Amber saunters out of the prison and makes her way towards her car with a big smile on her face.
As she gets inside, she sets her things in the passenger seat and hums to herself. “I paid a fortune for those thirty minutes, but I guess you can get quite a bit done if you put your mind to it.” She catches her reflection in the rear-view mirror, “Hm?”
Her lipstick is smudged all over her face, and her hair is in a state of disarray. She grabs a tissue and begins to clean up around her mouth. She grabs a brush and uses it to straighten out her hair. “Time to start making money to pay for my next visit,” she tells herself.
Kyle is pacing back and forth outside. He seems very nervous as he fidgets with the bandage around his hand.
Jan walks around the corner, and Kyle walks over to greet him, “Welcome, father.”
“I wanted to have lunch with you too. I hope that’s okay?” Zoey says as she walks around the corner behind her father. “It might be uncomfortable for you to have lunch with my father all by yourself. Since I had some free time this afternoon, I decided to join you.”
Jan motions towards the restaurant, “Let’s go in.” He walks inside.
Kyle stares at Zoey, who walks by and gives him an air kiss before heading inside the restaurant.
Lunch has been served, and finally, Jan speaks up, “What was it you wanted to discuss with me? Does your family need more money?”
Zoey may have crashed his party, but Kyle is determined to have this conversation with his father-in-law. “That’s not it at all,” he tells him. He starts to continue when Zoey interrupts.
“His family is doing quite well at the moment,” she tells her father.
Jan nods his head, “Well, that’s good news. Now you can just focus on my daughter.”
Zoey smiles, placing a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, “He supports me more than you can possibly know, father. Isn’t that right, honey?” She smiles at Kyle, then turning back to the meal, she asks Kyle, “Did you try the braised pollack?” She takes a slice from the plate and places it on his plate, “I think you’ll like it.”
She smiles sweetly at him as he looks at her like she’s the creature from the black lagoon.
Moments later, Zoey is squealing as Kyle drags her from the restaurant, “That hurts!” She’s struggling to keep up with him. As they get behind the restaurant, Kyle finally releases her as she clutches her wrist in pain.
“Do you think this changes anything? Interfere all you want, but we will get a divorce,” Kyle tells her.
Zoey looks at him, “I have no idea what you’re going on about, but really, stop whining. It’s unbecoming.” Kyle turns away from her, but she continues to speak, “If every couple who had a couple of fights got divorced, there would be no married people on the entire earth. Is divorce a joke to you? You know how important of a time this is for Sloane, right? Here you are, thinking of your own feelings.”
Kyle gets angry and stomps towards her, finger pointed right at her. “How dare you say that?” Zoey nearly has a heart attack as he rushes her. “Do you even have the right to worry about Sloane?” he spits at her. “I’m going
to march in there and tell your father that I want a divorce. I’m going to tell him everything!” He starts to walk back to the restaurant.
“If we get a divorce, I will make that decision,” Zoey tells him.
Kyle turns back to her.
She continues, “I’ll decide when the appropriate time for a divorce is, not you.”
Kyle can’t help but laugh. “You really do only think of yourself, don’t you? What you did….”
His phone chimes.
“Answer your phone,” she tells him. She turns and walks off.
Angrily, Kyle reaches for his phone, “What do you want?” he yells.
Kyle’s hand is still bandaged and shaky as he stands in the Emergency Room. He slips one hand into a latex glove and then the next.
As the surgery progresses, Kyle finds it hard to squeeze his hands due to the damage he did to them punching the tree. He has to pause and flex them every so often.
With sweat dripping down his brow, he finds his mind wandering to the night before when he saw Sebastian and Zoey kissing through the window of Sebastian’s villa.
Kyle squeezes his eyes shut, but his scalpel nicks a vein, and blood sprays everywhere.
“Doctor Kline! The patient is bleeding excessively!” a nurse cries out.
Kyle chokes as he spits out, “Let’s stop the bleeding first.”
The beeping of the life support machines are going on like a pinball machine as Kyle turns to the nurse, “Prepare a suction and get me a clamp.”
An assistant cries out, “The blood won’t stop! I think you hit a nerve, doctor! What do we do?”
“He’s getting worse!”
“What is your call, doctor?”
“Blood pressure is dropping!”
Kyle squeezes his eyes shut.
“Don’t you dare lie to me!” Jan tells Zoey. He’s not stupid. That lunch was not just any lunch. He slams his hand on the table. They are back at his office at the college, and Zoey is sitting there silently. “When did Kyle ever call me first to ask me to have lunch? Never! Is there something going on between the two of you?”
Zoey looks down at her lap, “It’s true, we had a fight, but it’s nothing serious, father. It was just a tiny misunderstanding.”
Jan glares at his daughter, “You were the one who insisted on marrying that man. What have you done now that he wants to leave you?”
Zoey begins to clench her hands.
“How will you lead the foundation when you can’t even manage your own marriage?” he asks her.
Zoey’s eyes go wide as she looks up at Jan, “I can lead the foundation, father.”
“You better get your husband in line,” he snaps at her. “And don’t you dare get caught up in any scandals! And I’ll say this. I will never tolerate divorce in my family. If you get divorced, don’t even think about becoming director of the foundation!”
As Jan gets up and leaves his office, Zoey sits there wondering what she will have to do to keep Kyle around.
Zoey walks out to her car after her scolding.
As she sits down in the passenger seat, she recalls the muddy footprints at Sebastian’s villa. She recalls the mud on Kyle’s SUV. She glances up at
her dashcam, removes the SD card, places it into her phone, and plays the video from last night.
Her eyes go wide as right there on her phone, she sees Kyle walking by her car and towards the villa.
Her worry quickly fades as she scoffs, “So, you saw everything, Kyle?” This explains his behavior as of late.
Zoey snaps her phone closed and leans back, pondering her next step when her phone begins to ring.
As she glances at the caller ID, it’s the director of the hospital.
She puts on a fake smile as she answers the phone, “Hello, Director Park. How are you? My husband tells me it’s been very busy at the hospital.”
However, as the director responds, her smile fades. “What?”
“If you weren’t feeling well and you injured your hand, you should have said something before going into surgery, Doctor Kline. This patient may now be paralyzed from the waist down.”
Kyle is sitting in front of the doctor’s board. Zoey on one side of him and Chris on the other.
“The family is throwing a fit, threatening to sue the hospital. You better sort this out, Doctor Kline, or I’ll have you recommended to have your license revoked.”
Kyle already feels bad enough about what happened, “I’m very sorry, sir. I’ll take responsibility for everything.”
The director asks, “How will you do that? Once we review the CCTV footage, we will hold a disciplinary meeting and take proper measures.”
Zoey, of course, speaks up. “I feel very unfortunate about the outcome of the surgery. However,” her eyes dart up at the director, “Isn’t it practically impossible to prove malpractice in a case like this? I say it might be best to wrap this up and keep a low profile on this entire unfortunate incident.”
Chris nods his head in agreement.
The director isn’t so sure, “I understand what you’re saying. However, I don’t think the family will be so understanding of this incident being swept under the rug.”
“And why is that?” Zoey asks. “Aren’t you the one sitting in the position of power? It was an uncontrollable accident that occurred in the process of treating a patient with a serious illness. As long as he isn’t found guilty of malpractice, we absolutely refuse to take responsibility for it. Are you certain you want to lose such a competent doctor over such a minor mistake?”
Chris seems to concur with that statement, “Any legal issues or matters regarding compensation will be handled by me, the smart and sexy Chris Letter, attorney at law.” He laughs and then turns to Kyle, “Aren’t you a fortunate man to have such an amazing wife and friend such as myself at your side?”
Kyle turns and glares at Chris. “Are you having fun right now?”
Chris shakes his head, “No. This really isn’t all that fun.”
Angrily, Kyle slides his chair back and storms out of the conference room.
Zoey watches him go. Now that she’s saved his ass, there’s no way he can leave her now.
Chris just tisk tisks, “Some people just don’t know how to appreciate what they have in life.”
Kyle walks out of the hospital towards the parking lot. Zoey is right behind him, “Don’t worry. There’s no reason to be discouraged,” she tells him. “I won’t let them take your license away over this.”
Kyle turns back towards her and points at her, “Shut your mouth. I don’t need your help!”
“You can’t live without me,” she tells him. “We are a married couple, no matter what anyone else might think.”
Turning back to her now, Kyle asks, “Do you think I don’t know why you need me? For you to be the director of the foundation, you have to stay
married to me. That’s the only reason you need me. Your father would never allow your family’s reputation to be damaged. Right?”
Zoey steps up to him and gets in his face, “Did you see me with Sebastian Gaston?”
Kyle almost raises his hand to slap her but holds himself back.
“So, what if you did?” she asks him.
Kyle can’t believe she’s going to admit to everything. “What did you say?”
“It’s nothing,” she tells him. “It’s a fling. Just like what’s going on between you and Riley.”
Kyle shakes his head, “Nothing is going on between Riley and me. You are fucking insane. I’m not going to stand by and let you cheat on me with Sebastian! I might have even been able to tolerate from anyone else in the goddamned world, but I hate that man.”
“You act like you’re so high and mighty,” Zoey tells him. “You went and saw the one person I hated the most. Riley Oh. I saw you two together.”
Kyle just can’t seem to deny the accusation strongly enough for her to believe him. “Fine. Let’s just end everything now. Am I just supposed to be your little trophy husband?”
“What’s wrong with that?” she asks him, giving him a push. “What else could you possibly do for me?.” She grabs him by the jacket, “A divorce? That will never happen until I say it’ll happen.”
Kyle just scowls at her, “You’re fucking crazy.” He pushes her hands off of him and starts to walk off.
“You better consider your situation right now,” she tells him. “Without me, this hospital will take away your license to practice medicine. Then what will you be? Even more sad and pathetic than you are right now.” She pushes him against the wall, “And Sloane? I’ll make sure she never goes with you. You’ll leave the condo with absolutely nothing. You think a court would side with a disgraced doctor?”
“Goddammit, Zoey!” Kyle screams, but she isn’t finished.
“However, if you come back home as if nothing has happened, I will make this malpractice case go away,” she tells him. She reaches up and fixes his jacket, “Since you’re my husband, of course, I’ll help you. So, make your choice. I won’t wait long. I’ll tell Sloane you had to go to a conference. Okay?” Without waiting for another word, Zoey turns and stalks off.
Kyle’s face goes through so many different emotions before he places his hand on the hospital wall.
Who should be nearby, eavesdropping? Everyone’s favorite attorney. Chris steps out from behind the corner, Kyle’s back is towards him. He walks over and pats Kyle on the back, “You poor, poor thing.”
Kyle just glares at him.
“Listen,” Chris tells him. “Getting a divorce from Zoey? That’s going to be very difficult. You need to consider this very carefully. You’ll lose your job. Your daughter. You’ll live your life as a miserable failure. That would be crazy!” Chris leans in very close, “Doctor Kline, your life is literally in Zoey’s hands.”
When Kyle says nothing, just glares at him, Chris tisk tisks. “Call me.” He turns and walks off. As he goes around the building, he sees Zoey walking towards her car.
“Zoey Skye-Kline is truly a remarkable woman. How could she be so bold when she’s having an affair,” Chris wonders to himself.
A housekeeper is cleaning in the lobby of Madison Tower. She cleans the windowsill when she spots something curious hidden in the heater grate.
“What’s this?” she asks as she pulls up the grate to find a cell phone.
Sitting in a chair nearby, Chris is reading a newspaper. When the cleaning lady begins to talk to herself, he peers around his newspaper at her.
The housekeeper turns the power on the phone, and as it lights up, a picture of a young woman and her dog appears on the screen. Chris sees Layla’s picture on the cell phone.
She takes the phone over to the lobby attendants and offers it over. “I found this cell phone stuck down in the air vent.”
One of the attendants takes the phone and glances at the picture. “She doesn’t live here.” He smiles at the housekeeper, “I’m sure she’ll come back for it.”
He places the phone in a drawer. But Chris walks over, snapping his fingers at the attendant. “That cell phone you just received, I know the owner of it.”
The attendant pulls it back out of the drawer and hands it over, “Then I’ll let you return it to the owner.”
Moments later, a tech is trying to hack into the phone. “ Aha! I have the passcode!” he tells Chris, whose eyes light up. The tech brings the phone over, and Chris looks relieved.
“My daughter was so upset. She’ll be so happy that I’ve recovered it for her,” he tells the tech guy. He holds up the phone with Layla’s picture on it. “Isn’t my daughter cute?”
The tech knows where his payday is coming from, “She’s very cute. She looks just like you!”
As Chris walks out of the tech store, he looks at the phone, “Let’s see what she’s got on here.”
He begins to scroll when he sees a video. He looks a little closer, and then his mouth drops open. “Is that…?”
As he watches Zoey and Sebastian kiss on the phone screen, Chris is actually speechless for the first time in a long time.
And that’s how Chris found out about Zoey and Sebastian.
“Zoey Kline. Sebastian Gaston. You guys were being threatened by Layla Kwon. How dare you get the rest of us involved with you murdered her.”
He laughs it up.
“But, I have something up my sleeve now. Just you wait and see how I decide to use this incriminating video.”
Cross is lying on a bench outside during one of their breaks.
A shadow forms over his face, and he opens his eyes to see Mariah trying to block the sun from shining down on his face. He sits up.
“If you lay in the sun like that, you’ll get a sunburn,” she tells him. She reaches into her pockets, pulls out a packet, then removes some patches from inside and offers them to Cross.
“What’s this for?”
Mariah says, “They’re pain relief patches. I saw you in the gym getting punished by the new PE teacher. I feel like it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” Cross tells her as he unashamedly begins to unbutton his shirt.
Mariah quickly spins around, embarrassed now. “Why are you taking off your shirt?”
Cross reaches for the patches, “Didn’t you bring these so I can put them on?”
Without looking back, Mariah hands back the patches and then starts to walk away.
“Good luck with your audition,” Cross tells her as he begins to apply the patches.
Mariah stops walking but still doesn’t look back. “You too.”
As Mariah walks off, in the distance, we see Sloane watching the two with the saddest expression anyone has ever seen all across her face. She had her own patches in her hand. She crumples them up and throws them on the ground, and then turns and walks back inside.
“Did you get hurt?” Penelope asks as she approaches Cross.
Cross shakes his head, “No.” He stands up and buttons back up his shirt.
Penelope seems confused, “I heard you got beat up by the PE teacher. I swear, I won’t forgive him for that.”
Cross grabs his books from the bench, “Don’t tell dad.”
Penelope looks at him, “Why do you keep getting involved in Mariah’s business?”
Cross doesn’t answer that one. “I think that teacher’s got it out for you next. Lay low for a while.”
Penelope just smirks, “There’s no need. I know who set up Mariah.” Of course, she can’t keep a secret. She turns to him, “It was Sloane.”
“What?” Cross asks.
Penelope just continues to beam, “It was Sloane. I saw her do it. When we went to Mariah’s condo, I saw Sloane in Mariah’s room. It had to be her.”
Cross doesn’t get it, “Why would she do that?”
Penelope rolls her eyes, “How many times do I have to explain this to you? She likes you! She thinks if she gets Mariah kicked out of here, she can be your girlfriend or something. She seems to have this crazy idea that you’re interested in Mariah. I don’t even know where she could have gotten that idea.”
Cross knows, and he isn’t buying Penelope’s innocent act for a moment.
She turns to him, “If we continue to cause trouble between Sloane and Mariah, that ambassador audition will be mine for the taking.”
Cross doesn’t like this one bit.
Penelope leans in, “You’re going to help me, right?”
The Gaston car has picked up Cross and Penelope.
As the stop sign is right outside the college entrance, Cross watches as Mariah runs through the crosswalk to catch the city bus. As the car begins to move again, he looks inside the bus and finds her again.
As he watches her, he can’t help but smile.
“REQUEST TO ATTEND THE MADISON TOWER BOARD MEETING TO DISCUSS THE EVICTION OF RILEY OH.”
Big, bold letters right across the top of the notification letter.
“You really have to do this?” Riley says to Zoey, the deliverer of said notification.
Zoey smirks at her, “Did you really think the two of us could coexist in the same building and live peacefully? Enjoy your sleep tonight. It will be your last within the walls of Madison Tower. At least you got to live here for a few days. You can brag about that for the rest of your life.”
Mariah walks out of her bedroom, hearing that last part, and grows concerned.
“The meeting is at 7pm,” Zoey says, then turns and walks down the hallway as Riley glares after her. She crumples up the notice.
As 7pm rolls by, Chris is leading the meeting. The Gastons, the Letters, and Amber are present. Zoey is also present. Missing at the moment, Kyle Kline.
“Today, the reason I have gathered the executives of the board is that I received a report about the newest resident of unit 4502. The accusation is that she has tainted the class and dignity of our fine residence,” Chris explains.
Jessica looks worried, as does Riley, who is the only one standing other than Chris.
“If you agree, then vote in favor of the eviction,” Chris instructs everyone. “If not, you can vote against the eviction.”
Jessica speaks up, “Just a moment. I don’t think Ms. Oh has done anything so awful that it taints our reputation. The incident in front of the tower turns out to be a false accusation. There’s been nothing else. She purchased her unit just as we all did. It would be wrong to kick her out for no reason.”
Zoey shrugs, “We received a complaint. We are just following procedure. Before I forget, my husband couldn’t attend the meeting.”
Amber seems confused, “If Doctor Kline isn’t here, there’s no need to vote, right? Certainly, there is enough here to pass the vote.”
Chris nods his head, “I imagine he knew what the result was going to be anyway, so he gave me power of attorney to vote in his place. Shall we vote?”
Riley slowly sits down, but Chris approaches her. “The vote is confidential. We’re going to need you to turn around.”
Riley scoffs and stands up, walking away from the group with her back towards them.
As everyone begins to vote, some are making a conscious effort that others don’t see how they vote, while others just vote and be done with it.
Sebastian votes in favor of eviction.
Amber also votes in favor of eviction.
However, we don’t see how anyone else votes as the ballots are placed into a box.
When they’re finished, Zoey says. “Let’s count the votes.”
Angel has been tasked with reading the ballots, while Chris will record the votes on a whiteboard.
Angel opens up the first ballot. “For.”
Riley looks defeated already.
Chris marks a line underneath the word “For.”
Angel reads the second. “For.”
Now, Jessica starts to look worried while next to her, Sebastian looks cocky as ever.
Chris draws another line.
“For,” Angel reads the third ballot.
Jessica and Riley exchange worried glances.
“That’s three for eviction already,” Amber states the obvious. “Such a pity that she’ll be kicked out so soon after moving in.”
Zoey glances at Angel, “Keep going.”
Angel opens the next one and announces, “Against.”
Riley, Zoey, Sebastian, and Chris all look surprised by that vote.
“That’s probably Jessica’s vote,” Amber explains.
Zoey glares at Jessica while Sebastian just rolls his eyes.
Chris marks one in the “Against” column.
“Against,” reads Angel from the next ballot.
That one draws even more looks. Something’s wrong here. As far as most are concerned, this should be a slam dunk.
Amber asks Chris, “That must be Doctor Kline’s vote then? That means it’ll be 5 against 2….”
“Against,” Angel reads the next ballot, interrupting Amber.
Sebastian now sits up in his chair, a curious expression on his face.
“Who voted against?” demands Amber! “I swear it wasn’t me.”
Sebastian doesn’t look happy, “Calm down. There’s still one more vote. It’s three to three. This one decides her fate.”
Slowly, Angel reaches into the cube and pulls out the final ballot. As everyone looks around with anticipation, Angel slowly unfolds the ballot and announces…
“Against.”
Riley squeals and stands up!
Zoey just can’t believe it.
Amber stands up, “This is absurd!”
Chris throws down the marker, “You people are unbelievable!”
Jessica smiles at Riley, “Congratulations!”
Angel actually seems pleased that Riley is staying.
“Damn it!” Chris says, turning back to the board. “It’s three against four in favor of ‘against.’” He grabs a red marker and angrily draws a bunch of red circles around the four making the board squeak and squeal, which draws a glance from Sebastian.
Zoey is still dumbfounded, “Who in the world voted against this issue?”
Everyone glances at the other until Jessica speaks up, “Shouldn’t the results be kept confidential?”
That pisses off Zoey even more as she stands up and stares at Riley, who just smiles back at her. Zoey storms out of the meeting.
“Thank you so much, everyone!” Riley is near tears but so happy that she gets to stay. “Thank you for accepting me as your neighbor. I promise not to bring any more trouble, and I’ll do my best to fit in.”
Jessica claps loudly, but she’s the only one. Sebastian just side-glances at her with annoyance.
Chris walks into his condo, looking rather sullen. But Angel seems to be all smiles as she walks up behind him, “Honey, did you see the look on Zoey Kline’s face earlier? She was so annoyed by the result of the vote.”
Chris turns to look at his wife, arms crossed over his chest, “I don’t understand how there could be four votes against. Who betrayed us?”
Angel thinks for a moment, mimicking Chris by crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t know.”
When Riley’s mother-in-law showed up at Madison Tower, and that entire story unfolded, Angel couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Riley, so she ended up casting her vote against the motion. Perhaps she’s not quite ready to admit that yet?
The two continue to stare at each other.
Now, Chris, on the other hand, remembered his exchange with Riley at the gym. She was actually very sweet to him. He also voted against it. But he’s not quite ready to admit that either.
Chris points his finger at his wife, “It wasn’t you, was it? If neither of us voted against it, that means that Sebastian or Amber voted against it.”
Angel nods her head emphatically.
“I can’t believe they’re so weak-minded,” Chris continues.
Angel just sighs, relieved she doesn't have to confess her part in allowing Riley to stay in the building to her husband. She’s quite happy to let him think it was Amber or Sebastian.
“I’m off to work,” Chris tells her, but stops and turns to his wife, “Call my mom and see how she’s doing, okay?”
As Chris leaves, Angel scoffs, “As if I’m doing that.”
“Hey, you promised to help me find my mom, right?” comes the recorded voice of Layla Kwon. “I hope you keep that promise.”
The teacher’s lounge at the college is dark except for one light at Logan Lee’s desk as he hears his own voice, not the one with the fake accent. “Why do you want to find your mom? She abandoned you.”
Layla responds to him, “There’s something I need to know. I need to know how she’s doing.”
“How do you want her to be doing?” Logan responds.
There’s a pause in the recording as Layla takes in a breath, “I want her to be as unhappy as I am.”
Logan rewinds the recording and plays that last line again. “I want her to be as unhappy as I am.”
He plays it again.
And again.
And one more time.
Logan sighs softly, his emotions starting to get the better of him. He sets his phone down on the desk and picks up a photo.
A photo of the Gaston family.
His eyes dart towards one particular person in the photo, “Jessica Gaston. You don’t deserve to be happy.”
Amber, Angel, and Jessica have gathered together. Riley is there, too, as she sets a basket of pastries on the table for them. “I made them myself,” she tells him. “I hope after last night, we can all get along.”
Jessica smiles, “Thank you for these. Please, you should join us,” she tells Riley.
As Riley takes a seat, Jessica leans over to take a couple of the pastries, “These look delicious. How did you have time to make all of these?” she asks.
Amber and Angel haven’t moved from their spot. “Mrs. Kline will be upset if she finds out about this,” Amber states.
Angel doesn’t seem to care as she reaches over and takes a pastry now. Following Angel’s lead, Amber finally helps herself to one.
“You made this all by yourself?” Angel asks. “You’re so talented!” She’s being sincere, in fact.
Amber takes a bite, and she lets out a squeal of pleasure, but she catches herself and isn’t going to admit the pastry was tasty.
Angel eats hers and smiles, “It’s really is yummy.”
“You really like it?” Riley asks.
Amber shrugs, “It’s alright,” though she continues to eat hers.
Suddenly, three cell phones chime. Amber, Angel, and Jessica reach for their phones.
As they read the text, their eyes go wide.
“What is this?” Angel asks out loud.
Riley seems confused. She got no text.
The audition for the student ambassadors has already commenced.
Juliana has just finished her portion of the audition. They are currently judging grace and speech.
“Thank you, Juliana,” Kelly tells her as Juliana smiles and walks back to her seat. “Sloane, you are next.”
As Sloane makes her way to the center of the stage, she strikes a few poses.
Kelly seems pleased, “Very natural, Sloane. Please, tell us why you want to be an ambassador.”
Sloane smiles and nods, “If I become school ambassador, I’ll do my best to promote just how great our college is to the public.”
Those watching in the seats behind the judges cheer for Sloane.
Zoey seems pleased with Sloane’s response. There are a couple of folks judging whom we haven’t seen before. A woman leans into her microphone, “That was really great, Sloane. I think we can all agree that Sloane should advance to the next round.”
Zoey doesn’t verbally respond, but it seems a given that she would, as do the rest of the judges, so Sloane does advance.
“Next up, Cross Gaston,” Kelly announces.
The cheers in the auditorium rise to a fever pitch, with nearly every girl in the audience swooning over Cross. Penelope just smirks. There’s really never been any competition for Cross in anything he’s ever done. It’s practically a done deal that he’s advancing and probably winning this competition for the male side.
As Cross walks up to the front of the stage, he buttons his jacket as the girls continue to swoon.
“My God,” Juliana says as she sits next to Penelope, “Your brother is pretty hot.”
Kelly clears her throat, “I think it’s obvious that Cross advances.” The other three judges agree. “Thank you, Cross.”
Cross nods his head, turns, and walks back to the others. He places a hand on Mariah’s shoulder and looks down at her, “Good luck.”
Mariah smiles up at him, “Thanks.”
Sitting next to Mariah, Sloane is pissed.
“Carson Letter, you’re next,” Kelly announces.
Carson gets up and walks up to the stage.
Angel, Amber, and Jessica are standing in front of Logan Lee. With the auditions going on, he knows it’s the perfect opportunity to get Jessica Gaston in front of him without any interference from the administration.
“You are all here to discuss the contents of the video you received earlier today,” Logan tells them in his fake accent. “I think we can all agree that bullying is wrong, but it just doesn’t seem as if that tidbit was taught in the home. Now, we can punish your college students, but that would disqualify them from the auditions for student ambassadors. Therefore, what seems fair is to issue the parents ten hours of community service. Does anyone have a problem with that?”
Angel and Amber’s jaw drops open. “10 hours?!” Amber asks.
“I’m fine with that,” Jessica tells him.
Both Angel and Amber turned to look at Jessica as if she’s lost her mind.
“We should set good examples as parents, so this is only fair,” Jessica continues. “Instead, we were busy covering up their wrongdoings. I’ll accept whatever punishment you decide to implement.”
Amber narrows her eyes, “What about Mrs. Kline? Shouldn’t she get punished too? Sloane was also involved in all of this.”
Logan hems a little, “Well, you see, she’s currently preoccupied being a judge for the audition.”
Amber turns to Angel, “I guess she didn’t want to get punished along with the rest of us.” Angel just scowls and nods her head.
However, as Jan Skye walks down the hall, all attention is turned to the director of the college. Angel and Amber both move to greet him, but he
walks right by them. “Oh, Mrs. Gaston. It’s a pleasure to see you. And your husband? How is he doing?”
Jessica smiles, “We’re all doing well. Thank you.”
“No. Thank you,” Jan tells her. “Your family has always supported this college. We wouldn’t have half of the things we have now if it weren’t for the Gaston family.” He turns to Logan, “Mr. Lee?”
Logan walks over, “Yes, sir?”
“Do you really have to include her in all of this?” he asks. Apparently, Jan is quite aware of the punishment being laid down to these parents. He just hadn’t realized the Gastons were involved.
However, before Logan can answer, Jessica interrupts, “Actually, I’m grateful he brought this to my attention. I am happy to take responsibility for what happened. I also hope that the students get the punishment they deserve as well.”
Amber just about has a heart attack when Jessica says that as she nudges Angel, who just scowls.
Jan seems to find that amusing as he chuckles, “Very well then. If you’ll excuse me.” He walks off and out of the college.
The minute the door closes, Amber is on Jessica, “What did you just say? Aren’t we doing this, so our children don’t have to get punished? Why in the world would you ask him to punish our kids?”
“What’s so important about going to this school?” Jessica asks them.
Angel can’t believe Jessica asked such a thing, “Are you kidding me? My son has to go to this school! I had him start singing classical music when he was four to prepare him to go to school here! If my son gets kicked out of this college, everyone will blame me for it!”
Of course, these two women are going to make it about them. Jessica sighs and turns around to look at Logan, “Where do we start?”
Logan seems amused, “I appreciate your enthusiasm. Look at the sunshine out there. It’s just one of those days that one would want to be outside,
getting that Vitamin D, right? Let’s begin by recycling the trash.” He specifically leans to the side to make sure Amber and Angel hear that.
Amber begins to stutter, “Recycle trash?”
Angel is appalled, “He wants us to recycle trash?”
Jessica turns and walks off.
Everyone is wearing neon orange aprons and bright yellow cleaning gloves.
Jessica seems to be working hard while Angel and Amber are giggling as they use their personal fans to cool themselves off.
Logan walks over. The cackling stops as Angel and Amber notice him standing there watching them. They move over, shove Jessica out of the way, and sort trash into the recycling bins.
“Juliana’s mother and Carson’s mother,” Logan says. “You both are working very hard.” He compliments them even though he knows better. To be honest, they aren’t his target. He turns a scowl towards Jessica, “Why are you slacking off so much?”
Jessica is confused, “I’ve been working this entire time.”
Logan shakes his head, “Don’t pretend you’re doing the work, Mrs. Gaston. I walked up here, and you’re just standing there. Put in a little effort,” he snaps at her.
Angel and Amber aren’t sure what’s going on, but they’re going to go with it.
Jessica just looks confused. Surely, this PE teacher saw her working when he walked up.
Mariah is up on stage now. The audience is silent for her.
“I’d be proud to represent the International School of Music to the community,” Mariah states as the judges write down their scores.
“Oooo. What a joke. She talks as if she’s already won,” Juliana says with a scowl. Sloane just sits there, staring at the floor with her arms crossed over her chest.
Carson leans in from the second row, “I’m actually surprised. She seems to have some talent.”
Appalled, Juliana turns to glare at him, while Sloane just gives him a nasty side-eye.
“Your voice seems a little strained,” Zoey tells Mariah. “Did you practice too much?”
Kelly is quick to write that down on her score sheet.
It appears the judges have been told to give Mariah low scores.
As Mariah walks down the hall, Sloane walks up and grabs her by the hair. After a bit of struggle, Sloane lets her go.
“What did you do that for?” asks Mariah, angry.
Sloane gives her an angry look right back, “What’s your deal anyway? Do you like Cross or what?”
“I don’t owe you an answer for anything,” Mariah tells her. She turns and starts to walk away from Sloane when Sloane runs around her and gets in her way again.
“I’m warning you. Stay away from Cross,” Sloane tells her. “Don’t talk to him. Don’t smile at him. Act like you don’t know him.”
Mariah just looks at Sloane. “No.”
Sloane gets even angrier at being defied, “What did you say?”
Mariah steps right up into Sloane’s face, “When I become ambassador, Cross and I will get to spend a lot of time together, won’t we?”
Sloane screams at her, “ Don’t even dream about that! That student ambassador position is mine!”
Mariah just smirks, “Let’s just wait and see then. I won’t let you have your way this time, Sloane Kline.”
Mariah walks around Sloane and off as Sloane turns around and just steams at the nerve of Mariah Oh. She reaches back and pulls out a hairpin, and she goes after Mariah like she’s going to stab a bitch.
When she gets right up behind Mariah, she raises her hand high just as Mariah turns around, and her mouth drops open, but Mariah steps to the side enough that Sloane completely misses stabbing her with that pin and falls to the floor.
“Did you really just try to stab me right now?” Mariah asks as Sloane gets to her feet. “You must have learned that move from your mom.”
Sloane looks pissed now, “What did you say?” she screams at Mariah. She lunges at Mariah, who grabs her by the wrists and pushes her back down to the ground.
The ladies have moved to clean the hallway. Well, we should say one of them is doing the cleaning.
Jessica wipes down the windows while Amber and Angel sit on a bench, drinking coffee and laughing.
“Oh my goodness, look at you ladies clean!” Logan says as he walks down the hall.
Of course, Angel and Amber quickly scramble to their feet and start cleaning the windows now too.
“Of course!” Amber tells Logan. “We’re cleaning and sweeping like nobody’s business.”
Angel nods her head, “I think my arms might fall off, I’m cleaning so hard.”
Logan nods his head, “I can see that.” He walks over and drags a finger across a window sill. “Mrs. Gaston, are you applying any pressure at all when you clean?”
Jessica turns to look at him.
He holds up two fingers, both of them dusty. “Look at all of this dirt.”
Angel and Amber are just as confused as Jessica is. They have no clue what’s going on right now.
Logan hands a bucket over to Jessica, “Take this and follow me. You can clean the bathroom next.”
As Jessica takes the bucket, Amber and Angel are about to plead with him not to have to do the bathrooms when Logan tells them, “You both have been working very hard. Take a little break.”
Again, the comment is met with surprise by all three ladies. Jessica seems concerned now that there’s something more going on here.
“Follow me!” Logan tells her and walks off down the hall. Jessica walks after him but apparently not fast enough for his liking as he turns back and yells at her, “I said let’s go!”
Jessica begins to run after him.
Amber sits down with a groan, “Oh dear. I’m so tired.”
Angel looks down the hallway with confusion, “What exactly is going on with all of that?”
Amber shrugs, “He sure seems to have it in for her. He’s giving Jessica all the punishment. You know, it’s probably because Cross was the instigator.”
“Are you still cleaning?” Zoey asks as she walks down the hallway.
Amber and Angel have never been so happy to see anyone in their life. Surely, Zoey will get them off of this crappy punishment. “Mrs. Kline!” Amber says. “We’re totally exhausted!”
“My entire body hurts,” Angel tells her. “Can you please talk to Mr. Lee?”
Zoey just sighs, “Where is Mr. Lee right now?”
Both Amber and Angel point down the hall.
Jessica is scrubbing a toilet in one of the stalls.
“Can’t you scrub any harder than that?” Logan asks her. “Didn’t you agree to take this punishment? Are you even the least bit sorry for what your twins have done?”
Jessica tries to ignore him as she continues to scrub harder.
“I said you’re doing it wrong!” Logan yells at her. “Use this!” he throws a toilet scrubber at her. “Try this stuff too while you’re at it!” he dumps all of the cleaning utensils into her stall. “Can’t you do anything right?”
Jessica has had enough. She stands up and removes her gloves, “What exactly is your problem with me? Don’t you think you’re a being little cruel here?”
Logan just scoffs and tosses the bucket onto the floor. The movement makes Jessica start. “Why? Are you starting to get angry now? Are you mad that I’m making you clean toilets? You told me you felt responsible for what your son did. You must love him so much. Or is this good mother all an act that you’re putting on? Is this all pretend for the sake of your husband?”
Jessica has no idea what’s going on, “Have I done something to offend you, Mr. Lee? Why are you treating me like this?”
“I’m not angry at all,” he tells her. “I’m just jealous. You seem to live such a happy life. I’m just not sure how long that happiness will last.” Logan turns and starts to leave when Jessica goes after him.
“Stop evading the question and tell me what’s going on!” she demands. “If you have something to say to me, then just say it.”
Logan spins around to face her again, “Stop being so fake, lady. That boy isn’t even your real son.”
Jessica’s eyes go wide. How does this man know that? “What… what did you just say?”
Logan gets up real close, “I know you have another daughter.”
Jessica can’t believe this is happening to her. “Who are you?” she asks.
Logan’s accent has been dropped at this point. There’s no need for it with Jessica Gaston. “Do you want to know who I am? How about if I tell you who you are first. Layla Kwon’s biological mother.”
Jessica's eyes grow even wider if that’s possible. She is stunned that this stranger knows so much about her, but she has no idea how or why.
Outside the bathroom, we see Zoey walk by. She stops when she sees Logan and Jessica nearly face to face in the bathroom. She also sees the look of terror in Jessica’s eyes as she gives Logan a push.
“Who on earth are you?” Jessica demands.
“Me?” Logan asks as he moves closer to her now.
“Mrs. Kline!” Kelly has rushed into the hallway, but Zoey quickly shushes her. She wants to find out what’s going on between Logan and Jessica, but Kelly wouldn’t have run down here if it wasn’t important. She glances once more into the bathroom and then stalks off angrily.
Kelly leads Zoey to where Mariah and Sloane are in a deadlock. Each one latched onto the other’s hair.
“Release each other this minute!” demands Zoey.
Reluctantly, the two students release each other.
“The final audition is just around the corner! What are you doing?” Zoey yells but sees that Mariah has a chunk of Sloane’s hair in her fist.
Mariah is fuming, “I didn’t do anything wrong! She started this entire thing!”
Sloane has a little blood running down her nose. Of course, Zoey stares at Mariah as if she’s guilty.
“She tried to stab me with her hairpin!” shouts Mariah.
Zoey’s eyes go wide as she slowly turns to look at her daughter.
“I’m reporting her to the school violence committee!” Mariah tells them both.
Well, that concerns Sloane now as she begins to look worried. Zoey clenches her teeth and turns to Mariah, “Did anyone see her try and stab you?”
“What?” asks Mariah.
Zoey talks rather slowly, “Do you have any proof that backs up your claim? If there are no witnesses, you may just be making the entire story up. Everyone is quite aware of how jealous you are of Sloane. Looking at my daughter, it’s very apparent that you started this fight.”
Mariah just shakes her head, “You will always side with her, won’t you? Seeing how you’re acting right now, I can see just how much you must have victimized my mother and how frustrated she was to have to deal with it. If you had even one ounce of remorse for what you did to her, you would have at least apologized, and then maybe, just maybe, your daughter would have grown up properly!”
Zoey just stares at her, “What did you just say?”
Kelly steps forward, “What a rude girl! How dare you speak that way to Mrs. Kline.” She moves towards Mariah, but Zoey stops her.
“You better watch what you say,” Zoey tells Mariah. “I am the dean of this college. I can suspend you for what happened today. I hope in the future, you won’t forget that. Let’s go, Sloane.”
As Zoey and Sloane walk off, Mariah is left there standing.
Jessica grabs Logan by the arm, “Don’t you run away. Tell me who you are. How do you know Layla? No, how did you know she was my daughter?”
Logan brushes her hand off of him, “Take your dirty hands off of me, lady. After what you’ve done, how dare you be so bold. Why were you so ashamed that you kept it hidden that she was your daughter in the first place?”
Jessica can’t let it out that Layla is her daughter to the others. She has everything all laid out, and now it’s starting to unravel. “I don’t care who you are. If you get in my way, if you tell anyone about Layla, I will make you pay.” She’s pissed now.
Logan doesn’t back down, “Just what will you do? Will you get revenge on me? Just like you did Congressman Same and Director Min?”
Jessica is about to lose her mind. How does he know all of this about her?
“Don’t think I’m easy to get rid of like those fools,” he tells her. “Instead, I’ll give you a chance. A chance to reveal the truth yourself.”
Jessica just stares at him.
“Reveal the fact that you’re Layla’s mother. Reveal it to your husband and your children,” he continues.
Jessica shakes her head, “This doesn’t concern you. Why are you getting involved? Layla was my daughter, and I’m taking care of this.”
Logan chuckles, “You don’t want to ruin your little rich family? How about this?” He pulls out his cell phone. “Will this convince you to come clean?”
“Hey, you promised to help me find my mom, right?” Jessica hears Layla’s voice. “I hope you keep that promise.”
“Why do you want to find your mom? She abandoned you.” Clearly Logan’s voice.
Jessica is barely holding it together as Layla responds, “There’s something I need to know. I need to know how she’s doing.”
“How do you want her to be doing?” Logan responds.
There’s a pause in the recording as Layla takes in a breath, “I want her to be as unhappy as I am.”
That last line is heard, and Jessica just loses it as she begins to sob.
Even Logan has a hard time keeping it together. “Do you get it now?’ he asks her. “Layla hated you her entire life.”
Tears are streaming down Jessica’s face as she looks up at Logan, “Layla was looking for me?”
Logan is breaking down now, “She looked for you her entire life!” he screams at her.
Jessica can’t take it as she leans against the bathroom stalls and just sobs.
“She didn’t know the mother who abandoned her was right in front of her this entire time,” Logan tells her. “Still, she kept looking and looking and looking!”
As Jessica continues to sob, Logan gets closer and lowers his voice, “You didn’t even recognize your own daughter.”
As Jessica clutches at her heart and weeps, Logan goes in for the kill. “You don’t have a right to be a mother. I’m going to make Layla’s final wish come
true. If I have to chase you to the end of the earth, I will make sure your life is miserable. I never want to see a smile on your face for as long as you live.”
Jessica cannot believe this is happening to her.
“I’ll give you ten days,” Logan tells her. “Tell your family the truth, or I will. You don’t need any more time than that.”
Jessica watches him with tears running down her face as he walks by her and out of the restroom. She leans against the wall and just cries her heart out, slowly sinking to the floor.
“Layla…” she cries.
Logan storms through the college parking garage. He recalls the very first day he met Layla Kwon.
“Logan. This is Anna,” his mother would make the introduction.
Layla smiles at Logan, “Hi, Logan.”
Logan is lying in a hospital bed with headphones on. He seems annoyed as he ignores her, turning up the volume of his MP3 player and playing the music into his headphones.
When he doesn’t respond to her greeting, Layla sets a bouquet of flowers on his lap, hoping for a more pleasant response. “I hope you like them.”
Instead, Logan brushes them off his lap and onto the floor.
Determined to fit in, Layla takes it all in stride. She sets a bag of candy on this lap this time. “These are my favorite.”
Again, the candy gets knocked to the floor. “I don’t need that,” he finally speaks to her.
Layla places her stuffed bear on the bed and uses a cartoon voice, “You’re not scary at all,” she says as the bear.
Logan glances at the bear.
Layla just smiles at him.
Finally, Logan lifts his gaze to Layla’s.
Later, when they are both in operating rooms, we see Layla’s bone marrow being sucked up into a syringe.
After the procedure, Layla is alone in her hospital room when her eyes open. The only person at her side is Logan, clutching to her teddy bear.