Chapter one!
Ridge and Brooke still discuss the delicate situation but they cannot find any consensus to agree on. Brooke is deeply concerned about Ridge. She can see that the entire mess with Forrester's creation is really taking a toll on him. Indeed, Ridge has to control himself very hard not to smash the glass he holds right now against the wall. He never felt so betrayed and disappointed in his entire life. And that from his so-called best friend and a girl that he once called his little princess and fathered and raised.
Ridge runs around the room like a tiger in the cage. Brooke tries to comfort him and hugs him.
"Ridge! Sweetheart! You really need to calm yourself down. It doesn't do anyone any good if you get so worked up about all this. The situation is as it is and now we have to deal with it. We need to find a solution all together. And not with calling eachother names and lashing out but in a professional and reasonable way."
"Are you kidding me? Do you hear yourself actually talking? Did you lose your mind? If I hear the word 'reasonable' once more I'm gonna throw up. And why do you expect me to play the peacemaker and to show some compassion towards Hope and Carter? Why didn't you tell them to be reasonable and compassionate... Before they stole our company...why didn't you stop them?"
"I tried Ridge! I spoke with Hope and I told her that I don't approve of what they're doing and that I think it's wrong. But Hope also explains to me why they're doing this and how hard this situation is for them. They're not doing this because they want to betray you. They feel bad about themselves. They are struggling, but they think they are forced to do it. That there is no other way."
"What are you trying to say to me, Logan? Shall I feel sorry for Hope and Carter? Shall I feel bad for them because they are so messed up that they didn't see any other way other than to steal our company, the company of my family, of my parents! I tell you what I can give you a million other ways we could have come up with if they had talked to us. If they had truly told us what they feel and what was going on with them!"
"They did that Ridge! Hope tried to apologize and explain that the situation with Finn was a misunderstanding. That Steffy had no reason to fire her. Carter tried to reason with you as well, but you weren't listening to them. And they were tired of just being disrespected and being crushed by Steffy and her childish behavior."
"Oh, now we are on this track again. You are blaming my daughter for all of this. Do you know what's the difference between Steffy and Hope? Steffy plays with open cards. She never made it a secret how she thinks about Hope. And she shared her concerns with everybody about Hope's totally irrational behavior for the last few months. And she dealt with Hope face to face after she heard that Hope was kissing Finn. And even her so-called threat that she would cancel 'Hope for the future' if Hope goes near Finn ever again…she didn't hide it. But that is exactly what Hope is doing. She is sneaky, tricky and manipulative. Instead of going into an open confrontation with us, she plays dirty behind our backs. First, she asks Finn to keep the kiss a secret between them. She wanted to make sure that it never comes out in the open because it would have damaged her holy image. Then she gets secretly involved with Carter, telling it to nobody which led to this misunderstanding between her and Steffy and Steffy firing her. And last but not least she plays Carter to steal our company behind our back and you know what?! I'm sick of dealing with her craziness. I meant everything what I said about her and I even meant it when I called her a bi*h! I know I put you in a very difficult and complicated situation, but for my part Hope is no longer part of our family!"
As Ridge and Brooke continue arguing, in the house Hope and Carter arrive at the Logan property and get out of the car. Hope is still shaking and rattled due to their confrontation with Zende earlier. She hoped so badly that at least the rest of the family would understand Carter's and her motivation for taking this step and that they would stand by their side and support them.
Carter and she knew very well that Steffy would throw a fit, when she realized the consequences and the fact she was no longer in control of Forrester Creation. And also Ridge's forceful and aggressive reaction was not a big surprise for them, even though Hope was truly shocked when Ridge called her the B-word and lashed out and put all the blame on her.
But also Zende seemed very disturbed by their actions and reacted rather reserved to their plans. Hope thought he should be thrilled and enthusiastic that they now have the chance to recreate 'Hope for the future' and make it even bigger and better than it was before. But instead he didn't accept her offer as she hoped for. Instead, he made it perfectly clear that he needs some time to think and to evaluate the situation. He pointed out very firmly that he doesn't approve of what they did and that he thinks it was a big mistake. A mistake that will affect both families, the Forresters and the Logans in the most terrible, destructive way, for a very long time. At the end, he explained to them he wouldn't make any decision without discussing the situation with Ridge and Eric first. Because he has no desire to betray them, and stab them in the back as they did.
As Hope gets out of the car, she breathes in the fresh air and thinks about the situation and the future and what happened today. Were they really these bad vindictive and horrible people like everyone else called them? Carter comes around the car and embraces her closely.
He can see on Hope's face how much she is struggling. He himself also has a hard time dealing with the situation. More than he wants to show. He knew that this day wouldn't be easy and that the next time would be a tough challenge for them. But to be confronted with all the hurt, anger and madness from his former friends and family was not an easy pill to swallow for him. He realizes that with this day he lost something that played a big part in his life for a long time. He can only pray that in the future everybody, even maybe Steffy, Eric and Ridge will see that he truly only wants what's best for the company. He wants to show them and the rest of the world what Forrester Creation can be under his leadership.