Chapter Review ( 103 A Storm’s A Brewing)
Brooke goes to the D.A and asks to help in order to see that Stephanie rots in jail for her crimes. The D.A tells Brooke to focus on Bridget and not Stephanie. Later, Brooke confronts Stephanie in jail and promises to make her pay by taking everything she holds dear. Sam and Kimberly get into an altercation in which Sam decides to investigate what is really going on with Kimberly. Caspian dreams of his dead wife Lark, who tells him to go to the source to find out the truth about the connection between she and Brooke. He and Roberto discuss Brooke and he decides to go to London to find out the answers to his questions. Eric laments his decision to allow Stephanie to control over his life while Thorne takes command at Forrester

104 Warning Signs

Eve opened the office door and sized it up in a minute. Rick, who came in from behind her wasn’t in his office wear but was a mixture of sexy and a handsome cuteness in his stone washed blue jeans and buttoned up green shirt that he wore untucked along with his that matched his tinted green shades. His blue eyes sparkled with glee like a little boy as he looked around his new office. The room was painted a dark shade of green with handsome oak sloping desk with matching chairs with funky design. There were countless tiny knickknacks on the desk with a new laptop. In the corner of the room was plush burgundy suede sofa had matching ottoman that he would later find would open up into a twin bed for the late nights at Forrester. A flat screen TV graced the wall opposite wall from the sofa, which was above a pair of oak file cabinets. Eve saw the glimmer of excitement in Rick’s eyes, especially when he had stood before the door, which held his name, Rick Forrester. Putting her arm around him, she smiled as they now stood in the middle of the small, yet comfortably sleek office. “ Wow. This office is really cool.”
“ Yes. Yes it is.” Rick looked around in amazement. Thorne told me that he put a rush on it to have me moved but I wasn’t thinking of anything like this. My old office was nice but this is fantastic.”
Eve turned to see the corners of his mouth turn up into a crooked smile. “ That’s nice to see.”
He turned her. “ What?”
She touched his lips. “ That smile. Ever since, you got me this morning, you’ve been frowning. Not that I can’t blame you, she said hastily.
The excitement of his newer office faded. It was bigger than the small one he had been using before, more like his style instead of the closet, however at the mention of the morning’s issues his good mood was ruined. “ Yeah, well one thing about this family there always a scandal.” He hooked his finger inside the loop of her low riding jeans. She was adorable in her jeans, with an army green tank top that showed of her arms and her hair piled up in a bun. Looking adorably natural in only a touch of lip-gloss complemented her.
Eve wrapped her arms around Rick’s waist. “ At least you have a family.” She said reminding him of what she didn’t have.
“ Don’t get me wrong Eve. I love my family but this constant scandal following them is ridiculous especially since this is all Stephanie’s doing.”
“ Rick, are you sure?”
“ Sure about what?” He said defensively.
“ Are you sure that she’s responsible?”
“ You’ve got to be kidding me right?”
“ Rick. There is a chance that this is some mistake or mix up. The hospital doesn’t want to be the blame for this.”
Rick’s mouth dropped open.“ Of course she did it! The police wouldn’t have come here if they hadn’t had some evidence of her guilt. You don’t understand the pain that Budge went through all those years when she lost Ridge as a father. You weren’t there. When mom and Ridge were married things were different. We had a real family for the first time. Mom was really happy and everything it sorta clicked. Ridge was a really great step dad to me. It was nice having a guy around to talk to and do guy stuff. Budge, she loved it. Sometimes she’d sneak into his office at home and watch him design. She even had this little sketchpad that she’s draw in just so she could be like him. She and mom, they’ve always been close but Ridge, to Budge, he was the sun, the moon and the stars to her. She idolized him.
“ It sound like she wasn’t the only one who idolized him.”
Rick shrugged. “ I loved him. I’ll admit that. It was cool having family dinners, game nights and just being together. I guess that I did want to be like him. More than anything, I wanted things to stay the same. When that whole paternity issue stuff came out, at first, I didn’t understand it. It was way too confusing. One day mom and Ridge were getting remarried and the next day we had moved into dad and Stephanie’s house and my mom was missing.”
“ Missing?” Rick shifted under Eve’s heated gaze. “Rick, what are you taking about?” She touched his shoulder lightly feeling his muscles tense. Painful memories of those weeks that he hadn’t know where his mother came back to him. Rick walked over to the sofa and sat down. Sighing heavily he turned to her. “ Back when I was about eleven an all that stuff about Bridget’s paternity came out my mom disappeared.”
“ Disappeared?”
“ Yeah. She was so upset about being accused of changing the paternity test that she thought that she needed to get away. Back then, I didn’t know about that. All I knew was that she had left on a trip to see my grandparents and Budge and I were at dad’s house. But something was wrong. She didn’t call. We waited and we didn’t hear from her. I knew that was strange because she’s never leave without talking to us. I was scared to death. Stephanie and dad tried to play it cool. They tried to be a family for us but Budge and I knew that something was wrong. We thought that she was hurt or worse. Budge had nightmares and so did I. Ridge was really worried though he tried to play it off. What I didn’t know was that mom had gone to Paris but had taken a flight home but she never came. Ridge was terrified and he and Lauren Fenmore, Scott’s mom, went looking for her. It was a cat and mouse game for a while but Ridge didn’t care all he wanted to do was to find my mom.”
“ Did he?” Eve asked. She had no knowledge that Brooke had disappeared. She remembered when her mother had packed her bags and took off. Eve had been alone and frightened beyond belief.
“ Yes, thank god he did.”
“Where was she?”
“In Barbados. She had some temporary breakdown and lost her memory. She was living on the beaches stealing food to survive. He found her and brought her back to us. She regained her memory but then she had to fight dad and Stephanie for custody since they had filed charges of abandonment against her. But in the end, dad changed his mind when he saw just how much mom needed us and we needed her.
“ I’m sorry that you had to go through that. The pain losing your mom for only those weeks had to have a lasting effect.”
“ That’s the thing that bothers me the most about all of this. My mom went through all of that pain and heartache for something that she didn’t do. Stephanie did that to her and she was behind dad wanting full custody of us knowing all the while that she was responsible for her mother’s heartache.” Rick felt the pressure of all the years of fighting weighing down on him. “ For years I’ve been a witness of the bad blood between my mother and Stephanie but I tried to ignore it. I thought that Stephanie loved Bridget and I no matter what she felt for my mother. I used to feel bad for her at times after all, I had been conceived and born when dad was till married to her. It used to amaze me how she’d still support me and Bridget. Hell, she even supported my marriage to Amber but now I see her different. I can’t ignore how badly she has treated my mom or showed her lack of love or consideration for my sister. She never loved us. Bridget and I were simply a means to getting at my mother. Stephanie’s so called love and support all of these years hasn’t been real. I’m for certain that the only reason that she even supported Amber and me was because my mom couldn’t stand Amber. She me, she used Rick and worst of all, she used my sister. I can never forgive her for that.”

Helena was engrossed in typing the notes from the mornings meeting when the doors the double doors to the elevator opened and Brooke Logan made her way toward her desk. Pausing her typing on her flat screen computer she looked up and smiled.“ Hello. Ms. Logan.”
“ Hello Helena. How are you doing today?”
“ I’m doing very well thank you. Mr. DeAngelo is in. You may go right in.” Brooke opened the large door to Caspian’s office to find him in deep conversation with a handsome dark haired man with a buttoned up blue shirt along with black pants. Pausing for a moment, she started to head back to the office door. “ Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll come back later.” Caspian stood.
“ No Brooke, you weren’t interrupting.” He made his way toward her taking her hand leading her to the man who was seated. “ I’ve wanted you to meet my friend for a while. Brooke this is Roberto Keys.” Brooke had heard about Roberto from Caspian. Roberto and Caspian had been friends for the last four years when they had worked together on a lucrative business deal in Australia. The two had been friends ever since.
“ Roberto. It’s good to finally meet you.”
He stood a tall 6’4 with clear blue eyes and a handsome dimple in the cleft of his chin. His shirt molded nicely against his well-toned body as he held her hand out to kiss hers.
“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” He kissed her hand.
“Charming.” Brooke said with a smirk. “ I see what you and Caspian certainly have that in common.”
“ Don’t let it all that charm fool you. He’s a killer in the boardroom.” Caspian added with certainty. Roberto had a certain sex appeal and suave along with such a charming personality many times people opened up to him without reservation. Often, that was a mistake. He was very cunning and just as aggressive when it came to business as Caspian.
Roberto chuckled.“ Not unlike the woman standing in front of me. Forrester Creations has done very well under your leadership. If you ever decide to open your up your company to public market I’d certainly be interested in investing in your company.”
Brooke’s eyes widened. She had never thought about allowing anybody else to own part of Forrester. “ I’ll have to remember that but I don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.”
“ Well, then I’ll have to settle for having both you and Caspian over to my house for dinner. My wife, Mimi, loves to throw these intimate dinner parties.” Roberto smiled showing off his perfect white teeth. “I’ll warn you that she’ll probably try to get you to offer her a sneak peak of your newest collection.”
“ That my friend, you won’t get. When it comes to her fashion lines, Brooke doesn’t allow anybody to get a peak.”
“ Too may thieves, I’m afraid.” She added. “ Like Sally Spectra.”
“ Who?”
“ Just a lady whose company had made money making knockoff from Forrester. Actually Sally is harmless although she’d like to differ. As for dinner, I’d love to. The last couple of weeks have more than hectic. It would be nice to have a night out away from the stress and everything going on. Just as long as my family isn’t the topic of conversation that night.”
“ I don’t think that you’ll have to worry about that. I’ve heard about the I heard about the chaos that your family is going through and I have no intention of allowing anyone to bring it up.”
“ Thank you.” It was a relief for her to be around someone who weren’t looking at as if she were on display or as if she were the devil herself.
“ I’ve seen pictures of your daughter. She seems like a beautiful girl. I’m just sorry that she has to go through this.”
“ You aren’t the only one.” A slight frown marred Brooke’s face.
Noticing the change in the Brooke’s demeanor, Caspian squeezed her hand slightly. “Brooke’s a wonderful mother. She’ll help her daughter get through this just like she has always helped her.”
“ I’m sure that your daughter is a lucky to have a mother like you. Well, I leave you two alone. I’ll talk to you later Caspian about that matter. Good luck.”

Thorne was going to have to do something about his wife. Antonio’s conversation alerted him to the face that Kimberly was certainly losing her grip on reality. Talking to herself outloud at that? He had spent less time with her since the night he slept with her. He had been a fool to do something like that. Still, he had an obligation to seeing for her welfare.
This couldn’t have come at the worst time with the mess with his mother. Ignoring his marital situation was no longer becoming an option.

KC and Sam stood outside of the beach house. “ Nice place. Brooke must pay well.”
“ She does.” KC added but I guess that I never knew how well. Don’t get me wrong. I’m paid well but Trudie is only an upcoming model. This neighborhood is more like the high-end section of the scale. I’m very surprised that she could afford something like this. The conversation was halted as a deliver man with pizza pulled up into the drive. They followed him to the front door, which was open. “ I’ve got three pies here for you. Two with pepperoni and veggie.” He said to the ladies in the house. Trudie who was lounging on the carpeted rug looking at decorator magazines with a tall thin black woman with beautiful brown skin, a cute short funky spiky haircut with flawless skin wearing a short ruffled denim mini with a small white t-shirt. The beauty looked up and Sam thought for a moment that surely the girl’s heritage had to be mixed somewhere down the line for she had the most exotic Asian looking eyes. “ Hey, the pizza’s here. Not only that True it looks like KC has brought you a gift.” KC knew the beauty was Eboni, one of Forrester latest models. She was extremely beautiful and very loveable. She was also one of the best models they had, although 19. Eboni wasn’t the only model there. There was April, a Malaysian girl with mixed heritage and a girl that KC had seen once or twice at Forrester. The black girl who looked to be in early twenties who stood at 5’9 wore a faded Acrombic and Fetch T-shirt, mechanic blue jeans and a hand wristband that was a rainbow colors that might have signified her sexual preference. Her long dreadlocks or locks were pulled back into a ponytail. She was writing in a notebook had a laptop and what looked to be law books surrounded her.
Trudie who was wearing an off the shoulder black top and tight cut off short searched through her purse and handed the pizza guy two twenties. “ Thanks.” She winked at him.”
Sam watched with amusement as the pizza guy looked as if his eyes were going to pop of his head. “ Thanks.” He said staring at True’s ass.
“ Cute, isn’t he. I think that I’ll order pizza all the time.”
April laughed. “ Just don’t let CJ hear you talk like that.”
Trudie made a face then smiled. “ KC, what brings you here?”
“ I heard that you got a new place and I wanted to check it out. This is my friend Sam.” KC handed Trudie a basket full of bath items and candles. Congratulations on your home.”
“ Thank you.” She beamed. “ This place is great.”
“ And expensive.” KC remarked to her.
Trudie looked away for a moment. “ Well you know.”
“ Actually, she’s made a good point.” Eboni said brining in sodas from a cooler from the kitchen. A small table had been placed in the living room to give the girls a place to eat.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you what kind of money is Brooke giving you. She pays well but this place I kinda expensive.”
“ The market value of homes in this area is going up especially with the interest rates that homes have.” Said that girl with the locks and very serious eyes. “ In fact I believe that you probably paid at least a 300 thousand for this place. Although small, the area itself makes it that much.”
“ Don’t mind her.” Eboni said about her girlfriend. “She reads stocks, bonds and don’t let her get into politics or the law. She’s in law school.”
“ E?” Sam asked.
“ It stands for Ebony.” She shook her head her locks swaying. “ With her being Eboni as well, it’s confusing as hell at times. So I go by E. Sam and KC as she poured herself a glass of iced tea and took a slice of pizza.”
“ Where is Trixie?” April asked. “ She’s the one who originally wanted pizza.”
“Outside working on her tan.” Trudie opened the sliding glass door. “ Hey Trixie foods here.” She turned to Sam and KC. “ I’ll give you guys the tour.”
In came a young woman wearing a white halter bikini who unlike the other models wasn’t tall at all. Amazingly she stood only at 5’7 which wasn’t considered tall in the modeling arena. Also, she wasn’t rail thin, like Trudie, she has full breast and hips. Lush was the word for her and she was in Sam’s opinion, a man’s fantasy. Beautiful with delicate features and a cute pixie haircut with sharking eyes that looked almost lavender in color, she looked like a sexy sultry nymph. “ Hey KC.”
KC nodded hello between her bites of pizza. Sure she had eaten lunch but it didn’t hurt to eat a little more. She was sure that she’s been at Forrester late especially now that she had taken this jaunt to Trudie’s house.
“ This is Sam. She’s uh…kinda related to Kristen Forrester.”
“ Kristen. I don’t think that I’ve met her.”
“ That’s because she’s dealing manly with couture line though I’m sure you’ll met her.” KC added.
A cell phone went off and E quickly answered it. “ Hello. Yeah. All right, no problem. I’ll be on my way.” She paused for a moment looking at her Diesel watch. “ I’ll have to go home and change first and I’ll met you at the courthouse.” Shutting her phone she finished off her bite of pizza and put her books in her book bag. “ I hate to eat and run but I gotta go to work.” She nodded to Sam and KC. “ Nice meeting ya. See you around. Catch you late Trudie and listen, have Eve look over that investment stuff for me. If she can make me money to help pay for law school, that’s be great.”
“ I thought that you had that job with that law firm.” Trudie asked.
“ I do, and believe me, I almost had to kill my own mother to get that internship but even with the position you know how expensive law school can be. I need every extra dollar that I can get.” E had worked hard enough to an internship into a full position although she was only a second year in law school, which was surprising considering the law firm that she worked for. Turning to Eboni. “ I’ll see you later.” E headed out the door taking her motorcycle helmet with her jumped on her and was quickly gone from sight.
Trudie turned to Sam and KC.“ How about I give you that tour now.” The last thing she wanted to continue was a deep conversation about how she was able to afford her new home.

Stephanie sat once again at the cold prison room when the door opened to admit an alluring Hispanic woman carrying a file and a briefcase. “Hello Mrs. Forrester. I’m Ms. Vega, your attorney.”
“ It’s about time that you got here. I’ve waited most of the afternoon.”
“ My apology for the delay. I worked very hard to get information about your case from the police.” She sat down. “ They weren’t very forthcoming however I changed their minds.” She paused for a moment taking in the great Stephanie Forrester who looked out of place in her bright orange jumpsuit. “It seems that the police don’t like you much.”
“ They aren’t going to like me at all when I get through suing them.”
Cracking a smile at her new client she knew that this lady had balls. “ Well, Mrs. Forrester, we will certainly do that, when this is all over. If there is prove of police misconduct. At this moment, I want us to take a look at this case.”
“ You will get me off.” Stephanie uttered in a no nonsense tone.
Mercedes had no doubt in her abilities. “ Of course I will but first I need to do is to have you arraigned. Then we will deal with the case at hand. We don’t have much time until your arraignment. I blasted the district attorney for taking so long. I let her know that I’d personally see that it was aired that you were being held longer as in her efforts to disgrace the Forrester family.
Stephanie smiled. She liked the way that this woman thought. “ Did it work?”
“ Of course that we did. We’ve got an hour before you are do in court. Right now I’ve arranged to have a new suit to be picked up from your home. I also put out calls to your family members asking them to come to court to show their support for you. Although this is just the arraignment it would be best if they showed their support. Part of this is going to be played in the public so we’ve got to get a good offensive.”
“ You certainly different that stupid lawyer Jonathan. I like the way that your mind works.”
“Save your time for the compliments later. Because your family is going to be a problem.”
“ What kind of problem?”
“ At this time your husband nor is your son Ridge available. We called Forrester Creations to speak with someone but our calls have been denied at the moment.”
“ You tried reaching both Eric and Ridge?”
“ Yes but we can’t.” Mercedes noticed how Stephanie didn’t seem to mention her daughters or her other son.
“ I have their cell phone numbers. Call them and get them here.”
“ I’ll do my best to have my assistant to do just that. However, if they don’t make it..”
“ They will. They have to.” Stephanie said with resolve.
“ If you say so. However in my line of business I always prepare for the worse case scenario”

Caspian closed the doors to his office and found Brooke standing next to his desk staring out of the windows. “ Hey”
She turned to him. “ Hey.” He cupped her face in his palms and kissed her on her forehead. “How did it go this morning?”
“ I’m not too sure.’
“ What did the D.A say?”
“She says that she plans to prosecute Stephanie to the full extent of the law.”
“ That’s good.” He noticed that she didn’t look relieved at all. “ You don’t believe her?”
“ No. I do but I want to help and she made it clear that she doesn’t want. Instead she told me to focus on Bridget.”
‘ You are.”
“ I’m trying to and I will but I won’t let this go.” She glanced at the sofa and headed to it. Caspian followed.
“ What else happened?”
“ I went to see Stephanie.”
“ I see.”
“ And before you get upset about it. I had no choice.” She said defensively.
“ Brooke, I’m not upset.”
“ You aren’t? Because Connor thought it was a bad idea.”
He pulled her closer to his body so her back rested against his chest. Her scent filled his nostrils. God, she smelled so good. “ I’m not Connor sweetheart. He cares about you but I understand you. How did you manage to visit her?”
“ I bribed an officer. I’m not proud of it but at this point, I will do anything to see that justice is done.”
“ What did Stephanie say?”
“ Nothing more than she’s innocent. She’s lying.”
“ I know.”
Brooke turned her head to look at him. “ I’m not going to let her get away with it.”
The corners of his mouth lifted up into a smile. “ That, I already knew.”
“ I’m not going to play fair either. Not this time. I plan to use everything I can to see that she pays.”
“ I’d have it no other way.”
Brooke laughed lightly to herself. “ Everyone else would tell me to let the DA handle it or not to get involved but not you.”
“ This is YOUR daughter whose life was played with. How can I ask you to sit back and not be involved? I wouldn’t be able to do it so I know that you can’t. Whatever you do or whatever you decide to do. I’m going to be there with you every step of the way.”
Brooke looked down to find his fingers linked with hers. He brought her hands to his lips and kissed it. “ Don’t you know how loyal I am to you?”
‘ I’m beginning to realize how much are.”
“ I love you Brooke. Now and forever.” His fingers grazed her neck lightly pulling her head toward his and he leaned forward. His mouth found her in a long sultry kiss, which burned her all the way down into the pit of her stomach. His tongue slid expectedly into her mouth tasting her. He pulled away for a moment, allowing her now swollen lips a chance to get air for only another moment before he kissed her again. In that moment, she wanted him. She wanted him hard and fast inside of her. She wanted to hold out her hand and lead him into the bedroom he had in his office but she knew that she couldn’t. Pulling away she caught her breath.
Caspian caught his own breath as well. “ I’m sorry it’s just when I kiss you, I forget about everything going on around me. You have that effect on me.”
Feeling the evidence of his desire rising up between them caressed him.“ If only making love could take away the problems of the world.” Brooke said wistfully. “ At times, it almost seems that it can.”
“ But not today. Huh.” He said already knowing her answer.
“ Any day but today.” Brooke buried her head against Caspian’s shoulder allowing him to carry the weight of her worry.
The knock at the door followed by a tray being pushed into the office. “ I thought that Ms. Logan would like something to eat.” Helena said as smoked salmon finger sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches and light vegetable and cream cheese sandwiches were served with Brooke’s favorite lavender tea with fresh scones, fruit tarts and a chocolate raspberry truffle. Helena had tea set up in a matter of moments with a small smile at Caspian, which was acknowledged with a nod. He wasn’t sure what he’d do without her. She no doubt knew that Brooke hadn’t eaten and seen to her comfort. Ushering Brooke to a chair, he placed a linen napkin in her lap. “ Please eat something.”
“ He’s right Ms. Logan. You need to keep up your strength.” Brooke looked a little overwhelmed as Helena gave her a motherly look before pouring her the heavenly scented tea. “ It’s delicious. Mr. DeAngelo brought it back from Japan. Just for you, I might add.” She said with a nod before turning toward Caspian. “ I have the files that you requested and want to know if you want to stay at your usual suite in London.”
“ London.” Brooke said putting her tea down.
Helena blanched. She didn’t even think to conceal his trip. She knew better. Reading the look of apology on Helena’s face Caspian assured her it was all right. “ I was going to tell Brooke about the trip. I have no secrets from her.”
Relaxing slightly nodded. “ And to answer your question. No. I don’t plan to be in London long. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done my meeting.”
“ Very good sir.” Helena turned to Brooke. “Enjoy your meal and try to relax.”
“ I will Helena. Thank you so much for the tea. If you ever decide to leave Caspian let me know. I’d kill to have someone like you.” Beaming for a moment, Helena smiled showing the beauty inside of her. “ You couldn’t pay me what he does. Besides, he needs help. But if I ever change my mind. I’ll keep you in mind. However, just for that comment, I’ll arrange for a massage for you this evening at your home. You’ll probably need it.”
Caspian laughed as she left the office, plopping uncharacteristically, in the chair across from Brooke. “ So, you are trying to steal my personal assistant?”
Brooke giggled. “ I had to try. She’s wonderful.”
“ She’s not the only one. But I’ll tell you a secret. She’ll isn’t normally that nice to everyone. She’s sort of protective of me. She just happens to like you.”
“ Is she the same with your sister?”
“ Bella? No. Bella isn’t the warm fussy type.”
Brooke bit into a deliciously seasoned egg salad sandwich before she watched Caspian devour two of the smoked salmon sandwiches. “ I don’t know. I think that your sister was quite interesting.”
Caspian poured himself a cup of coffee. “ My sister?”
“ Yes. I met her yesterday. She came to the meeting to represent you. You should have seen the look at Ridge’s face when he saw her. Stephanie was turning all red with anger at her being there especially when Isabelle zinged her. I’ll admit to you that I was a little jealous of this beautiful woman who seemed to know you very well. But soon, I but all the pieces together an realized who she was.” The delight on Brooke’s face faded and she pushed away the fruit tart that she had started to eat. “ That was before the police came.” She sighed heavily. “ That was before this mess with Stephanie happened.”
Caspian stood up and gathered Brooke into his arms pulling her onto his lap. “ You aren’t alone in this. You have the support of your family.”
“ It’s Bridget I’m worried about and it’s not just her. It’s Eric as well. And Ridge of course.”
Caspian held her tightly. “ They aren’t alone either.”
“ No, they aren’t. But we are all victims of Stephanie’s hatred.” A steely look came upon her face. “ I won’t let her get away with it. I won’t let her destroy everyone I love.”
“ I know that you won’t.”
Brooke leaned down and kissed Caspian softly and languidly before she pulled her head away. “ I had better get going.”
“ To see Bridget?”
She nodded. “ It makes no sense to stall any longer. She has to be told the truth. Secrets always seem to have a way of coming out.” Brooke slid out of Caspian’s lap.
“ Do you want me to come with you?”
She smiled. “ Thank you but I think that this should just be…”
“ Family, right?”
She nodded.“ Yes. Besides from what I hear, you’ll be in London.”
“ Only for the day. I’m coming right back to you.”

Sam had pulled Trixie aside earlier and asked to talk with her. The deliver trucks with Trudie’s new living room and bedroom set has arrived so the others were busy helping her get settled. Trixie finished off her pizza with a slight unlady-like belch. “ Sorry but I don’t get to eat pizza that much. I can’t tell you how hard it is for me to keep my weight goal. Unlike True and Eboni, I just can’t eat whatever I want and not gain a pound. So, normally I’m on a no-carb, low calories and fat diet I however allow myself on day to pig out a week or I’ll completely insane. ”
. Sam really hated what society did to girls making them feel that if they weren’t size 2 or 4 that they should spend their time losing their lunch and dinner in the nearest commode. Trixie was beautiful and although small in stature, her was lush with full breast an actual hips. She wasn’t rail thin, just like True wasn’t which seemed more nature. Sam hated how most models had a look of preteen girls with no breasts, hips and thighs.“ I think that you look fine the way you are. Don’t worry about losing weight.”
“ Easy for you to say. You don’t work for the Forresters. Don’t get me wrong, they are great but nothing is worse than Mr. Forrester giving you a pity look because you’ve gain weight and the dress has to be refitted. That’s the worse.” Trixie made a face was so perfectly pout that Sam knew why she was their model. The girl had a face that was captivating on a lens. “ I don’t think that you are here to talk about being a model. So what did you want to talk to me about?”
“ I wanted to talk to you about Kimberly.”
“ Kimberly. That bitch. What do you want to know about her for?”

Thorne paced back and forth in his office.“ I don’t care what they say. Tell In Style magazine if they even think about printing this story that they will never get another interview from us again. Ever!” Thorne slammed down the phone and looked up as his brother came into the office.
“ Things are getting worse?”
“ Can you believe that a stylish magazine like that would actually want to run this story? Are people nuts? This is our family that they want to rake over the coals.” Thorne looked at his brother hoping for some good news. “ Are those your ideas for the WOW fashion show? I want a contact list for the venues for the show.”
“ Yes. I uhh..I wanted to go over them with you before..”
“ No. Listen Rick. We put you on this because we think that you can produce. I’m not going to hold your hand on this. If you make a mistake, it’s okay. The staff will help you but right now I need the best that you’ve got. I’ve assembled the team and they want to hear your ideas.”
“ Are you sure with everything going on…”
“ The company’s got to go on. That is the way that we are going to help everybody. Okay?”
Rick wasn’t sure what to make of his brother. Thorne has always been the easiest going one in the family. “ Yeah..okay. If you say so.”
“ What’s wrong?'
“ Nothing. It’s just. Well, I guess that I’ve never seen you like this.”
“ Like what? Tired and stressed.”
“ No, I’ve seen that. I’m talking about you kinda being take charge.”
“ What in the hell was I before? A pushover? You aren’t the first person who said this to me today.”
Wanting to assure his big brother Rick shook his head. “ No, you weren’t a pushover it’s just that you weren’t very assertive. You always compromised a lot and kinda well…’ Rick turned red. “ You kinda got the short end of the stick.”
“ I did, didn’t I? Well not anymore. Your mother has shown a lot of confidence in me and I won’t let her down. And neither will you. So, what are you waiting for? Get moving Forrester.”
Cracking his first smile in the day Rick nodded. “Alright boss.” He headed for the door when Thorne called over his shoulder softly. “ When you are through, we’ll sit and really talk about this mess dealing with my mother, dad and Budge. Okay little bro.”
“ Alright.’ Rick paused for a moment. ‘ You know I was pissed at you for a while because of that stuff with Kimberly.”
“ Rick…”
“ I forgive you. We all make mistakes. You are my brother and it wasn’t fair to blame it all on you.” Thorne was stunned by Rick’s admission. He had missed the closeness between he and his bother. Slapping his brother on his back, he hugged him tightly not allowing Rick to see the tears that formed in them.

Brooke rang the doorbell and waited only for a moment before she was let in. Making her way up the stairs to the home that she once so many years lived in she stepped quietly into a dark room. Sitting there in middle of the den was a man who in a day lost everything. “Eric?” She hesitantly approached him. He looked beaten. A slight shadow covered his face of sprinkled beard while bloodshot eyes greeted her. God, how she hated what this had done to him.
“ Go away.” He turned from her. The last thing he wanted to do was to see someone else who had lied. To him.
Putting her small leather purse down she shook her head at him. “ Sorry but I can’t. I can’t just leave you like this.’
“ Why the hell not!” he spat.
“ Because you are too important to our daughter and to me.”
“ Our daughter. She isn’t our daughter.” His voice will filled with so much pain that it killed her to see Eric like this. “ I lost my little girl.” Eric’s shoulders began to shake and Brooke did the only thing that she could think of doing. She pulled Eric Forrester into her arms and held him while he cried.

Eve used Rick’s computer to help her figure out the company’s inventory for the Brooke’s Bedroom and for the Men’s line to make the suggested retail predictions for what they estimated the sales profits would be. Normally, she wouldn’t be allocated such a task since she didn’t work for Forrester and shouldn’t even be allowed access to the finical figures that company held. However, Rick had planned on making the projected sales earlier and had been waylaid with the production meeting with the staff. He had asked her to help him, knowing that she was an A student and very much capable of finishing the task that he had given her. Rick knew that not only was Eve at the top of her class but the suggestions that she had given him about the WOW fashion show showed just how intelligent she was when it came to business. Eve had become so engrossed in not only the figures for the projection sales; she had even done two spreadsheets on the past and past figures to help display the trends that she addressed. It was amazing, if anyone would have told her years that numbers and marketing would one day be her passion and not sex, she wouldn’t have believed them. But the truth of the matter is that what she was doing was fun to her and if she were honest, a small part of herself regretted not taking the job with Huntington Press because she was sure that would have been her chance to prove herself. Still, she couldn’t have left Rick or Trudie. They were the only family she had ever had.

Sam wasn’t sure what to say to the girl. All she knew was her gut let her know that something was indeed wrong with Kimberly. “I’m not sure. As you probably figured out I’m pretty close to the family.”
“ Your Kristen’s lover right?”
“ Yes.”
“ That’s cool. I don’t any problems with lesbians but I’ll tell you that isn’t Kimberly’s thing.”
“ Believe, I never thought that. It’s clear that she’s very much into Thorne.”
“ Don’t I know it? The ways that she acts now that she’s a FORRESTER gets on my nerve. Like she’s any better than any of us. I tell you, it wasn’t always like this.”
“ She was different?”
“ Yeah. She was pretty cool at first. Kinda young but so all of us in this business. She was pretty lucky, she wins this competition and suddenly a model but she’s really good and a natural. You could tell she had a thing for Rick Forrester and we all kinda felt sorry for her because he was married to that trashy girl Amber. But then when her sister died, she changed.”
“ How?”
Trixie looked uncomfortable for a moment. “ It was weird. At first she blamed Brooke you know, but I thought that she’d get over it. It was an accident and from what I heard Macy drove into that truck herself. But she didn’t get over it. She obsessed over Brooke. She watched her all the time and she started talking to herself. Not that kind of getting her thoughts out but she started talking like someone was talking to her. To tell you the truth I was worried but she was the boss’s son’s girlfriend, so I kept it to myself. But then the thing with Thorne started. She kept saying how he was too good for Brooke and how he was so sexy and all. She started talking like they were together but she was Rick. It was weird but then I guess that it wasn’t so weird since she was actually sleeping with Thorne. I’ll tell you one thing, she kept that one hell of secret.”
“ You never knew she was seeing Thorne?”
“ Nobody did. Believe me we were all surprised that he was actually cheating with her. If you could have seen him with Brooke, you could see that he loved her. But with Kimberly, it was like he cared but as a little sister. I never saw anything on his part that he was interested in her sexually. But you never know what men are thinking but still even now…”
“ Even now what?”
“ She acts like she’s scared of something. And to tell you the truth the fact that she had that thing Scott around the same time that she was supposed to be all so in love with Thorne..”
“ Wait. Scott. Kimberly was seeing someone named Scott?”
“ Scott Granger, the designer at Forrester. And I don’t know if they were actually seeing each other but there WAS something. I remember because one time, he called to confirm dinner with her. She was all excited about it but then again it could just be dinner. However, the way that she was acting and primping, I thought that it might be something. If it were, she’d never say. They have this “don’t date the models” rules at Forrester. Whatever it was, if it were something, it isn’t anymore.”
“ How do you know?”
“Because, he can’t stand the sight of her.” Trixie answered honestly. “ He hates the bitch.”

Brooke handed Eric a hot cup of coffee. “ Here you need to drink something.” She had made sure that Eric had showered and shaved and changed his clothes. Looking better, she hoped would help him get back to feeling better.
Eric took the cup. “Thank you.” He said before taking a sip. He gave Brooke an uneasy look. “ I’m sorry about what happened earlier.”
“ There isn’t a need to apologize to me. You aren’t less of a man because you showed tears about your lost. You’ve been through a great deal. Learning that Bridget isn’t your daughter and that she’s got cancer is a huge blow.” Brooke put her hand on Eric’s shoulder.
“ Her cancer is it…” He blinked for a moment and stopped. He couldn’t even say the words. He couldn’t think about his little girl dying.
“ She’s going to beat this thing. She has the best doctors and I truly believe that one of the children will be a match for her and she’ll be fine. Back to her old self. But right now, I’m worried about you. You’ve been through a lot. I’m concerned about your health and you. You’ve been through a lot and I never wanted you to find out the truth the way that you did.” Knowing the pain that he was going through, Brooke knew that Eric would no doubt sink into depression if he were allowed to bask in his pain. “ Bridget has always special to you, hasn’t she?”
Eric nodded. He picked up a sterling silver picture frame of he and Bridget when she was a little girl. “ I always thought it was because I wanted to make up all the years that I had been cheated.” He placed the frame back down. “ Maybe it was because she always had this wistful look on her face when she saw Ridge. Like she wanted him. I just wanted her to want me, to see me as her father.”
“ She did. She loves you.”
“ Yes, but always something missing.” He gave her a knowing look. “ You always knew it.”
“ I tried to convince myself that it was because she’d been confused at a young age. Finding out that her daddy was her brother and her grandfather, her father. It was a lot for a little girl to take.”
“ We blamed you.” He said regerably. “Ridge, Stephanie and I blamed you when it wasn’t your fault.”
“ It isn’t your fault either.” She implored. “ You aren’t to blame for any of this. You are victim just like Bridget but that doesn’t mean that you don’t anything to her or to me. You are Bridget’s grandfather. She loves you and she needs you Eric.”
“ She has Ridge.”
“ But he isn’t enough. Bridget is going to need you both.” She grasped his arms frantically. “ Her life has been stolen and turned upside down. Not only that, she’s in for the fight of her life. She’s going to need you. She’s going to need to know that you still love her and support. She’s going to need YOUR strength. We all do.” Giving Eric a sympatric hug, she went on. “ When you had your heart attack the entire family realized the what you meant to all of us. You are the rock of this family. That hasn’t and isn’t going to change. To me or to Bridget.”
Eric was quiet for a moment thinking about what Brooke has said to him. “ Thank you. I guess that I needed to hear that.”
“ It needed to be said. Eric, I know that you are going through a lot but I need your help. Bridget doesn’t know the truth about Stephanie’s part in this and I don’t want her to find out about it through news crews or reports.”
Clenching his hands at his sides, he cursed. “ Damn her for this.”
His reaction somewhat took her by surprise. “ You believe that she’s guilty.
His head dropped and he was silent for so long hat she thought that he wasn’t going to answer when he finally did. “ Yes. I think that she did this. I saw her face and for a moment, I saw the fear. She was scared that the truth was going to come out. Sure, she’ll lie and try to get herself out this but I know the truth. She did this to get you out of your family.” He turned toward Brooke. “ You’re surprised.”
“Yes, I am. I thought that I would have to convince you of her guilt.”
“ I’m married to her. I finally understand what she’s capable of.”
“ So, you aren’t going to help her?” Brooke found herself asking him.
‘ Help her? I hope that she rots in jail.”
Brooke agreed but she though she’d better keep her comments to herself. Telling Eric of her plans to see that Stephanie would pay for her sins wouldn’t be the best move to make.
“ I don’t focusing on Stephanie right now isn’t going to help the situation but I think that I know what could.”
“ What?”
“ Seeing Bridget.” Brooke slipped her hand into Eric’s. ‘ I think that we need to see OUR little girl.”

Bridget laughed as she helped Steffy shake the snow out of her snow outfit. She might not want to admit it but it had been a lot of fun playing with her bother and sisters. Ridge had taken the kids to the tubing section of the slopes and Bridget had been riding up and down the hills with them. True, it wasn’t downhill skiing that Ridge promised that they’d do later but it was fun.
“ Again Bwudge,” Phoebe cried with glee. It warmed Bridget’s heart. Boy, weren’t her brothers and sisters lucky. They didn’t have to grow up like she did. They knew who their father and who their mother was. They were never going to have to live with regret or confusion like she had. Turning her gaze toward her father and Taylor, she saw them deep in conversation, not for the first time that day, and not for the first time, she wondered if everything was alright. There was a tension in the air. She wondered if it had to do with her. She wondered if Taylor had been lying and resented her being around but when she was near her, Taylor acted as if she didn’t mind.
“ Come on Bwudge. We want to go again.” The little girl waved her hands to her sister whom she wanted to pick her up. She reached down to pick her up but found herself struggling under the normally easy weight. Trying to keep her balance, she ended up putting her sister down. “ Sorry but I think that you had better walk.” Bridget said to Phoebe. “Take Steffy’s hand and we’ll all go together.’ She said suddenly out of breath. Again, Bridget chose to ignore the signs that she wasn’t herself.
Ebony pulled up to the courthouse carrying the files in a briefcase and a garment bag. She had changed her clothes into her business attire gave her pass and was given entrance to a formal processing room where she found Mercedes waiting. “I bought the file you requested and the clothes. It took a little time but the maid helped me to figure what to get her. She’s got closets full of clothes.”
“Thanks. Nothing red.”
“ No, you’ve told me many times that how you look can impress the public. I went for something blue. I also told the maid to minimize the jewelry. Something too fancy will make her look like another rich white woman getting off.”
“ Please don’t say that in front of our client.”
“ I won’t. I’ll be professional.”
” Good. Tonight is going to be a long night. I want you, Rene and I to go over the police notes.” Ebony nodded. She was learning from one of the best. First hand knowledge and experience is what would help her one-day to be a kickass lawyer. “ I also need you to research cases where hospital can have sued individuals for tampering and fraud. Also, have Reginald help look up the latest with paternity laws.”
“ No problem.” Ebony scribbled down notes and then put information in her notebook.
“So, did she do it?”
Mercedes looked up for a moment. “ You know that I can’t answer that questions. Besides, it doesn’t matter if she did. She’ll get top-notch defense. Looking at the case, the information that I have for the police, the entire case is shaky. Stephanie Forrester won’t see a lick of jail time for this. IF she did it.”

KC picked up the list phone calls she had gotten when she was out of the office when finally asked the question that she had been dying to ask since they had left Trudie’s house.“ So are you going to keep me in the dark or are you going to tell me what you found out about Kimberly.”
“ Its seems that nobody had an idea that Kimberly was seeing Thorne.” Sam answered.
“ I could have told you that. I was surprised by the while affair myself.”
“ Yes, but there is more. Trixie states that Kimberly started acting strange when her sister died. She started talking to herself and blaming Brooke for Macy’s death.”
“ I thought it was an accident. Macy was the one driving the car, not Brooke.”
“ Yes but Kimberly blamed Brooke.”
“ SO, you think that Kimberly went after Thorne in order to do what? To get at Brooke?”
Sam nodded.” Yes, I’m quiet sure that part of it but there is something more. Trixie mentioned that Kimberly might have been seeing someone else besides Thorne.”
This peaked KC’s interest. “ Who?”
“ Scott Granger.”
“ Scott. No. He isn’t or wasn’t seeing Kimberly.
“ How do you know?”
“ Because he’s fallen for Kristen’s little sister. Bridget. Scott’s a dead end as far as Kimberly’s concerned. I’m sorry I know that you thought that you had something on her but isn’t it. She’s just a bitch. If Thorne were smart, he’d get a divorce as soon as possible.”
“Bridget?”
“ Yes and nobody knows about it. Well, Brooke knows now and I’m sure the other Forrester. So this Kimberly and Scott thing is a no go.”
“ I don’t know KC. My gut is telling me that there is something very wrong with Kimberly.”
“ I think that she’s a silly little girl playing a grown up game. And yes, she may be a little nuts. Plain and simple. But Thorne already knows that and he’s decided to ignore it. Sometimes I think that he married her only because of the baby. He wants to make sure that his child grows up in safe environment.
“ The baby can but that doesn’t mean that he has to stay married to a woman who doesn’t love or want. He deserves better. Besides, the more that I learn about Kimberly the more I’m convinced that something is very wrong with her and I plan to find out what exactly it is.”
“Good luck. Kimberly’s going to be a tough nut to crack.”

Stephanie Forrester felt more like herself than she had the last twenty-four hours now that she was in her own clothing. All she needed was to be home with the comfort of her family and she’d be prefect. Although she hated to admit it, she was very bothered by the fact that not one of her family members had not bothered to show to support her. What was happening to her family? It didn’t matter she said to herself as she pushed those thoughts away. As soon as she got home and was able to talk to Eric and to Ridge she was sure that they see that it was all a mistake. Finishing off her hair, she walked out of the room to where Mercedes was waiting. “ Lets get started.” Together they went into the courtroom, which was filled with a group of reporters and Brooke’s lawyer, Connor Davis. Swallowing hard she did her best to ignore them. She was used to being in the spotlight. The D.A glared in her direction as they walked in and then turned her attention to the bailiff as he announced the judge. The Judge Elizabeth Parker walked into the courtroom and sat down in her seat. At which the D.A stood up. “ Your honor the state is pressing charges against Stephanie Forrester for the charge of bribery and falsifying documents in order to change a paternity case.” Stephanie looked straight ahead and didn’t see her daughter enter the courtroom however Mercedes did. At least one of her children was there to show her support. Mercedes turned her attention to the D.A. “ Mrs. Forrester caused a great deal of pain and hardship to her family by having her own granddaughter’s paternity test changed to show that Eric Forrester and Ridge Forrester was Bridget’s father. This deception has caused a girl horrible scaring since for the first six years of her life she thought that Ridge Forrester was her father an then had him taken away. The young girl’s whole life has been rocked by turmoil and bedlam because of this act.”
“ Your Honor, is this a summation? I thought that we were here for an arraignment. It would behoove the process for the D.A to state the facts.”
“ I am stating the facts.”
“ Yes, you are embellishing the situation.”
Judge Parker wasn’t going to allow this nonsense in her courtroom. “ Lets keep all comments addressed to the court and not to each other counselors.”
“ Yes your Honor.”
“ Now, Ms. Roberson if you don’t mind please stick to the facts and only the facts.” The Judge admonished.
“ I’m sorry judge. I just wanted to relay the seriousness of the crime committed.”
“ I’m well aware of how serious that any crime is especially this one. Please tell me what the state is asking.’
“ We are asking for bail to be set at 500 thousand dollars.”
“ Your honor that is absurd.” Mercedes stated.
“ She can certainly afford it.” The D.A countered.
“ Mrs. Forrester is the pillar of her community. She has strong family and ties here. Her company is here as well. She had no intention of leaving the country. We are asked that Mrs. Forrester will be released on her own recogance. She’s likely to see her name cleared of all these ridiculous charges and has no intention of leaving the sate.”
The judge pursed her lips together for a moment.“ I tend to agree with defense. It’s unlikely that Mrs. Forrester will flee however bail will be set at 10,000 dollars. I have no intention of setting a ridiculously high bail just because Mrs. Forester is wealthy.” . “Thank you your Honor.” Mercedes turned her attention to Stephanie. “Get your checkbook ready.”
A figure who had been standing in the back of the courtroom slipped out of it before the swarm of reporters descended upon Stephanie Forrester. Opening up his cell phone.
“ She’s freed. No, she only paid 10,000 dollars as bail. What do you want me to do next?” The figure listened to the other side of the phone intensely before he hung up.”

Taylor put the food that she had packed for the kids at the mountain back into the fridge. Right now Ridge and the kids were at the Gift Shop. The children had had a wonderful time with tubing and for the fist time since she had seen that letter, she felt that she could finally breath. Making herself a cup of hot tea she thought about this cabin. Eric had had the place rebuilt after the horrible earthquake. You couldn’t even tell that it had been nothing been a pile of ruble. However, she remembered. She remembered the night that she had shared with James. It hadn’t been about sex. It had been about not wanting James to die a virgin. Taylor had lived with the memory of that night and the only transgression that she had ever had. It more than other her that Brooke would dare to blackmail her for it. But, she wasn’t going to dwell on that. She was going to take her family. “ And that includes you Bridget.” To be honest, she hadn’t always been fair to Bridget. When she had been born Taylor had honestly been jealous of the beautiful little baby who was the truly a symbol of Brooke and Ridge’s love. Bridget had grown up being not only an adorable little girl but precious as well. One, who loved her daddy and one who was devastated when she had lost him. Taylor had been honestly outraged at the pain that both Bridget but Ridge had gone through and had condemned Brooke for her actions. What made matters worse was that Ridge had quickly forgiven Brooke going all the way to Barbados to find her when she came up missing. Worse than tat, he had brought a ring and was going to marry Brooke anyway regardless of her actions and of Taylor’s love. Through it all Brooke had claimed her innocence and it was only know that Taylor believed that Brooke hadn’t bribed that doctor. Ridge was trying to act normal but she’d seen the concern in his eyes. She knew that Ridge was beginning to think that Stephanie did this to him and he wasn’t the only one.

CJ who had been visiting Spectra had listened to Darla in total shock. He couldn’t believe what she had told him. Lately, he had been busy with work and school and not to mention Trudie. He had no idea of the finical mess that his mother’s company was in. “ So, Kimberly just decided to recall the loan like that? For no reason.”
“ Believe me, I don’t understand what she’s thinking.” Darla said. “ Sal is just a mess. She has to pay the loan back but if she does than the company goes under. You know what this company means to her. I don’t think that she’ll be able to deal with losing and Mace. It’s been too much.”
“ I don’t get this. What the hell is Kimberly doing? This doesn’t even sound like Kimberly in fact…. Damn it. It sounds like those Forrester.”
“CeeJee. Do you really think that the Forresters have anything to do with this?”
“ Yes I do. They’ve wanted to get rid of us and they finally found a way to do it. I’ll talk to you later.”
“ CJ. Where are you going?”
“ To get some answers. I’m not going to let them get away with this.”
“ But this isn’t the best time with this mess with Stephanie and Bridget. They aren’t going to let you just stroll in their offices.”
“ Look. I’m the first one to feel sorry for Budge and I have no doubt that Stephanie had a hand in this mess.”
Darla gasped. “ You think that she did it?”
“ Hell yes. If they are willing to do this to us after everything that Macy supposed to have meant so much to them. Stephanie acts like she and my mother are friends and yet they are willing to close us down for no reason. We aren’t even competition for them. So, to answer your question. Yes, I think that Stephanie is willing to mix up poor Budge’s life just to get Brooke out of the way. That woman is capable of everything.”

“Good news. You are free.” Mercedes said to Stephanie.
“ Thank God.”
“ We are going to take a walk outside the front of the courtroom with a statement that I’ve prepared. The fact that the bail was low will look good in the public eye.”
“ I’m not worried about the public eye.”
“ Well I am. You’ve be surprised how much public opinions can affect how things are played. Maybe not in the courtroom but you are being judged in the area of public opinion and it counts. That god that one of your children changed their minds and showed up in support of you.”
“ I knew it! Ridge. I knew my son wouldn’t let me down.”
“ Stephanie.”
“ Where is he?”
“ Stephanie you aren’t listening. It isn’t your son Ridge.”
“ What? Of course it is. Ridge’s here to show his support to me just like I knew that he would.” The door opened to and Stephanie looked up. Visibly she was surprised.
“I’m sorry I’m Ridge. I know that it’s a disappointment to you but it looks like that I’m all you have at the moment.”

Eve had just finished printing off the color coded graphs off the laser jet printer when there was a knock on Rick’s office door. “ Come in.” She expected the copy boy to come and collect the reports and graph for the folders.
CJ stepped into the office. “ I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Eve moved the reports out of his line of vision.“ CJ. Hi, what you doing here?”
“ I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“ I’m just helping Rick.”
“ With Forrester business?”
“Yes.”
He snorted. “ I’m not surprised. Soon you’ll be working here too. After all the Forresters always stick together.”
“ What’s going on with you?
“ Nothing” he spat. “ Nothing more than the usual.”
“CJ. I’m worried.”
“ You are a good person Eve. Sweet girl. If I were you, I’d get the hell away from this family as soon as possible before they turn you into one of them.”
“ Wait a minute. Rick’s one of those Forresters and he’s your best friend.”
“Rick isn’t truly one of them.” He scoffed. “ Seeing what happened to Bridget surely tells you that. He’s Brooke Logan’s son and dispensable just like Bridget. Just like my sister.”
“ Your sister. You are talking about the one who died right.”
“Yeah. They didn’t care about her. Stephanie embraced her only because it was a means of getting Thorne away from Brooke. It’s going to be the same for Kimberly.”
“ Kimberly.”
“ Yeah. Kimberly. Right now she’s selling my mom out and the rest of her family out for those damn Forresters. You better heed my warnings. No matter how hard you try you’ll never be good enough for them.” CJ left the office leaning her shaken not knowing that his anger at his mother’s situation had triggered her personal fears and insecurities. Eve stared down at her reports that she had felt much pride over moments before. “He’s right. What am I doing here? They’ll never accept me. Not who I really am.” Silently with just a quick note to Rick, she left his office leaving the reports behind.

Brooke pulled up to the cabin cutting her car off. Eric had been silent on the trip up to the cabin. She knew that his mind was on the news broadcast that had stated that Stephanie had been arraigned, her new lawyer, a Mercedes Vega had claimed that Stephanie had been arrested on circumstancal evidence and would have the charges dropped soon. Even worse, she claimed how the Forrester family was again being made victims from the press and the charges would never have been filed if she had not been a Forrester. Brooke was appalled at the lies and the spin that was given to Stephanie’s story especially when she was being hailed as a victim. Slowly they made their way to the cabin. Brooke paused before they knocked. “ Are you going to be all right?”
“ Yes. It’s going to be hard seeing her and knowing that she isn’t mine.”
“ She’s still a part of you Eric but instead of being a daughter, she’s your granddaughter. Your blood flows through her veins, don’t forget that.” She touched the doorknob.
“ Wait.”
“ I know that we’ve got to do this but I think that I’m going to need a moment. Just a small walk to clear my head.” He saw the look of concern in her eyes and was touched by it. “Please, I’ll be fine.”
She nodded and then opened the door to the cabin. Silence greeted her along with smell of what smelled like chicken cooking in the oven. “ Hello. Ridge? Bridget.”
Taylor stepped out of kitchen to find Brooke standing in the cabin wearing a black knit turtleneck, jeans. Brooke’s hair was pulled back into a ponytail making her look younger than her years. It was funny; Bridget had chosen almost a similar outfit to wear easiler that day. “ What are you doing here?” She demanded.
“ What do you THINK I’m doing? I’m here to see my daughter. Why do you think that I’m here?”
“ I don’t know maybe to cause trouble.”
“ Trouble?”
“ Yes. Haven’t you done enough?”
“ Haven’t I done enough?” Brooke didn’t know what bug had crawled up Taylor’s ass but she wasn’t in the mood for her bullshit. “Yes, I have had enough especially of meddling mother’s and wives.”
“ You have some nerve after what you did to me. Blackmailing me to cause trouble in my marriage.’
“ I blackmailed you in order to get you to move on getting the children tested. You were stalling. You were playing God in order to get back at me. There was no way that I was going to let you play with my child’s health because you were feeling insecure and pissed off.”
“ I wasn’t feeling insecure.”
“ The hell you weren’t. BUT I don’t care about that nor am I interested in your little self-righteous act with me because I know the duplicity that you are willing to willing to pull.”
“ Duplicity!” Taylor stormed forward with fury in her eyes. “ You have some nerve. You have been nothing but a hurricane storming your way through the Forrester family destroying the bonds between father and son. And if that wasn’t enough, you are now willing to destroy my family in an act to get what you want! Isn’t it enough. What’s enough for you Brooke. Blackmail, seduction and lies are not foreign to you. Yet you have a nerve to call me dubious.”
“ Oh please.” Brooke rolled her eyes. “ You can stop with the little act. I’ve heard it all before and I’m not interested in your thoughts or your feelings about me. Don’t you get it? I know you. I know that you are no better than me except, I don’t hind my lies or my mistakes from anyone like you. You are nothing more than a self-righteous hypocrite. A liar. An adulterer. You judged Ridge harshly for his indiscretion with Morgan when you could have come clean when reconciled. But you didn’t. You could have agreed to have Thomas and the girls tested to see if they were a match for Bridget but you didn’t. Don’t blame me for your mistakes. We didn’t have to be here. I’ve had that letter for years and I’ve could have used it to ruin your marriage but I didn’t. I’ve only chose to use it when you decided that MY DAUGHTER and RIDGE’S DAUGHTER wasn’t worth you time.”
“ I never said that. I happen to care about Bridget. She’s a wonderful girl.”
“Don’t” Brooke gave her the hand. “Don’t try to con me with your phony concern about my daughter because I don’t believe a word you’ve said. You’ve agreed to have the children tested and I’ll keep MY end of the bargain that we made.”
Eric opened the door to find both Brooke and Taylor looking very upset with tension filling the air. “ What’s happened?” He was immediately concerned.
Taylor put on a fake smile. “Nothing. It’s nothing at all.” She hurried to her father-in-law. “How are you coping with all of this?”
“ Right now. I feel pretty numb.” Eric looked over at Brooke. “ I’ve had enough secrets and lies. So why don’t you tell me what I walked in on. There was a lot of tension.”
“ Like Taylor said, it’s nothing.” Brooke gave Taylor a pointed look. “ Just a matter about Bridget that we had to clear up.”
“ Are you sure that all it is?”
Taylor nodded before looking at Brooke. “ That’s all it is.”

Caspian was on board his private plane on his way to London. He had been in the air for three hours his destination was London and he’d be there less than a couple of hours. He had made arrangements to find out what happened during the courtroom in regards to Stephanie. He had also had made arrangements for her to be watched. If she made any move, he’d know about it. If she made a move to cover her tracks he’d know about it as well. Honestly, he was glad that Brooke in Big Bear and away from the hassle but soon she’d be back in L.A dealing with Stephanie’s lies and manipulations at least for a little while. He, on the other hand had to deal with other forms of lie and manipulations as regards to the questions about how or if Brooke and Lark were related. In London, he hoped to fine he answers he needed for all of his questions.

Bridget and the kids who had a bunch of games, stuffed and animals and what looked to be a new Lego set bounded into the house.
“ Momma, look at what Bwridgt get me.” Thomas said running toward his mommy who was sitting on the sofa.
“ She did.” Taylor looked at the girl who shrugged her shoulders.
“ He really wanted it.”
“ That was very sweet of you.”
“ Well, he’s a sweet.”
“Just like you kidoo.” Ridge said as he brought in the ski gear. He kissed Taylor quickly. “ Hey was that Brooke’s car parked outside?”
At the mention of her mother’s name, Bridget frowned. “Mom’s here?” Taylor quickly noticed wondering once again what had happened between her and her mother.
Brooke stepped out into the living room. “ Yes. I am honey. How’s your trip going?’
“ This is just great. I can’t even be gone for one day without you checking in on me.” She said annoyed.
“ I’m not checking up on you. Even if I was it wouldn’t matter because you are my little girl.” Brooke said solemnly.
Seeing her Auntie Brooke, Steffie ran over to give her a hug. “ Bwooke. Bwooke.”
“Hi sweetheart.” Brooke tried to pick her up but Taylor got in between them. ‘ I thought that we agreed that Brooke will have nothing to do with our children.’ She said to Ridge angry that it had become all about her again.
‘ I know we did but…”
“ No buts.” Taylor turned to her children. “ Come on. I say that we get some bath and put some movies on the DVDs. We can also see granddad, he’s taking a nap in one of the bedrooms.”
“ Shrek. Shrek.” Phoebe chanted about her favorite movie.
“ Not that again. We saw that one the way up.” Thomas yelled. “ I want to see Nemo.’
“ No.”
Thomas hit Phoebe in the arm. She let out a piercing cry. Taylor ran over and picked up Phoebe. “Thomas. You know better than to hit your sister.” She admonished him. “Apologize to her.”
He crossed his arms. “No.”
“Thomas, do as your mother says right now.” Looking up at his dad, his lip began to giver. He hadn’t meant to hit his sister that hard but he was tired of that movie.”
“ Sorry he mumbled.”
“ Good, now go to your room. You need some time in timeout. Get going.”
Bridget saw the look on his face and felt sorry for him. “ Don’t worry about it Thomas. You won’t be in there too long and I’m sure that we can find a compromise on the movie. Let’s say Lion King ½ all right buddy.”
“All right.” He looked up at her. “ You won’t watch the movie without me will you?”
She ruffled his head. “ I won’t.”
“ Thomas, get going.” His mother said mouthing a thank you to Bridget as she wiped Phoebe’s eyes with a tissue. Taylor then glared at Brooke blaming her for the mess that was created. Everything had been perfect until she showed up. Taylor took the children to the other room while Bridget looked at her mother with suspicion. “So, why don’t you tell me why you are really here? Or do I have to guess. You brought dad up here so he can tell me too how wrong Scott is for me.” She said stubbornly. It didn’t matter what her mother said.
“ This isn’t about Scott. I’m not changing my mind about him or about you seeing him.
“There a lot going on and Eric’s here to help us all get through this.” Brooke said taking her daughter’s hand.
“ Dad’s here?”
“ He knows Bridget.”
Her eyes widened with shock. “ He knows. Why did you tell him? I didn’t want him to find out without me being there.”
“Neither did I but we didn’t have a choice.” Brooke looked at Ridge who had taken the other seat on the sofa next to Bridget. “ None of us did.’
“ Have a choice in what?”
“In finding out the truth.” Ridge said looking over Brooke to Bridget. “ We all have to find out the truth.”
“ The truth about what?”
Brooke looked at Ridge. The words were at the tip of her tongue but it was hard for her to say what was on her mind. How was she going to tell Bridget about Stephanie?”
The door from the bedroom on the left opened and Eric stepped out. “ Daddy.” Bridget ran to him and Eric caught her in a deep hard hug. Brooke and Ridge both looked with pain on their faces as Eric held her for a solid minute like a dying man who was holding on to life. Ridge cursed the fates that had done this. But a part of him wondered if he should be cursing his mother instead.
Eric allowed himself a few more precious moments of having his daughter in his arm again before he pulled away. Caressing her face lightly he cupped her face in his hands.
Tears filled his eyes. ‘ You look like your mother.” He said as he studied her. “ You always did with your golden hair and your coloring. And her smile. You always had her smile.” He paused a meaningful moment. “ But your eyes. I always thought that you had my eyes and you do but through Ridge. My genes were passed down through my son.”
Brooke heart began to break. This was killing her seeing Eric like this. She started to go to them but Ridge pulled her back wrapping his arms around her. “No. You’ve got to let him do this. I know what it’s like to lose a child. I know what he has going through right now and it’s hell.”

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