Disclaimer: I do not own the Dollanganger Saga.

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm really sorry about the delay on this story. I've been so busy with work and school since I first started it, but I had most of this chapter saved from the summer, so I thought I'd update and get the story going again :) I will update as soon as I can, and please let me know what you think of Corrine's little plan! Thanks for reading!

Ashes on a Flame

4

Simmer

"So, that's it?" Chris was staring at her, his jaw locked tightly and his blue eyes unreadable.

"That's it," Corrine answered, her blue eyes trained intently on his. She was waiting for his reaction, his opinion, his judgment, and she would wait for it as long as was necessary. All she wanted was to hear her son comment on her plan that would fix everything she had ever done wrong and that would make their situation disappear completely, and she would wait forever.

"Do you really think that can work, Bart?" Ignoring his mother, Chris looked directly at Bart, his blue eyes business-like and his voice low and steady. Even though Chris must resent Bart for reasons Corrine can only begin to imagine, it was clear that he still respected the man. Who wouldn't respect Bart, Corrine wondered? Who wouldn't understand that Bart was the crucial ingredient to getting out of this mess cleanly?

Bart nodded, and a long, painful silence ensued. Corrine could hear Jory sleeping peacefully on the sofa a few feet away, probably dreaming of sugar plums, and she could almost hear both Chris and Bart's minds reeling in their skulls, trying desperately to take in and evaluate her plan. She just hoped it would be enough for both of them, and she wished more than anything that Cathy would respond, though she sat motionless on her wooden chair on the other end of the room. Oh, the agony of it all!

"So, even after all this time, you're still going to deny us." Chris finally raised his eyes to meet Corrine's, and she felt every fiber of her heart melt with guilt and pain as she took in the raw hurt splashed across his face. "Illegitimate children of your first late-husband/half-uncle, conceived in vain and born in shame? Hidden away and paid off by our father only to resurface after the death of our mother?"

"If only our mother were dead," Cathy spat from the corner, her eyes lifting to pierce daggers at Corrine. "If only we could wake up from a bad dream to a cousin with warm, welcoming arms! Do you know anyone like that, Mother? Do you have a cousin that would actually want us?"

Oh, how Corrine's heart was wrenched from her chest and thrown outside to the blazing blizzard lurking beyond the walls! Chris merely snorted at Cathy's outburst, his face down and now examining a loose thread on his sleeve, and Cathy was back to sitting perfectly still in her corner, though her face was up and her eyes were still glued to Corrine's. Bart seemed to be the only one not shaken from the revelation of Corrine's plot, and with the last flame of hope flickering from Corrine's heart, it was all she could do to mutter "I give up" and bury her face in her arms, wondering when the lawyers would arrive to take away her fortune.

"Now, Cathy, let's be reasonable." That was Bart, and even without looking at him, Corrine could see the hard line his mouth formed and the crease at his brow. "I told you I would work on finding a solution, and it seems like Corrine has the perfect fix."

It was perfect, Corrine thought, momentarily admiring her own stroke of genius. Per conditions set in Malcolm's will, it was forbidden for Corrine to have had children with her half-uncle and with any other man, but it wasn't forbidden for Christopher to have had children. And, taking a look at Christopher Sheffield in comparison to Christopher Foxworth, was there any question that they were father and son? Seeing how similar Corrine had resembled her half-uncle and how similar Cathy resembles her brother, would there be any contest as to how they both were Foxworths and how Corrine is their true cousin?

"It will work," Corrine said quietly, lifting her head and smoothing back her hair. She could barely keep her eyes open, and she felt her entire body ache. "You don't know society like I do. Even if it were hard to believe, they would absolutely die for it to be the truth! Can't you understand how happy they would be that my husband was unfaithful to me and had children with another woman? Can't you see how they'll mock me and ridicule me for not having kept a closer eye on the husband for whom I deserted my family and its fortune?"

Chris lifted his gaze to meet hers, his eyes narrowing and watching hers closely, and even Cathy looked her way and wore an expression torn between smug and uncertain. They were starting to understand, and that was all Corrine needed. The rest would fall into place like a set of dominos.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Indeed it did work.

"So, if I'm following this correctly," said Chris slowly, "This story would be enough to keep us on as heirs of the Foxworth fortune while still preserving the conditions of the will? Namely, you won't be violating any hidden encryptions?" Corrine cringed at the way he had put it so crudely and so matter-of-fact, but she nodded, her eyes boring into his and praying that he would understand and accept.

"Exactly," she said, her nods gaining intensity as she saw Cathy shift in her seat, looking torn. "Can't you see how perfect it'll be? You'll be welcomed back to the mansion as true relatives that have every right to be there! You can come back into my life and stay since everyone will think it so generous and kind for me to take in my long-lost relatives and to treat and love them like my own children, despite the circumstances of their birth!

"You can be showered with money and showered with fame and no one would ever be the wiser! I can get you your very own clinic working with any doctor in the state, Chris! And Cathy," Corrine continued, her voice wild again as it had been back in Foxworth Hall, "we can remodel your studio and can snag you the best students of Virginia. Everyone will be so fascinated to meet the new Foxworth royalty, so you'll probably have to hold auditions to sort through all the applicants!"

In Corrine's mind, everything was perfect. Everything lined up, and everything would ride out smoothly. There was really nothing to be afraid of and no reason to feasibly doubt the plan, but for some reason, both of her children remained silent, their eyes avoiding hers very deliberately.

"What is it?" she dared to ask, feeling herself growing more frustrated than she probably should have been. "What have I done now? I found a way to fix this. I've found a way to finally get everything to where it needs to be."

"I can tell you what's wrong, Mother." That was Chris, and as Corrine tilted her head attentively toward him, she was startled to see such frigid daggars staring over at her. "I was hoping you would find some heart and claim us as your own, but I see that didn't. Even after all these years, greed still blinds your eyes."

"Chris," Corrine croaked, reaching out for his hand and moving it back when her son pulled it away. "Oh, Chris, please understand! I want to keep everything I have, and this is the only way!"

"That's exactly the problem!" Cathy broke her silence and stood up this time, her eyes matching the intensity of her brother's. "We don't want your money, Mother! All we've ever wanted was you!"