The Ex Factor

by Ava Sinclair

For anyone catching up, this story is an E/T/G story that was written back when Ethan and Theresa finally consummated their relationship for the first time since his marriage to Gwen by making love at Crane Industries. In this story, a mystery concerning Sarah's death forces Gwen and Theresa to work together for the first time, and all three of them learn some harsh truths as they fight to find out the truth about what happened to Gwen's daughter. Menawhile, Ethan struggles with his feelings for Theresa vs. his marriage to Gwen, knowing he has the hardest decision of his life to make.

This story is long finished, but I'm archiving it here in case the fan sites close after Passions ends its run this summer. I doubt anyone's reading at this point, but if you are and you want faster updates, please let me know via review or email and I'll do a massive uploading spree. :)

I love reviews. If you're so moved, please leave me one. :)

"Please tell me you're joking. Please tell me this is some sort of sick joke!" Ethan's voice rose.

"Oh my God, oh my God, Oh my God." Gwen whispered over and over. "Then where is our daughter? Is it true? Could she-" Gwen turned to stare at Ethan. "Could she still be alive?"

"I wouldn't go that far, Mrs. Winthrop." Geoffrey Masters leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hand over his forehead. "In fact, there may be a logical, if rather upsetting, explanation."

"What are you talking about?" Ethan stared hard at the coroner.

"There was another baby girl born in the same hospital that day." Luis spoke up. "Shilah Landry. She was still born. Her body was sent to the same morgue as Sarah. We think there may have been a mix up."

"What?" Gwen shook her head in disbelief. "How is that possible? How could such a terrible thing happen?"

"I don't know." Geoffrey Masters spoke again. "The sheer incompetence I've run into during this investigation is incredible. I've reported it to everyone I can. The coroner's office in L.A. is being formally investigated. Heads will roll for this, believe me."

"Well, do you know this for sure? That our daughter was switched with this other little girl?" Ethan's voice vibrated with confusion and pain.

"We're running the DNA tests now. The parents of Shilah Landry were very upset when we contacted them, and it took a while to get them to agree to the testing. They are not accepting the possibility that their daughter may have been buried in the wrong grave."

"And what about Sarah? Are you testing the other body as well? I want her back here. I want to bury my baby in her proper resting place." Gwen's voice broke and she began to sob.

Sam leaned down and put a comforting hand on his daughter in law's shoulders. "Unfortunately, Gwen, the Landrys had their daughter cremated. It won't be possible to test the other remains."

"I see." Gwen's tears began to dry, to the amazement of everyone watching. Calmly, she stood up and began pacing the room. Ethan watched her worriedly. Had it all been too much for his wife-was she about to snap?

Gwen turned to the men and looked them each in the face. "This is all very convenient, don't you think? The missing records, the unavailable coroner, the 'accidental' switching of the bodies, the Landrys having their daughter cremated. I don't buy it."

"Gwen, what are you saying?" Ethan asked.

"I'm saying this doesn't add up. I can't believe I'm about to say this but I think Theresa was right all along. I think Sarah's alive."

Winthrop Residence

Gwen had been silent for over an hour after making her dramatic declaration in the coroner's office. They had gone home almost immediately after. There seemed to be nothing else to say. She could see the pity in Sam and Luis's eyes, and the frank disbelief on Geoffrey Masters face. They all thought she'd lost it, she thought to herself broodingly. Even Ethan. She looked at her husband resentfully.

Ethan watched his wife as she quietly unloaded the dishwasher, doing chores as if it were just any other evening. He wasn't fooled by her calm facade. Underneath it, a storm was brewing and he needed to head it off at the pass.

"Gwen, stop. Come here." He took his wife's hand and walked her over to the couch, putting subtle pressure on her until she sat down. Kneeling in front of her, he took both her hands in his. "Gwen, I know this has been a terrible time-for both of us. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you, but we have to face this together. Our daughter is dead, and no amount of wishful thinking will change that. I'm so sorry that all this had to happen. Someone will pay for this mix up, I swear, but it doesn't change the facts. Please, let her go, honey. Let our daughter go."

Gwen's eyes welled again. Crying again-she couldn't believe she had more tears left to shed. "Ethan, it just doesn't make sense. It's all too strange to be mere coincidence. Throw Alistair into the mix, and it all adds up. Something is very, very wrong."

"No." Ethan shook his head, allowing irritation creep into his voice. "I'm not going to let you go down that road, Gwen. I'm not, do you hear me? Sarah's death nearly destroyed us, but we finally got past it. Now you want to go chasing rainbows until you find out there's nothing really there. It will kill you, Gwen. It will rip your heart out when you realize that it was all just a fantasy-that our little girl died five years ago in Los Angeles. I won't let you go through that. I will do everything in my power from letting you get hurt like that again."

Stunned by the iron in his voice, Gwen couldn't think of anything to say as Ethan got to his feet.

"I'm making an appointment for you, with a psychiatrist. It will help you deal with all of this."

Gwen started to protest but Ethan cut her off. "I'm not going to argue with you about this, Gwen. It is completely understandable that you want to believe that Sarah's alive, but I'm not letting Theresa drag you into one of her crazy fantasies. You're going to deal with this now. We both are."

"Ethan, please, listen to me..."

"Gwen, I can't hear this right now. I'm going out for a while." Ethan pulled his jacket out of his closet. "Would you like me to call someone to stay with you and Jane?"

Gwen couldn't believe her ears. Ethan was treating her like a child-an unstable, emotionally fragile child. "Of course not, Ethan but would you please just-"

Ethan acted like he hadn't heard a word she said. The slamming of the front door was his only response. Dropping back onto the couch, Gwen buried her face in the cushions and began to sob her heart out.

Walking

Ignoring the chill wind, Ethan walked mindlessly, without destination. The sky darkened and the hours ticked by as his feet pounded the dark streets, and yet he couldn't seem to exhaust himself enough for his mind to let him rest.

'What is happening to me?' He whispered to himself. 'How could I just leave Gwen in that state? My God...I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I've never felt so lost. I don't know what to do. I don't know if I have the energy to keep trying. Theresa always believed in fate. Well, I do too, to be honest. I believe fate is a cruel puppetmaster, pulling all of our strings and laughing while we twist in the wind. Fate will never bring me and Theresa together-all it does is take. It took my identity, the love of my life, my daughter, and now it's taking me, bit by bit. I'm falling apart.'

Finally, he turned and walked towards the one place he always seemed to end up when he needed to think. The pier. Standing on the edge, his eyes moved with the restless waves. He didn't know how long he'd been there when he felt a hand slip into his. He didn't need to look. He knew it was her, because he needed her, and she always came when he did.

"Hello, Theresa."

Theresa looked into Ethan's sorrow filled eyes and her heart clenched.

"I heard about Sarah." she murmured softly as his fingers tightened around hers. "About the...mix up. Luis told me."

Ethan sighed heavily. "So you came. How did you find me?"

Theresa laughed softly. "Ethan, I will always be here. No matter where you go, no matter how far apart we are, or who we're with, I'll always be here for you. You could be across the world, in middle of the biggest crowd, so loud you can't hear yourself think, and all you'd have to do is whisper my name, and I'll come."

"I don't deserve you." Ethan's whisper was so soft that she barely heard it. And maybe it was true, but at the moment, she didn't care. All she cared about was that he was bleeding inside, and he needed her, and as long as he did, she wasn't going anywhere.

As Ethan wrapped his arms around Theresa a small voice screamed in his head that it should be Gwen he was allowing to comfort him, not her. But he couldn't break down in front of Gwen-he was too afraid of what it could do to her. Right now he wanted to be weak, he wanted to fall apart and be put back together, and this was what he needed. Right or wrong, he couldn't move.

Several hours later Theresa quietly opened her front door, walking softly into the darkened living room, not wanting to make any noise that might awaken Pilar or Ethan Jr. She didn't bother to flip on the light; just stowed her purse on the counter in the gloom, intending to go straight to her bed. She was exhausted.

"Well, you are certainly burning the midnight oil, aren't you?' A crisp, cold voice came out of the darkness, startling Theresa so much her keys slipped out of her hand and thudded on the floor. She flipped on the light, her heart pounding as she whirled to confront the person sitting on the couch.

"Gwen?! What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Gwen gave her a small, bitter looking smile. "I came to talk to you. I thought that would be obvious."

"How did you get in?" Theresa looked around. There was no sign of Pilar, and she certainly wouldn't have left Gwen alone and gone back to sleep.

Gwen held up a key, arching an eyebrow at Theresa's shocked expression. "I can't believe you still hide the spare underneath the mat. That's the first place a burglar would look, I hope you know."

Theresa sighed in irritation. "I told Mama to stop doing that." She murmured softly, more to herself then to Gwen.

Her momentary anger washed away as she saw the small figure next to Gwen, sleeping soundly underneath a pink blanket. "You brought Jane." she said in surprise.
"Of course I brought her." Gwen rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'm not exactly going to leave her home by herself."

"Well, what about Ethan?" Theresa asked, trying to sound like she didn't know Ethan hadn't been home all night.

"He's out." Gwen snapped. "Enough with the chit chat, Theresa. I need to talk to you about Sarah. I need to know exactly why you believe she's not dead. And then..." Gwen closed her eyes for a moment, unable to believe herself what she was about to say. "I think I need your help."

You need my help." Theresa repeatedly blankly. "Well, that's a switch."

"Don't rub it in." Gwen snapped. "I would do anything to find my daughter, and that is the only reason why I'm desperate enough to come to you. I'm not looking to bond or anything."

"That's a relief." Theresa muttered.

Gwen heaved an impatient sigh. "Are we going to talk or what?"

"That depends. You got a baseball bat stashed underneath that coat?" Theresa gave Gwen an arch smile.

"Ha ha. This is serious, Theresa."

"OK, OK. So talk."

Gwen spent the next few minutes detailing what she and Ethan had found out from Geoffrey Masters that day. Theresa didn't bother to tell her she already knew most of it-it would probably cause more drama and that was the last thing she was in the mood for.

" We're supposed to get the test results tomorrow to confirm that the body in Sarah's grave is Shilah's, but the coroner is just about certain that it is. So everyone is convinced that it's just a mix up, that Sarah was cremated in place of that poor Shilah Landry." Gwen finished.

"But you're not." Theresa said quietly.

Gwen exhaled. "I don't know. Maybe Ethan is right. Maybe I'm just letting myself get lost in this fantasy that Sarah is alive. After all, the only other person in all of Harmony who thinks it might be true is you, and that's never an indicator of reality."

Theresa rolled her eyes but chose to ignore the insult for the moment. "Gwen, what do you really believe, deep down? Listen to your heart. What is it telling you? Do you honestly think that Sarah is dead? Or does your mother's instinct tell you that she's not?"

Gwen closed her eyes for a moment, and a single tear escaped from beneath her eyelids, sliding down her face. "She's alive, Theresa. I know it. I feel it."

"Well, that's good enough for me. I believe it too."

Gwen opened her eyes and stared at Theresa suspiciously. "Why do you believe me, Theresa? Why you, out of everyone? Do you know something you're not telling me?" She sat up straight as a thought occurred to her. "Did you find something? You have access to everything of Alistair's-his records, his computer-you found something, didn't you?" Her tone was accusing.

"No." Theresa shook her head. "I've looked, believe me. Alistair had a ton of encrypted files-who knows what information was in there. But I hired the best computer hacker in the country and when he broke the code, everything had been emptied. Whatever secrets Alistair had, he took them to the grave."

"So that's it. We have no leads, nothing to go on. This is just a waste of time." Gwen's tone was despairing.

"No, Gwen, that's not true. I can help you. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll have the best software installed to do a composite picture of what Sarah might look like now. We'll have her flyer distributed all over the world. We'll hire detectives in every single country that Crane has offices at. We will find her, Gwen. With Crane Industries behind you, you and Ethan will have endless resources at your fingertips."

"Why would you do that?" Gwen looked both hopeful and wary. "I know it's not out of the goodness of your heart, Theresa. I have a hard time believing you have one. So what is the price for your help?"

Theresa hesitated. She knew Gwen would never believe it, but it had been an honest offer, made with no thought of what she might gain from it. She had never been able to shake off her share of guilt over Sarah's death. Hidden it, yes..tried to deny it, tried to stomp it into oblivion. But deep down, she had to live with the fact that Ethan and Gwen had lost her child and she had been involved. But now that Gwen had mentioned it...this may be the opportunity that she had been waiting for...

Gwen tensed as she saw Theresa's eyes fasten on Jane. "You bitch." She whispered. "You're going to blackmail me into giving you back Jane, aren't you?"

"It's not blackmail, Gwen." Theresa said through gritted teeth. "She is my daughter. She needs to be with me. You ripped her away from me. Be honest, Gwen-if you were in my position what would you do?"

Gwen ignored the question. "I could never be in your position, and thank God for that." She stood up, scooping Jane into her arms. "I love Jane. Sarah is my daughter and part of my soul, but she has her own place in my heart. Jane is my child too, and I won't just trade her to you. I can't. This conversation is over. I'll find Sarah without you."

Theresa watched silently as Gwen stormed out the door, slamming it behind her. "I don't think you can, Gwen." She whispered to herself. "And I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not."

To Be Continued...