Friday, July 29, 2005
Stephanie faced Ridge and Brooke, begging her son to stay with Taylor and to understand her own desperation, but Ridge wasn't hearing any of it. He remembered the fear of the experience and was angry she'd made a fool of him. Taylor watched on as Ridge said he was glad Stephanie did this, because it "opened his eyes." He understood that it was really all about her vendetta for Brooke. "If I am guilty of anything, it's loving you too much," she said. He was through hearing about it and all her sniveling and begging wouldn't work. "I'm no longer your son," he cried. "I'm cutting you out. Your cancer is killing this family and I'm cutting you out forever!" Taylor stood behind him, but it was Brooke he took into his hands. "I should have protected you, but I didn't," he said. "I'm so sorry." They two started apologizing up and down to each other, so the ever-empathetic Taylor jumped in to commiserate. He told Brooke he was taking her home and would protect her from Stephanie forever. That left a now furious Taylor to contend with. "Well done Stephanie," she shot out, but Stephanie just kept manipulating. This time, Taylor saw it for what it was. Stephanie said she was just trying to help, but Taylor said she didn't know the difference. She believed Ridge was only protecting Brooke and that her marriage was not in trouble. Of course, "if it was, it wouldn't be Brooke's fault, it would be yours." Stephanie called on the best friend card, saying Taylor should know she never wanted to hurt anybody, even if she did make a mistake. She begged Taylor not to turn from her "now that I need you the most." That's exactly what Taylor did. She turned around and walked out of the house without another word.

Ridge and Brooke reconnected and it was clear Brooke saw her way back in. Ridge apologized for never protecting her, but Brooke said, "I had your love. That's all that really mattered." She added that she wanted no more secrets in the family and acknowledged Taylor's hurt, considering the vows where a manipulated lie. Ridge said his mother manipulated the while thing and Brooke said she always has. She explained that Stephanie has never been able to separate from him, but now that "the umbilical cord is cut" and he can decide for himself. She swallowed her pride and asked him to take her back, because that is the choice he would have made. "Let's go home," she said.

A still-teary Bridget helped Dante move into Brooke's house (where Bridget sometimes stays). They rehashed the horror of Stephanie's lie and how it affected everyone who was worried about her. Dante feared Brooke wouldn't want an extra person in the house, but Bridget said not to worry. She noted her mom could even end up returning to Ridge's house. Dante said she would have less to worry about if that happened, referring to the Nick/Brooke issue. He added that his living "with" Brooke might also make Nick jealous. She told him not to start because she was tired, but he answered, "Tired of walking down the aisle? How many times has it been now? And you still don't have a ring on your finger." He told her to get the message fate was sending her and give up on her wedding — trading up for him, of course. She showed him to his room without an answer. "Is it across the room from yours?" he asked. When she brought him towels later, he was shirtless and she could barely bring herself to look at him. He noticed and teased her. She started blushing and he moved in, asking her why she invited him to stay with her and her mom. She stuttered her answer and when he said she wanted to be near him, they kissed — and it was no small kiss. There was moaning and grabbing and falling into bed. But it was just a fantasy! Dammit.

Thursday, July 28, 2005
The family was throwing questions at Stephanie, sure it couldn't be true that her heart attack was fake. "Not every chest pain is a cardiac arrest," Taylor said, showing she was starting to believe it. Dr. Mark's part in the scam came to light, with Jackie sure to point out he'd been slightly duped as well. Taylor was the first one to fall apart, insisting Stephanie tell her whether she did this to get Ridge to choose her instead of Brooke. Of course, that was the goal! Stephanie tried to use her "mental state" to gain Taylor's acceptance, but Taylor wouldn't hear it. She was crushed and furious, saying this just proved Stephanie didn't have faith in her and Ridge. When she ran out of the room, Stephanie turned her apologies on Ridge, but he followed after his wife without a word. Eric turned away as well, taking Bridget into his arms and apologizing before walking upstairs. Massimo re-upped his offer to let Bridget and Nick take the yacht to get married anywhere in the world and then noted Stephanie hadn't yet said sorry for the pain she caused. She sure didn't look ready to offer any up. He rescinded the love he'd given her. Brooke apologized to Bridget for the timing, but Bridget was relieved she wasn't married there, saying, "No marriage in this house will ever be sacred to me now." Stephanie apologized for disappointing her, and offered to make it up, but Bridget just ordered her to apologize to Brooke. "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!" When Stephanie remained silent, Bridget turned her back on her, saying she never wanted to be in the same room as her again. "Hey, would it have killed you?" Nick asked, to which she replied, "Yes."

Meanwhile, Ridge found Taylor crying in another room, "So what do we do now," she asked, for the millionth time. She fretted over what having Stephanie as a "best friend" and "moral compass" said about her as a person, but Ridge insisted it said nothing. She was concerned this made their renewed vows a fraud. Then she tried to pull herself together, telling him he couldn't blame himself. Ridge insinuated that Brooke was the real victim and Taylor said it was Brooke and him. She asked him if he wanted to go back to Brooke. "I'm giving you an out Ridge," she said, offering to make a real commitment, but insisting she couldn't hold him to the vows he took in the hospital room. Nick found Bridget crying on the patio. She told him she was glad this wasn't their wedding night. She wanted to go back to the boat and forget about everything, but instead said she would wait for her father to return. He professed his love, "wedding band or no wedding band."

Eric came down the stairs with his bags, where only Stephanie and Brooke were left, and told Stephanie he was leaving her. Brooke watched quietly as Stephanie tried to talk him down, but he was completely unreceptive. She begged for another chance, for them and their family, but he noted that there was no family — the entire crew had walked away from her. A stammering Stephanie begged him to stay, saying, "You took a vow. You promised to love me till death I do part." Eric agreed, recalling, "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 sighed with relief, thanked him and went to fall tearfully into his arms, but he walked past her and kissed Brooke! "Know that you'll always have me," he told her. Stephanie insisted he couldn't leave their dreams behind. "Everything selected, arranged with such care by you, including those hopes and dreams," he said from the doorway. "This is why I can't stand it here a moment longer." Take that Stephanie! She was left with no one but Brooke, who told her, "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," and then started for the door. Ridge interrupted her exit, asking her to stay. Stephanie told him Eric had left her and then feared he was going to tell her he'd left Taylor. "Ridge, if you need to hate me and if you need never to speak to me again, fine," she said. "But do not leave Taylor for Brooke."

Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Bridget assumed the stress of pulling off the wedding had overtaxed Stephanie. Everyone began weighing in, with Nick insisting the wedding continue and Bridget not wanting to move forward without clearing up Stephanie's condition. When Thomas offered his grandmother her pills, she declined and asked him to take the kids home. Then she asked Eric to excuse all the extraneous guests, so that it was just the adult family members remaining.

"I have to explain about the heart attack," Stephanie finally said. Everyone assumed her news was that it was more serious than they'd thought, but then she veered into how Brooke "swept through this family like a plague." It became clear that she'd never gotten over Eric leaving her for Brooke and always supporting her. "I'm supposed to be over it," she said calm. "I'm not supposed to wonder every day of my life why I slept alone all those years and I'm not supposed to ask why the children that you had with her never had a real home." When Thorne asked what this had to do with her health, Stephanie brought up Brooke's affect on Macy's health (a.k.a. the drinking that almost killed her) and told him he'd just been Brooke's substitute for Ridge. Then Nick jumped in, annoyed that she'd stopped the wedding to rehash old injuries, which made her turn on him, saying, "You've been tossed over so many times by Brooke that even your would-be bride doesn't know that it's really over." Bridget made the same mistake of interrupting, so Stephanie turned on her. "Your forgiveness is the most astonishing of all," she sighed. "You know the difference between us? You pretend that it still doesn't hurt and I can't. I had a family that I cherished, and a life that I loved. And suddenly it was all blood and ashes. And you let it happen [Eric]. And so did you, Thorne, and so did you, Ridge. You laughed, you cried, you smiled and you said you were just following your hearts. And you did. Into some very dark, dark place. And even when you looked at your own misery, you still forgave and forgot and you let it begin again. And I can't do that. That's my curse and my crime."

Meanwhile, Dr. Mark gave Sally quite a scare when he jumped into the back of her car. He begged her to get him out of there and when she said he looked like hell, he answered, "That’s exactly where I'm headed." Once in the front seat, he asked after Sally's secret car stash of booze and bitched and moaned that his million dollars was already gone to school loans, the apartment and now future legal fees. Sally gave him a pep talk, insisting that helping people as a doctor would help him. "Maybe I'll learn a new skill in prison," he laughed, but he was let down with himself for being "my father all over." Once he told Sally the story, she showed him where that hidden bottle of booze was. He was almost sympathetic as he explained that he couldn't imagine what "harm" he would be doing by "letting the hospital's biggest benefactor pretend she was worse off that she actually was. Who was it going to hurt?" The Doc felt he deserved to lose his license, but Sally was just sorry she was missing the show at the manse.

Gaby and Thomas discussed "strong, steady, invincible" Stephanie. Gaby admitted she used to fantasize Stephanie was her grandmother and that she owed her for everything she'd done since her mother died. She said she also owed Thomas, but he wouldn't hear it. After a bit of smooching, they got into Ridge's objections to their marriage. Thomas was sure he'd come around and hoped his mother would help. Then he talked about going back over to see how grandma was. He was worried something bad was happening.

And it was, of course. Stephanie turned her attention to Taylor, explaining that honorable men stumble and don't know how to sacrifice, so sometimes someone else has to do it for them. She talked about how hard it is to watch something horrible — Brooke — destroy the people around her and not being allowed to say anything. She was still calm when she took Ridge's hand and concluded, "The thing that has you by the throat is trying to crush the life out of you. That's how I felt when I ended up at the hospital that night. I could count the breaths that I had left in me. I was dying in that room, make no mistake about that...But I didn't have a heart attack."

Tuesday, July 26, 2005
This was a banner day at the Forrester manse as Jackie and Brooke closed in on Stephanie, taunting her about Dr. Mark. Jackie was positively glowing as she reported how she'd figured out the whole scam and then gotten the story out of the doctor. Stephanie didn't look worried, even when Jackie said she had the proof. She figured Mark's drunken word wouldn't hold anything over the medical tests, but Mark refused to back down from his earlier confession. Stephanie lost some bravado when she learned there was a digital recording and that's when Brooke jumped in. "They will never forgive you for this. It's over. You are finished. Your reign of terror is finally over," she gloated. Stephanie dropped her head, looked back into each of their faces and then bitch-slapped Dr. Mark, muttering, "You schmuck!" Horrified, Brooke pushed Mark aside and slapped her back. Stephanie returned the smack and poor Dr. Mark was sent out by Jackie just as things got hot. Stephanie turned to walk out of the room, but Brooke grabbed her and the two started wrestling. Stephanie swung her cane madly, forcing Brooke to jump back into Jackie’s arms. "Round two," Jackie said, catching Brooke and pushing her back into the ring. Brooke knew she was already the winner, because the family was finally going to see the truth about Stephanie. She thanked God — and Jackie.

Meanwhile, Massimo took the floor from Nick and Bridget to praise them and the strongest relationship around, Stephanie & Eric's. That led Eric to rave about his wife, giving her credit for getting them through "the tough times" and keeping them together all these years. "There isn't a woman in the world who loves her family more than Stephanie does," he said. He got choked up as he thought about how close they came to losing her. Oddly, no one seemed to notice she wasn't actually in the room, until it was time to start the ceremony. While they waited, Sally met and mooned over Dante, while Ridge and Taylor watched on. Caitlin asked after Gaby, who was moping by the coffee, but Thomas just blew her off to bring Gaby a drink and some compliments. Gaby warned that Caitlin still had "a thing" for him, saying she could tell because "She looks at you the same way I do." That brought up the marriage issue and Gaby's fear that Ridge hated her for marrying Thomas. The newlyweds swore they didn"t regret their decision.

Bridget and Nick finally became suspicious about Brooke and Stephanie's whereabouts. When she wondered if there was a problem, he guffawed, "With your mother and Stephanie? On our wedding day? Why would you think that? I'm sure they're back in the garden, walking along, reminiscing about old times." Nick gave Bridget a three-minute warning, saying they'd start without the ladies if they had to. Audacious Dante told her she still had time to change her mind, but Nick muttered, "Why don't you go press some grapes. She's not changing her mind." Then he went to look for the MIA matriarchs.

In the back room, Stephanie insisted she'd be the one to tell everyone and Jackie warned her not to lie. That's when Nick walked in. "I don't want to know," he said on seeing the trashed room. "I'm going to go get married. If you want to be a part of it, you can join us in the house." Thorne and Ridge, having finally noticed who was missing, were about to go on the hunt when Nick called everyone to order. Brooke slipped into the room with Jackie in fabulous spirits. This time it was Brooke who was positively glowing.

Then Stephanie rounded the corner, looking beaten. Bridget rushed to her and when she felt her stepmother's shaking, insisted on an explanation before proceeding. That was fine with Brooke! A lost Stephanie stuttered, "I'm not sure where to begin," to which victorious Brooke cooed, "Just speak from the heart."

Monday, July 25, 2005
Nick surprised Bridget with a visit before the wedding, literally saying "whatever" to the tradition of not seeing the bride in her dress. He said they were safe, "unless of course you have some more dead relatives." Bridget was confident nothing would go wrong with Stephanie in charge — yeah right! This is the wrong week to count on her.

Guests started filtering in for the ceremony and the tension was palpable. Brooke walked in conveniently on the heels of Ridge, Taylor and family and warned Stephanie her comeuppance was upon her. Nick intercepted her, making her feel welcome, but he then rushed off when he saw Dante "the weasel" enter with Massimo. Massimo pointed out Dante was a friend of Bridget's and then noted Jackie was MIA. As Dante and Taylor caught up, the camera panned over to Nick and Ridge. Thomas' job at Spectra was another elephant in the room and he and his wife Gaby earned an eye roll from Caitlin.

Eventually, Stephanie took the floor for a little speech about families — the new family Nick and Bridget were forming, and the rejuvenation of their family since Ridge was reunited with his "true love" Taylor. She welcomed Nick to the fold and looked forward to the fresh start ahead of them.

Brooke checked in with Jackie, who reported that she was making progress. When they hung up, Jackie played the call to attract Mark's concern. She fought tears as she told him Stephanie had her barred from Nick's wedding, using her son to get between her and Massimo the same way she used her illness to break up Brooke and Ridge. He supported her with a kiss. Disgusted, she pushed him away and insisted he was drunk, but Mark said she was what was intoxicating, not the margaritas. He was sure she'd been sending him signals, so Jackie finally shot straight and asked him who deposited the $1 million into his bank account! Mark tried to storm out, but Jackie badgered him and warned him not to become one of Stephanie's victims until the he finally fessed up. He explained that Stephanie's heart rate was irregular at the hospital, but that the tests didn't indicate anything as serious as a heart attack. He swore when Stephanie asked him to lie, he couldn't see the harm nor imagine what the outcome would be. He also said the money just showed up in his account afterwards. A smiling Jackie pulled the recorder out of the plant and said, "We've got her."

Meanwhile, Brooke was chomping at the bit, knowing that Jackie was on the case, and dropped hints left and right. She told Taylor that she wasn't "as upset as you'll be when you find out what your friend did to get you back with Ridge!" She told Ridge she was wrong to have blamed everything on him and that he was as much a victim as she. She even told the bride and groom things would be looking up. Then, when Bridget wondered if they should wait for Jackie, she informed them that Jackie had a "very important doctor's appointment tonight." Stephanie's eyebrow shot up at that one! She rushed to the phone, but Dr. Mark didn't pick up. (Jackie wouldn't let him.)

As Nick got into his own speech, Stephanie asked Bridget about Dante the "hottie," noting she was surprised Bridget had never mentioned him. Bridget's face fell for a moment before she joined Nick.

That's when Jackie showed up. Brooke and Stephanie met her at the door and when Stephanie asked her to leave, Jackie showed off her handsome guest — a guilty-looking Mark.