"David? David? Where the hell are you?" Stephanie screams as she storms into the living room. The glass in the front door almost rattles as it slams. "David!"

"Hey Mom, chill." Tommy appears from the kitchen and stares at her worriedly. "What's wrong with you?"

"Your father that's what."

"Tell me what he did now." Tommy puts a hand on his mother's arm to lower her into a chair but not noticing, she rushes to the other side of the room and begins to pace.

"He completely humiliated me at the spa. I've never been so…embarrassed." Stephanie punches down at the air as she says the last word and then puts her hand to her mouth.

"He was there?"

"No, he didn't have to be. He canceled my membership and the receptionist refused to serve me because…get this…I'm a felon. It doesn't take a genius to wonder who filled her in on the details of my past. Where is the son of a bitch? I'm going to make him wish he'd never been born."

"He's going to be at the office until tonight." Tommy finally gets her to stop pacing and looks her in the eye. "You're worrying me by acting like this. I don't want you to do anything rash."

"Don't get too worried. This isn't like last time and there's only one person I need to deal with." Stephanie puts a hand to her son's face and smiles. "You're good to me. I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate your support…"

"Yes you do."

"Well I should still do it more often. I would if it wasn't for your father making trouble for me at every turn. I've been his victim for the last time." Becoming increasingly hyperactive again, Stephanie pulls away from Tommy and goes to the front door. "Don't bother making any dinner for me. I won't be back until late…not until I've dealt with your father permanently."

Tommy watches helplessly as Stephanie jumps into her car and tears off down the street. He can't help but think to himself that this is exactly like the last time…

Kingsley House: Cleveland

"You should take a seat." Megan's voice is almost a whisper. She ignores Cassie but understandably given the circumstances.

"Are you alright?" Lauren asks as she sits down. Cassie sits next to her but decides to remain silent. "You've gone very pale."

"It's just a shock." Megan sinks down into an oversized armchair, her eyes wide. "I thought you didn't get my letters…or maybe you didn't want to see me."

"I wasn't quite sure how to deal with it." Lauren admits and looks around the room, noticing the abundance of family pictures on the walls. She did go to a good home. "I was also going through a very difficult period in my life but that ended and I knew what I had to do."

Megan seems to come out of her trance and shakes her head. Her loosely tied up hair begins to unravel but she doesn't seem to care. Disturbingly her demeanor becomes less vulnerable and her expression hardens. "Okay. Are you going to tell me why you didn't want me?"

"I take it your parents haven't discussed the details of the adoption with you." Lauren shifts uncomfortably.

"No. Why don't you hit me with it? I know my father's name was Ian Sanderson."

"Right." Lauren nods to confirm the information. "He was a lot older than me. I was only fifteen."

"Oh I see." Megan snorts with nervous laughter. "You were sleeping with a married man."

"No. It wasn't like that…"

"So what was it like?"

"He…he raped me." After saying the word, Lauren takes a sudden gulp of air and holds her breath, worried that she is going to say something even more damaging.

Megan does not seem to be taking the news well and dips her head forwards. She rubs her face with her hands causing it to contort. "What happened to him?" Her voice has lost the bitterness it held before.

Lauren quickly glances at a visibly disturbed Cassie before replying. "He…he died."

"Perhaps that's a good thing. I don't know whether I could have faced him."

"No." Lauren attempts to be understanding. "So you see now that I didn't give you away because I was trying to save myself or my reputation. I didn't know how to handle what happened. They assured me that you'd go to a good family."

Megan smiles, "Yeah I did. Talking about family, do I have any…you know…brothers or sisters or anything? We haven't been introduced either." She stares at Cassie.

"Oh no…I'm sorry. This is Cassie Wheeler, my brother's sister. I suppose she's your…aunt or something."

"It's very nice to meet you Megan." Cassie smiles at her despite her discomfort.

"You too."

Lauren continues, "You've got a stepbrother Adam. He was my husband John's son from a previous marriage."

"How old is he?"

"He's three and a very sweet boy."

Megan seems happy but looks to the floor as an uneasy silence falls between them. It is broken by a thud outside which causes all three to look up in shock. Megan jumps up from her chair and goes to the window, peering out.

"Oh no."

"What?" Cassie asks.

"It's my parents."

Her mouth open slightly in shock, Lauren gets to her feet and puts a steadying hand on the floral patterned sofa she has been sitting on. Her ears begin to ring as the tension increases and the living room door finally opens.

An attractive looking middle aged couple enter holding bags of groceries. Sheila Kingsley is dressed in a floaty white sundress, her rich chestnut hair pinned to the pack of her head. Her husband Peter who trails behind wears cream colored slacks and a blue linen shirt. He also has a very full head of dark hair but his deep brown eyes are unnerving as they pierce into Lauren.

"We didn't know you were having guests." He grins at Megan and shakes Lauren's hand. "Are you going to introduce us sweetheart?"

The exercise seems to be pointless for Sheila whose face is awash with sorrow. She remains silent waiting for Megan's reply and fine lines appear in the corner of her eyes as she braces herself.

"Mom, Dad." Megan steps into the middle of the group. She feels ill having to do this so unexpectedly. "This is Cassie…and this is Lauren. She's my biological mother."

Wheeler Corporation: San Francisco

"A car crash?" Isabelle gasps and slowly moves a hand to her mouth, her fingers dancing lightly on her lips.

"Yes." Guy replies down the phone. His voice is weary and he clearly needs rest. "I thought you should know he's about to have a blood transfusion. If he doesn't get it soon…he could die. Perhaps you want to come down here. I can't get hold of Cassie anywhere."

"I'll try her myself on the way. Just hang in there honey. I'll be there as soon as I can." The line goes dead and Isabelle puts the phone down before activating her intercom. "Marge? I have to go to the hospital. Can you have my car brought up? It'll be quicker."

"Yes of course Mrs Masters but there's someone here to talk to you."

Greg. Isabelle begins to panic. He found out about this morning. "Who is it?"

"Mark Fielding."

"Mark Fielding?" Isabelle mouths to herself in disbelief. What the hell is he doing here? She takes a quick glance at her watch and makes a decision. "Send him in but warn him I've only got a couple of minutes."

"That's all I'll need." Mark says as he opens the door, surprising her.

Isabelle begins to pile up papers as she prepares herself to leave but keeps a constant eye on him as he steps closer towards her. Their former meetings have been brief affairs but in none of them did Mark look quite as professional as he does now. He is wearing a suit and seems to be impeccably groomed. "Alright. Are you going to tell me why you're here? If you're looking for Lauren, I'm afraid she's in Cleveland."

"It would have been better if she'd been here. Is the rest of the family around?"

"No." Isabelle sighs. "Everything's kind of hectic at the moment."

"That's unfortunate because I have a rather important announcement to make to you all."

This piques Isabelle's interest and she stands up rigidly. "What announcement could you possibly make that affects my family? Unless this is about Stephanie…she hasn't done something stupid has she…"

Mark shakes his head, "This is about me. Something I have to do."

"Spit it out because I really have to leave."

"Okay I will. Because of my connections, I've been commissioned by my publisher to write a very lengthy book."

Horrified, Isabelle studies his face for sign of a mocking smile. "You're not saying…"

"It's going to be a tell all biography…of the entire Wheeler family."

Wheeler Estate: Napa Valley

"Stop wriggling." Adam rides John's back as he goes carefully up the stairs,

"I'm not wriggling."

"You are too." As they reach the landing, John puts his son down on the ground and crouches down to get to his level. "Now you're going to have a bath and get to bed nice and early okay? I don't want you being all cranky tomorrow morning."

"No. I don't wanna go to bed." Adam pouts and crosses his arms defiantly.

John is going to be firm but as he looks into Adam's eyes he can't bring himself to do it. "Alright sailor. I'll make you a deal. I'll run your bath and you can go play. Then when you've had your bath you can go play some more until it's time for bed."

"I don't want to play now. I want to watch TV in your room."

"Then watch TV in my room." John begins to walk away and his voice trails off as he enters the bathroom. "Don't make a mess of the bed."

Hearing Adam's footsteps bounce along to the bedroom, John enters the guest bathroom and turns the bath taps on. He hears a television being switched on down the hallway and smiles as the voice of a cartoon character booms through the house.

When the bath is full and the water is at the right temperature, John heads to his bedroom, wiping his brow as he does so. Upon reaching the bedroom door, he is greeted with a sight he had not been expecting. As the television blares, Adam is playing on the floor with a mass of papers which are interspersed with Lauren's underwear. He has pulled out several drawers and tipped their contents all over the room.

"Adam. What do you think you're doing? Did I give you permission to rummage through Lauren's personal belongings?"

"I got bored with commercials." Adam replies innocently as if that is an excuse for his behavior. John grimaces when he screws up a piece of paper and immediately jumps down to start clearing up.

"You go and get in the bath. I'll be through in a minute."

"Okay." Adam runs cheerily out of the room and John starts to claw at the mess he has made.

His first priority is to get the underwear away. God only knows what Pilar would think if she walked in now. John shakes his head as he removes the last bra. Now to the papers. Most of them are for the Wheeler Corporation including the one that Adam crumpled up.

But there are a couple which seem different to the others and are tied together with an elastic band. They are written on light purple stationery which makes John think they could be personal. Unable to resist the urge, he pulls off the band and starts to read through them. With each paragraph, his heart sinks further down until he feels as though he can't breathe.

Dropping the letters to scatter on the ground, John stares ahead with his mouth agape before whispering, "Oh my God. Lauren's got a daughter…"

Santadio Mansion: New York

Julia rubs her eyes as the bedroom light is suddenly switched on and swings her legs round to get up off the bed. Bobby is standing in the doorway staring at her. How long he has been there, she doesn't know. She must have fallen asleep again.

"You've been a long time." She yawns and stands firm, crossing her arms.

"I had some thinking to do."

"I'm glad to hear my offer affected you. Have you come to a decision?"

"Yes."

"And?" Julia becomes impatient but Bobby is not the kind of man she wants to vent her frustration at.

"I can't go through with it unfortunately. It doesn't make good business sense."

Julia's lip twitches as she replies, "So what are you going to do?"

"What I always intended." Bringing his right hand out from behind his back, Bobby holds a gun which he points menacingly at Julia.

She finds it difficult to swallow and her chest seems to be constricted but she has to keep her cool. "There are other ways of dealing with this. You're my husband. You could divorce me and get the money you need if you don't trust me to give it to you myself."

Bobby raises his other arm and grasps the gun with both hands to steady his aim as he gets closer. "It takes too much time, don't you understand?"

"Please!" Julia begs, her eyes darting from Bobby's face to the gun he is holding. Her voice breaks as she continues, "Don't do this!"

"I've got no choice." He starts to squeeze the trigger but the sound of a dog barking outside causes him to look away. Seizing her opportunity, Julia smashes her arm down on his wrist and the gun flies to the floor, discharging as it does so.

His eyes almost boiling with fury, Bobby grabs Julia and throws her onto the bed as he goes to retrieve the gun. Panicking, she notices a large green vase on a chest of drawers and grabs it.

Running up behind Bobby, she brings it smashing down onto his head. Pieces of porcelain fall to the ground and after a terrifying moment of doubt, so does Bobby with a thud. His head is bleeding and there are flecks of the china in his hair.

"Oh. Oh God." Julia gasps and continues to stare at him. In his pocket she sees a cellphone and tentatively takes it out moving away from the body just in case he wakes up and dials her home number.

"Hello?"

"Jessica! It's me!"

"Oh Mom I've been worried about you. You're lucky you caught me. I only just got in. Where are you?"

"I'm still in New York at Bobby's house. You have to call Donna and the police."

"What? Why?" Jessica is stunned.

"He's trying to kill me. He's been holding me prisoner for days. Look I don't have much time and I'm in danger. Just call the…" The sentence is cut off with a scream as Julia feels an arm around her throat and drops the phone to the ground.

Jessica can still be heard calling out but as Bobby increases his pressure, Julia is unable to reply. Becoming faint she uses her last resort and elbows him in the stomach, breaking free.

Sneering at her, Bobby turns to get the gun but Julia jumps on his back to stop him. Her hands blocking his vision, he swings around to get her off and backs up against a wardrobe, smashing Julia against it. Glass from a mirror on the wardrobe door shatters on the ground and Bobby turns to deal with her face to face. "You are one troublesome little bitch."

He swings to hit her but she ducks and runs past him, diving to the ground for the gun. She rolls over onto her back as Bobby comes to get her but he stops dead in his tracks when he sees what she is holding. "You're damn right I am. Move back."

Bobby considers it but stays where he is. The strong features of his face twist as he smiles. "You won't shoot me. I doubt you even know how." Stepping forwards as Julia gets to her feet, he closes in on her.

"Stay away!" She screams. "If you want to live, then keep away from me!"

Bobby shakes his head, "No!"

Before he is able to reach her, Julia pulls the trigger and her arm jolts with the force of the bullet shooting out of the gun. It only takes a split second to enter Bobby's shoulder and he stops momentarily. But ignoring the pain, he lunges forwards with a horrifying groan and Julia shoots him again.

BANG

The sound continues as more shots are fired. Julia instinctively pulls the trigger again but the chamber is empty. Bobby has collapsed into a bloody crumpled heap on the ground and fighting back tears, Julia bends down to check his pulse. There isn't one. He's dead.

San Francisco General Hospital: San Francisco

"They're coming." Guy says to Jake as he spots Dr Choi coming down the corridor with several nurses.

"What the hell took them so long?" Jake growls. "I donated my blood over an hour ago."

"They were probably trying to get the poison out." Guy replies bitterly.

The sparring stops when the door opens and Dr Choi steps inside. "We're ready to take Lucas down for the transfusion."

"Right." Guy moves out of the way and stands next to Jake against the wall as the small container holding Lucas is wheeled out and down the corridor.

Dr Choi turns to Guy, "Mr Wheeler, there is some paperwork I need you to sign. Could you come to my office? Another doctor is seeing to the transfusion."

"Sure." Guy sniffs and turns back to Jake as he leaves the room. "You better go down and keep him company."

He accompanies Dr Choi as they move down the cold sterile corridor in silence and they eventually stop outside of his office. Dr Choi opens the door and they both move inside.

It is a large, surprisingly stylized space with stark white walls and beech wood furniture. Guy takes one of the chairs by the desk. "Do you want to get these forms then? I want to go and see Lucas as quickly as possible."

"I'm afraid there are no forms Mr Wheeler."

"Excuse me?" Guy looks up as the doctor goes to sit down opposite him. He has a pained expression on his face and is clearly worrying about something.

"What blood type are you?" He asks cryptically.

"B. What's that got to do with anything? I thought Jake's blood was okay…"

"Oh it is." Dr Choi removes his glasses and takes a deep breath. "It's a suitable donor match. But your blood group being what it is brings up a whole other issue."

"What issue? Is there something else wrong with Lucas? Please tell me, is there something I should know?"

Dr Choi sighs, "When we took Jake's blood, we stumbled upon something a little out of the ordinary. I checked it out and my hunch was right. Mr Wheeler, two people with the blood types of your wife and Jake Wheeler could not have produced a child with Lucas's blood type."

Guy's mouth drops open, "What are you saying?"

"There is only one explanation. Jake Wheeler is not the child's father. You are."

Elliott and Wilder: San Francisco

"Can I go home now?" Cynthia asks David hopefully as he steps out of his office.

"Well I am." He smiles. "Unless you want to spend the night here…"

"I'll go." She replies and watches her employer wistfully. He walks to the elevator and presses the button.

It takes a few seconds for the elevator to arrive and David steps on board, not holding the door for his beleaguered secretary. "That's all I need. Spending time in an enclosed space with her." He mutters to himself.

There is a loud ring and the doors slide open, revealing the building's underground parking garage. It is dark at the best of times but now that it is nighttime, the only things aiding David's view are the orange lights on the walls and pillars.

Pulling out a remote control, David points it at his car which bleeps as it unlocks. The rear headlights flash twice to confirm and he opens the door to put his briefcase inside.

Clunk

The odd metallic noise comes from somewhere in the center of the parking garage and David turns round, frowning. "Who's there?" There is no answer and shrugging his shoulders, David begins to get in the car.

Clunk

"That's it." He hisses and slams his car door shut striding out to try and get a better view. "Come out now before I call security and have your sorry ass thrown in jail."

There is still no answer but David can hear a car engine in the distance. At least he's not in there alone. Walking away, David doesn't see the car swerving round the corner towards him until it is too late.

The force of the car against his body as it drives into him forces David up onto the windshield before he is catapulted to the ground, hitting his head on the jagged tarmac.

The car stops a few yards away and the driver gets out, approaching David with the confidence that he must be dead after a hit like that. Gloved hands reach out and shake David's blood smeared body but he doesn't respond.

Throwing him back down onto the tarmac and pleased that the job is done, David's attacker goes back to the car and drives away leaving his lifeless body sprawled across the ground in an increasing pool of crimson blood.

Next on Power and Deception

-A brand new season for P&D...

-Julia is faced with the repercussions of her actions...

-David's brother Kyle arrives...

-The police hunt for the hit and run driver...

-Lauren faces off with the Kingsleys as Cassie learns about Lucas...

-Mark has another bomb shell in store...

-Panic sets in for Guy and Jake at the hospital...

-John has a confrontation over Megan...