AN:

I'm so relieved to finally have this chapter finished. I nearly had to kill Alexis to achieve it but (sadly) no one is dying in the chapter. ;) The goal is to finish this on by May. Fingers crossed ladies.

~Kelly~

PS

yes my site is currently down. I had an expected issues with my domain. I'm hoping they'll be resolved soon. I'll message everyone when I'm back up and running again. The new domain is

embersimagey dot com

Chapter Twenty-one

Ava smiled at the look on the other woman's face. She nearly felt bad for Alexis. After all the woman had spent years being played for a fool. Nearly. The pain Elizabeth went through as a result of Alexis' $$ was unacceptable. Instead of pity the only thing Ava felt was pleasure at being the one to tell the idiot the truth.

When Francis called to tell her about the attempted attack Ava nearly lost it. Family was the most important thing in her life. However unlike the men in her life Elizabeth and the boys were innocent. The only real threat they had ever faced was from Sonny Corinthos and Sam McCall. Both were too self centered and stupid to know when to stop. Thankfully her brother had finally wised up and placed guards on his only daughter. Ava would have to send Johnny and the other men a gift to thank them for today.

Now that the twosome had shown their hand the danger shouldn't be as big of an issue. At least from personal threats. Of course most people weren't stupid enough to test Julian. With the boys taking care of Sam and Sonny that just left one small detail.

As much as Ava tried she couldn't ignore th fact Alexis Davis was an idiot. Elizabeth had been in the other woman's life for years. Instead of seeing the truth in front of her Alexis believed a con artist. The whole thing baffled Ava. To simply believe a known liar was beyond reckless. It never crossed her mind to ask for a DNA test.

Of course Ava could have understood those choice. Apparently Alexis had been desperate to find the child she'd given up. Desperation made people do things they normally wouldn't. However her treatment of Elizabeth couldn't be ignored. The woman had made her niece's life even more difficult. All in the name of protecting her fake daughter. It didn't matter that Alexis didn't know, or even suspect, the truth. The fact she never suspected that Elizabeth was her daughter only confirmed her idiocy to Ava.

"I take it you're not happy to see me?" Ava asked trying to sound surprised by the other woman's reaction.

"What are you doing here? Julian made it very clear how your family feels about Sam. I'm not going to let you hurt my daughter anymore."

"You're right about Sam at least. Neither me or my brother have any interest in her. Well except for the threat she posed to our family."

"That's ridiculous. Sam isn't a threat to anyone." Alexis denied immediately. She was tired of everyone treating Sam like some sort of criminal. "She just wants to be accepted by her father."

"I still can't get over how blind you are. It's almost sad," she tisked the other woman. There had been a time Ava had felt sorry for the woman. However Alexis had long ago killed any sympathy she felt, mainly due to her treatment of Elizabeth.

"Blind? I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not sure I even want to know what you mean. In fact you should probably leave."

"No I don't think I will. There are a few things you and I need to get settled, starting with my niece."

"You're making no sense. I thought..."

"Well I guess there's a first time for everything. You haven't done much thinking in the last few years. Maybe you had we wouldn't be in this situation." Ava said trying to keep her temper. Julian only wanted his ex to learn the truth. Violence wasn't supposed to be part of the deal. They all agreed the best thing would be for Alexis to live with knowing her daughter hated her. "You really don't have any idea about the truth do you? I'm honestly tempted not to tell you. However everyone will know the truth soon enough. Besides I've been begging Julian to clue you in for years."

"Either start making sense or get out of my house," Alexis demanded motioning towards the front door. She was in no mood for the Jerome family's games. Ever since they came to town her life had been filled with chaos.

"You want me to lay it all out for you?"

"Yes please."

"Sam isn't your daughter," Ava said bluntly. She couldn't help the fact she enjoyed the look of shock on Alexis' face. It felt good to hurt the other woman. "She lied to everyone, not that you should be surprised. I mean the woman is a con artist of course she lied about being your daughter."

"Why would you say something like that? Of course Sam is my daughter," she immediately denied. Although there was a whisper of doubt. Things didn't quite add up and she'd long ignored.

"Are you sure Alexis? Do you have any proof? We both know you didn't get a DNA test. Honestly I think that's when I started to lose respect for you." Ava admitted shaking her head. What person didn't ask for a DNA test? Especially from a known con artist.

"I'm just heart broken that you don't respect me. You claim that Sam isn't my daughter. Let's say for one minute I believe you. I'm going to assume you think you know who is my daughter."

Ava laughed at the demand. No matter how hard she tired Alexis couldn't fool her. The woman wasn't as certain about Sam as she claimed. "Of course. Unlike the Cassidines the Jeromes don't lose family."

"Naturally. Are you going to enlighten me? Or are you only here to make me doubt Sam?"

"Well I am feeling generous at the moment. Especially with Sonny and that impostor out of the way."

"What did you did Julian do to Sam?" Alexis asked not entirely certain she wanted to know. The Jerome family's reputation was as horrific as her own.

"Poor Alexis. Still blind I see. Maybe you should ask what Sam did to anger Julian? I mean he's been in town for weeks and has pretty much ignored her. Until tonight. Jail is too nice of a punishment in my opinion but I was outvoted." Ava scoffed trying not to pout. She hated that Julian had ignored her wishes. Mostly because it sos rarely happened. "It helps to know after tonight Elizabeth will never speak to you again. Her hating you might be the best thing to come out of this situation."

"Why would I care what Elizabeth thinks?"

"You really should care Alexis. I mean I would die if my daughter hated me."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're just trying to cause trouble. There's no way that Elizabeth is my daughter."

"Julian's men barely saved her from Helena's men. They were going to drown her. I'll admit the Webbers weren't an ideal situation but it kept her safe. When you both ended up in Port Charles Julian was sure you would figure it out. There was even a time Elizabeth wanted to tell you herself. Then Sam happened. Every time you defended her..." she trailed off ending with a shrug. The fact that the lawyer had gone pale was proof Alexis finally believed her. As far as Ava was concerned that was all that mattered. She was determined to protect Elizabeth and the boys from anymore pain. "I don't think Elizabeth will ever forgive you. Or let you close to those boys."

"You're serious... I don't understand how it's possible. Sam... she said..."

"She conned you Alexis. It's time you admit that fact. I have to admit I'm going to enjoy watching the fall out."

The realty of it all finally hit Alexis. It also made her wonder if Nikolas knew the truth. That would expalin in part how close he was with Elizabeth. He had barely acknowledged Sam in all these years. Maybe now she had her answer as to why. "Wait where are you going? You have to help me make Elizabeth understand..."

"I find it amusing you think I should help you," Ava interrupted with a laugh. The last thing she wanted was to help Alexis. To be honest she planned on trying to keep the woman as far from her family as possible. It shouldn't be too difficult to convince Elizabeth to keep her mother at arms length. "Not that I'd even consider it. Watching you fail after everything you did to hurt Elizabeth is going to be so satisfying."