Chapter 19- The Head of ELQ

Danny's birthday came around fast. They decided to have his bowling party on the weekend so Drew could take him to the carnival on his actual birthday. He was still very quiet during his party, he'd only speak to Jake, Leo, Scout, Drew, and his grandparents, but Sam would catch him smiling every once in a while.

While Danny was spending the day with Drew, Monica wanted some Scout time, so that meant Sam was back to work after taking a week off to be with the kids. Curtis was taking a leave of absence since Jordan's death and wanted to spend some time with his new found daughter. They were working alongside the police station to find evidence that Alessandro caused the mysterious deaths the week prior, but once again he was missing in action. Valentin and Nina were back to Wyndemere and preparing for his mayoral campaign, but they didn't have enough proof that he was involved in the mind mapping procedures back in April.

"Are you excited to spend the day with Grandma Monica?" Sam asked Scout as they passed a moving truck on the way to the mansion.

"Uh huh," Scout said. "Will she be happy to see me?"

"Of course, she will." She tucked some of Scout's wavy hair behind her ears.

"Oh, hi Sam," Willow walked up carrying a box labelled Books. "Hi Scout."

Scout smiled.

"Hey," Sam said. "Are you—?"

"Moving in with Michael, yeah," Willow said. "I haven't seen him in a while though. This place is so big, I hope he didn't get lost." She laughed.

"Well, I heard Tracy is back in town," Sam said. "He probably can't get away from her."

"I met her this morning. She was in the living room arguing with Monica a few minutes ago."

"He couldn't have gone far," Sam said. "Come on, Scout, let's go find Grandma Monica."

GHGHGH

When noon hour came around, Julian and Sam left work and met Alexis at Kelly's for lunch. Sam continued in her attempts to persuade Alexis to challenge Valentin by running for mayor herself.

"Nope, that's out of the question," Julian spoke up.

Alexis scrunched her face. "Excuse me?"

"You've already been targeted by Valentin and his goons. I'm not going to sit back and watch you become an even bigger target, especially if you beat him."

"If I beat him?" Alexis raised her voice. "Nice to see how much faith you have in me!"

"Lex… I didn't mean it that way. This is Valentin. There is no way he's going to play by the rules. And he'll do any means necessary to win this."

"Dad, I understand your concerns," Sam said. "But if Valentin does get in, Mom will be in danger anyway, all of us will be. She's our only chance at stopping him."

Alexis placed a hand on his cheek. "I was hesitant at first… but I want to do this to protect our family. I can't let my brother win."

Julian rubbed the back of his neck, then held her hand and squeezed it. "I don't like this. But you have my support."

GHGHGH

Sam rubbed her temples as she sat at her desk. "We can't find Nikolas. Can't find the Marchesis. And there's not much we can do about Valentin right now."

"We'll get to all of the above, Munchkin," Julian said.

Sam laughed. "Munchkin?"

He grinned. "My new nickname for you."

She smiled. "I like it."

"So, apparently there was a jailbreak at Pentonville today," Julian said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, the news reporter didn't give any names. Just that there were two prisoners that broke out."

Spinelli had been staring at his laptop intensely, then kicked back in his rolling chair and fist pumped the air. "Yes! Yes!"

"What is it?" Julian asked.

"I have reviewed the camera footage from the factory next to the Marchesis warehouse the evening of the mind mapping procedures," Spinelli said.

"And?" Sam jumped up and headed to his desk, kneeling to see the screen. Julian followed.

Spinelli pointed to the top left corner at blurry images. "Does that not look like Peter and Mr. Sir's son dragging the Princely One?"

Sam's eyes grew wide. "It does! And that has to be Valentin behind them."

Spinelli grinned and crossed his arms.

"Well, Spinelli," Julian said. "I'll never doubt you again."

Ring. Ring.

Drew's name displayed on her screen. She pressed her phone to her ear and walked away from Spinelli's desk. "Drew? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Danny and I had a great time."

Sam smiled. "That's great."

"But we're back at the Quartermaine's and they're calling a meeting for the ELQ shareholders. Danny and Scout's are currently under your control, so they need you here."

Sam sighed. "Okay, I'll be right there."

GHGHGH

When Sam returned to the living room, Drew, Jason, Elizabeth (with puffy red eyes and messy hair), Tracy, Monica, Ned, and Brooklyn were gathered.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Tracy leaned against the couch and flipped her hair out of her eyes. "Who called this meeting and why is the CEO MIA?"

"Why are you even here, Grandmother?" Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "You don't even own shares anymore!"

"I have more right than any one of you to be here!"

Monica sighed. "Here we go again…"

"I am the only surviving child of Edward Quartermaine, unless you count Jimmy Lee, which I don't," Tracy groaned. "And really? Elizabeth and Sam are here? Those gold diggers are using their children to have vote in ELQ!"

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. "Excuse me?"

"Gold digger!?" Sam clenched her hands into fists.

"Now, Mother, calm down," Ned said. "They are in control of their children's shares. They have the right to be here."

The doors opened and Carly walked in crossing her arms. "What is this about?"

Tracy gawked at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I received a text from Michael to meet me here." She curled her upper lip and her eyes narrowed on Sam and then Elizabeth. "Okay, seriously, what is going on here?" She turned to Jason. "And why haven't you returned any of my calls?"

Monica sighed. "Someone called a meeting for the shareholders."

Willow walked in next. "Has anyone seen Michael? I'm starting to get worried.

"Oh, don't worry, Willow," Nelle's voice appeared before she did.

Everyone gasped when Michael followed her in.

"Michael was a little pre-occupied today marrying me." She smiled brightly and showed off a wedding ring on her finger.

Willow laughed. "You can't be serious."

Michael wrapped an arm around Nelle, but his expression was blank. "It's true."

The colour drained from Willow's face.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Carly shouted. "And when did you get out of prison?"

"Yesterday," Nelle said. "Some very generous men helped me with that Carly."

"Well, there is no way my son would marry you!"

"So, is this why this meeting was called?" Ned asked. "Just so you could announce that you're married?"

Nelle smiled again. "That was just the icing on the cake. You see, I was married before that. To David Henry Archer."

Sam's mouth dropped slightly.

"You probably know him more by Shiloh," Nelle said. "We married at Pentonville. It was a very intimate ceremony. And as you all know, Oscar left his shares to Shiloh in his will."

They all stared at her.

"And when I was finally freed from Pentonville and I saw Michael again…" She placed a hand on his chest. "He had missed me so much that he proposed to me right then and there. And he insisted on signing his ELQ shares over to me as part of our marriage contract."

Muffled voices filled the room.

"You are a liar and a slut!" Carly slapped her.

Michael grabbed Carly's wrist and shoved her away.

Carly gasped. "Michael!"

"Don't hurt my wife," Michael said in a monotone voice.

Sam scrunched her face and exchanged a look with Drew.

Nelle cleared her throat. "So, as of now, I hold majority of the stock for ELQ."

Willow's eyes filled with tears. "How can you do this, Michael? We were moving in together today!"

Nelle smirked at her. "Not anymore, sweetheart. Michael's true love is back." She waved at her. "Now, bye bye."

Willow inhaled deeply.

"And the best part," Nelle said. "We will be reunited with our son."

Sam furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

Nelle wrapped her arms around Michael's waist. "We just served Lucas the papers. We are taking back Jonah."

"His name is Wiley!" Sam made to jump at her, but Drew held her back.

"You will not get your hands on Wiley!" Willow shouted. "He belongs with Lucas and I will not let you destroy his world!"

Nelle's nostrils flared. "You are so passionate about him, but he is not your son!"

"I still care about him. So, stay away from him!"

Nelle looked up at Michael. "Michael, I don't like the way she's speaking to me. And she's still in our home."

"Uh, correction…" Monica said. "This is my home. I own it."

Michael looked at Willow. "Don't talk to my wife like that. Get out of our home."

Willow's lip quivered and she stormed out.

"Michael… how could you do that to her?" Sam asked.

"Nelle is my wife and we will get our son back," Michael said.

Sam shook her head and hurried outside, Drew following behind her.

Willow was sitting on the front step crying.

"Willow?" Sam sat beside her. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I don't want her to take Wiley."

"You really love him, don't you?"

"I thought he was my son for over a year. I can't just shut that off. Even if I just watched from a distance the whole time."

"Nobody's going to let her take Wiley," Drew said. "There's too many people who will stop that from happening."

She nodded. "It's probably best that I leave town."

Sam scrunched her face. "Why is that for the best?"

She shrugged. "All I had here was Michael and he doesn't want me anymore. I don't want to keep running into him and Nelle."

Sam exhaled deeply. "When you were trapped in Dawn of Day your only means of escape was to run in order to protect your child. But it's not like that anymore. You don't have to keep running."

"But there's nothing for me here."

"Weren't you working at the hospital?" Sam asked.

"With the children, yes. But I was going back to Port Charles Elementary in the fall."

"And you have Wiley. I believe he'd want to know you and all that you've done for him. And weren't you friends with Sasha?"

She shook her head. "Not since she got pregnant. She's been caught up in her life with Jason and Sonny. Anyways… maybe I'll get a room at Kelly's until I figure things out. I don't even have my apartment anymore."

"I could talk to Monica," Drew said. "You can probably still stay here."

"Thanks, but not with Michael and Nelle here."

"Then come home with me," Sam said.

Willow scrunched her face. "You barely know me."

"I have an extra room."

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you talk to Lucas first?"

"He'll be fine with it. He likes Willow. That way you can see Wiley everyday until you figure things out."

"I don't know… That's a lot to ask."

"Maybe you can babysit sometimes in return," Drew suggested.

Sam smiled. "What do you say?"

She nodded. "Okay, I'll move in with you. Just until I figure things out."