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| Chapter Seven | |||||||||
| Bernoulli's Principle (Action/Reaction) | |||||||||
| "Oh my god, Stefano's alive." Marlena said announcing what everyone knew to be true, the fear that most people in the room had held for years was alive. | |||||||||
| Lexie was the first person to recover walking to her father she embraced him. "Oh father, thank God you're alive. I'd always hoped that somehow you'd survived." Lexie said as Stefano returned her hug. | |||||||||
| "Yes, Alexandra I'm alive. I am sorry for the deception. And for having held the truth against you for so long. It was the only way I knew how to protect you, my child." He replied as Brandon walked toward his wife. Releasing Lexie, Stefano held a hand out for him to shake, which he did warily. | |||||||||
| "Oh Father, I have so much to tell you. You have a granddaughter. We, that is Brandon and I, named her Stephanie ... after you." Lexie told her father as she pulled her husband closer to her. | |||||||||
| "Yes, I know, she is beautiful Alexandra." Stefano told her earnestly. | |||||||||
| "As much as I hate to break up this tender, family moment, I do believe there are more pressing matters to be discussed. Such as, why you are alive and not behind bars as you should be." John said clearly annoyed that Stefano was alive. | |||||||||
| "I'd like some answers myself, Dad. Starting off with, how in the world Chloe could be your granddaughter. You'll forgive me if I'm not inclined to believe you," Brady remarked looking pointedly at Stefano. "Or herhusband, which I don't believe for a second that you are," he sneered at Philip. | |||||||||
| "Yes, Father please explain how you're so sure Chloe is Tony's daughter." Lexie added wanting some answers herself. "If Tony and Andre are identical then how come Nancy never said anything about him being the father of Chloe?" She asked. | |||||||||
| "Lexie's right, Tony can't be Chloe's biological father or Nancy would have said something by now. And I'm sure Chloe's marriage isn't legit either so--," Belle started only to be interrupted by Nancy. | |||||||||
| "I was raped by Chloe's natural father and--," Nancy started to explain clearly shaken by all of the recent revelations that had come to light. But, it was Chloe instead of Craig who stepped in for her. Pressing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Nancy's eyes glimmered with unshed tears when her eyes met Chloe's. Her hand twined with her daughter's. | |||||||||
| "First of all, my mother owes no one in this room any explanations and least of all you, Belle. As for my marriage, well this might surprise you but it is indeed as real. It is as real as anyone else's marriage here. But, even if it wasn't, my marriage, my life is none of your damn business. This marriage is between Philip and I, that's all you need to know. But, for the record, Stefano is my grandfather and Philip is my husband. And neither of them owes any of you any explanations." Chloe replied to Belle but speaking to everyone in the room. | |||||||||
| "Chloe I don't know what Philip has done, how he blackmailed you into marrying him but I will help you out in anyway I can. I'll help you get a divorce and take Lily far, far away from him. I sincerely doubt that you want her anywhere Philip or Stefano for that matter." Brady told Chloe. | |||||||||
| "Now you just wait a minute Brady Black. You have no right--,"Lexie started. | |||||||||
| "Lexie why don't you take Stefano and go somewhere to catch up. I'm sure you both have a lot of talking to do. Chloe and I," Philip glanced down proudly at his wife. "Can handle everything from here on out." | |||||||||
| When Lexie started to interrupt again Brandon intervened. "Lexie, he's right, you need some time to reacquaint yourself with your father in private. Come on, I know the perfect place." Brandon said as he ushered his wife, cousin-in-law and father-in-law out of the dining room and into the private space Stefano had appeared from. | |||||||||
| "What the hell is going on here Philip? Why did you bring Stefano Dimera here to destroy us?" Bo asked the anger clearly evident in his voice. | |||||||||
| "How could you Philip? We're your family and you're helping the enemy." Belle said accusingly as she turned toward Shawn. | |||||||||
| "Do you have any idea what you've done you idiot?" John asked angrily. | |||||||||
| "You son of a bitch how could you let this ... this man into our lives. Don't you even think? No of course you don't. You don't care about anyone but yourself and you. I hope that Stefano turns on you as well. You've put everyone in danger, EVERYONE, in jeopardy all because of your need for revenge. You will pay for this." Brady said. | |||||||||
| "Now, hold on everybody, lets not jump to conclusions. Philip may have a perfectly good explanation." Bo replied now calmly trying to take control of the situation. | |||||||||
| "Oh come on Bo, you heard your brother admit he brought Stefano back to Salem to destroy all of us." John interrupted disbelievingly. | |||||||||
| "My father is right, Philip did this to have us atone for some unknown crime we're supposed to have committed against him. This is all for some sort of revenge for him and he's forced Chloe and her daughter in on it as well." Brady started. | |||||||||
| "Stop it!" Bo yelled attempting yet again to get some order. "Look neither you nor John," he moved into the anger faces of the Black men. "Know anything about my brother or his reasoning for bringing Stefano here. And before you condemn him you should give him the chance to tell us why." Bo said hoping to find out that Philip hadn' t betrayed him in the worst way by helping Dimera. | |||||||||
| "First of all, Bo I really don't owe you or anyone else in this room excluding my wife any explanations." | |||||||||
| "Now, you see what I'm talking about Bo, your precious brother here, is in cahoots with Stefano to destroy us." John interrupted again. | |||||||||
| "However, I will, just this once explain." Philip started again this time his sliver eyes bright like lightening. "My father always told me that family was important. You take the good with the bad you don't discriminate. Although, with this family, you'd never know that because you don't allow anyone in who isn't "good". But, anyway, being my father's son family is important to me also most especially for my daughter." He looked at Brady to see him clench his teeth together in anger. "Liliana Jade, LJ, doesn't have a grandfather anymore. But, she can have a great-grandfather. I won't deny my daughter the chance to get to know him. She has a right to a family, be a member good, bad, innocent or evil - whatever. Discriminates are of no consequence, she deserves it so she will have it. Stefano Dimera is my wife's grandfather; he is apart of my family. If you can't accept Stefano as apart of my family then so be it. But, don't expect me to deny my daughter the right to have a family." | |||||||||
| "Philip, I'm sure we all understand your position. But, the fact of the matter is Stefano Dimera is a monster. He has tried to destroy our family for years. While, I know you want the best for your daughter, you have to know that he's not it." Bo looked at his wife and sons. "If you allow this - this criminal into this family you'll do it without me. I have to protect my family; I will not allow him to hurt them again. I'm sorry, Philip, but I won't put my family in danger just so your daughter can have a grandfather." He took Hope's hand and together they started to leave. | |||||||||
| "I'm sorry Philip but I have to agree with my father on this." Shawn said following his parent's footsteps with Belle. John and Marlena soon followed them. Brady was the last to start to leave but he stepped in front of Philip and Chloe. | |||||||||
| "You're making a big mistake and someone is going to get hurt. And I just hope to God it's not you or Lily." Brady warned Chloe, and then sparing an angered glance at Philip he too left. | |||||||||
| Just as everyone started to leave Philip turned toward them. "Since everyone is clearly going to leave I might as well make my last announcement." The Blacks and Brady's alike turned to hear what he had to say. Even Chloe looked on in slight surprise she hadn't known that Philip had anything left to tell them. "My original reason for finally returning to Salem wasn't my father's untimely demise. No, I had plans to come back anyway to find out which of my wonderful family members is a thief. One of you or maybe a handful of you has been stealing money from Titan for over five years now. My father was aware of this before he died and had already set plans in action to find the culprit. Like my father I intend to find out which one of you imbeciles would dare steal from a Kiriakis. When I do you will be ruined in two fold, for father had the insight to call in aid of my illustrious new grandfather-in-law." He smiled upon the pronouncement of his final announcement as he noted everyone's paled surprised expressions. "You can leave. My family and I would like to spend sometime with one another in private." And with that Philip turned around and placing his hand on the small of Chloe's back he directed her toward one of the table in the dining hall. Meanwhile, both the Brady's and the Blacks headed out of the room. But, not before Chloe and Brady could make eye contact. | |||||||||
| Chloe watched as Brady left the room, and then she turned to Philip as he headed her toward her parents. "Philip wait," she stopped and grasped his arm to hold him in place. "I need to go talk to Brady." This was all she said before she turned and went after her ex-fianc�. He watched her leave in silence. | |||||||||
| Nancy and Craig appeared by his side seconds later. Craig waited for Philip to turn around before he said anything. "Philip I guess congratulations are in order." He offered his hand to Philip and he shook it. "If you hurt her or my granddaughter I'll see that you feel the full extent of my anger." Craig said as Mimi, Gene, and the Dimeras appeared. | |||||||||
| Philip nodded. "Fair enough," He turned to Stefano. "Stefano, Lexie let me introduce--," | |||||||||
| "I know Dr. and Mrs. Wesley, Philip we hardly need the introduction." Lexie interrupted sternly. "Let me be the first to welcome you into the family." She held out her hand for Nancy to shake. To which Nancy didn't hesitate to take, thus uniting two families, the Wesley's and the Dimeras. | |||||||||
| Philip moved back slightly to allow Chloe's family to come together. Mimi walked over to him still observing everything. | |||||||||
| "So how did it go?" She asked not wanting everyone to know what she was talking about. | |||||||||
| "About as well as could be expected, Chloe knows about the extortion going on at Titan and I'm pretty sure she's knows who we think it is. She certainly couldn't wait to get out of here to go talk to him when she found out. Then again he's who she always runs to." There was a flicker of hurt reflected in his eyes. Too quickly though, it disappeared, returning to its normal stormy blue gray. "I need a drink." He walked away toward the bar leaving Mimi and the others. | |||||||||
| After watching Philip leave to get a drink, Mimi decided it wouldn't be too much to see exactly what Chloe was up to with her ex and she followed the same path Chloe had out of the room. | |||||||||
| * * * * * | |||||||||
| Chloe went after Brady for two reasons. The first being to return his ring and the second to find out what he knew about the money that had been stole from Titan. She caught up with him just as he was about to enter the elevator with Shawn and Belle. | |||||||||
| "Brady, wait please I need to talk to you." | |||||||||
| Belle looked at her and immediately pulled at Brady to come into the elevator. "Brady, I think you should come with us. Chloe's done enough damage for one day." But Brady wouldn't listen to her he resisted her pull. | |||||||||
| "No Belle, I want to talk to her. You and Shawn go ahead." | |||||||||
| "Alright, if that's the way you want it." Belle and Shawn boarded the elevator and the doors shut. Brady turned to Chloe to see her pull something out of her purse. | |||||||||
| She took out the ring he had given her for their engagement and held it out for him to take. "Here Brady, take it. It's yours." | |||||||||
| He took the ring from her and stared quietly at the solitary diamond ring. "Tell me why," he looked up at her. "Why did you marry Philip?" | |||||||||
| "I'm sorry, Brady." | |||||||||
| "No, I don't want your damn apology. I want to know why Chloe. Why did you marry him? You at least owe me that much." | |||||||||
| Chloe was silent for a moment as if she was trying to decide what to say. "I could tell you he blackmailed me into it. Or that I did it so Lily could know her father. I could tell you lots of things. But, the truth of the matter is that I love Philip. I always have and always will." | |||||||||
| Brady knew all along that Chloe had loved Philip, strike that still loved Philip. But he wanted to marry her anyways because he thought he loved her enough for the both of them. "Then why did you agree to marry me?" | |||||||||
| "I-I don't know. I thought that if I married you then I would forget about Philip. I hoped against hope that my love for him would just go away as the years went by. But, I was wrong and I'm sorry for that. Love just doesn't work that way." Chloe replied. | |||||||||
| Brady was unmoved by her response. He knew that she had feelings for him; he'd always known that. But, whenever Philip was involved he would be second best in her heart. "Unless there is anything you wanted to talk to me about, I'm leaving." He pushed the button for the elevator down and started to leave. When it didn't arrive soon enough he turned and headed to the staircase. He stopped on his way and looked back, "Tell Lily that I ... that I'll see her later." And with those parting words he left. | |||||||||
| Chloe stood for a few moments after he left and then began her own trail back to her husband, the love of her life, Philip. She was so immersed in her thoughts she didn't see Mimi standing at the opposite end of the hall. | |||||||||
| Mimi waited for Chloe to leave then she took the elevator down hoping to catch Brady before he left the restaurant. | |||||||||
| * * * * * | |||||||||
| Brady was walking to the sliding doors of the restaurant when her heard someone calling his name from the background. He stopped and turned half-expecting to see Chloe. But, it wasn't her it was Mimi now strolling toward him. | |||||||||
| "Brady wait up," she called out as she neared him. | |||||||||
| "What do you want Mimi?" He asked no longer having the patience to deal with anyone else. "What are you here to rub in my failed engagement or, are you here to tell me I told you so because if you are I don't want to hear it. I've think you've done enough today to me and to my whole family." | |||||||||
| Mimi was taken back by Brady's anger toward her. "Why are you coming down on me, Brady? I've done nothing wrong. The only thing I've done is stay true to a friend. I'm sorry Chloe broke off your engagement but-," | |||||||||
| "Oh so you're sorry Chloe dumped me to marry Philip. Somehow I doubt that. Look I really have nothing left to say to you. But there is one thing I want to know before I go?" He paused waiting for her acknowledgement to continue. "Tell me are you sleeping with Philip too now, are you spending your nights opening your legs --," Brady was silenced as Mimi slapped him across the face. | |||||||||
| Mimi stepped back, not believing that she had actually slapped him. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him. "I came down here to tell you that I'm sorry and that I was heading up the investigation at Titan so you wouldn't be targeted. But, I can see that Philip was obviously right about you. You can't seem to let the past go. I made a mistake and I've paid for it. But, are just going to keep on punishing me for it aren't you?" When Brady didn't answer she continued. "Now, I'm sorry Chloe married Philip and that he is Lily's father. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to let you blame everything on me." She turned and ran away from him to the elevator to go up. | |||||||||
| Brady watched as the doors closed on her tearstained face. "God damn it!" He hadn't meant to make her think about the mistake that they'd made together all those years before. The mistake that had forever changed their lives. He swore as punched his own hand. "I'm sorry Mimi." | |||||||||
| On to Chapter Eight | |||||||||
| Back to Bitter Vengeance | |||||||||