From Vengeance To Forgiveness (Revenge)

Disclosure

Beach House, Hamptons

When Emily left the bathroom after she had barricaded herself for an eternity, she found that Daniel had left the house. Tears of helplessness and frustration ran down her cheeks. He knew about David Clarke. How long would it be until he learned that she was his daughter? And what would it mean for her marriage? Would he forgive her for keeping her true identity a secret for years? She'd tried all those months to make up for the wrong she had done to him. Was everything in vain now? Had she lost everything by revealing her true identity? A thousand questions were buzzing through her head and to which she knew no answer. She only knew that she couldn't bear to lose him again. For that she loved him too much. And she hoped that Daniel would love her enough to forgive her. She was still absorbed in her thoughts when she heard someone pounding against the door. Quickly she wiped the tears from her cheeks, ran down and opened. "Charlotte?" She exclaimed in astonishment. This was not a friendly visit, Emily recognized immediately, as she glanced at Charlotte's face. "What happened?" She asked worried.

"It... it's so terrible," Charlotte exclaimed, despairingly. "I wish I had never overheard their conversation." She pressed her hand against her forehead and groaned. "I'm sorry about the invasion! But I didn't know where to go."

"Come on in!" Emily opened the door. "And then tell me what happened." She gently stroked a strand of hair from Charlotte's forehead. "You're completely unsettled!"

"My father..." she said slowly, after she had taken a seat on the sofa. "My father and... David Clarke... they had an argument that got out of control."

"What did they say?" Emily asked cautiously. She could see how upset Charlotte was and knew she had to make a careful approach.

"David claimed that my father was responsible for his arrestment. And not only that..." She raised her head and looked at Emily with wide eyes. "He has evidence that he'd hired a contract killer to eliminate David." She shook her head slightly. "I always knew my father was without scruple, but I would never have thought he was capable of a crime like that."

Emily bit nervously on her lower lip. She knew all this and much more. But should she entrust herself to Charlotte to demonstrate her loyalty?

"But David isn't much better," Charlotte continued. "He's blackmailing my father and saying he's been keeping him a prisoner all the years. And my mother sticks by him." She rolled her eyes. "He's lying, I know that. I overheard a conversation between him and my mother..." She cleared her throat. "At that time, he told her that he'd escaped from the hospital and had stayed abroad all the years. He was afraid of the police. That's why he didn't show up sooner." She quickly glanced over at Emily and saw her nod. "You know about it?" She asked, surprised.

"He... saved my life a few days ago, when I swam too far," she began hesitantly. "After that I returned the favor by inviting him to coffee and cake. We talked, and he told me about his escape and that he was abroad."

"Why is he lying to my father?" Charlotte asked, frowning, looking at Emily questioningly.

"He wants revenge." The words had already been lying on her tongue, but she was shocked that she had actually said them out loud.

"Revenge?" Charlotte echoed.

"He says the truth," Emily said quietly, raising her head to look at Charlotte. "Conrad really tried to kill him. He wanted to prevent the truth from coming out, who had really been responsible for the terrorist attack on Flight 197. It wasn't David, it was..."

"My father," concluded Charlotte in a low voice as she recognized the truth.

Emily nodded. "Yes, it was Conrad. But he is not your father, David is," she rectified.