Previously:

Misty overheard her parents expressing their mutual hatred of Nelson Fletcher, who later ended up dead at the Masquerade Ball. Fearing her parents were somehow involved in his death, she confessed her fears to her brother.

Charlie showed up at Erin's door in an attempt to explain his relationship with Kerrigan. Erin was torn over giving him a second chance.

Kerrigan was hurt by Charlie's deception and decided she he was no longer than man she fell in love with. She resolved to forget him once and for all.

After her breakup with Jasper, Sonya had a car accident while driving home from the Masquerade Ball. Jasper wondered if her 'accident' may have been intentional...

Erin's Apartment

"Erin, I need to talk to you," he said before she could speak.

She had thought it would be easy to allow him to explain his actions -- to give him a second chance. At that moment, however, Erin wasn't sure whether she wanted to forgive and forget everything Charlie had done and let the rest of the world disappear, or to slam the door in his face and be done with him.

"Come in," she finally said, stepping aside to allow his access. She looked to the kitchen where Elisabeth watched them with intense interest. Erin gave her a heated glare, and Elisabeth took the hint, leaving them alone to talk.

"Before you say anything, all I'm asking for here is a chance to let me explain -- about Kerrigan," Charlie said, following Erin's lead and taking a seat across from her in the living room. His face was a mask of determination. He had to tell his side of the story. Erin didn't want to hear him explain. To hear him out would be forcing herself to admit that what Kerrigan had said last night was true -- she had been married to Charlie.

But, Erin had promised herself to let Charlie defend himself and to confess her secret as well...

"Kerrigan and I were married," Charlie said, making it sound much more simple than it actually was for either of them. "I'm not going to deny that."

Erin was hurt, but she'd already expected this from him, and she'd been prepared for the news. "I wouldn't have felt differently about you if you would have just told me you were divorced, straight up, when we first started dating. It wouldn't have even mattered to me," she replied honestly.

"That's the thing, Erin. I'm not divorced from Kerri."

The Bradley Home

Zipping back and forth across the abnormally spotless kitchen, Tisha Bradley headed back to the dryer to fold another set of towels. After finishing her task, her eyes scanned the room looking for anything else that needed to be done.

"Baby, would you sit down for a second." her husband appeared behind her and gently massaged her shoulders. Tisha tensed in surprise, but soon found herself melting under his tender touch. He walked her to a chair and she eased down into it.

Benton observed his weary wife with more than a touch of concern. He'd never seen her so on-edge in his life, and her attitude was beginning to scare him. She was so jumpy and on-the-go. He couldn't quite admit it to himself, but he was afraid she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Tisha, will you please talk to me? You've been bustling around this house all morning, doing all sorts of chores to keep you distracted from the rest of us. What's got you so worked up?"

"Nothing!" she answered immediately. She exhaled and leaned back in her chair. "I just had some extra housework to catch up on. I've been neglecting the laundry for weeks."

Benton frowned, knowing his wife was holding back. "Did you push Nelson down those stairs?"

Tisha sat up rigidly in her chair, surprised by his blunt questioning. She wrung her hands in her lap, avoiding an answer. How could she tell Benton the entire story? He didn't know what she had done, but now she would have to tell him. "You wouldn't understand what I've done. I'm not who you think I am, Benton. I'm a bad person, and I've made a horrible mistake..." Tisha's voice broke as she started crying, and she couldn't continue. Benton leaned over her, whispering in her ear.

From the stairs, Misty had witnessed the entire exchange, but now she crept back upstairs taking care not to be heard. "Oh my God," Misty whispered to herself when she was safely out of her parents' range. "She did it! My mother killed that man!"

St. Laurent Community Hospital

Pulling on last night's dress and tossing her hospital gown aside, Sonya left the bathroom of her hospital room and was on her way to the door when a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

"Miss Cortes, don't tell me you're thinking about leaving!" the roundish nurse said, stepping further into the room, but still close enough to the door to use her thick little body as a roadblock if Sonya tried to pass by her. "Dr. Markios really wants to examine you before your release."

Sonya gave an exasperated sigh, and plopped back down onto the bed side. "I've already been checked out by him, and I dare him to find a single scratch from that not-even-accident. The only injured body is my car's!"

"Oh no, Sonya. Dr. Wallace checked you out, and you're right, physically you're fine. You haven't met Dr. Markios yet. He wants to see how you're doing mentally."

"You want me to see a shrink?" she asked, incredulous.

"An accident can be very traumatic, and you were experiencing the symptoms of a panic attack when we brought you in..."

"Enough!" Sonya shouted, realizing she probably wasn't helping her case by raising her voice to the dwarfish woman. "Please, you've done enough for me," she said, reining her temper. "I'll be fine -- I promise."

The nurse gave her a skewed look, but realized she couldn't persuade her determined patient. Shrugging her heavy shoulders, she retreated to the hall.

"A goddamn psychiatrist? Just what I don't need," Sonya muttered, collecting the few possessions from her room. She searched through her purse for a cell phone, planning to call a cab when she heard someone else enter her room. She turned to find Jasper.

"Sonya, thank God you're all right," he said, giving her a relieved, yet awkward hug. "I just heard that you were here."

"As you can see, I'm fine," she said, meeting his gaze only briefly before continuing to rifle through her handbag.

"Are you?" he asked in a near whisper. "Sonya, what happened last night? How did you manage to drive off the road? Why did you take the river route in the first place?"

Sonya met his searching eyes and understood the hidden question he was really meaning to ask. Did she try to kill herself?

Erin's Apartment

Still married to Kerrigan? Erin refused to believe him. How could he have done this to her? How could he have allowed their relationship to progress so far while he was married to someone else? "You're still married to her?"

"Technically ... yes," he said, attempting to think it through in his own mind. "It's much more complicated than you think."

"It'd better be!" she snapped.

"I thought she was dead," Charlie said, his words reverberating through the immediate silence that had settled over the couple. Erin didn't know how to respond. "On our honeymoon, she was waiting on our boat and ... there was a sudden explosion. She was gone in a heartbeat. I never saw her again until she came back to St. Laurent about a month ago. Erin, it was just so hard for me to have her back in my life. I couldn't believe it after all this time. There are still so many unanswered questions."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this," Erin asked softly, her tone of voice a drastic change from the severity she'd maintained up to this point. She was gentle in her questioning as the full magnitude of what had happened hit her. Poor Charlie, she'd never even imagined something so awful happening to him. She moved over beside him on the sofa and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I never talked about Kerrigan to anyone. My family knew better than to ever mention her around me. Just thinking about her was torture. It hurt so much after she died, I thought I would never let anyone get close to me again. I didn't -- until you."

Erin leaned up into him and met his full lips with a soft kiss.

"Does that mean you forgive me for not telling you sooner?"

The Guthrie Home

"Kerrigan, you cannot do this!" Martine ordered, much more authoritative in her command than she'd been up to this point. Until now, she'd only gently pressed her new friend to stay, yet Kerrigan was insistent upon leaving. Martine was starting to panic.

"My mind's made up." Kerrigan rolled her suitcase to the door of the guest room and paused, waiting expectantly for Martine to move away out of the door frame. "This is ridiculous," she muttered, realizing that Martine was not going to let her pass through the doorway.

"No, what's ridiculous is the fact that you're letting Charlie get to you like this," Martine countered. "If you leave now, you'd leave so many issues unresolved. You'd never have the closure you came back for, and neither would Charlie."

Kerri's eyes wandered downward, then to her suitcases. She knew leaving town would be taking the easy way out, but what more did she have to discuss with Charlie? Martine was right though, she hadn't found any of the answers she'd been looking for since her arrival in St. Laurent...

"I know I've said this to you before, but you need to stay, Kerri." Martine moved to her friend's side. "We'll help you find out what happened to you, and I'll try to discover if Vincent was really the one who nearly had you killed."

Kerrigan gave a reluctant nod.

"Thank you!" Martine said, relieved that her efforts hadn't been in vain. "You're the only person in this house I can talk to. My only friend," she admitted.

They hugged and Kerrigan rolled her suitcase back to the bed. "I'm only staying on one condition: I'm going to get a job and pay you back for your kindness and my imposing."

"But you're practically family!"

Kerrigan prepared to leave once again and Martine gave in.

"Fine, you can pay us! Just stay here!"

Both women turned to the door as Vincent suddenly appeared in the room. "Well ladies, I couldn't help but overhear the tail end of your conversation. My wife's right, you don't owe us anything, my dear."

"But I want to," Kerrigan replied, her attitude cooling toward Vincent. Her unsteady truce with him hadn't been broken so far, but she still couldn't will herself to trust him. He was a little too generous and friendly compared to the Vincent she'd known five years earlier.

"Then may I suggest an employment opportunity?" The two women eyed him with interest. "Kerrigan, I'm sure I could set you up with something at the Highwind Resort."

"I highly doubt Kerri wants to work for Giselle!" Martine turned to Kerrigan, waiting for her agreement.

"No, I think it's a great idea -- at least until I can find something else," she added quickly. "Thanks for the offer, Vincent. I'd love it if you could arrange something."

"I'll get right on it then!" he said before departing.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Martine said skeptically once Vincent had left the bedroom, "because I'm sure you're going to regret ever working for that contemptible woman."

The Bradley Home

The atmosphere remained as silent as it has since Misty departed. Tisha recollected herself and folded her hands in her lap, numb to continue her admission to her husband. She leaned into him, his arm protectively draped across her shoulder.

"It doesn't matter what you've done, Tisha. You're not a bad person. We'll work through this. We'll make this go away."

She turned to him, not comprehending his words. "What I did will never go away."

"But nobody has to know you did it. Nobody has to know you killed him."

Tisha went red and sat up straighter in her chair. "I never said I killed Nelson." Her voice regained some of its strength and assurance. "I didn't kill him. I was awful to him, and I ruined his life, but I didn't kill him."

Benton was more than a little relieved, but still puzzled. What was his wife trying to tell him? What was she confessing to if she hadn't murdered that man?

Tisha drew a deep breath before speaking. "You're the only good thing in my life, Benton. Thanks for trying to protect me. Every other man I've known has only hurt me." Her mind wandered back to Pete Sorenson and that crypt he'd locked her in only months ago. She shuddered involuntarily. "I got revenge on Nelson long before tonight. This is what I've been so hesitant to tell you."

"I've told you -- it doesn't matter what you did. He deserved whatever happened to him, and I'll stand by you no matter what. You never have to worry about that with me." He pointed to his gold wedding band. "This is unconditional."

Tisha leaned closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I ruined Nelson Fletcher. Back in med school -- I destroyed his reputation," she confessed.

"He destroyed his own reputation. You told me what he did to you -- how he used you."

"It's not just that," she said, sadly shaking her head. "I lied about him. I said he raped me. It was my word against his, and everyone turned against him. He dropped out of med school at the end of the quarter. I lied, Benton. I lied because he'd hurt me so bad." She broke down once more, sobbing into his shoulder.

"He can't hurt you again. He'll never hurt anyone again."

St. Laurent Community Hospital

Clutching her few possessions tightly against her chest, Sonya crossed the harshly lit room in a furor, but her escape was blocked.

"Sonya, don't run from me." Jasper's voice was more of a plea than a command. He just wanted to sort things out with her and make sure she'd be okay on her own.

"You don't have anything to worry about." She tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder as she stopped in front of him. How could she convince him she was fine? How could she convince him that she didn't need him by her side to support her. Easy: she needed to convince herself first, and so far that wasn't happening.

"Tell me what went down last night."

"Last night," she started condescendingly, "I hopped into my car and was on my way home when I skidded out around a corner and lost control. Try as you will to make it something it wasn't, that's all that happened."

She knew she was irritating him with her attitude, but the sooner he left, the better as far as Sonya was concerned. Seeing him was a cruel reminder... "I can't believe you think I would have done this intentionally!"

"I never said that," Jasper defended.

Something sparked within Sonya, and she continued relentlessly. "You didn't have to say it. Whatever you're thinking, it's not true. You must be really conceited to think women just swoon over you and can't bear to live life without you. Puh-lease."

Her words left Jasper more confused than angry. Where was this coming from? He knew he wouldn't be able to get through to her -- not yet anyway. He was just thankful to have found her unharmed at the hospital. He turned his back to her and walked away.

Sonya stalked to the doorway after him, sticking her head around the corner and watching him disappear down the hall. "That's right! I don't need you!"

After he had left, she returned to her room and took a deep breath, the rush beginning to fade. Her could feel the blood pulsing in her temples. What am I doing?

...Sonya saw the sharp curve in the road ahead. She saw it, but she didn't care. She couldn't think. All she could do was press her foot more firmly against the gas pedal and let loose.

She was flying, and she didn't relent -- not even when the tree branches began slapping against the windshield. She didn't let up -- didn't let up at all. The car was skidding down the hill uncontrollably, and still she held down the gas. Even after her car had smashed into the tree, she was surprised to find her foot on the pedal...

"Miss Cortes?" the familiar nurse asked, entering the room once more and disturbing Sonya from her flashback. "I know you said you didn't want to see Dr. Markios, but I wrote down his number, as well as several others in case you change your mind."

The nurse's sweet, self-satisfied smile only made Sonya angrier. "Thanks," Sonya said through her teeth, forcing a fake smile as she accepted the phone numbers. She grabbed her belongings and left the hospital room, crumpling the nurse's paper and bouncing it off the corridor wall once she was safely out of sight.

Erin's Apartment

She allowed herself to be held by Charlie, who was gently stroking her waving hair, but she wasn't comforted. Even though she felt awful for being so accusatory in her probing, the truth remained: hidden away in some secret shell was a facet of Charlie's life she'd never known of. She wasn't angry with him, but she was still unsettled about the entire thing.

He wanted her to forgive him, and she wanted to -- but she just couldn't let this continue on any longer. "I can't marry you, Charlie."

His lips parted slightly, but he couldn't produce words. His fingers caught in her hair, and time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Erin was frustrated -- furiated at herself and their relationship. "That's it!" Erin said, her voice raising. Charlie nearly jumped at her mood swing. "I've reached my limit! I'm sick -- absolutely sick of all the secrets and lies!"

Erin's stomach felt weak as she realized she'd have to come clean about the baby and the potential health scare. She didn't want to worry Charlie, but there were already too many secrets in between them. "I'll only marry you if we promise to never keep anything from each other. Never again," Erin finished, her fire fading into heavy silence.

"Never again," Charlie echoed, his deep voice a whisper. He took her hand and gently stroked it. Erin's gray eyes focused on her diamond engagement ring, and the sinking feeling in her stomach returned.

"Charlie," she paused. "I have one last thing to come clean about."