It was hard for Charlie to have Elna in her house, but it was harder for her to think that someone could hurt Maria, so there she sat in the same premises as Elna – again. She fidgeted with her wedding band as she chewed the inner part of her lower lip. Elna sat on the couch of her living room. She was also playing with her fingers – looking everywhere but at Charlie. While Marcus was on a phone call with someone, probably the police officer. Charlie could hear him asking someone to come over.

Maybe she was being paranoid, but she didn't want to take her eyes of Elna. Charlie doesn't trust her and she has every right to feel so. Not only did she once deceive Maria, but she also was in love with Marcus. Charlotte doesn't know how Elna feels towards her husband anymore, but she is not taking any chances. The fact that she was seeing Marcus, even just for job purposes, behind her back was enough to not trust her ever. Charlie glanced at Marcus, who seemed to be in a deep conversation with someone on the phone.

"You look different. Um, nice, I mean – you look really nice." Charlie averted her eyes towards Elna, who was now looking at her. She didn't think Elna would speak to her, but after a few minutes of complete silence, she spoke.

Charlie didn't have any reason to be rude to her at the moment – especially when she came forward to help Maria. She smashed her lips together and nodded her head, "Yeah." She mumbled. Charlie doesn't know how else to react. She didn't want to talk to her more, not because she hated her, but because she doesn't trust her. Charlie doesn't want to disclose anything that Elna might use against her.

Elna tugged her lips in a soft smile before her eyes went to Charlie's hands – specifically her wedding band. Charlie witnessed the small tug on her lips fall. Elna gulped and let out a shaky breath, "Congratulations," Elna mumbled.

Charlie looked down at her finger before she looked back at Elna, "Thank you," She replied softly.

The disappointment in her eyes was vivid that Charlie left confused – if she should be sympathetic towards her, or if she should be happy. She sighed. She couldn't be happy to see someone else miserable. Elna might have betrayed Maria, but she did for the love she had for Marcus – there is no doubt in Charlie's mind that Elna must be hurting to see the man she loves marry someone else, she would have been devastated if she was in Elna's place as well.

"Mama! Ella is awake!" Charlie's train of thought was interrupted when she heard Kathie yell out for her mother from the top of the stairs. Elna and Charlie both looked up at Kathie, standing in her shorts and purple shirt. Her hair was a mess, indicating that she has just woken up. Charlie smiled at her and nodded her head, "Coming, baby." She told Kathie, who giggled and ran back to her room.

Charlie's eyes went on Elna to see her looking at Kathie with a small smile on her face. Once Kathie ran back to her room, she looked back at Charlie. "Kathyrn is growing up so fast." She chuckled inaudibly. Charlie couldn't help but smile, "She is." She replied softly.

Even though Charlie didn't want to leave Elna with Marcus alone, she had no other choice. Ella was up and so was Kathie. She excused herself and walked upstairs to check on her daughter. She glanced down at Elna, sitting silently while Marcus was still away. She paused and heaved a sigh. She trusts Marcus. He will be careful around her. With the last glance, she walked into her daughter's nursery.

In Chicago, Leo was sitting in front of his laptop – studying for yet another important patient's case, while Elizabeth was in the kitchen making coffee. She glanced down at the mug and wrinkled her nose – she was told that the last time she made him coffee – it was too bitter, but Leo being a gentleman, he drank it. She smiled to herself and tasted the coffee before she serves it to him. It tasted fine to her. It wasn't extraordinary, but it was undrinkable either.

She walked to Leo and pushed the mug to his face. He instantly tore his gaze from the screen and looked at Elizabeth, a soft smile playing on his lips. The strong smell of coffee made him sigh. This is what he needed. He was already tired from a long shift at the hospital and now he had to study this case. He was going to assist in this major surgery tomorrow and he needed to know everything about it. "Thank you," He mumbled and took the mug from her hand.

Elizabeth smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder before she bend down and placed a kiss on his cheek. With her mug of coffee, she walked to the other side of the living room where she peaked out of the window, it was raining again. She heaved a sigh and turned to look at Leo again – who had his undivided attention on his laptop. She bit her lower lip – suppressing the smile. Leo had his reading glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. She thinks he looks incredibly sexy in those – he thinks otherwise.

Elizabeth traced her finger along the rim of her mug and slowly walked nearer to him, "You know, it is not easy being a doctor's girlfriend." She commented.

"Hmm? Why is that?" He asked – without taking his eyes off the screen.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Because he works too much," She playfully answered.

Leo chuckled and glanced at her before he sighed and nodded, "And gets paid so little," He added with a crooked eyebrow, making Elizabeth chuckle. He is correct. Leo gets paid way too little for all his hard work.

Elizabeth playfully pouted and walked behind him. She bend down and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. "Aww, my poor little doctor." She jokingly cooed and pinched his cheek, to which he rolled his eyes and held her hands. "How about I make you feel better?" She asked suggestively and unwrapped her arms from around him and put them on his shoulder – squeezing his tensed shoulders.

Leo chuckled and lift his head to look at her standing right behind him, "How about I complete this and then let you make me feel better?" He raised his eyebrow.

Elizabeth squinted her eyes and removed her hands from his shoulder, "You are no fun, Dr. Leo. I am disappointed," She told him and jokingly ruffled his already messy hair. She was just joking – she knows how important tomorrow is for him, so she is not going to disturb him more. "Fine, studying hard, Dr. Leo – while I go and call dad. It has been a few days since I last talked to him," She told him and walked inside their room.

Leo stiffened. He turned around to watch Elizabeth disappear into their room. He knows what will happen now. She will call her father but he will not receive it. Why? Today is his third chemotherapy. He must be having it, or he already had it and now he must be recovering. Elizabeth will complain about her dad not answering. Owen will call her back later and lie about something – make something up to his daughter to conceal the truth and Elizabeth will believe him – why won't she? She doesn't have any reason not to.

And how does Leo know this? This has happened before. It was Owen's second chemotherapy and Elizabeth decided to call him just at the time. He didn't receive her call and later called her back, lying to her that he and Franklin were out and he forgot his phone at home. Elizabeth told this to Leo, while he sat beside her – drowning deep into guilt. This is nothing small that he is hiding from her. Leo doesn't know what is taking Owen so long to come clean to his children. But no matter if he tells her now or months later – Elizabeth will not be happy to find that Leo knew this all along and decided to stay silent all this time.

Maria and Silas packing to go back to their lives. Maria sighed as she folded her clothes and put them in the suitcase, while Silas was just shoving them into his. "So, we will have to go back to Chicago?" Maria asked Silas.

Although, Silas was not supposed to talk about her treatment until they return home but he doesn't know if they will get time to sit and talk about this in length like they did last night, without any interruptions. Silas looked at Maria. He could see the uncertainty on her face. She already told him last night that no matter how much she tries to keep her expectations low – she couldn't help but feel hopeful – which she doesn't want. Because, if this treatment doesn't work – Maria will be gutted.

Silas nodded his head, "Yes, but just for a week. We will not tell anyone why we are actually going. We will see the doctor and discuss every detail with him." He answered.

Maira wordlessly nodded. It was her idea not to tell anyone about it yet. The time everyone hyped her so much. They all put so much faith in her and what did she do? She let them all down. She let herself down and gave up. This time she doesn't want to give up – for Silas, for Ezra, and most importantly for her. She glanced at Ezra, peacefully sleeping in the middle of the bed.

Maria had a great time away from everything. She didn't think much about Sean and just a little about what the future holds for her. Silas and Maria didn't do anything extravagant during their stay in Hawaii. They simply enjoyed each other's company. They talked about the past and the planned future. They ate at local restaurants. They went on walks at the beach. They saw the sunset and stayed up till sunrises – playing with Ezra.

For this entire week, Maria felt normal. She didn't think about her disability. She didn't think about what happened in New York. For most parts, she forgot about her treatment. This trip was just a getaway. Just a deep breath before resuming her regular, complicated, and somewhat tiring life.

Back in New York, Marcus walked back to the living room to find Elna sitting along. He looked around to see that Charlie wasn't around. He didn't even have to ask her where his wife went. Elna saw the way Marcus's eyes searched for Charlie. "Uh, Kathryn called her. Your daughter – she woke up, so Charlie went upstairs." Elna explained.

Marcus looked at her and slowly nodded his head. He doesn't talk about his family to anyone – especially with her. He smashed his lips together, "Elna if you really want to help your brother, you must testify against him." Marcus got straight to the point. He didn't have time to beat around the bushes. He just had a conversation with Jared and he also recommended perusing Elna to testify against her brother – it seems like their only way to arrest and prosecute Sean.

Elna's eyes widened. "What do mean by testifying? Are thinking about putting him in jail?!" She got flustered. She didn't come here to send her brother to prison. All she wants is Sean to end this, but sending him to prison? No, Elna would never do that. She knitted his eyebrows together and got on her feet. "Why are we talking about testifying? We just need to stop him!" She added agitatedly.

Marcus flared his nostrils, "What else do you think would be appropriate, Elna? You, yourself said that he is obsessing over Maria." He argued back.

Elna blinked away the tears from her eyes. She knows what Sean's doing is destructive, but he is her only family left. She can't send her only family to prison. "No, there got to be another way. We could talk –" She tried to reason when Marcus let out a hysterical laugh before she glared at her.

"Talk? Are you serious? He is planning on kidnapping Maria and you think we can talk to him?" Marcus spoke loud enough for Charlie to hear him. She was feeding Ella. She looked down to see Ella while Kathie was playing with her toys on the floor. Thankfully, she didn't pay any attention to her father's loud voice.

Elna's eyes were filled with tears. Marcus paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You don't understand, Elna. Your brother needs some serious professional help! He will do some extensive time if he goes along with his plan. If he hurt someone, he goes to jail anyway. If you cooperate with the police right now – only then your brother can get the help he needs – or else he will ruin himself." Marcus tried to explain.

Elna let out a shaky breath. She couldn't even think about the possibility of sending her brother to prison. She gulped and shook her head. Coming here was a bad idea. She should have tried to talk to her brother again. Elna didn't dare to look into Marcus's eyes. The hate that must be filled in them would be unbearable for her. She mumbled, "I need to go," under her breath, and tried to rush out of Marcus's house.

Marcus grabbed her by her elbow as she tried to walk past her. Marcus gritted his teeth, "If Sean does anything to hurt my family, I am not only going after him – I am coming after you as well." He hissed to her before he let go of her hand.

Elna didn't look at him. She didn't stay behind to argue – to yell – to cry. She gulped the lump she felt in her throat and rushed out of the house, while Charlie witnessed it all from the top of the stairs.