“Logan?” she says, her voice dry. Logan looks very concerned about her.
“Anna,” he says to her as he reaches for her hand.
Layla gives his hand a squeeze, “Don’t worry. It didn’t hurt at all. I’ll get better soon, and we can go home together.”
Logan doesn’t say anything. He hands her the bear and continues to stay at her side, holding her hand.
Of course, we know how that all ended. The night Logan and Layla were released from the hospital, the police came and took Layla away.
Logan can only watch from the window as she’s placed into a squad car.
Logan gets on his dirt bike and grabs his helmet. He has to get control of his emotions now before he can ride. But, instead, he recalls his confrontation with his parents when he realized they lied.
“I thought you said Anna stole this?” Logan asks his parents as he holds up a very expensive diamond necklace.
Logan’s mother looks up at him, “Logan….”
His father interrupts, “We had no choice. Anna would have gotten in the way of your future. When it’s time for you to inherit our money, she would have made trouble.”
Shaking his head, Logan looks devastated, “Still, how could you do something like this? How could you do this to Anna? I would be dead today if it weren’t for her! How could you?”
Logan decided then and there he would find her when he could and make things right.
Unfortunately, by the time he was able to find her, it was too late.
Logan: Layla, I won’t tolerate watching your mother walk around happy.
Taking in a deep breath, Logan puts his helmet on and starts up the cycle. As he pulls out of the parking garage and leaves campus, we see a white car following him.
Logan doesn’t seem to notice the car, but we see that Jessica follows him. As he swerves in and out of traffic with ease on his motorcycle, she does the same.
Of course, her movements are noticed as Logan sees her in his side mirrors.
As they near a freeway exit, it looks as if Logan will stay on the freeway, but instead, he swerves at the last minute, taking the exit as Jessica has no chance to change lanes to make the off-ramp.
However, as she remains on the freeway, she can see him on the frontage road.
That also means that Logan can see her as well.
Jessica takes the next exit and sees Logan go through an intersection as she makes a hard turn to follow him.
Logan takes a right and ends up at a dead-end when Jessica follows him into the side street. As she gets closer, he smirks and takes the bike down a long set of cement steps that lead to another road below.
Jessica stops her car and gets out as she watches him reach the bottom of the stairs and disappears around the corner. She sighs, knowing he got away. Reaching into her pocket, Jessica pulls out her cell phone.
“I need you to look into someone for me. His name is Logan Lee, and he works as a PE teacher at the IMS. He may be somehow related to the children’s hospital. There’s a clock on this. I need it as soon as you get something, so the sooner you get it to me, the more I’ll pay you. ”
Jessica hangs up the phone.
Jessica: I must hurry. If Logan Lee exposes me first, everything I’ve done up to this point will be all in vain.
Logan rides right up to the fancy hotel, where he hands off his motorcycle to the valet.
He is let into a fancy suite, where he removes his windbreaker.
As he walks up to the mirror, we see a display set up with an assortment of sunglasses, wigs, and other means of disguise.
Logan removes his sunglasses.
Slowly peels off the mustache.
Removes his fake teeth.
Finally, he removes the long-haired wig.
As he runs his fingers through his short hair, it’s finally revealed that Logan Lee is Kira Khan.
On the desk in front of a mirror is a photo of Kira and Layla, and he slowly reaches to pick it up.
“Layla killed herself?” he says to himself as he stares at the photo.
Suddenly, he screams out, “No fucking way!”
His entire body shakes as he looks at his sister, “She would never take her own life,” he says as he struggles to keep his emotions in check.
“What are you saying again?” Sebastian asks Penelope. “That teacher, Logan Lee, hit Cross? Why would he do that?”
Penelope is standing in front of Sebastian’s desk. The twins have always taken care of each other, and she’s not going to stand by while some renegade teacher hits her brother, despite Cross’s insistence. “It was a punishment for Cross beating up Justin.”
Sebastian scoffs at the nerve of Logan Lee, “How dare he? He took my money.”
“Something’s not right about that teacher,” Penelope tells him. “He’s been going to the extreme in giving us punishments. He’s been particularly nasty to Cross.”
Sebastian considers that.
“It’s almost as if he has a grudge,” Penelope adds. “Can you please get him fired right away? He’s getting on my nerves.”
Sebastian looks up at his daughter, “I’ll take care of it.”
Penelope just grins and walks away. It was too easy.
As the door closes behind Penelope, Sebastian reaches for his phone and dials.
“Mr. Lee. Are you free right now?
“I thought we’d have a little wager,” Sebastian tells Logan as they walk into the local MLB baseball field.
Logan looks amazed as they enter the field and walk towards the dugout. “Baseball really isn’t my thing,” Logan says.
Chris smirks, “Aren’t you a PE teacher? And you’re way younger than us. Surely, you must be in better shape.”
“How about this?” Sebastian tells him. “We’ll each get three pitches, and whoever scores best gets one wish.”
Chris beams, “I’ll ask for a blank check!”
Logan seems skeptical, “Who’s going to pitch?”
Sebastian nods towards the field.
Warming up at the pitcher’s mound is Gerrit Cole.
Chris beams, “He and Sebastian are practically brothers.”
Logan looks again, “Wait, Gerrit Cole of the Yankees?” His mouth drops. “I can’t believe I’m about to meet a famous baseball player!”
We see Logan, Sebastian, and Chris’s faces up on the scoreboard.
As Garrit murders Chris with three straight strikes in a row, Chris’s picture is removed from the digital display.
As Sebastian walks up to the batter’s plate, he high fives Chris. Chris’s performance was not important to any of this.
Garrit throws a strike for Sebastian.
“Go lightly on him!” Chris screams out.
Garrit throws another, and Sebastian connects, sending the ball soaring through the air.
Sebastian also connects with a second, sending it into the outfield.
As Sebastian walks away from the mound, he gives Garrit a glance and a smirk. It appears there’s been some deal made here.
Goofy Logan gives Garrit a salute as he walks up to the plate. He hammers down on the plate with his bat a couple of times.
Garrit cuts loose, and Logan swings the bat hard, spinning himself around and around.
The second fastball has Logan swinging but losing his grip on the bat as it is flies towards third base.
“You could get thrown off the field for that!” yells Chris, while Sebastian just looks on smugly.
Garrit sizes up Logan and sends his last pitch. This time it’s a curveball that Logan gets serious about as he swings his bat, connecting and sending the ball through the air. It crashes right through Sebastian’s forehead on the scoreboard.
“What just happened?” asks Chris as he looks on, stunned.
Logan drops the bat and raises his hands into the air, and screams out, “Woohoo! Home run, baby!” Logan takes the obligatory lap around the bases and then walks over to Sebastian. “Sorry to mess up that scoreboard, though.”
Chris glares at Logan, “Did you dupe us? Most professionals can’t hit one of his curveballs!”
Logan just shrugs, “That last ball seemed huge as it was coming at me!”
Sebastian is not happy.
“Mr. Gaston, I’m a little disappointed, though,” Logan tells him. “Is that really the best you can do?”
Of course, Logan’s home run beats Sebastian’s two base hits. “Whatever. What is your wish?” Sebastian asks, super annoyed his plan didn’t work.
Logan hums happily to himself as he pulls out his cellphone and types something into it. “I just sent you both a text.”
As the two men check their phones, they see a video of the boxing incident from college.
“What is this?” asks Sebastian. “What games are you trying to play with me?” he asks angrily. “You told me you deleted the video!”
Logan shrugs, “I lied.”
Sebastian is appalled, “You lied?”
Logan nods, grinning. “My wish is that the whole world can enjoy this lovely video.”
Sebastian walks up and grabs Logan by his jacket, “I paid you to look the other way. How dare you betray me?”
Looking confused, Logan says, “Paid? I don’t recall any payment.” Then it dawns on him, “Are you talking about the gold bars? I left those bars in your office underneath your couch. I figured your housekeeper would find it when she cleaned up in there.”
Now Sebastian is pissed as he throws Logan to the ground. “How dare you toy with me?”
Logan sits up on the ground, “Brother, you have some temper there, don’t you?”
“Don’t you dare call me brother,” Sebastian snaps at him.
Logan slowly gets to his feet, “Regardless, a bet is a bet. Make sure you hold up your end.” He glances at his non-existent watch, “I have class tomorrow, so I’ll get going.”
As Logan walks off the field, Chris points, “How dare you….”
Sebastian is steamed.
“Are you sure he’s an ordinary teacher?” Chris asks Sebastian. “That guy is a complete nutjob!”
Sebastian just stews, “That guy is an arrogant prick. I should have gotten rid of him sooner.”
We see a woman, wearing a very expensive nightgown, holding a glass of wine and walking up the stairs to the second level of the penthouse.
She begins to look through Jessica’s wardrobe until she finds the dress she’s looking for.
She stands in front of Jessica’s mirror and places the dress in front of her, “How do I look, darling? Am I pretty?” she says. We can’t see who it is just yet, and the voice is obviously an act.
She giggles, “Don’t look at me like that. It’s embarrassing,” she continues to pretend to be the wife of the penthouse.
“Again? I suppose, just once more.”
We see Holly leans in and gives a pretend kiss. She’s wearing a long-haired wig, styled just like Jessica’s hair, and she holds Jessica’s dress in front of her. “Your stubble is so prickly, Sebastian.”
She hugs the dress tightly to herself, “Honey, stop that,” she squeals.
Riley is sitting with a financial advisor who is explaining the different types of investments to her.
“I don’t have a steady income at the moment, so I’d like to use what I have to start investing,” she explains to him.
The advisor nods his head, “Have you heard the term ‘high risk, high return’?” he asks her.
Riley nods her head, though she may not be expressing herself correctly as she looks a tad overwhelmed.
The advisor reaches into his portfolio and pulls out a document. Holding it in his hand, he explains, “This is a stock we’ve been promoting to some of our more lucrative clients. If it pans out, it’ll bring a huge return.”
“How huge?” she asks.
He removes a pamphlet from his briefcase with the words BioGen written across the top.
“This company claims to have a cure for genetic respiratory illness,” he explains. “If you look right here….”
Riley is listening intently.
Zoey walks into Sloane’s room, and her eyes light up with fire.
“What are you doing? The audition is tomorrow. Why aren’t you practicing?” she demands as she walks over to where Sloane is already in bed, moping. Zoey throws the blanket off of her daughter.
Sloane just looks depressed as she sits up, “Mom, what if Mariah does better than me tomorrow? She has better diction than me. She’s pretty. She doesn’t get nervous. I get stagefright so easily that it feels like my heart will explode.”
Zoey seems annoyed with all of this, “Is that why you attacked her?”
Sloane had thought that her mother believed her lies. She slowly glances up at Zoey.
“You attacked her with your hairpin.” Zoey had a feeling it was true.
Sloane doesn’t deny her mother’s statement.
Zoey sits down on the bed, “What if it had gotten out of control?”
Sloane screams out, “I can’t help it! She’s always getting on my nerves!” Sloane screams out as she throws a little tantrum, messing up her hair. “I
can’t spend one more day around that little bitch! I hate that she lives here. I hate that we go to the same school!”
Zoey just rolls her eyes at her overdramatic daughter.
“You saw how she talked back to you!” Sloane reminds her. “I just want her to disappear forever!”
Zoey grabs Sloane by the shoulders, “You can’t become a great singer with this sort of feeble mindset! You’re going to have to be able to stand up in front of hundreds or thousands of people! Is this really the best you can do?”
Sloane begins to cry now, “I’m scared! What if I mess up in front of the judges tomorrow? I’ll just die if I lose to Mariah Oh!”
Zoey lets her go. If this will help her daughter calm down, so be it. She drops a red folder on Sloane’s lap. “Read that.”
Tears are rolling down Sloane’s cheeks, “What is this?”
Zoey leans in real close and practically whispers, “The script for the audition tomorrow.”
Sloane can’t believe it. “Where did you get this? I thought you weren’t supposed to release it until just before the audition.”
Zoey paid good money to get an advance copy of this script. Even as the dean, she’s not technically allowed to see the script beforehand.
Sloane is reading through the script, “This is in Spanish. Everyone has been polishing up their English skills.”
“The board decided to make this year’s audition a little more difficult,” Zoey tells her. “Your Spanish is fine, right?”
Sloane nods her head, “I got all As in my Spanish classes. With this, I won’t lose to Mariah or Penelope.”
Zoey leans in close. “Listen to me. Your grandfather will be watching. The only person appropriate for this spot is you, my daughter.”
Sloane suddenly looks far more confident as she begins to scour the script.
“When can we set up a meeting?” Sebastian asks someone on the phone. “It can be anytime, anyplace.”
Sebastian is still trying to set up a meeting with the elusive Kira Khan but has been unsuccessful. “How about we meet at the hotel coffee shop around four?” asks Sebastian, getting excited now. “Fantastic. Okay. Have a good night.”
He hangs up the phone and sits down at his desk with a huge sigh. “Finally.
There’s a knock on the door, and Jessica walks in, “You look like you’re in a good mood. Did something work out for you?”
Sebastian shakes his head, “Nothing too important. Some things are finally falling into place. How are things at the furniture shop?”
“It’s taking a bit to get the hang of it, but things are prospering,” she tells him.
Sebastian smiles at her, “I’m glad to see you’re happy.”
Sebastian’s phone chimes.
“Meet me in the music room now,” the text appears from Zoey.
Jessica glances down at it, but Sebastian is quick to flip it over, but when he does, Jessica sees a brochure on his desk labeled BioGen.
“Something has just come up,” Sebastian tells her. “I do need to go out for a bit.” He rises from his chair, “I might be late, so don’t worry about waiting up for me.”
Jessica just smiles at him. She glances down once more at the brochure, then turns and walks out of the study.
When Sebastian walks into the music room, Zoey stands in front of the festival trophy, arms wrapped around herself as if she’s cold.
Sebastian approaches her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist, “Are you still upset about Riley?”
“You promised to get her kicked out,” Zoey reminds him. “But look at us now. The board vote failed.”
Sebastian gives a little sigh, “I hadn’t expected there’d be traitors in our group.”
Zoey breaks away from him, turning around to face him, “How are you so relaxed right now? This woman and her violent daughter are driving me crazy. I can’t live like this.”
Sebastian just smirks, “Don’t worry. I’ve got everything in place. Before you know it, she’ll be moving out of here and going back to the slums where she belongs.”
Zoey seems skeptical, “Are you certain?”
“Don’t you trust me?” Sebastian asks.
Zoey admits. “I do.” When Sebastian smiles, she continues, “That’s why I plan to get a divorce soon.”
Sebastian’s smile fades, “What?”
Zoey hadn’t anticipated that he’d be upset by her announcement. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it better for you if I am rid of that loser? It’s not like I expect you to marry me right away, so don’t look so shocked.” She brushes past him and moves to sit down on the couch.
“Didn’t you say Doctor Kline was at a conference?” Sebastian asks. “Is that true?”
Zoey crosses her arms across her chest, “Once I become foundation director, we will sign the divorce papers. Kyle is just a burden at this point. Things are just too stressful with him around all the time. This marriage is over.”
Sebastian walks over and leans against the couch behind her, “It must be so hard on you, putting up with a guy like that.” He starts to massage her shoulders, “You are definitely tense.” He whispers into her ear, “I’ll be sure to relieve some of that tension tonight.”
Zoey grins at that, though Sebastian isn’t smiling at all. This divorce is not something he had planned for.
Backstage at the audition, Sloan is preening in the mirror while Mariah is reading off a sheet in the mirror, practicing her annunciation. We see others in the waiting room, either chatting, reading, or applying makeup.
Kelly walks into the room, “It’s time for the final audition. I will call each of you, one at a time. You’ll be given a script on a teleprompter, and you’ll read it precisely as written.” She glances at the list, “Juliana, you’ll be first.”
This surprises Juliana, “I’m first?”
“Yes, Juliana,” Kelly responds with some annoyance at having to answer the obvious.
“Oh my God!” she squeals out, “I’m so nervous.”
Carson walks up behind her, “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Juliana takes in a deep breath and heads out of the room.
Juliana walks out onto the stage. As she gets to the microphone, Amber is beaming with pride.
“My name is Juliana Cian. I am a college freshman Music major.”
As the teleprompter begins, Juliana’s eyes widen as the words that come up are in Spanish.
From her position at the judging station, Zoey just smirks.
Juliana stammers through some Spanish, trying to sound out as many of the words as she can, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t really know what she’s saying, even though she is part Spanish herself.
Angel seems highly amused by Juliana’s failure and tries to cover her mouth as Amber scowls at her.
Jessica is not amused. She pulls out her phone and taps on it a few times.
On the stage, Juliana is getting frustrated at her failed attempts to read the words scrolling across the screen. She finally turns and flees off stage.
“You can’t just….” Amber starts to say, but it’s too late. Juliana has left the stage.
Zoey seems very pleased with herself as she jots down her score.
When Juliana comes back to the waiting room, Carson asks, “How was it?”
Tears are streaming down Juliana’s face. “I couldn’t do it. I totally ruined my chance!” She begins to stamp her feet, “The script is in Spanish!”
Carson’s eyes go wide, “Spanish?”
It seems to go around the room as Mariah looks confused, “Why is it in Spanish?”
Penelope stands up, “The script has never been in Spanish before.”
Sloane turns her chair around, “What does it matter what language it is? So, what if it’s Spanish.”
Kelly walks in, “Mariah, you’re next.”
As Mariah leaves the room, Sloane looks far more confident than she had been in the past.
Mariah walks out to the microphone, “My name is Mariah Oh. I am a freshman Music major.”
“Please read from the teleprompter,” Kelly instructs her.
Riley is watching from the audience.
As the Spanish words come up on the screen, Mariah admits, “I can’t read this.”
Kelly seems confused, “I’m sorry? You can’t do it? Well, that’s too bad. You can leave then.”
Mariah looks over at Kelly, “I’m not saying I’m giving up. I’m saying that I won’t attend an unfair audition.”
There’s murmuring in the audience.
“Someone has leaked the script,” Mariah announces.
Zoey’s eyes go wide at that statement.
Mariah continues, “I clearly heard someone rehearsing this same script earlier today.
In fact, earlier that day, Sloane was reading from the script, rehearsing it in the bathroom.
When she finishes, she looks at herself in the mirror and tells herself, “You got this, Sloane. You’re going to crush Mariah Oh.”
She tears the script into shreds and crumples it up, throwing it into the trash can, and then walks out of the bathroom.
The door to one of the stalls opens, and Mariah walks out.
“If the script wasn’t leaked beforehand, she wouldn’t have been able to practice it in Spanish,” Mariah continues as she stands on the stage.
Zoey seems confused, “Who are you saying leaked the script? We only received it this morning.”
Mariah shrugs, “ I wouldn’t know who did it. But as long as there are doubts, shouldn’t you change the script to make it fair?”
Kelly stands up, “If you’re not confident, you should just give up. How dare you make such a sorry excuse?” Kelly glances around at some angry parents in the audience and clears her throat nervously. “Did you hear me? Clear the stage if you aren’t going to perform.”
“I think Mariah is right,” Jessica says. She rises up with her phone in hand, “It seems the script has been posted on the school website.” She holds it up for everyone to see. Of course, it has been uploaded. Jessica is the one who did it. She knew that Zoey would try to give Sloane an unfair advantage and was waiting for just the perfect time for her to post the pictures of the script she took at Sebastian’s villa.
Suddenly, all of the parents are pulling out their phones and going to the school website.
Zoey’s eyes go wide.
Angel stands up, “It’s true!” She’s looking at the words on the big screen and comparing them to the website’s script. “It’s exactly the same as the teleprompter.”
“Wait a minute,” Amber says, “What’s going on here?” She turns to look at Zoey, “Did you know about this?”
Of course, Zoey is going to deny any knowledge of this. “I had no idea.”
“Since the script has leaked,” Riley says as she stands now. “It makes no sense to continue this audition.”
Jessica nods her head, “I agree. To continue, the script will need to be changed. I’m sure you’ll agree, Dean Kline.”
Zoey glances nervously around the room.
Sloane walks out on stage and bows as she gets to the podium. “My name is Sloane Kline. I am a freshman and a Music major.”
As the script begins to play, Sloane’s face becomes confused as she was expecting to see Spanish words float by, but instead, the script is in English. She nervously tucks hair behind her ear.
As Zoey stares at her daughter, everything for Sloane becomes blurry, and she finds herself fidgeting onstage.
“Wait!” she says, which prompts those in the audience to begin to murmur to themselves.
Jessica sits there with a smirk on her face as she watches the Kline girl lose her composure.
Sloane tries to read, but the words go in and out of focus as her heart begins to race and her stagefright kicks into full gear.
Zoey is just disgusted, watching her daughter fail yet again.
Sloane just turns and flees off stage.
Sloane bursts through the door, and standing right there is Mariah. “Did you panic? I guess you didn’t know they changed the script.”
Sloane is crying, “Just say what you want to say!”
Mariah tells her, “I heard you practicing the script in the bathroom earlier.”
“Why is it always you?” Sloane asks, tears flowing freely down her face. “Why are you always stepping in my way?”
Mariah just looks at her, “Do you get it now? Without your mother helping you, you can do nothing on your own. You just don’t have the talent. All you can do is stutter and run from the stage crying.”
Sloane screams at her, “You shut your mouth!”
Mariah isn’t going to back down now, “Tell everyone the truth. You put those drugs in my bag, didn’t you? You have no confidence in yourself, so you wanted me out of the way. Right? The only way you can win is to pull dirty tricks and cheat!” Mariah grabs Sloane by the shoulders and shakes her, “If I’m wrong, say so!”
“Mariah Oh! This is all your fault,” Sloane screams, and then a little louder, she screams again, “This is all your fault!” Suddenly, her eyes roll back in her head, and she faints, falling to the hard floor with a thud.
Mariah just stares down at her, “Are you messing around again? No one is falling for your tricks.” Mariah turns and walks away, but others suddenly run to Sloane’s aid as Mariah stops walking, wondering if this is for real now. She runs back and kneels down. “Sloane, what is wrong with you?” Mariah starts to shake her, “Wake up, Sloane. Wake up!”
Later that day, Kelly walks up to the bulletin board and posts the results as everyone gathers around. When she’s finished, she stands in front of the board as the students all groan. Kelly finally walks off, and everyone squeezes in to see who won.
“I knew it,” someone says.
As we close in on the results, it shows the winners as Cross and Penelope Gaston.
That night, everyone has gathered at the Gaston residence to celebrate.
“Everyone, especially Cross and Penelope,” Chris says as he stands in front of the others, never missing an opportunity to give a speech.
“Congratulations on being the first twins to be chosen as the school’s ambassadors. Let’s give them a big hand.”
Around the room, everyone is clapping for them as they stand up and take a bow.
“You are so talented for siblings,” Amber tells them. “I’m not really the jealous type, but I’m a little jealous of Cross and Penelope right now.”
Sebastian smiles, “We appreciate everyone coming over to congratulate us. Perhaps we should throw a party at Madison Tower this weekend?”
Everyone claps at that suggestion as the sound of the door opening, and closing is heard. Holly leads someone in, “Everyone is over here.”
Looks of excitement fade some as Riley and Mariah walk into the room. Riley is carrying a bouquet of flowers, while Mariah holds a small box in her hand. Jessica rises up to go greet them, “What took you so long? I was waiting for you to come,” she tells them.
“Mariah! I heard you did something amazing this afternoon!” Chris says, giving her two thumbs up.
Penelope smiles at her and nods, “Thank you. This is all thanks to you.”
Mariah just shakes her head, “You won fair and square by your own talent. You don’t need to thank me. Congratulations to both of you.”
Angel turns to Carson, “Didn’t you bring them a gift?”
Carson picks up a present, “You guys have everything, so it’s really hard to buy you gifts, but I hope you like it.” He opens the lid, and inside are expensive sneakers.
When Mariah sees the expensive gifts being thrown around, suddenly, she hides hers behind her back, but Cross has already seen it. He stands up and walks over to her, “What do you have behind your back? Is that for me?”
Suddenly, everyone is looking at Cross and Mariah.
Cross reaches behind her and takes the gift.
“It’s nothing expensive,” Mariah warns him.
Cross takes the top off the gift, and inside is a piano charm for his backpack. He shows it off proudly to the others, “I like it,” he tells Mariah, which brings a smile to her face.
Knowing they’ve been outdone, the others put their gifts back into the box. Penelope stands up and walks over to Cross, “Maybe we should all go to the community room.”
When Cross nods, Penelope turns to the others with a smile, “Let’s go.”
As the younger ones leave, Angel pops up and takes Riley by the arm, and leads her over to sit between her and Amber, “It’s nice to see you here,” Angel tells her. “Let’s have a drink.”
Amber doesn’t seem pleased with this as she creates a bit of space between her and Riley. “When did you two become so close?”
Riley holds her glass as Angel pours her a drink.
“Wait one second,” Amber says. “Were you one of those who voted against her eviction?”
Angel’s eyes go wide, “What are you talking about?”
Riley smiles and turns to Amber, “I would have sworn it was you who voted for me. Was I wrong?”
Amber is appalled at that suggestion, “Why would I vote for you?”
“People do tend to grow on one another after spending some time together,” Riley says. “I thought you were growing fonder of me.” Riley is mostly teasing Amber, knowing full well that she’s on Team Zoey. “Our kids have known each other since middle school. Since we’re neighbors, we should be friends, don’t you think?” She grabs Amber’s arm now.
“Do people really find you charming?” asks Sebastian. “Do they really buy your cute little act?”
Jessica interrupts, “Honey. She’s a guest who came to congratulate us. Don’t be rude.”
“It’s okay!” Riley tells her. “I can be rather picky myself. I mean, I don’t give my charming cute little act to just anyone.”
“Sebastian, I think you crossed the line this time,” Chris tells him. He turns to Riley, “He tends to be a bit blunt and kind of dull.” He howls with laughter which earns him a glare from Sebastian. “Wait!” Chris stops laughing. “What in the world happened to Sloane? I heard she fainted!”
Angel nods her head, “I bet Zoey is losing her mind right about now. People suspect she’s rigged the audition, then Sloane didn’t become an ambassador. Even Doctor Kline packed up and left….”
Chris tried to stop her, but she kept going on and on. Well, damn.
“Wait, what do you mean Doctor Kline packed up and left?” asks Amber. “What happened?”
Angel knows she messed up. That bit of knowledge wasn’t for public consumption.
Chris points at his wife, “Why would you even bring that up?” He rises from his seat, a speech beginning to overtake him. “That family is truly spectacular. How should I put this? A rose. Thorns. Pain and tears.” He’s being overly dramatic now. “I’m almost sure one of them will end up as one of my clients. And poor Doctor Kline….”
Poor Doctor Kline bursts into his condo only to find Zoey sitting on the couch, doing some light reading.
When she sees him, she just scoffs at his presence.
Kyle sighs, “Where is Sloane?”
Zoey looks at him with disgust, “She’s asleep. You can talk to her later.”
Ignoring her, Kyle bursts into Sloane’s room. What he finds just breaks his heart.
Sloane hasn’t even undressed from the audition as she lays on top of her comforter, curled up into a ball.
Slowly, Kyle closes the door.
He looks down at her and watches her twitch lightly in her sleep. Kyle just shakes his head, but something catches his eye. He walks over and picks
up a photo of him and Sloane when she was still a toddler. The smile on Kyle’s face is practically beaming. He hasn’t seen that smile in quite some time, but it was his daughter that brought it out in him back then.
Kyle sets down the photo and then presses a knee into the bed as he leans over, “Sloane, you should sleep properly,” he starts to shake her, but she waits up, screaming her head off, grasping at the side of her head.
“Stop laughing! Stop laughing at me!” she screams out.
Concerned, Kyle kneels down, “Sloane! What’s wrong?”
Sloane continues to clutch at her head, “That sound! Can’t you hear it? My classmates are laughing at me! Make it stop!”
“Sloane! Snap out of it. No one is laughing!” Kyle pleads with her. “There’s no sound.”
Suddenly, Sloane realizes that her father is there. She looks at him as she tries to catch her breath. She glances around the room, suddenly realizing where she is. She smiles at her father, “Dad. When did you come home? Is the conference over?” It’s as if none of that just happened.
Kyle is obviously worried, “Are you okay?”
Sloane smiles all crazy-like, “What do you mean? I feel fine! I am a little sad I didn’t become an ambassador. I’m sorry if I let you down, but don’t worry. I will come in first place for the midterm, and I will still win the festival trophy. If I do that, you won’t hate me, right?”
Kyle sits up on the bed next to her, “Why would I ever hate you? I don’t care if you come in first place or last place.”
Sloane grows concerned, shaking her head violently back and forth, “I won’t let that happen. I won’t accept anything less than first place. I’m just so happy to have you home again.” She goes to hug her father when the door swings open.
Zoey stares at her daughter, “Sloane, if you’re awake, start studying.”
Sloane gets up and walks over to her desk.
“You need to make up for your little screwup today by acing your midterm,” Zoey reminds her.
Sloane nods her head and sits down at her desk, “Right. Right.”
Zoey starts to leave, but anger sweeps over her, and she slams the door open and runs over and spins Sloane around in her chair, “I set everything up so perfectly! How could you have blown this? How could you have been careless and let someone hear you rehearsing? How dare you embarrass me like that.”
Angrily, Kyle marches over and pushes Zoey away from Sloane, “Stop it right now. Can’t you see she’s unstable right now? How dare you talk to her like that when she’s like this?”
Sloane ignores them both and starts flipping through her textbook.
Zoey snarls at Kyle, “How will she survive in the real world if she doesn’t work as hard as she possibly can?”
Kyle ignores her and tries to pull Sloane away from her studies, “Sloane, just get some rest tonight. This can wait for tomorrow.”
Sloane looks nervously from one parent to the next, “No. I have to study. If I don’t, I won’t come in first place! I’m okay, dad!”
Kyle is pissed at Zoey as he just glares at her for what she’s turning their daughter into.
Now that Zoey has her way, she turns and walks out of Sloane’s bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Kyle walks into their bedroom not long after that, and he looks angry. “Are you out of your goddamned mind?” he asks her. “She fainted! She’s not well! She’s becoming unstable! She woke up screaming about hearing voices!”
Zoey doesn’t seem concerned at all. “She’s acting out because she failed the audition. Do you know how humiliated I was in front of the other parents? She disgraced her grandfather too. The least she can do is make it up in her mid-terms.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the mid-terms!” Kyle yells at her. “Do you even care about our daughter?” he asks her.
Zoey glances up at him and stands up, turning to face him. “You have no right to say a damn thing when you left here without her. I refuse to let my daughter be raised by a loser like you. Stay out of my way. I will educate her as I see fit.”
Kyle just can’t believe what he’s hearing. “How… how did you end up like this?” he asks her. “You know what? I think you were always like this.”
Zoey smirks, “Stop pretending to be sophisticated. Or that you have a conscience. You’re nothing more than a hypocrite. The moment you dumped Riley Oh, and chose me, you proved that you were nothing more than a weak man. You are so much worse than I am.”
Kyle is shaking now. He’s so angry. “I don’t give a damn if you treat me like a fool or not. But I will not let you ruin Sloane’s life.”
Kyle turns and storms out of the bedroom.
“So, you are back home now?” Chris asks Kyle. They are having lunch with Sebastian. “I knew you’d come to your senses. If you’re going to get divorced, first, gather your proof. Then you can drive that knife right in her back.”
Kyle is not amused, “Are you enjoying yourself?”
Chris just smirks, “Doctor Kline, your life is such a mess right now. But don’t worry, I’m confident your malpractice lawsuit will be settled very soon. It seems that Zoey has taken care of everything.”
Sebastian finally chimes in, “You’re lucky to have her, Doctor Kline.”
That does it as far as Kyle is concerned. He was trying to cut his steak, but instead, he stabs it right in the center and practically rips it apart, causing the knife to squeak across the porcelain plate, which causes Chris to wince from the sound.
“Sebastian, don’t piss off someone with a knife,” Chris tells him.
Confused, Sebastian asks, “Did I say something wrong?” As Kyle glares at him, Sebastian asks, “Shouldn’t you be happy when someone compliments your wife?”
Kyle is trying not to lose his patience here. “Why is it taking so long to seal this property deal?” Kyle wants to get his money and get the fuck away from Sebastian Gaston. “If you can’t do it, just say so now.”
Sebastian sighs, “Your tone with me as of late has been inappropriate and unnecessary. Your actions have made this entire venture unbearable. But, if you must know, I have a meeting with Kira Khan this afternoon.”
“While we’re discussing it,” Kyle tells him, “The moment this deal is done, I am out of all of this. Future investments. Madison Tower. Everything. I’m out completely. So, the sooner you get this done, the sooner you won’t have to listen to my unpleasant tone any further.”
Kyle slams his knife on the table, stands up, and stalks off.
“That punk. How dare he act up in front of me,” Sebastian fumes. He still has no idea that Kyle knows about him and Zoey.
Chris just waves at him, “Calm down. Listen, Doctor Kline is going through a few rough patches right now.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Sebastian asks. “It’s not my fault.” He gets up from his seat and walks off, leaving Chris all by himself.
“Why is he getting angry at me now?” Chris asks. “This is his fault,” he mutters to himself. “Maybe I should just expose everything. Should I?” he considers.
Jessica is at the penthouse, going through the day’s mail. She opens up one piece of mail, and her eyes grow wide when she pulls out a card that’s painted in red that says, “D-8” on it.
Logan: I’ll give you exactly ten days to come clean. Tell your family the truth, or I will.
Sebastian walks out of the study, and Jessica sticks the card under her leg to hide it from him.
“There’s a family photo missing from my study. Did you move it?” he asks her.
Jessica shakes her head, “I didn’t.”
Annoyed, Sebastian tells her, “Have Miss Holly find the photo. It’s my favorite one.” He walks over towards her, picks up the newspaper from the table, and starts walking back to his study when he turns around to look at her with a curious expression.
Jessica just smiles at him.
Satisfied nothing is wrong, Sebastian smiles back and disappears into his study.
Jessica pulls the card from underneath her, looking at the letters written in red.
Jessica: I only have eight days. It’s not enough time. I have to move faster.
Despite his failure at the Tower board meeting, Sebastian promised Zoey he would get rid of Riley and plans to follow through. He’s waiting around the corner for her, and when he sees her coming from the gym, he places his phone against his ear and walks towards her.
“BioGen? Isn’t that the company that’s about to break through with a cure for respiratory illness?” Sebastian says to no one on the other end of the phone.
As Riley walks by, she hears it, and it perks her interest. She turns and starts to follow Sebastian.
“I need to move fast. This stock is going to shoot to the moon once FDA stamps their approval on the treatment,” Sebastian continues to speak. “I don’t doubt your word for a moment, sir. You’ve never steered me wrong. Buy as many of their stocks as you can for me. Thanks.”
Riley stops walking when Sebastian hangs up the phone and continues out of the lobby. She rushes to her condo and pulls out the information that was given to her by BioGen.
An hour later, she’s emptying her bank account and mortgaging her condo.
An hour after that, she’s handing over a check to the financial advisor for one million dollars. It’s everything she could scrape together.
“You’re making a wise decision,” he tells her.
Knowing Sebastian never invests in a losing stock, Riley is confident that this’ll bring her a big return.
Jessica is flipping through photos showing Logan Lee arriving at the hotel.
Confused, Jessica asks, “You’re telling me he’s staying at this hotel? This is a six-star luxury hotel,” she tells the investigator.
The investigator nods his head, “On top of that, he’s staying in their presidential suite. It runs a thousand bucks a night.”
None of this makes sense to Jessica. Who is this Logan Lee?
“I talked to a few of the teachers at the college, and he’s widely known as some type of cheapskate,” he continues. “I think he might be stealing money to pay for this hotel.”
Jessica can’t figure it out, but she asks, “Does he have a connection to the children’s hospital?”
The investigator shakes his head, “There’s no record of any Logan Lee residing at the hospital.”
Jessica can’t quite piece this together yet, “Can you dig a little deeper? You might consider that Logan Lee might not actually be his real name.” She reaches for an envelope in her purse and slides it across the table. “For what you’ve done already.”
Kelly is in front of the class, “That’s all for today.”
As she leaves the class, suddenly several phones go off.
Penelope is the first to look, and her eyes grow wide in shock.
The others also seem shocked.
It’s a text from Layla Kwon, “How have you all been?”
Mariah didn’t receive any text, but looking at everyone’s expressions, she could tell it was nothing good. “Penelope? Is something wrong?”
Penelope puts on a fake smile and shakes her head, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
The five college students lock themselves into the music lecture hall.
“What is this?” asks Juliana. “It can’t be from her.”
Cross shakes his head, “Someone’s idea of a prank, more than likely.”
Carson isn’t so sure. “Why would someone pull a prank using a dead person like this? It’s creeping me out.”
Sloane is already near the deep end, “It’s so terrifying! She keeps asking us to go out.”
Another message comes in. This time it’s a voice message.
They all look at each other for a moment before Cross finally just plays it.
It’s the audio recording of the night they were at the junkyard.
As each student’s voice is heard on the recording, we see the shock on their face. When it gets to Sloane, she reaches up and covers her ears. “Turn it off! Turn it off!” she screams out.
Cross stops the recording.
“Didn’t we delete this?” asks Carson. “Who in the world…?”
Penelope realizes something, “Her cell phone. Layla probably recorded this on her cell phone.”
“Is she really alive?” asks Juliana. “Is she dead or not?”
Cross snaps at her, “Don’t be absurd. Of course, she’s dead. Her body was found on the south side. It was all over the news. What this means is that someone has found her cell phone and is using it to terrorize us. You need to stay strong. We’ve already gotten this swept under the rug once. Each one of you right now, drop out of this group chat and block this caller. Right now. And don’t you dare tell a soul. Not even our parents.”
One by one, each of them removes themselves from the group text and then blocks Layla’s number.
Everyone except Sloane, who’s breathing heavily in a panic.
“What’s wrong with you?” asks Penelope. “Come to think of it, you were acting like this last time too. You know something about Layla, don’t you?”
Sloane just stands there, cowering.
“Did you kill her?” asks Juliana.
Sloane shakes her head, “No. I don’t know anything!”
Cross walks up to her, giving Sloane no choice but to take a few steps back until she’s pressed against the piano. “Sloane. Look at me and tell me the truth. What is it that you know?”
When she doesn’t answer right away, Cross gives her a light shake and snaps at her, “What do you know?”
Whimpering, Sloane finally answers, “Madison Tower. Layla fell and died at Madison Tower.” She begins to shriek, “She didn’t die in the south side! She died at Madison Tower!”
Suddenly, everyone begins looking at the other, eyes wide.
Carson peeks out of the music room and then walks out with everyone behind him. As they walk out of the school, Logan Lee appears from around the corner.
He looks at his phone and sees that everyone has left the group text. “Do you guys think you can run away from what you’ve done?”
You see, Logan knows the whole story.
The night she was taken to the junkyard, Layla stands in front of the angel statue as she waits for Mrs. Gaston to return. Her phone begins to ring, and she sees that it’s Logan.
Just as she answers her phone, a bag is placed over her head, and everything goes dark.
“Let go of me!” Logan can hear her crying out. “Let go of me!” Layla doesn’t hang up her phone as she shoves it into her pocket, keeping the connection to Logan intact.
“What’s going on?” Logan asks into the phone, but there’s no answer. Quickly, he looks down at his phone and puts it on record.
The bag is pulled from Layla’s head, and her eyes squint because several phone flashlights are shining right in her face.
“Who are you guys?”
Penelope smirks, “Just sit still; otherwise, it could get worse for you.”
Juliana nods, “I can’t believe I fell for your shit.”
Sloane is after that, “I can’t believe I tried to be your friend, you damn liar.”
Penelope chuckles. “Don’t forget, she’s just a poor orphan girl.”
Logan doesn’t know who these kids are, but he cannot believe what he’s hearing, but he listens and records the entire ordeal.
He stays on the line until he hears Layla’s voice again.
“Are you okay?” he asks her.
Even though she doesn’t sound like it, she answers him, “Yes, I’m okay.”
“Don’t you dare lie to me!” he yells at her. “I heard everything! Aren’t those the students you’re tutoring? I swear I won’t let them get away with this. How could they do that to you? Those bastards! I’m going to kill them all!”
Layla is just smiling at her defensive brother. She was more than happy she got out of there alive after what happened. “I feel reassured now that I know you’re on my side.”
Logan is hot, “I’m coming to the States right now. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just don’t get yourself into any more trouble. Stay the fuck away from those kids. If you need money, I’ll send it to you.”
Layla is covered in soot, “I don’t want your help, Logan. I don’t want anything to do with your dad’s money,” she tells him.
“Please, Layla,” he tells her. “I shouldn’t have let them take you.”
Layla is trying hard not to cry, “You didn’t know anything. I don’t regret coming there and becoming your sister. I don’t regret helping you get healthy again. I mean it.”
“Listen,” Logan tells her. “I’m coming there. I’ll teach those kids a lesson they’ll never forget. Just stay safe until I get there, okay?”
“I really hope you do teach them a lesson,” she says as she shivers in the cold. “Make sure you keep that promise, no matter what.”
“I will make your lives miserable from this point forward,” Logan promises.
Sebastian is waiting in the lobby as he glances at his watch. It’s 3:59. It’s just about time to sign this deal with Kira Khan.
He suddenly gets a text. “Negotiations are temporarily suspended,” Logan sends.
Now, Sebastian is hot. “Why won’t he show up and face me?!” He turns to the assistant on his left, “Did you send him the proposal?”
“Yes, sir. I sent it to him as you asked.”
Sebastian isn’t accepting any excuses, “What did you put into it that he decided not to negotiate with me?”
The assistant shakes his head, “Nothing, sir. That proposal was perfect. I included everything you told me to.”
Sebastian cuts him off, “Prepare your resignation letter. If this deal falls through, I expect it on my desk.” He rises up and storms out of the lobby. “Goddammit!”
A man is looking at his computer, “Who would play such a prank?”
A woman’s voice is heard, “Our housemaid. Can you restore it?”