Chapter 21 Later that night, Luke walked the floors of Wyndemere trying to figure out what was going on between Lucky and Laura. When he had asked either of them about it got nothing from them. Luke knew they were lying but he just couldn�t figure out why? As Luke walked past Stefan�s secret room, he noticed the light coming from under the door. Luke slowly turned the doorknob and realized that it opened up. Luke walked into the semi-darkness of the room. He saw Stefan sitting up stairs at that long table working. Luke walked quietly up towards Stefan. When he got to the top of the stairs, Stefan said, �How is Leslie Lu?� �She�s fine. How is Alexis?� Luke asked. �Better if father wasn�t around,� Stefan said in a cold cynical voice. �What does he have to do with this?� Luke asked as he sat down in a chair near the stairs. �Everything,� Stefan said as he put down his pen and looked up at Luke for the first time. �Do you believe that he is your father?� Stefan asked him. �I believe he is my birth father but I don�t need a father. I had one and that enough for me,� Luke said trying to get conformable in the straight back chair. Stefan noticed this and he said, �Let�s go down stairs. We can sit in the library and talk,� Stefan said. �How about the pool room?� Luke asked. �You want to go for swim?� Stefan said puzzled. �No, I play a game of pool,� Lucky said you weren�t half-bad. �You mean billiards,� Stefan corrected. �You call one it one thing. I call it something else,� Luke said and the two men walked down the stairs and headed toward the game room. Luke was racking the balls up as Stefan picked out his cue. �What do you think Mikkos coming back into your life?� Luke asked Stefan. �I wish he would vanish again,� Stefan said as he walked toward Luke. �How did get along with out anyone to look after you?� �I had Ruby. She took care of Bobbie and me. She kept us together,� Luke said as he pulled the rack off and moved back to give Stefan a chance to shot first. �It must have been hard to grow up like that,� Stefan said. �I didn�t think about much. I didn�t have time too,� Luke said as he watched Stefan knock three balls in with one shot. �Impressive! You pick. Stripes or Solids?� �Solids,� Stefan said and he lined up his next shot. He did ok for a bit then he missed a shot and Luke took over. As he did so, Stefan said, �I sometimes wished that father would have vanished but he had to take mother and Stavros with him.� �If I grew up with Helena. I would have thought the same thing but then again. I might killed her myself,� Luke said with a cocky grin. �She would killed you first. Like she had before you left the island. She wanted one person to be the heir and that was Stavros. The rest of us didn�t matter,� Stefan said. Luke looked up from his shot and looked at Stefan intently and asked, �What do you know about all of this?� Luke asked. �How much do you know of this?� Stefan asked. Luke thought about this as he took his next shot. Of course his mind wasn�t on his game so he end up missing. So, while Stefan took his next shot, Luke told him what Ruby had said or at least the first part of her story. He left out the part about Bobbie and Victor. He figured Stefan didn�t need to know all of it. �Your turn,� Luke said after he was done. Stefan had managed to sink the eight ball somewhere in Luke�s story. So, Stefan poured Luke a drink and they sat down to in the library chairs near by. �I learned my story from my mother. Of course, it took me awhile to learn the truth at least the parts of it. In her version, you died along with your mother and the nanny,� Stefan said. �I bet that is interesting. When she tell you this?� Luke asked. �Just before she poisoned me,� Stefan said. �Poisoned you?� Luke asked. �Yes, she said it was to teach me lesson. You know what that lesson was?� Stefan asked Luke and you could tell from Stefan�s tone of voice that he still carried a lot of hate towards Helena. �No, but knowing Helena it was had to real fun,� Luke said sarcastically. �Oh, it was. The lesson I was suppose to learn was the only person that would ever count to her would be Stavros. She said she could never love son of Mikkos Cassadine,� Stefan said. �Hold it,� Luke said sitting up straight on that one. �You mean you knew all that time and you never said a word!� �I waited for the best time to make my move. You see that is how the Cassadines work. Mother forgot that,� Stefan said. �Laura was your move,� Luke said his voice laced with anger. �Not the way you make it sound. I cared for Laura then as I do now. It wasn�t until Stavros death that I realized I could change what mother wanted,� Stefan said. �And all you do to do is never tell anyone that Nikolas was your son,� Luke said. �Yes, I gave up my son for the money. I know it sounds cold to you but then again. Look who raised me,� Stefan said. �That�s a lame and you know it. Blaming Helena for you miss deeds is a cop out,� Luke said. �Didn�t you ever blame your father for how turned out?� Stefan asked. �No, I never did. I did what I did. I�m not proud of lot of it but they were my mistakes. Not my fathers, not Mikkos and not Ruby�s,� Luke said. �Well, I guess I don�t live by your standers,� Stefan said. �Well, I�m not perfect. I do live by my rules and if they don�t fit the worlds then so be it,� Luke said. �You sound like father,� Stefan said. �Now, I was starting to like you,� Luke threatened. Stefan smiled and said, �Sorry, old habit.� �Don�t do it again,� Luke warned. �Fine. Just don�t compare me to Helena,� Stefan said with a smile. �Wouldn�t dream of it,� Luke said and then he got back to the subject at hand. �Besides telling you about Stavros. What else did Helena tell you?� �It was interesting story but the truth is better,� Stefan said. �I bet it was. Tell me what little secret did Helena have hidden?� Luke asked. �What they all have hidden,� Stefan said with this knowing grin on his face. Luke waited for a moment for Stefan to say more and when he didn�t. Luke said, �Don�t stop there. Tell me more.� �Let�s start with mother�s little secret. Did you know that grandfather was more Helena�s husband then our father was?� Stefan asked Luke. �You joking?� Luke said stunned to hear this. �No, I�m not. You see my mother hates our father but to the world. They were in love,� Stefan said. �Ok, let me figure this out. If Stavros wasn�t Mikkos son then he was your grandfathers?� Luke said. He wasn�t about ready to claim himself part of this family. �Yes, you got it. Of course, I don�t think father knew that until later,� Stefan said. �Why didn�t you tell him?� Luke asked. �Because I didn�t care if he was being taken. I hated him more then I hated mother. Mother told me to my face that I was a bastard. She didn�t mix words to what she thought of me. Father on the other hand never had the guts to say it out right. He pretended to care about me but he didn�t. I was Helena�s son and nothing could ever change that,� Stefan said. �If Mikkos and Helena were married in name only, then how come you are their son?� Luke asked Stefan. �Father raped my mother twice. Once she used it to cover up Stavros truth birth and the other put me here. It was the same reason but not the one you were told by Ruby,� Stefan said. �What reason?� Luke asked. �My father had a sister. She was a year younger then Victor. Father learned that not only was his father sleeping with Helena but his sister as well. He got angry and took it out on Helena. The first time cost him you and your mother�s life. The second, cost him Alexis�s mother�s life and forced him to be a father in name only,� Stefan said. Luke had no words to say to Stefan. What could he say? I�m sorry. Sorry didn�t help. Sorry didn�t change what had gone on. Luke got up then and walked out. Not because he didn�t believe what Stefan was saying but because he wasn�t ready to hear the rest of it. Chapter 22 Back to A Father's Love |