Kylie slowly came to consciousness. Her sight was blurry, and her head was in a daze, and yet, when Stephen put his face in front of hers, she recognized him immediately. "You're awake," he said. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Stephen brought a glass of water to her lips. "Drink," he said. But when he brought it to her lips, she shut her lips uptight.

​​

Stephen looked hurt. "Why are you acting like this?" he cried. "You know how much I care about you."

Kylie sat up and looked around. The room she was in was pure pink. It was decorated with unicorns and hello kitty dolls. There were pink curtains, a pink sofa, pink chairs, a pink carpet, and even a pair of pink slippers by the edge of the bed.

Stephen smiled. "Do you like it?" His eyes were full of affection, and she could see that he genuinely wanted to make her happy. "I've been preparing this room for 10 years. I thought that you would never come, but here you are."

Kylie stepped into the slippers. They were warm and soft, but Kylie felt cold. "I did not expect to be abducted by you," she said.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Stephen sighed. "They did turn out this way, though, so it is best that we make the best of it. I'll tell you everything you want to know, though.

"Ethan asked me to take care of you before he went abroad. That was years ago. We were close friends back then. The reason Ethan had to leave was that he was ill and he needed to go to a special hospital. About one month later, after he had left, it had dawned on me that I had never met the girl that I was supposed to be watching. That was you.

"The first time I tried to approach you, I went to your school. On that day, I witnessed Khloe putting a pregnancy test into your backpack to criticize you for your amoral behavior. I thought you would cry, but you were tough. You were calm, and you denied that the test was yours, and you never brought it up again. When I saw that, I couldn't help but respect you.

"Not only did I respect you, but I also came to realize how special you were. I still hadn't met you, but I could see that you were one in a million. Your peers in school, they taunted you. The boys fought with you, and for some reason that I could not fathom, they did not see what I did. Throughout it all, though, you stayed positive.

"As time passed by, I came to realize that I'd fallen in love with you. You were my best friend's girl, though, and I kept my feelings to myself. In order to stay connected with you, I created Stars. I never meant any harm and, now that I have told you my tale, I am sure you can see that this is where you belong."

Kylie looked at him and smiled. "I appreciate your honesty," she said, "but I think that we would be much better off if we just remained friends."

Stephen laughed, and he said, "I respect your decision. You are free to go, but if you leave now, you may miss out on the only opportunity that you will ever have to test his loyalty to you…"

Kylie froze, and she looked at him curiously. She had given her phone to Ethan for the sheer purpose of testing his loyalty. Ethan had once gone out of his way to save Dora. She was curious to see what he would do now that she was in danger. She was also curious to see how Ethan would respond when he saw the video that Dora had made. If Ethan punished Dora, Kylie would be happy. If he chose to forgive her, though, Kylie would know to let him go.

"Do you know about Ethan's connection to your biological father?" Stephen wondered.

Kylie turned to him suspiciously and asked him what he knew about her biological father, and she warned him not to lie.

Stephen invited Kylie to sit down, and she came to him. He wrapped one arm over her shoulder, and like an elderly brother, he said what he had to say: "Your father was a hoodlum on the street. He was arrested for selling drugs. In prison, he knew a guy who was about to be executed. Before that guy died, though, he taught your father how to make quick money."

Kylie's hands were clenched into fists at her sides as she thought about all of the people in her life that had lied to her. "What was the lesson?" she wondered. "Do you even know?"

"It is most heinous," Stephen replied. "When your father was in maximum security, he learned the art of stealing, selling, and smuggling children. In fact, he was part of the group that tortured Ethan. When he went back to prison, he was given two life sentences back to back. Now that he has rectal cancer, though, he was given early parole…"

Hearing this, Kylie began to cry. Never in a million years would she understand the pain that Ethan had endured at the hands of her biological father, and she wondered if he ever truly get over it. She thought about his temper and how he treated her in bed, and it made her shiver. There was nothing she could do, though, and they both knew it…

"What is my father's name?" she wondered.

"Michael Cole," Stephen replied."Many good men died on the day he was brought to justice!"

"Was William's father one of the ones that died?" she wondered.

Stephen nodded. "I was there too. We had been assigned to capture a drug dealer. William's father was one of our undercover agents. On his way to send messages to me, your father discovered him by chance. Ethan was so angry. We tried to help him calm down, but he was too focused on Michael ever to calm down.

"In the end, the exercise failed, and no one could believe how it had all gone so wrong."

They were both quiet for a while, and then Kylie said, "Dinah told me many people were killed when that happened…"

Stephen gave her an affirmative nod. He sighed and said, "It's a dog eat dog world out there… In the end, it was Ethan who captured Michael. Of course, if he hadn't been on the police force, he would have just killed Michael outright – which is what he would have preferred!

Kylie frowned, and she said, "It is obvious that you hate my father, and why wouldn't you? From everything you've told me, I can see that he is a monster! I never knew him, though, so I have a request; before you kill him, would you allow me to see him? At least once?"

"If I find Michael before the police arrive," he replied, "I'll let you meet him. It is highly unlikely that it will go down that way, though…"