Theresa could barely control her shaking. She didn't know what was worse? The fact that she had been busted before she could tell Ethan the truth, the fact that she could see the pain in Ethan's eyes and that she was the cause of it. Or the smug look on Gwen's face as she dangled the wig in Theresa's face.

Frank looked at Ethan and waited for him to say something. He knew that this had to be a shock for him. After all it's not everyday that you find out that one of your girlfriends is a psycho. He felt sorry for the Crane heir. He had fallen for the wrong girl once or twice himself. Still as sorry as he was that Ethan was going to have a rough time with this he still couldn't help but savor his victory. Every time he came close to nailing her she came up with some new way to throw him off track or to manipulate Ethan. Theresa had given him the challenge of his career. "Yes," he thought, "Catching her is sweet indeed."
"Well Ethan," said Frank. All you have to do is identify Miss Lopez-Fitzgerald as your stalker and the police will be here to arrest her and her accomplice Miss Russell," said Frank turning his gaze to Whitney. He hated having to have Whitney arrested, but she had plenty of opportunities to come clean and sided with Theresa every time. Now she unfortunately would have to pay the price for aligning herself on the wrong side.

At the sound of her name Whitney nearly lost it. She was going to jail and she had nobody but herself to blame. If only she had talked Theresa out of this plan. She knew that it was to risky. She knew that it couldn't end any other way, but she went along with it anyway. Now her family would be disgraced and her named ruin. She could see the headlines now "Olympic Hopeful Helps Stalker." Her career was over.

Gwen looked at Ethan and could see the conflict and hurt in his eyes. She hated to see him hurting, but he had nobody to blame but himself. He's the one that fell in love with that lying, gold digging, tramp and now he would have to pay the price.
"Well Ethan," said Gwen waiting for him to say something. "Tell Frank that Theresa is the stalker so that Theresa can be put away somewhere where she can never hurt you again," she staring smugly at Theresa.
All Ethan could do was stare at Theresa. Everything that happened still hadn't sunk in yet. Theresa's betrayal, Gwen and Frank's apparent collaboration. He didn't fully understand everything that was happening, but he did know what he had to do.
"Frank," he said not taking his eyes off of Theresa. "I don't know where you are getting your information from, but Theresa is definitely not the girl that I hired you to find," he lied.
Frank could hardly believe his ears. The smug smile that he was trying to hide quickly turned into a frown. He was becoming angry. After everything that he had gone through to find Theresa he was not just going to let Ethan let her off the hook this easy.
"What do you mean this isn't the stalker," he said walking towards Theresa. "She looks exactly like the girl in the sketch."
"Not to me she doesn't," Ethan said still not taking his eyes of Theresa.
Theresa was stunned and grateful for what Ethan was doing. Deep down in side she knew that Ethan would understand. She knew that their love was strong enough to overcome this. "What do you know," she thought suppressing a smile. "True love really does conquer all."
Gwen turned to look at Ethan and knew instantly what was going on. Ethan was covering for Theresa. She could see it in his eyes. The realization was almost too much for her and she had a hard time breathing. She had lost. She had taken her best shot at Theresa, exposed her as the stalker and Ethan still choose her. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Why are you doing this," she said quietly walking toward Ethan. She was trying so hard not to cry, but she couldn't keep the quiver out of her voice.
"Doing what?" asked Ethan unable to look at her. "The only thing that I did was tell the truth."
"Oh come off of it Ethan!!" she yelled throwing the wig in Ethan's face. "If Theresa isn't guilty why the wig? Why the frumpy persona?"
"Theresa already explained that," said Ethan looking at the wig at his feet and trying to stay calm. "She wanted to look more professional."
"Ethan don't do this please she isn't worth it," said Gwen looking at Theresa with more hate then she ever thought she was capable of feeling.
"Gwen is right." said Frank desperate to get Ethan to stop this charade. He had gone through hell to nab Theresa and he wasn't going to let this girl snake her way out of it. "I know that you have feelings for this girl, but she is dangerous. How else can you explain her behavior. Don't let her get away with this she is  guilty..."
"The only thing that Theresa is guilty of is hiding her beautiful face behind an ugly wig and big glasses," said Ethan still staring at Theresa.
"But Ethan," said Frank.
"Look Frank this case is closed," said Ethan looking at the private eye squarely in the eyes. "Now I meant what I said you are to leave Theresa alone and leave town immediately."
"You are making a huge mistake!!" said Frank angrily he couldn't believe what was happening. Whoever said that love made you do stupid things must have been talking about Ethan Crane. If love meant protecting somebody who was out to hurt you then he was glad that he never allowed himself to fall for anybody. "You are going to regret this Ethan,"  he said storming out of the house.
Gwen watched Frank go and could practically feel his frustration. It definitely matched her own. She had had enough for one day. If Ethan wanted Theresa so badly he could have her. She was out of there.
Ethan noticed that Gwen was leaving. He wanted to stop her, but at the same time a part of him didn't want her to stay. Was it just less than an hour ago that he was prepared to give Gwen up for Theresa? Some how it felt like a lifetime ago.
Gwen turned around to look at Ethan who turned his head to avoid her gaze. She knew that he couldn't face her, not after everything that had just happened, but somehow she couldn't help but hope that he would try to stop her, that he would tell her that he was on to Theresa and that he was sorry. Instead he just stood their looking away. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door realizing that it maybe the very last time that she saw Ethan or came through the Crane living room door.
Ethan heard Gwen leave then turned to Whitney who was holding onto Theresa's hand tightly.
"Whitney," he said trying his best to stay calm, "Can you please excuse me and Theresa?"
Whitney turned to Theresa uncertain. Ethan was acting way to calm. She knew that after all the lies that Theresa told that he had to be angry. She was almost afraid to leave her alone with him. Theresa understood Whitney's concern and just nodded to her that she was ok. She knew that Ethan had to be extremely upset with her, but at the same time she knew that he would never hurt her no matter how upset he was with her.
Whitney just squeezed Theresa's hand, headed outside and decided to wait for Theresa outside. If Ethan's eerie silence was any indication Theresa was in for it and she was going to need her when she was done with Ethan.
 

Frank was pacing trying hard to calm down. He still couldn't understand how Ethan could let Theresa get away with everything that he had done.
"You know she isn't worth it," said Gwen trying to calm Frank down. She understood his frustration, she  felt it herself, but pacing up and down like a crazed maniac wasn't going to make things turn out any differently.
"Tell that to Ethan Crane," he said forgetting who he was talking to.
Gwen turned around in pain feeling the sting of the remark.
Frank immediately felt sorry for what he had said and went over to comfort her. "I'm sorry," he said putting his hand on her shoulder. "I know that what happened in there just now was harder on you then anybody."
"You know," began Gwen as tears started rolling down her face. " I really believed that once he knew the truth about her he would turn away from her and back to me, but I should known better," she said turning to face him.
"Well,"  said Frank offering her a handkerchief from his pocket. "If it makes you feel better I think he's a  fool to prefer her over you."
Gwen smiled, wiped her face and handed him back the handkerchief.
"Why don't you keep that," he said smiling.
"Well I better get going thanks for trying," she said walking away.
"Yeah," said Frank to himself. "To bad it wasn't enough." Frank turned to look at the mansion one last time and prepared to head out. Before he could go though Whitney came out.
"Well Miss Russell," he said smiling in disgust. "Just the woman I wanted to talk .
 
 

The silence in the Crane living room was deafening. Theresa just looked at Ethan waiting for him to say something. But Ethan just kept staring off into space. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Ethan turned around to face her. He looked at her with this strange expression that Theresa had never seen before. She couldn't tell if he was mad or just in shock. But she knew that somebody had to say something. She couldn't take the uncertainty of not knowing how he felt.
"Thank you so much for not turning me in Ethan," said Theresa putting her hand on his arm. "You don't know how much it meant to me to have you tell the detective that I wasn't the stalker."
Ethan just looked at Theresa his face an expressionless mask that was making Theresa nervous.
"Well I'll say one thing for you Theresa," said Ethan moving her hand off of his arm "You certainly are beautiful. I mean never in a million years would I have guessed that my mother's plain little secretary was my pretty, wacko stalker. I mean God either I'm an idiot or you are just extremely good at pretending to be something that you're not. Maybe its a little bit of both huh?"
"Ethan," began Theresa not liking the way that this conversation was heading.
" No," interrupted Ethan "I'm just trying to give credit where credit is due, I mean never in a million years would I have guessed that the meek, little plain Jane secretary that I liked to talk to and spend time with was actually a beautiful treacherous little snake in disguise." he said moving closer to her and staring her straight in the eyes.
Theresa tried to hold back the tears that were forming. Just a little while ago Ethan had been so full of warmth and love and now he was completely cold, almost vicious it was almost too much for her to bare.
"Ethan how can you say such things to me?" she asked her heart breaking.
Ethan could see the hurt in her eyes and he felt his resolve wavering, but he quickly reminded himself that he was dealing with a consummate liar, a real pro, for all he knew her tears were just another scheme to break him. Well she had gone out of her way to hurt him, now it was his turn.
"I'm not saying anything that isn't true," he said coldly, "But since the truth is a foreign concept to you I don't expect you to understand."
"You're not being fair Ethan and you're not even giving me a chance to explain," she said desperate to try to get him to understand why she did the things that she did.
That's when Ethan lost it.
"Explain?" said Ethan his voice rising in anger "What is there to explain? You've been running around Harmony stalking me, throwing those disgusting things on me, trying to hurt me for whatever reasons and when you were board with that you stepped up your plan and weaseled your way into my home."
"No,"  said Theresa shaking her head in protest.
"Yes, admit it masquerading as my mother's secretary was just another way to hurt me wasn't it? And to think that I actually developed feelings..." Ethan stopped himself. There was no way that he was going to give Theresa the satisfaction of knowing just how well her plan had worked and how much she had succeeded in hurting him.
"Ethan you don't understand," she said trying to explain again.
"Oh I understand everything all right, for the first time," he said dropping his voice and walking even closer to her. " I understand that you are a liar, I understand that you dragged your friend Whitney into a sick game that could have ended with her going to jail. I mean do you even care about your friend at all? And what about your family? I mean Luis probably hates us enough to coach you on ways to try to hurt my family. But Pilar actually cares about this family. Do you care that by hurting me and my family you're hurting her too?"
"Of course I do," said Theresa now crying.
"You know, I knew that their was something familiar about your eyes, but I couldn't figure out just what was so familiar. I mean when I met the stalker at the park... wait a minute," said Ethan realizing that Theresa's lies went far beyond what he thought. "You met me at the park today. You pretended to be the stalker."
"Ethan I only did that to try to convince you that I wasn't a stalker and then after you understood that I wasn't dangerous I was going to reveal myself to you," said Theresa hoping that what she was saying was sinking in. But saying the words out loud, listening to her own explanations, made her realize just how many lies she told and how hard it would be for Ethan to forgive her.
"Really? Well why I don't I believe that." said Ethan matter of factly.
"Because you're mad at me..." said Theresa
"You know," interrupted Ethan "when I think of all the times that you had a chance to come clean and you just stood in my face and lied to me," he said backing away in disgust. "It makes me sick to my stomach. You make me sick to my stomach," he said to a now sobbing Theresa." So what exactly was the plan?" he asked as Theresa raised her tear drenched face to meet his gaze. "Come on Theresa you can tell me. We're you planning on wooing me into bed? You know hit me when I'm vulnerable. Tell me Theresa just how many men have you played this game with? Come on be honest 10, a  hundred maybe."
Theresa could hardly believe what she was hearing. She tried to compose herself as she listened to the man she loved be so blatantly cruel to her.
"Ethan it isn't like that," said Theresa trying hard not to just break down. She was watching all of her dreams disintegrate and she was desperately trying to stop that from happening.
"Well," said Ethan coldly. "Whatever it was its over now."
"No Ethan," said Theresa trying to grab his arm. "Please you have to forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive Theresa," said Ethan moving her hand away. "I'm not mad. I'm just through with you. Not that you were ever even important enough to me to make me care.  I mean you didn't really think I could have feelings for the housekeeper's daughter?"
"You're lying," cried Theresa, "You do love me. I know you do."
"Please," said Ethan laughing unpleasantly. "Why would I want a girl like you when I have a women like Gwen? I mean there is no comparison between the two of you. She's a beautiful sophisticated debutante and you're just a little nobody from the wrong side of the tracks."
All Theresa could do was just stare at the man that she loved so deeply as he ripped her to shreds.
Ethan knew that he was being cruel, but he couldn't help himself. Nobody had ever hurt him like Theresa had and he wanted to make her feel his pain.
"You don't mean that," said Theresa quietly.
"You know I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you telling me what I don't mean," he said. " I meant every word I just said," he lied  moving so close to her that their faces were practically touching "just like I mean this. I never want to see you again. I'm sure I will though, I mean we live in the same small town, I just don't particularly want to. Now if you'll excuse me Theresa I have to go find Gwen and talk to her about our future. I mean after we're done in bed of course."
Theresa had all she she could take. She grabbed her purse and ran outside. Ethan watched her go and felt like a part of himself had died. How could he had fallen for her so easily? How could he be so stupid to believe that he was actually going to be lucky enough to find the love that he wanted his whole life with Theresa? He went to the bar and poured himself a drink, but found himself smashing the glass against the wall instead. He looked at the mess that he had made on the wall and thought about what a mess his life was and slumped down on the floor and cried for what loving Theresa had done to his life.

"Well I hope that you're happy," said Frank trying not to shout." Because of your loyalty to Theresa she is going free."
"Theresa is not the stalker didn't you just hear Ethan..." started Whitney.
"Oh come off of it Whitney," said Frank. "You and I both know that Theresa is the stalker. You know it, I know it, Theresa knows it and despite what he just said in there Ethan Crane knows it. He's just letting his hormones rule his better judgment," said Frank bitterly.
"Look Frank you can believe what you want.." began Whitney.
"Oh spare me," said Frank. No more lies. I've had enough of them to last me a lifetime. You know what really bugs me?"
"No what?" asked Whitney almost afraid to hear his answer.
"That I thought that you were different from your friend Theresa, but here you are lying through those beautiful teeth of yours. Maybe it isn't your fault," he said bringing his hand to her face. "You are who your friend are."
"What's that suppose to mean?" asked Whitney getting angry, who was he to judge her like this?
"Well I use to think that it was Theresa that was pulling your strings and turning you into a liar. Now I see that you are just as good of a liar as she is."
Whitney looked at Frank intensely and suddenly had the urge to cry. What he had just said really bothered her. Not just because she had feelings for him, even though she knew when all was said and done they were one sided, but because she had always prided herself on being honest. She hated liars. And now she was a liar. She had become the very things that she despised.
Frank had enough of this whole situation and turned to leave, but not before kissing Whitney square on the mouth. Frank could  tell that it was Whitney's first kiss. He could also tell that she enjoyed it.
"I'll see you around beautiful," he said smiling at her flustered face. "Maybe the next time we see each other you'll be all grown up and beyond telling tall tales."
Whitney watched him go and brought her hands to the lips that Frank had just kissed. That kiss had stirred feeling inside of her that she didn't even know she had. If only this whole stalker business hadn't happened maybe they could have had something. Theresa's lies had doomed them all.
Just then Theresa came running out the Crane mansion hysterical and threw herself into Whitney's arms.
"My life is over," said Theresa before Whitney had a chance to say anything. "I've lost Ethan forever."

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