Emily's heart was pounding as she rushed down the stairs to find Aiden. She had to explain everything. She was walked briskly, trying not to draw any attention to herself. She stopped for a moment, wiping the sweat from her brow. She felt like she was losing her mind. Everything was a mess.

She reassured herself with the belief that if she found Aiden, everything would be alright. He would be able to talks some sense into her. Emily leant against a wall, her breath short. Her entire plan had been turned upside down and she had no idea what to do to next. Her head was spinning and she felt her legs begin to tremble. She felt... light headed. Come on, pull yourself together, she thought. Emily tried to hold herself up, but she couldn't. The next thing she felt was her head hitting against the edge of a table. Her body fell to the ground with a thud.

Her eyes closed, and for a moment everything disappeared.

"Emily," whispered Victoria softly.

Victoria watched the young woman eagerly from her chair, hoping Emily would open her eyes. Emily lay still, immersed in sleep. Wires were connected to her from all angles. Doctors and nurses passed through the corridor outside the room. With Victoria sat Conrad, Charlotte, Jack, Nolan and Aiden. Everyone had been extremely worried upon finding that Emily had collapsed on the boat, striking her head and knocking herself unconscious. After multiple attempts to wake her she had been rushed to hospital.

Nolan and Jack stood next to Emily, each holding one of her hands. Aiden stood alone near the window, silent. Victoria couldn't quite work out why, but there was an uncomfortable, tense feeling in the room.

Suddenly, a gentle voice spoke. "What... what happened?"

Emily had woken. Everyone jumped in surprise and began fussing over her. Nolan had brought with him Emily's favorite toy rabbit from when she was a child. Emily smiled, chuckling as she grabbed the toy. Jack discreetly wiped a tear of joy from his eye, as he had been so worried. Conrad and Charlotte shared a smile, glad to see Emily was going to be okay. Victoria explained to Emily what had happened. They were simply grateful she was alive and well.

All except Aiden, who stood watching from afar.

Nolan noticed him standing alone. "Hey, big boy, what are you doing? Get over here. Ems has arisen from the dead."

Aiden forced himself to smile, and fidgeted with an object in his pocket.

Nolan shrugged and turned back to Emily. Thanks to his inquisitive mind, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Aiden. Nolan knew all the secrets. He knew that Emily was the love of Aiden's life. He had known every single detail of Emily's master plan, and he knew that it had all turned awry seeing as she had landed herself in hospital. Perhaps Aiden was sulking because he hadn't been able to run away with Emily as planned.

Nolan, however, did not know the truth.

After twenty minutes, Emily was more awake and was talking to Charlotte, who was in a terrible state of shock after learning her older brother had been shot. Victoria and Conrad stood close by, their hands interlocked, naturally devastated by Daniel's terrible fate. Emily wondered in silence whether Victoria would tell Conrad the truth – that Aiden was responsible for Daniel's death. She shuddered and pushed the thought out of her mind. She would solve that problem when she came to it.

Emily then heard Aiden's voice. "I hope you don't mind, everyone, but I'd like a few minutes with Emily alone. Please." He locked eyes with Emily for a brief moment, but quickly averted his gaze.

Victoria brushed past Emily on her way out of the room, slipping a small piece of paper into her hand. Emily shivered at the touch of Victoria's skin against hers.

Soon enough, Aiden and Emily were finally alone. He stood a few meters from her bed, his muscular arms crossed against his body. Emily took a deep breath.

He knows. He heard Daniel talking about Victoria and I getting together, she thought.

"Aiden, I need to explain something to you..."

He cut her off. "Don't bother. I saw you two, you know."

"What… what do you mean?"

"On the boat. I saw you and Victoria before Daniel did," he continued, his tone of voice brutally cold.

Emily's stomach flipped. She swallowed, her throat dry. "Oh God… no. Let me tell you the truth..."

"I saw the way she looked at you, Emily. I saw you kissing her. I saw everything. And I saw the way you looked at her. Christ, you have never looked at me in that way. You loved what she did to you."

"Don't say it like that..." she breathed, embarrassed. The deepest surge of regret and guilt ran through her, and she wished she could disappear. She had hurt the only man she ever truly loved, and she knew she was never going to have him back.

"Aiden, listen. It isn't like that and you know it," continued Emily desperately. "Victoria forced herself onto me. I had everything organized on that boat, ready to go, exactly like we planned. I was about to reach for the gun and shoot into the air when she approached me..."

Aiden glared. "Bullshit. You could have knocked her out easily. But you chose otherwise. You chose to let her fuck you. I can't believe this. Damn it, Emily, I can't believe you would do this to me."

Tears welled in Aiden's eyes. He wanted to scream at her and tear the walls down. He had never felt so angry and so hurt. He had seen the wild passion and desire in Emily's eyes as Victoria had seduced her. He loved Emily with all his being, but this… this was something he could never forgive her for.

Emily was more ashamed than words could explain. Her face burned with embarrassment and with guilt. She didn't know what to say or what to do. She knew an apology would mean nothing to Aiden, whom she knew better than anyone. She knew he was so fiercely loyal that she he would have died for her.

Suddenly, Aiden walked over to her bed. He grabbed Emily's hand and forced it open. In her hand was Victoria's note.

He began reading it aloud, his voice shaking with fury. "I received your text messages. You don't know how wonderful it is to hear those words, Emily. I will never disclose what Aiden did to Daniel. We can be together. Call me as soon as you are discharged."

Emily began to weep with shame. "Don't believe it, Aiden, please. It's not true," she cried. "You're the one I want to be with. Please forgive me... I am so sorry."

Aiden ripped the note into pieces. "It's not true? How do you explain your most recent phone bill then?"

"What are you talking about? My bills are confidential. Nobody can access them besides…"

"Besides you and Nolan? I've been staying with Nolan for the past month, in case you had forgotten. Your bills are delivered to his house. I saw it with my own eyes… hundreds of calls and texts to Victoria's number."

Emily hung her head with shame. He had proved her wrong and had uncovered her darkest secret – one she had been in denial about for what felt like eternity. Nothing she could say would fix the situation now. Never had she hated herself so much in her life. All she could do was lay there, hopeless and humiliated, knowing she had at that moment lost Aiden forever.

He paced the room in frustration, back and forth. He soon stopped, staring at Emily with dark eyes. "Tell me why I shouldn't leave you right this second,"

Emily tried to hide her tears. "You know why..." She looked up at him. "You know…"

"Tell me!" screamed Aiden. "Say it!"

"Because I love you!" cried Emily. "I love you, Aiden… I would do anything for you!"

"Then why did you say the same thing to Victoria!?" he shouted, his fist slamming hard against the wall.

Slowly, she shook her head, the tears continuing to fall. "Aiden…"

He exhaled, trying to regain his composure. He and Emily both knew the truth, as much as he didn't want to believe it for a second. His heart ached and his soul was crushed. He had seen Emily's phone bills. However, because Nolan had figured out how to hack into the Grayson's surveillance cameras located throughout the house, Aiden had been able to see exactly what Victoria and Emily had been doing. Night after night, Aiden had watched as Emily repeatedly turned up on Victoria's doorstep. The two women would then quietly make their way to one of the guestrooms and engage in the most passionate affair. He was sure that Nolan had no idea about it – he had been so busy with his work developments lately.

Aiden had been betrayed like never before. Emily had been lying to him for so long, and he knew he would never be able to forgive her. All he had wanted was to build a life with Emily – with Amanda – the only woman who had ever understood and loved him for who he really was. Now, that dream was shattered.

What was there to live for?

Aiden slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a tiny glass bottle. It was one inch long, and seemed to be filled with clear liquid. His blue eyes were blurred with tears as he held up the bottle for Emily to see.

"This is potassium cyanide. Once it enters my system it will kill me in 45 seconds," he spoke with no emotion.

"No! You wouldn't dare... no!" Emily covered her mouth with her hands and screamed. She could barely breathe. In a state of panic she ripped the tubes out of her arm, stumbling out of the hospital bed as quickly as she could. She fell clumsily to the ground while her head ached in agony.

Aiden continued nonetheless. "Emily, I've only ever loved you. I thought we were in this together. I thought we wanted the same thing. I trusted the future we had planned... I trusted you..."

"Stop it, Aiden!" screamed Emily, her voice trembling. She tried to crawl across the floor to snatch the bottle from Aiden.

"How can I live when I know what you've done?" he replied.

Her heart was pounding. She had finally managed to reach where Aiden was standing. She tugged aggressively, desperately, at his jeans, trying to knock the bottle out of his hand. But it was too late.

Aiden looked down at Emily, then straight ahead. Standing outside, watching through the window, was Victoria.

The last thing Aiden saw was Victoria's fatal smile.

He unscrewed the lid, and swallowed the toxic liquid.