On December 20th, 1989, a national news station ran a story that the Palone family was considering divorce, and the whole country gobbled it up. Mothers clucked their tongues and said that it was a shame, but a fine young man such as Antony shouldn't be married to such a woman. Fathers grunted and asked the rhetorical question: Why didn't they think of this sooner? Children frowned and asked their parents what "divorce" was. Across the Pacific, Elizabeth Palone watched in horror as Catherine Palone sat calmly, voicing her regrets about the affair but also hinting that it could free her son. After a few relentless days of calls and conversations with everyone from Allen to Catherine, her frustrations finally turned to her daughter.
"Worthless! Why did I have to sacrifice my life for someone so worthless?"
On December 23th, 1989, Alexandra Palone cried for the first time about her mother. It would not be the last.