, leading her to a seat on his sofa and offering her some refreshment… he knew that he needed a stiff drink.

"Nothing, thank you... Alex…" she began.

"Zach," he interrupted automatically.

"Zach, then… we need to talk… about Ethan," she said in that same quiet voice.

"Oh… so now you want to talk about Ethan… don't you think this conversation is a little late? Say twenty-two years too late?" Zach said in irritation.

"I'm sorry… I should have come forward long before now… I knew that someone was looking for me… I had assumed it was Ethan… and when I found out you were alive… well… everything became so complicated," she replied.

"Complicated? I guess that's one way of looking at it," he said in a gruff voice. "Why did you show up now? Are you after the Cambias fortune too?"

"No… you deserve… you deserve to know the truth…" Anne Shipley whispered.

"I deserved to know the truth when we were seventeen! I deserved to know that I had fathered a child… I deserved to be a part of his life from the beginning. But I never get what I deserve… I only get what other people want me to have… and it started with you, Hannah," he said intensely, trying hard not to raise his voice.

"Anne…" she answered automatically.

"Touché, Anne," Zach answered.

"Alex… Zach… I'm sorry… but you are not the only person affected by this revelation… I had obligations… people… that needed to know the truth… and I couldn't come to you until I explained to them," she said, the tears apparent in her voice.

Zach's response was scathing, "I guess this means that you have a family… and they didn't know about the boy you abandoned?"

"I didn't… I couldn't… oh, this is so much harder than I imagined it would be… Please… let me start from the beginning…" she pleaded.

"Okay… alright… from the beginning…" Zach said, his voice softening at her distress. "Hey… I'm sorry I was…"

"No… I deserve your contempt… and you'll probably hate me even more when I finish my tale…" Anne answered him.

"Sounds like this is going to take a while. Let me order us some dinner, we'll eat and you can take all the time you need… suddenly my schedule is completely clear," Zach answered before calling Edie and ordering a meal and table service delivered.

While they waited, Anne explained to Zach that she was married and had three children in grammar school. She had told her husband about her youthful indiscretion, and that she had given up her child, but never told him the details of what happened. In fact, no living soul knew the whole story except her, and she had planned to take it to her grave—but when she had found out Alex Cambias, Jr. was alive and that Ethan was claiming his birthright—she knew that she had to tell the truth. She had explained as much to her husband as necessary and arranged to visit Zach—which was delayed by his extended stay in Europe.

"I'm sorry you had to travel so far. May I reimburse you for your expenses? I know that it must have been difficult with three children…" Zach offered.

"Thank you, but no. I'm afraid my husband wouldn't understand. He's a mite jealous…" she said with a smile.

"Of me? Hannah… Anne… he has to know that love was never…" Zach stammered, afraid that there were unreciprocated feelings between them.

"Oh, I know that… but he's afraid… and with all the wealth and power, and he saw your picture in the paper… he'll be fine when I return, and he realizes that he worried for nothing," she answered honestly.

Zach breathed a sigh of relief as he poured the wine, "Now it's time to tell your tale."

"Yes it is… long past time. I'm so sorry… you are not going to like what I have to tell you… but I'll start at the beginning. After that summer we spent together, I was even more homesick when you returned to school. My only friend was Edith… some friend she turned out to be," Anne mused almost to herself.

"But she agreed to raise Ethan as her own… to hide him from his grandfather…" Zach answered in confusion.

"Grandfather… hah! Edith owed me… and I made her pay…" she answered venomously.

Zach looked at her in shock but remained silent as she continued, "I wanted to go home, but I couldn't earn enough to pay for my travel. By the time your father deducted uniforms and room and board from my wages, I could only afford to stay on the estate and do my job. That's when Edith had her brilliant idea…"

"Idea? When did you find out you were pregnant?" Zach asked, thoroughly confused by the direction of her story.

"I'll get there… anyway, it was probably a month or two after you left, and I was crying myself to sleep after another letter from my mum. Edith came in to comfort me, but I could tell she was sick and tired of it. I'd been there for half a year already and I was still miserable… she thought maybe I was missing you. Anyway, she asked me if I was in the family way… and I told her no… but she wanted to know if I was sure… and I told her that I was, I hadn't missed a single cycle since I'd been there…"

Zach sat back in his chair, stunned at Hannah's statement, "But… your letter… and the DNA tests…"

"I told you that this would upset you… I was not pregnant with your child Alex, we did not conceive a child together."

"Then who… when…" Zach tried to ask.

"Edith was disappointed, too. She said she had overheard your father planning to marry you off to someone very rich, she thought they might even be a member of a royal family… he was bragging about the children you'd have and the great bloodline… and she had an idea. She said that she would help me pretend to be pregnant with your child, and that she bet the old man would pay and pay dearly to keep me out of your life… I'd get to go home and then I could say later that I had lost the child.

"I was so desperate to go home that I agreed to her insane plan… she let the word 'slip' out to the right people, and soon I was summoned by the great Mr. Cambias himself. I was terrified… he was so… so… angry. He yelled at me about how no common maid was going to trap his son… and that his grandson was going to rule the world, and that I wasn't good enough to bear his son's offspring… on and on and on he ranted. He grabbed me, and he shook me… and then… then he…" she stopped, sobbing quietly and unable to speak.

Zach looked at her in shock, realization dawning that Michael had been the one who was like his father… not Zach, never Zach. He placed his hand gently over hers, "Did he… did he rape you?"

She nodded, "Yes… he… it was… awful… and when it was over… he called me a whore and threw me out of the room. Later he had the housekeeper give me my notice and plenty of money. Later, I received an anonymous letter threatening to kill me and my child should there be any whisper that my child was yours. I left as quickly as possible. I didn't tell anyone about… what happened… it was too awful."

"What about Ethan? Whose child is he?" Zach asked.

"Oh… that's the best part… remember how I wasn't pregnant when I walked into that room, that I was just trying to get home? Well… it seems that I was pregnant when I left… after your father… after he…" she said through her tears.

"And he just keeps on hurting people… even from beyond the grave…" Zach muttered.

"When I returned home, and I realized I was pregnant… I pretended to myself that it was your child… that our time together had resulted in this baby, not the truth. When I heard of your death, I was devastated… but… then your father… he wanted Ethan then… he was bound and determined to have him… and I… I couldn't… the thought of my son being raised by that evil man… I couldn't do it… so I ran, but I couldn't run fast enough or far enough…

"Finally, I found Edith and showed up at her place. She had married and left service, was living back in England again. I told her she owed me and told her the truth about Ethan's real father. I made her promise that she would raise him, and only tell him the truth after… he… died. She didn't want to take Ethan… I had to give her all the money your father had given me to do it. But in the end she knew that she had to take him… it would have never happened but for her lies…we agreed to tell him that you were his father because the truth was just too awful… no child deserves to know that he was conceived by rape… and since you were dead the lie hurt no one," she finished.

"Except that there were so many other lies that you knew nothing about," Zach answered. "Hannah… Anne… we are all to blame for what happened… but no one more than my father—may he rot in hell. I'm sorry… this isn't going to get any easier for you... there's one other person you have to talk to."

"You mean Ethan? No… I don't want to see him… I abandoned my son, I can't face him now… after all these years… you can tell him, explain it to him… or else you can continue to claim him as your son… that would be better than knowing the truth," she answered in agitation.

"No… you don't understand… Ethan—he hates me. I denied him as my son, even when I believed he was, to protect him from becoming a Cambias. If you've read even a small portion of what's been in the papers since we arrived in Pine Valley, you know that there is no way that I can talk to him about anything… and he wouldn't believe me… he'd think that I was making it up… looking for an excuse to disown him…" Zach answered urgently. "You are the only one who can tell him the truth, the only person who can get through to him… and he deserves to know the truth. The fact is that he didn't want to be my son anyway… and he thinks his grandfather… I mean his father… is such a wonderful man…"

"But… you care about him, don't you? He's in jail… how could I possibly tell him the truth…" she whispered.

"Tell him it was consensual… if you don't want him to know that you were raped, then don't tell him that part… but you have to do it… you owe it to him. Then you can go on to your life, and I promise that I'll never try to contact you or reach you… you are safe from this Alex Cambias," Zach told her firmly.

"I never thought that I'd have to face him… but I have written this letter… would you?" she asked as she held out a sealed envelope.

"No… if I deliver that letter he will believe it is a forgery, something that I invented to disown him once again. Your lies and my mistakes have made an impossible situation," Zach said. "Quite honestly, I'm not sure he'll believe you without a DNA test… which I expect you to comply with if he asks for it. I'll make sure that your expenses are covered, but you have to stay and you have to help your son… when it's over I'll find a way to a relationship with… my… brother… and you can go back to your life. Don't tell him your new identity… but you have to do this… and I think it will help you, too."

Anne looked at him with fear and resignation. She had read all the papers, she knew how difficult the situation was, and she knew that she was going to have to face her son… she finally admitted to herself that it was the reason she had decided to travel to Pine Valley… by agreeing to Edith's lie, she had condemned many people to a life of pain… it was time to pay for her sins. She looked at Zach and nodded. He made immediate arrangements for a room at the Valley Inn, and told her not to return to the casino or reveal that she had been in contact with him at all. If she wanted even a chance with her son, she couldn't let him know they had talked.

After Anne left, Zach sat at his desk and held his face in his hands. Ethan was not his son after all; he had not fathered and abandoned a child. He examined his feelings and was surprised to find that all he felt was relief. The reason that Ethan was so much like Alex Sr. was crystal clear to Zach, and he was grateful that he was not responsible for what Ethan had become. For the first time in years, he felt free… but he had no one to share it with. On an impulse, he dialed Kendall's number and invited her to join him for drinks. She declined his invitation, claiming she didn't feel well… and then promised that she was truly sick, not just avoiding him. Zach called the kitchen and ordered some hot tea and chicken soup to go, and left immediately for his condo in Pine Valley.

7