Shane McMahon parked his car in the street outside of his sister's condo. It was time to find out what all of this was about. He had received a text from her the previous night asking him to take the afternoon off from work and to come over because she needed to talk. Of course he had immediately been concerned and had tried to call her but the attempt had been rejected and then another text had arrived asking him not to call, just to come over the next day. Something had obviously happened to upset her but he could not image what it was. Presumably it was something to do with work but from what he had seen on TV Stephanie had been playing her part well and she was not the kind of person to get involved in trouble in the locker room so it made no sense to think that maybe she had lost her job somehow. Whatever it was he was about to find out as he reached the condo and knocked on the door.

Inside the condo Stephanie leapt up from her couch. She knew that the person at the door would be Shane and she had been waiting for this chance to talk since finding out that she was pregnant the previous morning. Despite badly needing to talk to her brother it was not a conversation that she wanted to have over the phone as she knew that she would not be able to discuss the wreck that was now her life without breaking down and this way at least Shane would be with her in person when that happened. She opened the door and saw the concern on her brother's face as he greeted her, walked in and they exchanged their customary hug.

"I've been worrying since last Steph," he began as he walked into the living area and sat down on the couch, "Tell me what's wrong? Is it work?"

With the moment now at hand Stephanie suddenly found herself unsure of how to tell Shane what she wanted to tell him as she sat down next to him. The words just began to spill out as tears welled up in her eyes. Shane had the good sense to listen to it all without interrupting. His only action was to take his little sister's hand in his own as she made her way awkwardly through her story with some of the words hard to make out through her tears. "You remember the married man I told you about? He broke it off with me and he treated and spoke to me really badly. You were right about him and in a way I was glad to be away from him even though I loved him. I've not been feeling right for a while and then... what I'm trying to say is I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant with his baby and he told me he doesn't want anything to do with me or 'my' kid. I obviously can't wrestle now so my career is over. My life is over. He used me and he's ruined everything for me and he doesn't even care. And don't suggest an abortion because I already thought about it and I could never do it."

Despite the fact that his blood was now boiling at the way Stephanie had been used and abused by whoever this prick was Shane did an excellent job of concealing the fact as he pulled his tearful sister into a hug and gently shushed her until she was able to bring herself under control. "Your life is not over. It's not over and don't ever think that way. Even if this asshole wants nothing to do with you or your child you have Marissa and I to help you. Maybe you should try to patch things up with mom and dad?"

Stephanie had to wonder if her brother was for real. Her parents had literally disowned her for walking away from the family business to chase her lifelong dream and they had sent her on her way with words such as naive and stupid. Did Shane really think that these opinions would change if she showed up at the age of twenty two with her career and life in ruins, carrying the baby of a married man who wanted nothing to do with her? It was hardly likely was it? She could tell from Shane's expression that he was thinking the exact same things immediately after voicing the suggestion. "That's not going to happen Shane, I think we both know that."

"Well as I said Marissa and I are here for you. We'll help however and whenever you need us, I promise you that."

Tears returned to Stephanie's eyes. She had known that Shane would offer help but even so as she heard the words it was as if a tiny, ever so tiny light appeared at the end of the tunnel. "Thank you. Thank you so much. Without you guys in my life I would truly have nothing."

Holding and listening to his distraught sister was making Shane wild with rage that he was only barely keeping from exploding. "Who is this guy Steph?"

Previously Stephanie had avoided telling Shane anything more than that she was seeing a married man. His reaction to that had been bad enough so she had wanted to avoid a further lecture by not admitting that it was one of the wrestlers that she worked with but that hardly mattered now. There was no longer a reason not to admit the truth. "One of the wrestlers. Paul Levesque, Triple H as you would know him."

"Fucking hell Steph what were you thinking?"

"What was I thinking? I thought he loved me but no, he treated me like a worthless piece of meat."

Unable to bear it any more Shane separated himself from his sister and stormed towards the door. "Where are you going?" Stephanie asked urgently, afraid and correct in thinking that she already knew the answer.

Shane stopped in front of the Condo's door and turned around to face Stephanie. "I'm going to WWE's offices. If that prick isn't there himself I'm going to talk to that woman who runs the place and she's going to have to sort this. What's her name again, something foreign isn't it?"

Now Stephanie was torn. Shane storming into WWE headquarters and starting into Paul would not reflect well on her and also could potentially see Shane get hurt but on the other hand maybe he could be the one to get through to Paul that he had a child to be responsible for. Either way talking to the boss would not be necessary as Paul would be in the office. Everyone knew that he worked in the creative department now. "Her name is Laura but you won't need or probably even get close to speaking to her. Paul will be there but I don't know if you'll get to see him either. Let me get changed and I'll come with you."

Ten minutes later they were both in Shane's car heading for WWE headquarters.

This was without doubt the worst that Laura had ever felt in her life. Her husband had just left the office and it gave her the chance to sit at her desk with her head in her hands. Dan had been so pleased to see her after spending a rare night apart but as they had been kissing all she could feel was guilt and hatred of herself. She had cheated on the man she so dearly loved. She had been talked into it by Paul Levesque and even worse than that she could not pretend that she had not thoroughly enjoyed it, up until the point where Trish walked in of course. Now not only did she have to live with the fact that she had cheated but also with the fact that two other people knew about it and could blow her life apart at any moment.

This situation, Paul Levesque in particular was becoming unmanageable. There was never going to be a set of circumstances where she would be able to fire the guy, if anything it was more likely that the board would no confidence her before that happened. Even so things could not go on as they were, there was no place for an out of control employee in her company no matter who it was. If she could not fire him maybe there was another way to put an end to his antics, but what?

"There's more than one way to manage people Laura." Her husband's helpful voice repeated itself in her mind. Getting angry with Paul did not work. Playing him at his own games did not work. Maybe she could try to talk some sense into the guy instead? Surely no one actually wanted to be this much of an asshole? Deciding that there was no time like the present she picked up her phone and was almost immediately connected with her secretary. "Get Paul Levesque up here right away."

"Yes ma'am."

More than ten minutes went by before Paul arrived, presumably an attempt to get under her skin by not responding immediately. He at least bothered to knock before entering the office and as he did so Laura noticed that he was limping slightly. Apparently his knee was causing him pain but this did not stop him from smiling and greeting her quietly with, "What's up, you fancied some more?" Any other employee would nervously or at least respectfully begin with good afternoon but of course not Paul. Getting Paul in line was going to be a virtually impossible task and even if it was possible god only knew how long it would take. Deliberately keeping her voice neutral she gestured and ordered, "Sit down Paul. Why are you limping?"

The familiar smirk appeared on the face of her employee as he he sat opposite her. "As I remember it there were two hot chicks fighting over me and I twisted my knee trying to separate them. One of them was naked and god damn she was hot."

Already more than tired of being referred to so disrespectfully somehow Laura kept a level head, something that rarely happened at the best of times, as she asked, 'Do you actually enjoy being such a bastard?"

Paul seemed to grow serious now and the arrogance and sarcasm were missing from his voice as he responded, "Let me just ask, why am I a bastard? I mean seriously? I sleep with Stephanie McMahon and specifically tell her that it's just sex yet she lets herself get pregnant and I'm a bastard. You and I have a drink together then you come to my room and practically throw yourself at me, we have sex that we both thoroughly enjoy and then my wife walks in which surprised me as much as it did you and for that reason I'm a bastard? Do you want to explain any of this or should we just arrange a time and place to make a night of it?"

For the briefest of moments Laura found herself considering the proposal and she despised herself for it but then she remembered how she felt when Trish had walked into the room and the prospect of losing her marriage had suddenly loomed large. There was no way that it could happen again. "It's not going to happen again Paul, ever. The knee, how bad is it?"

The news that she was not interested in more sex was taken in Paul's stride. Perhaps it had already been obvious and he had just been toying with her? "I expected it to be worse than it is. It hurt a lot last night but this morning it wasn't swollen so I might have gotten off lightly. I'll be extra careful with it for a week or so."

"Paul, talk to Stephanie," Laura blurted out, taking him completely by surprise "She's carrying your child for god's sake man. This isn't a game. You're going to be a father. Having a child is an amazing thing."

"Wasn't amazing for you was it?" Paul felt guilty immediately as he said it. Pushing her buttons was one thing but that had been outright cruel. It had came out before he could stop it and the hurt look on the woman's face in front of him was not nice to see and she almost whispered, "Oh you bastard. Get out."

"Laura I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"Just get out Paul. You're a disgusting human being. You're the lowest of the low and you'll die a lonely miserable bastard and it will be nothing short of what you deserve. Get out. Now. Get out of my office and get out of my building."

Paul limped towards the door without offering a further apology. He had clearly hurt Laura too much for that right now. He would have to apologise another time and make it good. As for right now he would do as asked and go home to his condo. His empty condo. Everyone kept telling him that he would be lonely but his empty condo would be perfect right now. As the elevator descended he felt anger rapidly building inside him both with himself for this latest act of stupidity and for everything else that fate was dealing him. A seemingly never ending knee injury, a divorce and an unwanted child. It was all he could do not to punch the elevator doors before they slid open to reveal the lobby.

Only moments later Shane McMahon pulled his car into the parking lot of WWE headquarters and parked in an available spot. "How do we find this guy Paul?" He asked his sister. As he looked over at her she pointed straight ahead, "It won't be hard. There he is now." The driver's door was already flying open.