Finally, Dora stepped aside and allowed Ethan to leave. She knew that he had a car waiting, and she could sense him getting angrier and angrier by the second, so there was no longer any point in bothering him. She hadn't made any headway in convincing him that she was innocent anyways, and it didn't look like she would – not until Kylie showed up and exonerated her.

Once Ethan and Lucas were back at the hotel, they told Nate how things had gone at the studio, and he was furious. "Dora Hilton is too bold," he hissed. "She never should have dared to kidnap Kylie. Once we find Kylie, I mean to snap Dora like a twig!"

​​

"She is a bitch," Lucas agreed. "We should teach her a lesson!"

The two men had anticipated that Ethan would join them in their righteous indignation so, when he said nothing, they turned to him curiously and were surprised to see that he looked like he was in shock or something. Nate waved his hand in front of Ethan's eyes and said his name, but he didn't move an inch or say a single word.

Lucas put his hand on Ethan's shoulder and said, "Ethan, don't worry. Dora may be shameless, but I am convinced that we will find Kylie and that she will be unharmed…"

Ever so slowly, Ethan's expression changed. He looked up at Nate and Lucas. "It's not that simple," He sighed. "As long as Dora refuses to cooperate with us, we have no other leads…"

***

That night, Ethan had driven to the beach by himself. He liked to walk out onto the dock and feel the water's spray as the waves came up from the sea. He liked to look up at the sky and see the moon and the stars. This far from the city, they were brighter, and they helped him think.

There were a number of yachts tied up on the left side of the pier. He recognized the one at the end. It was Stephen's, and just the sight of it provoked emotions within him that he couldn't define. He strode towards the boat but, before he even got close, two big men stepped out and approached him. "Who are you?" one of them demanded, "And what do you want?"

"My name is Ethan Parker," Ethan replied. "Why are you harassing me?"

"The young master is on board," the second man replied. "He has asked not to be bothered. I will tell him that you are here, though. Perhaps he will see you…"

As soon as the man was done speaking, he ran back to the boat and left the first man to watch Ethan.

After a few minutes passed, Stephen hopped out of his boat and approached Ethan. "It is late," he said. "Why are you here?"

"I suppose I was looking for you," Ethan replied. "I admit that I hadn't known why I was here until I saw your boat. Until then, I had been following my gut instinct. Now that I am here, why don't you invite me in? I am cold, and I could use a warm cup of coffee."

Stephen nodded, and with a smile, he said, "Mi casa su casa. You are welcome to come aboard."

Once they were seated, Stephen looked at Ethan and said, "I assumed that you would come sooner or later."

"And why is that?" Ethan wondered.

"I'd heard it through the grapevine that Kylie was missing," Stephen explained. "You know that I have feelings for her and that she has a feeling for me, so it doesn't surprise me that you would eventually point your finger in my direction."

Ethan's face turned red with anger suddenly, and he flipped the table. "Kylie does not have a feeling for you," he roared. "If she is with you now, it is because you kidnapped her!"

Luckily the coffee hadn't been served yet, so there was no damage done, and Stephen was able to calmly right it and act as though the event hadn't even happened. "Temper, temper," he laughed. "Have you always been such a slave to your emotions?"

Ethan suddenly stood up. He walked over to Stephen, seized his collar, and pulled him up by it, and then he pressed him against the wall as hard as he could. "Where's Kylie?" he snarled. "If you tell me now, I will be lenient with you!"

Stephen remained smiling. He took a casual look over his shoulder to where his guards were at. "I could snap my fingers," he laughed, "and my guards would be all over you, so go easy. I admit that I have Kylie. She is hidden, though. If you killed me now, you would never find her, and she would die of starvation."

Ethan relaxed his grip slightly. "I have a lot of resources," he argued. "Do you really think that I couldn't find her?"

"You would find her eventually," Stephen replied, "but she would have long since starved to death."

"What do you want?" Ethan moaned as he let Stephen go. "If you are looking for a ransom – whatever it is that you want – I will pay it!"

Stephen giggled at Ethan's proposition. "I don't want money," he said. "I want you to quit sniffing up my skirt. She is safe. It is you that is putting her in danger. For the moment, we will continue on as if nothing about our relationship has changed. There will come a day though – very soon – when the three of us will sit around this very table, and Kylie will be given that chance to choose between us who she wants to be with, and I am willing to respect whatever she says."

"Is this your trick?" Ethan snarled. "I am not stupid. I know when someone is stalling."

"I can see that you are not stupid," Stephen replied calmly, "but I am not stalling. Even if I was, though, there is nothing you could do about it." Without giving Ethan a chance to reply, Stephen called to his guards and said, "I am ready for Ethan to leave. Please see him out."

***

The next day, Ethan received word that Dora had opened up an investigation as to the whereabouts of Kylie. Now that he knew who the real villain was, he felt a lot less animosity towards her. When he thought about her now, and what she was up to, what he felt was mostly anxiety. On the one hand, he knew that if she figured out Stephen's involvement in Kylie's disappearance, she could jeopardize her life. On the other hand, he knew that if he told her what he knew, there were equally frightening repercussions to consider. In the end, he decided to play dumb. He could go a little easier on Dora while pretending that she was still his number one subject.

He had thought about what Stephen had said long and hard and finally come to the conclusion that he had to trust him. He needed to stop investigating him and wait until things played out on Stephen's terms. He knew that if Kylie were given a choice, she would choose him every time. In the meantime, he decided he would try to figure more about the video and enforce some consequences where he saw fit.

Shortly after noon, Ethan called Dora and said, "I heard about your little charade, but I don't see what you're hoping to prove. We all know that you kidnapped Kylie!"

Ethan heard Dora sigh on the other end of the line, and he could tell that she'd been crying. "I am not guilty," she replied. "I know now, though, that the only way to prove my innocence is to find Kylie and bring her back to you safely. I have two teams out looking for her. I know that my good name will be tarnished if she is never found forever, and I refuse to allow that!"

"Have you found any leads yet," Ethan wondered, hoping that Stephen's name wouldn't come up.

"It seems rational to assume that Kylie is still in Hamorna," Dora replied, "so I have my men checking all of the local hotel registries."

"Well, good luck with that," Ethan replied as he hung up the phone. Leaning back in his chair, he found himself feeling sympathy for Dora. Out of her love for him, she was desperately searching for the woman that he loved. Things would not work out for her, he knew.

***

That night, Ethan appeared at Dora's home. He went straight to her door while two of his men pulled another man out of the car and followed after him. The man between them was beaten bloody and would not have been able to stand on his own, even if he'd wanted to. When Ethan knocked on the door, Dora's butler opened the door and, when he saw the bloody man, his face turned white, and he nearly fainted.

"What is this all about?" the butler gasped.

"We are here to see Dora," Ethan replied as he pushed the door open. "We will let ourselves in while you go and find her."

When Dora came into her living room, she found Ethan sitting comfortably on a chair with his guards on either side of him. Across from them, there was a badly beaten man whom she did not recognize.

"What is this?" she cried. "I have no idea what this is about, but you had no right to bring this man into my house!"

Ethan's eyebrows rose, and he said, "I would think you would recognize this man. Take a closer look. We were just talking about him earlier."

"I certainly do not recognize him," Dora assured them.

"Oh, really?" Ethan replied as he stood up and walked over to the bloody man. Once he was in front of him, he grabbed him by the hair, pulled his head backward, and wiped some of the blood from his face. "Take a closer look," he commanded.

"Oh my God," Dora cried without even having to get closer. "It's Tom Thomas. Ethan, what have you done?"

Ethan let go of Tom's head and met Dora's eyes. "You said that Tom was responsible for the video," he replied. If you were lying, then this is on you. If you weren't lying, then he has gotten what he deserved."

Dora looked at Tom sadly and said, "You really did wrong by me. I trusted you, and this is what I get…"

Tom stared into Dora's eyes, forced himself to smile, and said, "If you need a Judas, I'll be that for you…"