Lily set down her wine glass - already half emptied - on the countertop, her weary shoulders finally sagging as she closed in on herself. Wrapping both arms round her body, Lily van der Woodsen bit down on her lower lip with ferocious vigor.

How had this happened?

Rufus…oh, Rufus. That cliched dream of hers - rich girl meets rock star. Rock star falls for rich girl. Rich girl marries wrong man (men, in her case). Rock star's faith never wavers. Rich girl realizes who she's meant to be with. Rock star and rich girl get married.

Rock star betrays rich girl with equitable distribution of property loophole and takes everything.

What had she not seen? Was there a moment when Rufus had showed his true colors to her? How could Rufus - the man who wore his heart on his sleeve - have held a better poker face than James Bond? Rufus hated James Bond.

She let out a chuckle that sounded more like a sob. After everything she and William had done to each other, he'd still ensured that she would be provided for…still promised to keep Serena and Eric comfortable. Had promised to keep her comfortable too even if he was in no shape, way, or form obligated to. William van der Woodsen was a bastard.

But at least he was a courteous bastard.

Dabbing at the corner of her eye, Lily sniffed quietly as she reached for the lonely wine glass. She took a sip.

What about Dan? Of Jenny? Well, Lily grimaced, maybe not Jenny. She'd vanished to Europe without so much as a goodbye but Dan - Dan was here. Dan was a good boy. He could…he had to help Lily; if not for her, then for the love he bore Serena. She knew it was pitiful to use her stepson's affection against him but Lily was desperate. Surely Daniel must know something about his father's whereabouts or what Rufus had planned to do.

Was he simply too scared to tell Lily? To say anything? She'd seen Rufus upset once - genuinely upset - and he'd been a terrifying sight. It was entirely plausible that Dan - the quiet erudite with a love for literature - had been far too afraid of his father to speak up. In that case, Lily had a witness and whatever Dan said, she could use in court. It'd make things much easier if…

Serena.

Oh, her baby. Lily felt a fresh wave of tears ready to fall; her breathing hitched as she pressed her palm to her lips. She mustn't cry - Serena had the terrible habit of waking up at night and when her little girl woke up, she could become oh so curious. Lily's broken heart fractured even more as she realized what she had to do.

She needed to find William, needed to find her lawyers and she needed to find Rufus.

Whatever she was, however little time she had given her children, Lily loved them. She loved Serena and Eric more than anything and for years, they were the only things that kept her going as she left husband after husband. Hell would freeze over before Lilian Rhodes allowed her children to lose what was rightfully theirs. She may be disposable in the van der Woodsen will but Serena and Eric were not.

Squaring her shoulders, Lily put down her wine glass, jaw clenched tight at the realization of what she had to do. It was what Rhodes women did best, after all.

She needed to disappear.

MONTH 7

"Good morning." the husky whisper of Chuck Bass's voice caused Serena to shiver.

She wrinkled her nose. "Chuuuck…go 'way. I'm tired." to prove her point, Serena snuggled deeper into the covers, completely ignoring how her face was now buried against Chuck's bare chest.

"You're going to have to get up some time, S. Blair's switched from calling your cell phone nonstop to calling me. I'm a Bass, Serena. She's interrupting my flow of business."

Serena mumbled something that sounded a lot like nothing as she continued to snooze, determinedly ignoring the sunlight pouring in through the unclosed drapery.

She heard Chuck scoff and giggled quietly to herself; underneath that cold veneer, Chuck Bass could be a big softie.

Not that he (or Serena) would let anyone else know ever. Before she could roll over again, Serena felt Chuck's hand come down to rest gently on top of her protruding belly. Seven months pregnant and Serena felt like she deserved a gold medal. And if not that, then at least a silver one because carrying a child was hard work. Her back hurt all the fucking time and her favorite Alexander McQueen sundress was being a stubborn piece of cloth, refusing to zip up beyond her lumbar vertebrae. At that moment, she felt an insurmountable amount of pity and respect for her own mother who'd gone through the pregnancy deal not once but twice.

If this was true for every woman then Serena had no idea why anyone in the Middle Ages would have wanted to be queen. You were, quite literally, an assembly line/incubator for the future king.

"Chuck, if this was 17th century London and you were king and I was your queen…would you tie me to the bed until I gave you a son? Or would you go progressive and pass the crown onto your daughter?" Serena's lifted her chin, eyes squinting as the morning (or was it afternoon?) light hit her squarely in the face. She grimaced. "We didn't close the curtains did we?"

"Drapes, Serena. They're drapes." Chuck corrected smugly, hand coming up to tuck a strand of golden hair behind her ear. "And no we didn't."

She poked him in the chest. "My question, King Chuckie. You're evading."

He could barely contain his smile. "Why on earth would you bring up something like this now? Unless this is your way of telling me that we'll be having twins?" his brow arched in curiosity and Serena couldn't do much but frown.

"Hey, don't push your luck. I'm still an orca - nowhere near the Blue whale size yet."

"I'm going to cancel Animal Planet if every analogy you have is related to whales from now on."

"Serves you right for locking me up here while you and Blair go out scheming."

Chuck's dark eyes were mirthful, shining with something akin to happiness as Serena wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are you doing, S?" he asked, amusement in his voice as she leaned in closer so that they were noses were but an inch away.

"This is my intimidation glare. Have I sufficiently frightened you yet?"

"Not even close." he returned confidently, fingertips dancing on Serena's exposed hip. "You'll have to try a different tactic."

She shrugged. "Fine." unlocking her arms, Serena fell back onto the clean, white pillows and closed her eyes.

A moment passed. She could feel Chuck's eyes on her as she pretended to doze off again.

"S?"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing?" his exasperation was evident but then again, so was his joy. Serena's appetite for life seemed infectious whether she knew it or not.

Currently, she was aware that Chuck would be more endeared than annoyed. "I'm sleeping." she replied lowly.

"You're awake, Serena."

"Nope."

He looked down at her, his gaze burning as she struggled to keep her expression neutral. "Serena…"

"Yes?"

"Open your eyes."

"I'm sensing an 'or else' here."

He didn't reply. Slowly, with an almost languid pace, Chuck leaned down until his lips hovered directly above Serena's - full and the darkest shade of rose pink, even at eleven AM.

She could feel his breath on her skin, even and unhurried, the pinnacle of control and she inwardly frowned. Did he practice meditation? What man remains totally calm when there's a naked woman below him? She'd have to -

Chuck pressed his lips against hers but it wasn't like any kiss he'd given before. This time, it was slow and pliant; he molded his lips to Serena's mouth with a tender, unbridled affection that seemed to pour from the deepest anchors of his soul. He tongue darted out, licking her lower lip teasingly before his kisses fell on her chin and jaw like rose petals.

"Chuck."

He raised his head lazily, a slow smile spreading on that velvet mouth of his when he caught sight of Serena's navy blue gaze.

"Hm?"

"I'm awake."

He chuckled. "Perfect." and he resumed his kisses once more.

Carter sat at the table of an expensive veranda cafe, sunglasses on and newspaper in hand. There was a look of contemplation about him but that couldn't be pinpointed towards anything other than the article he was reading. A fire broke out in Brooklyn last night.

In fact, he didn't look up until he smelt Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb perfume and heard the final click of a woman's sky high heel as she approached him.

"Take off those sunglasses. It's rude to wear them in the presence of a lady." Blair Waldorf's prim voice cut through his thoughts as knife did butter.

He placed the newspaper down and complied, smirk on his lips as he took in the brunette beauty before him. Her doe brown eyes were unreadable and she seemed to have put on red lipstick just a fraction too dark for her porcelain skin.

"Waldorf. You look decent."

"Hm. I wish I could say the same for you but I'm no liar. At least, not during brunch." her smile was cold and sickly sweet; causing Carter to feel as if he'd drunk cold champagne on a winter night. Cold champagne spiked with processed sugar and arsenic.

"Glad you could make it." he continued, ignoring the way she began inspecting her fork and spoon with the cloth napkin.

Did she really think he was going to kill her in broad daylight?

"So." Blair smiled, disillusioned and annoyed, "you've come here for salvation?"

"Yes, Sister Blair I plead for your mercy." Carter returned sarcastically, as he reclined back in his chair. "I'm done with Humphrey."

"Which one? You're keeping quite a harem these days."

"The only one who actually has something of value. Dan. He's a bastard."

Blair snorted, waving over a waitress as she replaced the knife and fork on either side of her plate. "Hi." Blair glanced up at the red haired waitress unsmilingly. "Peach ginger bellini. Toast, and the Edie Sedgwick, thank you."

"Of course." the woman plucked up Blair's menu and turned towards Carter. "And you, sir?"

"Crab omelet will be fine."

She scribbled his order down. "And what you like to drink?"

"Sangria, thanks."

She beamed down at him, no doubt hoping he'd catch her Crest Whitestrip smile. "I'll be back with your orders momentarily."

The minute the nameless waitress vanished, Blair turned to Carter with the most disdainful expression he'd ever seen. "Don't tell me. You're fucking the waitress?"

"Careful Waldorf, you're becoming predictable in your scorn. How's Natie boy holding up?"

Blair's eyes darkened and Carter swore she would have thrown her fork in his face had there not been witnesses. "We're just fine - unlike you and Jenny. But let's get on track again, shall we?"

No time like the present he mused, watching as Blair fiddled with the thin gold hoop on her left ring finger.

"Did you find Lily?" her voice was quiet, almost inaudible as she peeked down at her phone. "The guy I hired to look into Jack Bass's finances just reported back to me last night. He's going under, Baizen."

Carter shrugged, expression bitter. "Doesn't surprise me. Dan was never going to give him his share and Jack knew it. Georgina's most likely right about everything else too. Humphrey never talked about the Sparks' much but this coupled with what Jack Bass knows…hell, he'll be lucky if he receives 50 years in the slammer."

Blair hissed in frustration. "But doesn't this mean we have legal justification to - "

"We don't have Lily. Dan's not going to touch Serena if he knows we're onto him. Georgina's track record isn't exactly reliable and we still don't know where Dan's keeping the money or how it's even wired. We can't trace a disappearance without a map, Waldorf."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm Blair Waldorf. I don't need a map and I don't need any witnesses. All I need is some subtext and good leverage. You think I was going to bring this up in a legal court of law, Baizen?"

Now it was his turn to frown. "What do you - "

"Please." she scoffed, "the justice system is ruined, you and I know that. We need to confront Dan in a controlled setting - one manned by us, not the system." she spat the word out as if it were a spoonful of cold Cup-a-Soup. "This time, there'll be no fuck ups. I'm going to be taking charge of things and so long as you work with me and stick to your lines, we'll have Humphrey nailed down."

"And what about Bass?" Carter demanded, not missing a beat.

Blair picked at her ring again. "He's in on it. In fact, he's the one who pulled up most of Rufus's transactions before he vanished. We need the scorned father and Chuck's close to finding him." she narrowed her eyes. "Which brings me to my original question. Did you find Lily?"

He gave her a wry smile. "Technically, yes."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I found Lily Rhodes only she's not Lily Rhodes." Carter threw down a copy of the passport his P.I. managed to scour up. "She's being careful. Her new alias is Rose Carlton and she's currently in Belgium. Ghent, specifically, and staying in the same hotel as William van der Woodsen."

"Hello?" Jenny stayed perfectly still, afraid to dislodge one of the curlers in her hair as a hunky man-slave held the Victorian style phone receiver towards her ear. "Hello?"

"Jenny?"

"Dan!" Jenny struggled to keep her neck straight. "What are you doing calling on a landline? Can't you just, I don't know, email?" she blew on her wet nails, shifting her weight on the chaise in an effort to ease her aching spine. "So if this isn't important, I'm going to hang up - "

"Don't." Dan's voice sounded strained.

Jenny bit her silicone plumped lip. "You can speak up, you know. Carter's not home."

A harsh sigh was all she heard before Dan spoke again.

"Jen, I'm…I fucked up. I really fucked up."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she shrugged impatiently, trying to prevent her silk kimono from falling off her half naked body. "Ugh! Antonio! Help me!"

"Jack Bass is after me, the Sparks' are this close to reporting me to the FBI, and Rufus…dad…Jen, he's doing something. It's been too long since I've heard a threat from him."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, you and dad have the weirdest relationship ever right? Most kids write their dad's a bunch of bullshit about backyard BBQ's but hey, threats on your life can also be a form of communication."

"Jenny I'm serious! Stop playing housewife and fucking listen!"

"Jeez, alright, alright. Calm your tits, Dan."

She could just picture his pinched expression and flared nostrils and, to be honest, it was taking a lot effort to keep her neck straight AND not laugh at the same time. She loved her brother, she did - she just hated it when he went into one of his melodramatic moods.

Writers. What are you going to do with 'em?

"The detective I hired just hacked into Jack's computer. He's been emailing Chuck, letting him know that there are future business opportunities. And underneath those messages, Joe managed to detect a bunch of encrypted files and I'm willing to bet my left arm that those files are the transactions. The forgeries. The…the fucking everything we pulled Jen. Jack Bass has it on file."

"You don't know that." Jenny countered but her own heart rate had just spiked, her mouth growing dry. "You - you don't know for sure that everything's related to you. I mean, Jack's got lots of stuff he doesn't want people to know. Like…like those underground nightclubs he runs or the - "

"This is not about giving drinks to underage brats, Jenny! Fuck, these are documents that can send both of us to jail for life! I don't think your grasping onto the severity of this situation because all you can do these days is get plastic surgery and play wife even though everything about you is just a poor imitation of Serena!"

"That's not true! You take that back Dan!" Jenny shouted, eyes stinging as she blinked back tears. "I'm not! Serena's the one who has nothing now! I'm Jennifer Baizen! I married Carter! I got Carter and she - "

"She's pregnant with Chuck Bass's baby, Jenny! Fuck - wake up! Wake the fuck up! You're being played Jenny! You're being screwed over and you're too blind to realize it!"

"No I'm NOT!"

"Yes, you fucking are." Dan snapped back, his voice harsh and unrelenting. "Carter only married you for my money. He needed a way back to the UES so he could try and court Serena again. Let's face it, Carter would rather spend his entire life trying to win Serena back then spend a single day being married to you."

"Like you think you're any better?" Jenny demanded, half hysterical, "you were just as much in love with that whore as Carter was! Except Carter moved on and you're still hung up on her!"

"Christ, Jenny, he hasn't moved on! What, you think he saw you and thought 'my god, let me marry Dan Humphrey's younger sister who I've never met before but who, I guess, looks like she'd make a good wife.' Is that what you fucking thought Jenny? That he just fell in love with you at first sight?"

"Yes, he did!"

"Oh, Jesus - I'm hanging up. I'll fix this myself. Get drunk. Pop some pills. Fucking pass out for all I care." Dan sneered before the call ended with an abrupt click.

By this time, Jenny's heavy mascara and eyeliner were no match for the hot tears rolling down her cheeks, leaving trails of black on her make-up clad face. "I - I'm…I'm not." she muttered, nail polish wrecked as she clawed at a velvet throw pillow. "Carter loves me. Yes he DOES. Carter married me, Carter loves me…Serena is nothing to him. I'm Jennifer Baizen. She's nothing."

Lily forced herself to knock on the door. It was a fucking door. If she couldn't face a door then there was no way in hell she could face her ex-husband. She needed to do this. For Serena. For Eric.

Inhaling deeply, Lily raised her hand and gently rapped on the thick mahogany panel. Immediately, she took a step back and braced herself, counting to ten slowly in an effort to slow down her pounding heartbeat. William was a pragmatic man, Lily knew, she just needed to appeal to his reason. After all, this was his money too.

Just as she'd managed to stop her palms from sweating, she heard the lock click and slowly, the door opened.

"Hello William." Lily breathed out, silently applauding herself on the steadiness of her voice.

Her first ex-husband was dressed in an impeccable charcoal gray suit (Yves Saint Laurent?), a black button-up seamlessly pressed and a blood red tie perfectly in place. He raised a brow.

"Lilian. What an unaccounted for surprise. I distinctly remember you swearing to hell and high heaven that you would never step foot in this country again."

"Is that why you moved here?" she shot back before biting her tongue. She was here to coerce and convince, not agitate and aggravate.

His countenance was unchanged, giving Lily little indication of his actual feelings. As always, she noted darkly.

"My reasons for relocating are my own." he returned silkily. "Is Serena or Eric with you?"

She shook her head. "No. I came alone."

A faint smile appeared on his lips - a ghost of a smile really. It was too cold - too unforgiving - to have been genuine.

"Do you intend to stand by the doorway as we discuss business or would you like to come in?"

"Hardly. This country seems to have robbed you of your courtesies. Really, William, is that how you invite a lady inside?" Well. There goes flattery.

But then again, her husband's always had a strange sense of humor she remembered as she watched his eyes flicker, something akin to mirth dissipating as quickly as it appeared. If her audacity amused him, then she'd take what she could get.

"Please," he said, stepping back so Lily could see the white marble foyer, "come in."

She swallowed. "Thank you."

All right, Lily, she steeled her spine. You can do this.

For Eric.

For Serena.

A/N: Ahhhhh! I'm so sorry for neglecting this story! Thank you SO much to everyone and anyone whose followed/favored/reviewed this story and for all the wonderful support you give each chapter! Really, your reviews are an author's favorite thing to read and each one is appreciated!

Gushing aside...this story will be resolved in the next few chapters depending on when baby Henry decides to make an appearance. You know those Bass men...egotistical and vain enough to keep a woman waiting!

And for all you Nate lovers out there, I'm sorry he's been hiding in a cave as frequently as I have! But trust me, when he appears again the confrontation between him and Blair is...well, it's not going to be pretty.

Up next: Georgina confronts Eric, Serena tails Chuck, Carter gets his head out of his ass and begins to work with Blair, and Nate finally realizes that he can't keep ignoring what his own eyes have been seeing.

Please leave a review! This chapter has been a long time coming and I hope I did Lily justice!