Megan sighed as she entered the house. She had spent all day long at the unmarked grave of her precious little girl. She had arrived early in the morning and sat down on the cold, damp grass, talking out loud as if Yoanna was physically there with her and could understand her every word. For hours she had been unable to move, so she sat and spent time with her child. And when the visit finally came to an end, she placed a single pink carnation over where a headstone would soon replace it. In a small envelope, a hand written note read: To my angel on earth and my angel in Heaven. I love you always. Mama

With tears in her eyes, she had returned to the beach house to finish packing to prepare for the journey back to Charlotte. It was a trip she had been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time for weeks. But it was inevitable. She had to go home. And as much as it hurt, she had to face the future.

She heard the bumbling around upstairs and closed her eyes. Nathan. She still didn't quite know how to feel about all that. Yes, he was her husband and she did love him. He was Yoanna's father and their immense grief created an unshakable bond. But on the other hand, he had betrayed her. He openly admitted loving another woman. And a part of her couldn't help but blame him for their baby's death. It was the thinnest of lines between love and hate.

"Nathan, I…" she called out as she walked upstairs.

Meg stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn't Nathan at all.

"Megan…"

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you", he smiled that charming smile that used to melt her heart.

Of course that was back before she found out her father in law was an evil, dastardly, uncaring bastard.

"Why?"

"Because I'm concerned of course", Dan said sincerely. "How are you?"

"Not so good. My life sucks in fact. I have a husband I may or may not divorce due to the fact that he is an alcoholic and an overall son of a bitch and he caused me to go into premature labor oh and not to mention, my daughter just died so uh…things aren't going that well, right now."

"Megan, I…"

"You what? You're sorry?"

"For your loss? Yes, I am."

"I'm sure", she said sarcastically.

"Of course I would be. Yoanna was my grandchild. It's my loss, too, Megan. You're not the only one hurting."

"Your loss? Please! Don't make me gag!"

"Meg…"

"You know, you have some nerve. How can you even talk to me with a straight face? I don't know how you do it."

"That's not fair."

"Neither is life. I don't want to hear about your losses. You don't care about Yoanna or Nathan or me for that matter so just do us all a favor and give the saint act a rest. The only thing you have ever remotely cared about is yourself and what's in your best interests. Yoanna's death is just one less person you could have had around to manipulate and hurt and destroy and control."

"That's not true."

"It is and you know it. Now if you'll excuse me…"

"Megan, I know how much you're hurting. I know this venomous person before me isn't the real you. I know you can't possibly mean the things you're saying right now."

"I do."

He nodded.

"Very well. I only ask one thing."

"You have no right to ask me anything."

"Maybe so but this is important. In your grief, Megan, and I know it is difficult…don't let this tear you and Nathan apart."

"What?"

"In such a tragedy, an event like this either brings two people together or tears them apart. Don't let the latter happen. Nathan needs you…and you need him, whether you see that now or not."

"Dan…"

"Just don't hate him."

She laughed out loud in spite of the situation.

"You have balls the size of grapefruits, you know that?"

"Megan…"

"No. You really have some nerve. I don't believe you. How dare you!"

"I'm only trying to help."

"I've had enough of you and your helping. You've done enough…trust me."

"I know in this situation it must be an easy out to blame Nathan for all your…problems, shall we call them. But it's not his fault, Megan. At least not all of it."

"I'm not stupid. I know that."

He raised an eyebrow.

"So you don't blame him?"

It was her turn to smirk.

"No…I blame you?"

Dan's eyes bulged.

"Me? What the…"

"This is all your fault. All of it. Now how does it feel? Be honest, Dan. What's it like to be the destroyer of all things? You almost ruined Keith and Jules' life. You've been a dick to Karen for years. You've been a major disappointment to your parents and you turned poor Deb into a pill freak. And your own son would rather have been emancipated, poor as hell, getting by on minim wage at the pretzel shop than be around you. What's that like? And Lucas? He just feels sorry for you, God bless his heart. But I guess that's the good in him and we all know that didn't come from you. So yeah this is all your fault. I blame you for hurting me and for my baby's death and most of all for turning Nathan into the sorry excuse for a human being he has become."

Dan's face reddened and his jaw clenched. No one talked to him like that…and got away with it.

"Don't ever speak of my son like that", he advised in a warning tone.

Megan laughed out loud.

"Your son? Please! If he hadn't been your son maybe he would have made Haley and me a half decent husband."

"What the hell is your problem? Huh? Just who do you think you are? You can't talk to me like this! And you can't leave Nathan!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

"Or what?"

"Or I'll…"

Megan shook her head.

"Or you'll what?"

"I'll…"

She smirked.

"Just like I thought. You won't do shit. Dan Scott, all bark and zero bite. Now this has been every entertaining but I've had just about enough of you today. Do me a favor and get the hell out. Close the door when you leave, please."

Dan was furious. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted as Nathan joined them.

"Dad", he said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Dan was flustered for probably the first time in his life.

"I…I was just seeing how things were", he adjusted his blazer.

"We're fine", Nathan nodded. "Just packing up to back to Charlotte."

"I see."

"Look, thanks for coming and all but we've got things under control. Anything else you needed or…"

"No", Megan answered for him. "Your father was just leaving…weren't you, Dan?"

He gave her a smirk before nodding at his son.

"Yes, I was. Have a safe trip and uh, I'll be talking to you."

"Alright, man. We'll talk to you later."

Dan looked right at Megan who showed no fear.

"Oh you bet…Megan, dear, we will certainly chat later."

She never looked up from her suitcase.

"Looking forward to it…Mr. Scott."