 Al Roberts dies suddenly of a heart attack; in a deathbed letter to Cord, he reveals that Cord is actually Clint Buchanan's son.Asa intercepts the letter but Tina's ex, con man and murderer Mitch Laurence, already knows the secret; he tells Tina, who breaks her engagement with Richard and, without telling Cord about his true parentage, elopes with the new Buchanan heir.Tina blackmails Asa into giving Cord a million dollars, purportedly an inheritance from Al.