"What do you think?"

Viki looked around the Penthouse and frowned. All of the sleek, modern decor that used to be there had been replaced by overstuffed opulence. While Viki was not a fan of contemporary decor, she had to admit that Blair's decoration of the penthouse had warmth and heart. This current redesign looked soulless and empty despite the obvious expense. It certainly suggested that Todd either didn't have any particular sense of style or the person he was styling it for was someone he wasn't particularly connected to. Or was her own perceptions colored by what she knew? "It looks like the cover of Nouveau Riche magazine," she said dryly. "What did you do?"

"I figured that Delgado would like to come back to something more her speed," Todd looked around the living room and quelled a shudder. "She's had a hard couple of days, you know? Just thought it would be a nice thing to do."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Todd shoved his hands in his pockets. Actually, the redesign was supposed to keep Delgado blissfully unaware of what he was doing elsewhere. She'd proven to be a sucker for expensive gifts and so he'd use them to keep stars in her eyes and not on him. He was off to Philadelphia to talk with the Lord stable of lawyers and try to figure out how he could get out of the mess he was in without leaving himself vulnerable to what was likely going to be a very pissed off Delgado.

"You must be very pleased with the court's decision," Viki said sharply, her voice betraying the utter disgust she felt for the entire fiasco. Tea had hobbled into the courtroom on crutches, a very vivid illustration of Blair's volatile and dangerous temper. Viki had been tempted to snatch the crutches away from the woman and beat her to death with them. Kelly's explanation of what had triggered Blair's temper was still fresh in Viki's mind and it made her sick to her stomach. "You've got custody of Starr. Now what?"

"What do you mean?" Todd eyed his sister, wondering how he should broach the subject of getting out of his contract with Delgado. What would Viki say about it? She didn't seem to be in a very good mood, that much was obvious. It looked like she wanted to spit on him.

Viki glared at him frostily. "Todd, what you're doing is absolutely reprehensible! I have been standing quietly by and trying to help you through all of this but I simply cannot do so any longer!"

"Quietly?" Todd asked in disbelief. "In what world?!" His eyes widened at her sudden outburst. What the hell was wrong with her?

"I thought that you should see your daughter," Viki rubbed her eyes wearily. "I thought that you should see what your love for Blair brought into this world. I thought that you should see that something good could come from you and that you should give your life here another chance. I let you terrorize Blair when you kidnapped Starr... and now I'm letting you rip her child away with the help of an absolutely detestable woman who I wouldn't trust to look after a goldfish much less a child after hearing what she did to Blair!"

Todd gaped at Viki's outburst, then scowled darkly at her. "Oh great, lecture time already?"

Viki just wanted to punch him. Sometimes she wondered if that was the only way to get through to her stubborn Lord men. Kevin was the same way. Joey was, thankfully, a level-headed Riley and much easier to talk sense into, even if his loyalty was often misplaced. "I'd be wasting my breath, wouldn't I? Let me just ask you one question."

"Fine," Todd snapped. "One question."

"Did you know what Tea was going to say to Blair at the gala?"

"How..." Todd's eyes widened. "How did you know about that?"

A loud crack had his head snapping sideways before he could even blink. Todd saw stars swirling in front of his eyes and suddenly he heard Viki screaming at him in rage. "How dare you!"

Blair stared out the window of her room and clutched the pillow tightly to her chest. She had been prepared to lose. She had told herself that she didn't have a snowball's chance in hell to win that custody case after being gaslighted so thoroughly by Todd and Tea. Still, she just wanted the earth to open up and swallow her when Tea limped in on her crutches.

She looked horrible and Blair found herself torn between the horror of what she'd done and wishing she'd been a bit more thorough. The gasps that rippled through the courtroom and the look of condemnation that Blair had received from the judge just felt like salt in an open wound.

She had wanted so much to look at Todd, to get reassurance from him that everything was going to be okay, but she didn't dare. After their night together they had sworn that no one could be able to tell what was really going on with them. Everyone had to think that they were enemies bitterly contesting over the custody of their daughter.

Tea's performance had been quite masterful, Blair had to admit that much. She had not sent any smirking looks of triumph across the room, she had merely stated her case that Blair was irrational and a danger to herself and others and could not be trusted to care for a young child. Blair almost got up and applauded. She wondered if she ought to order one of those fake Oscars and engrave it with "Best Line of Bullshit: Tea Delgado" and mail it to the penthouse with a bouquet of dead roses.

Or would that be too obvious?

Despite knowing that her fate had been sealed already, Blair felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest when the judge awarded custody to Todd and Tea. Dorian had embraced her and promised that they'd fight it. Cassie had been as supportive as possible. Blair had run to the ladies room and emptied her stomach into the toilet. It was a miserable feeling, being this helpless and even the promises Todd had made her during their night together had faded in the harsh light of reality.

Would he follow through? Could she count on him? She wanted to so desperately. She wanted to believe that they could put the pieces back together but it was hard to keep the faith. Blair wasn't the kind of woman who could just sit back and wait for things. She wanted to do something!

She wanted to go and get her daughter. She wanted to hold the little girl in her arms and hear her say 'Mommy' and know that she would never have to worry about being replaced. Blair looked up into the evening sky and saw the first stars of the night just beginning to show. "Mama loves you, little girl," she whispered. "Nothing is ever going to change that."

"I'm glad you came back to the hospital, Tea," Andrew sat down next to the bed and smiled warmly at her. "I can't believe that you actually thought you could go to court the other day."

"I couldn't let Todd down," Tea replied. "I had to see it through."

Andrew frowned slightly. He didn't necessarily believe that Todd deserved that kind of devotion but he didn't think it was his place to say so. "When are you going to be allowed home?"

"Tomorrow," Tea took a sip of water and closed her eyes briefly. "Maybe I did overdo it the other day but it was necessary." And it was. The final nails in Blair's coffin were secure and Starr was with Todd. She had more than earned her paycheck. Now they were getting into the bonus round. "At least Starr is safe now."

"Well, I'm sure it's better that the case be finished with," Andrew hedged. He had seen what Blair had gone through to bring Starr into the world. It didn't rest easy on his conscience to see her daughter taken from her. And he certainly didn't trust Todd. That one would always be someone to keep your guard up around. "Todd can focus on taking care of her now rather than dragging Blair through the mud."

Tea cocked one eyebrow at Andrew. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not particularly fun to watch people tear into each other in public court like they did," Andrew replied. "Especially knowing how much they cared about each other once."

"You're a good man, Andrew," Tea said sincerely. It was true, too. He was well suited as a man of the cloth. He certainly didn't have what it took to be a lawyer. "Custody cases are rarely pretty. Unfortunately, it's the nature of the beast. And you have to consider the children. Blair shoved me out of a second story window," Tea narrowed her eyes. "Do you really think someone that violent should be entrusted with the care of a child?"

Andrew dropped his eyes to the floor. Tea wasn't exactly wrong but she wasn't exactly right, either. Blair didn't normally just lash out and throw people out of windows. Still, he couldn't argue that that's exactly what she had done. "Perhaps not. It just doesn't sit right with me."

Tea sighed again. Andrew just didn't understand. Emotions in the courtroom are merely tools used to win. Negative emotions were the most effective, too. Fear, anger, rage, jealousy, spite... all so malleable and easily manipulated. She hadn't decided to become a lawyer just because it paid well. She went into law because she knew how to make other's emotions work to her advantage.

And once you had the advantage, you did what you could with it. Tea had no intention of relinquishing hers.