The family questions Stephanie on her heart attack. Stating they saw her being worked on by her doctor. Brooke mentions that Dr. Mark suddenly has 1 million dollars in his bank account. Taylor runs from the room, Ridge follows her. Taylor asks Ridge if he really would have picked her and if he wants out tell her now. Bridget tells Stephanie to apologize to her mother. Stephanie refuses. Eric comes down from upstairs with a suit case telling Stephanie he's leaving the house and their marriage. He bends Brooke into a deep kiss before he goes telling her "you will always have me". Ridge comes in the room after Eric has left calling out to Brooke. Stephanie tells him not to do this PLEASE.
Thorne: Hold on a second. If it wasn't a heart attack -- Ridge: Of course it was a heart attack, Throne. I was there with mother. I saw her. Stephanie: Look, I was driven to the edge. Brooke: By me -- or so the story goes. Stephanie: I didn't imagine those crushing pains in my chest, Brooke. Ridge: Nobody's saying you did. Brooke: But it wasn't a heart attack. Thorne: Well, then what was it, Brooke? Because I was in the room. Ridge was, dad. We saw the doctor working on her. Eric: It was a cardiologist. Jackie: Dr. Maclaine. Eric: Yes, and he said it was a heart attack. If anybody should know, he would. Taylor: Not every chest pain is a cardiac arrest. Stephanie: She's saying things are not always what they appear to be. Nick: Or like we'd make 'em seem. Brooke: You had some help, too, didn't you, Stephanie? Massimo: There is also the matter of the transferable payment to Dr. Maclaine in the amount of $1 million. Ridge: For what? Massimo: I can't tell you the source, only that I'm sure of it. Jackie: I have to say, in Dr. Maclaine's defense; I don't think he knew what he was getting into. Ridge: What, you knew about this? Both of you did? Jackie: I suspected. Your father -- Massimo: I simply refused to believe that you could do this to your family, our son. Taylor: Oh, my god. Darla: Stephanie, you didn't have a heart attack? Someone paid your doctor to say that you did? Brooke: Stephanie did. Stephanie paid Dr. Maclaine. He admitted everything. Thorne: Why? Taylor: I want you to tell me to my face, did you fabricate that heart attack so that Ridge would honor what he thought was your dying wish? So that he would choose me and not Brooke for his wife?! Stephanie: Yes. Stephanie: Taylor, please. You of all people understand that mental pressures carried to the extreme -- Taylor: Don't try to appeal to me as a patient. You're not my patient! I don't know who you are! Stephanie: Look, what I did was wrong. And if I went too far -- Ridge: If? Stephanie: Surely you can understand what would drive me to that. [ Nick scoffs ] Nick: You're blaming Brooke? Stephanie: Nick, this really doesn't concern you. Nick: No, I think it does, Stephanie. I sat in your hospital room with you, and I accused you of this. Taylor: Do you see what you've done? Do you understand the damage you've caused?! All because you didn't have faith in my relationship with Ridge. Stephanie: No. Taylor: Yes, yes! That's why you did this! That's why you went to these lengths! You're supposed to have faith in me. My god! I mean, you told me that's what -- what you believed. You told me just to let everything work out the way it's supposed to. Stephanie: And it has. Taylor: No, because you manipulated it -- my life, your son's, our children's! And for that -- Stephanie: But in order for you to be together, and to be with your children. Taylor: My children, who were up half the night praying for you, hoping you'd make it? What kind of a woman would do that to her own family? Stephanie: Ridge, I realize I have a lot to make up for. Eric -- Eric: I'm sorry. [SCENE_BREAK] Taylor: So what do we do now? Why do I always seem to be asking that question? Ridge: I wish I thought she could be helped. She's lost her grip on reality. All she's doing now is strangling it. Taylor: She was my best friend, my moral compass. Now what does that say about me? Ridge: Nothing. Taylor, none of us knew this was all a fraud. Taylor: What about us? Are we a fraud? [SCENE_BREAK] Massimo: Listen to me. Remember my offer. You can get married anywhere in the world that you want. Jackie: I'm sorry, too, Bridget. Stephanie: Mas -- our son's happiness is all that I was really thinking about. Massimo: No, Stephanie, no. There are a lot of other things to think about. Like how a dying person looks, breathes. Especially where a cardiac patient's pain is centered. Stephanie: If I went about this the wrong way -- Massimo: Have you one moment said that you're sorry for the pain that you've caused? God, Stephanie, I don't understand. I wonder how I could have loved you the way I did. [SCENE_BREAK] Taylor: I don't mean to fall apart. I just never thought Stephanie would go this far. Ridge: No, neither did I. And after I realized she used her condition to manipulate me -- Taylor: You can't blame yourself for not questioning whether or not she had a heart attack. None of us saw it. Ridge: We're not the real victims here, Taylor. Someone else is. Taylor: Brooke. She is the real victim here -- the two of you. Nothing can ever make it up to her. I know that. Ridge: No. I don't see how. Taylor: Or to you. What would we have done if tonight had never happened? Ridge: What do you mean? Taylor: Would we have just gone on? Would we have been happy? Ridge: Well, you're asking me to look into the future now. Taylor: I'm asking you what you want. Ridge: What I want? Taylor: If you'd rather be with Brooke, now is the time to let me know. [SCENE_BREAK] Brooke: Honey, I'm sorry. I wish it didn't come out this way. I was hoping we could hold off till after the wedding. Bridget: No marriage in this house will ever be sacred to me now. You know, I think of all the names that you've called my mother over the years. I can't think of one word to describe how I feel about you right now. I feel so foolish. I've idolized you! Stephanie: I'm sorry. Bridget: For what, exactly? Stephanie: For disappointing you and hurting you. And I'll make it up to you, if you'd let me. Bridget: Apologize to my mother. You ruined her marriage. You had her turned out of her own home. You always accuse her of destroying your family, but the Forresters seem to be doing just fine. We just don't want anything to do with you. Apologize. I said apologize. I don't ever want to be in the same room with you again. Nick: Hey. Would it have killed you? Stephanie: Yes. Pleased with yourself? Brooke: If no one had to be miserable but you, I would be. Stephanie: Eric? Eric: I'm leaving this house. I'm leaving you. [SCENE_BREAK] Taylor: I'm giving you an out, Ridge. Ridge: Doc, don't do this. Taylor: I don't want to live with the sense that nothing is mine by right, that it's all ill-gotten gain. We can make a commitment that's real. I mean, there's nothing stopping us. But any promises that you made because I was your mother's choice, not yours -- I'm not gonna hold you to it. [SCENE_BREAK] Stephanie: You're angry, and you have every right to be. Eric, we've been part of each other's lives for more than 40 years. Eric: I can count, Stephanie. Stephanie: Are you saying that -- are you saying that you fell out of love with me in the course of an hour? Eric: There are things about you that I will always love. Maybe if you had spent 10% of the energy on our marriage that you spent on your son's -- Stephanie: Eric, look, I'll do whatever you want, whatever you need. I'll do it, whatever it is. Eric: I want nothing. Stephanie: Oh, Eric, you have to give me another chance. You have to give this family another chance. Eric: I don't see a family. Do you? Look around. They're gone. They've abandoned you, all of them -- Ridge, Thorne, Taylor. They all walked away. Stephanie: Well, I've never walked away. I've never stopped trying. I've never stopped loving. Eric: Fine, you win. You've outlasted me. I tried to protect our children from you. I've tried to protect you from the damage you've caused. I've tried to make up to you for marrying Brooke, and none of it's made a damn bit of difference. Stephanie: I wish I could forget that you left me for another woman, but it's always there. And it seems that no matter what I do to bring you closer, it seems to be the wrong thing. People -- other people make mistakes, why can't I? You can't leave me. You promised to love me. You -- you took a vow. You promised to love me till death us do pa . You cannot go! You can't leave me! Eric: You're right. I made a vow I always intended to keep, to a woman I always intended to love -- that I still love. Mistakes, yes, we've both made them. To see her alone now -- I can't turn my back on her. Stephanie: Thank you. Thank you. Eric: Know that you always have me. I'll send someone for my things. Stephanie: All of your hopes and dreams are in this house! Eric: Everything selected and arranged with such care by you, including those hopes and dreams. Which is why I can't stand it here a moment longer. [SCENE_BREAK] Nick: I'm trying to remember. Wasn't this supposed to be our wedding night? Bridget: I'm so glad that it's not. Nick: Hmm. Bridget: I don't mean it like that. I just -- oh, honey, I want to go back to your boat and just forget any of this ever happened. Nick: Let's go. Bridget: I heard my dad's car leave. So I think I'm just going to wait until he gets back. Nick: Well, I'll wait with you. Bridget: It's okay, baby. You don't have to. I'll meet up with you later. Nick: I love you, wedding band or no wedding band. Bridget: I love you, too. Brooke: It's easier this way, believe it or not. Stephanie: Go home, Brooke. Brooke: If you're going to lose big, it's better to have it all taken away at once than inch by inch. I should know. [SCENE_BREAK] Ridge: Brooke, don't go. Stephanie: There isn't anything you can say to me that hasn't already been said. Ridge: Where's dad? Stephanie: Eric's gone. Our marriage is over -- at least, that's what he says. You didn't come in here to tell me that yours is over? Ridge, if you need to hate me, and if you need never to speak to me again, fine. But do not leave Taylor for Brooke.