At the door, Mae turned around, a faint smirk on her face. “Actually,” she said slowly, “I do have one regret.” At this, Julia smiled triumphantly, confident that she had won in this psychological game.

“I regret...” Mae said slowly. “I regret that I wasted so much f***ing time on this group. And... and I especially regret wasting so much of my time with you, Julia.” At this, Julia's smile vanished. “Julia,” Mae continued, “I wasted too many years listening to your crap and putting up with your bull****. I let you control too many areas of my life.” Mae flipped Julia off, then said, “We're through. When you get home, don't even bother coming in. I'll leave your junk on the lawn. Might want to hurry, though; the neighbors might help themselves to the pickings.”

With that, Mae pushed the door open and strode out.

“W-well...” Julia stammered. “Shall we continue without her?”

The door opened again, and Mae poked her head back into the room. “Oh, and also... Marcy, Lucille has been cheating on you with Flora; Tara orders from VS, even though she claims she's offended by the models; and Julia keeps pictures of Nicki Bellereve, Kodie Madison, Miko Lavoise, and J. J. Thorpe in her 'special pictures' file on her computer.”

Mae closed the door again, and as she heard the arguing and screaming from within, she smirked and whispered, “I win.”


“Try it apart?” AJ repeated, stunned.

Tiffani nodded, then replied, “We've been together since we were in high school. We haven't really had a chance to live our own lives. Maybe that's why you've been... you know... doing the stuff you've been doing.”

“I haven't done anything, Tiff,” AJ insisted. “I've been loyal to you. Maybe I haven't been the most attentive, but I've done my best.”

“I think we need time to figure out what we want out of this marriage. I'll pack my stuff and go to my mom's.” Tiffani smiled sadly. “I'll bring the girls with me.”

Tiffani walked up the stairs slowly, thinking of everything she needed to pack for herself and her daughters. I need to do this, she told herself. It's what's best for me... for us. She hesitated in the hallway outside of their bedroom, her brow furrowed in thought. She looked around at the pictures and decorations; everything brought back fond memories.


Slowly, Tiffani walked down the stairs. AJ was still in the living room, and Tiffani was astonished to see that he was crying. Tiffani quietly approached AJ.

“Hey,” Tiffani said softly.

AJ glanced over at her. “Hey,” he replied. “Where's your suitcases? Thought you were going upstairs to pack.”

Tiffani bit her lip, hesitating, then responded, “I realized something.”

“Yeah?”

“I can't pack up the most important thing in my life.”

AJ looked up at Tiffani in astonishment, then rushed to his feet and embraced her tightly.


Ophelia stared in shock at Emily. “I can't believe that you hit me,” she gasped out. “You, of all people.”

“That's right, and I'll do it again. Now, shut up and listen to me. I came up here to try and cheer you up, but obviously, you're beyond that. Let me tell you a little story. Way back in high school, things were pretty bad for me. I was treated pretty badly by a lot of people; even the people who said that they were my friends... well, they didn't act very much like it. Things seemed pretty hopeless for me. I decided that I was going to kill myself. So, I kept a stockpile of sleeping pills in my room and picked out the date. I was going to go out with a bang; I was going to commit suicide the day I did my big English class speech. But something happened that day that made me change my mind. My favorite teacher asked me to join a group, and I met someone-- you-- who made me think, 'Well, maybe I'll wait a couple of days.' And then, a few days later, you asked me to hang out with you, and I realized that maybe, just maybe, I had one person in my life who cared about me, someone who wasn't obligated to. We were there for each other through so much, and I was always appreciative.

“And now... now, you've taken all those years of friendship and just threw them in my face! If anything, I should be jealous of you. You're beautiful and talented. You have a partner who loves you no matter what and is totally encouraging and supportive of you. You're a total freaking success. Meanwhile, my own employees mock and hate me. My husband is divorcing me so that he can be with someone who actually wants kids. And yet, here I am, trying to cheer you up. Well, you know what? If you're going to be a b***h to me, then you can just lay in that bed until you die!”

With that, Emily flung the door open and snapped, “Have a great life!” She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Ophelia remained in her bed, fully motionless, astonished by what had just happened. After she had fully processed the event, she rose from the bed and yanked the door open. “Emily, wait!” she yelled.

Author's Note: Here's a belated Christmas gift for you guys-- a few hint/spoiler pictures for upcoming chapters. Enjoy!