[Alan Spaulding is being sent to jail. He had never approved of Phillip’s relationship with Blake—after all, she was a spy who worked for HIM originally. To make matters worse, Alan believed that Blake’s strange, masked friend is really her father, and his mortal enemy, Roger Thorpe. To have the upper hand in case he was right, Alan pretended to be paralyzed from the waist down. When Roger revealed himself at Phillip and Blake’s wedding, his struggle with Alan concluded when Alan accidentally shot Phillip—and shot Roger on purpose.
Roger convinced Phillip that Alan was responsible for him being shot. Phillip believed him, since he saw his father standing in the choir loft during the wedding. To catch Alan, Roger pretended to shoot Phillip and Alan-Michael, making Alan stand up in anger. Alan was carted off to jail.
But the idea of Phillip marrying Blake, and Roger having an “in” at Spaulding was too much for Alan to take—he had to torpedo the relationship. So, at his sentencing hearing, he told Holly to discourage Blake from marrying Phillip—Phil’s true love, Beth, might still be alive. Phillip heard Alan mention Beth, and asks to speak to his father alone before he is carted off into prison. They enter an empty office in the courthouse…]
Phillip:
Love never dies? That’s cute. What is that supposed to mean?
Alan: (playing innocent)
You weren’t meant to hear that.
Phillip:
What does it mean? What was your point?
Alan:
That is not Beth’s body buried in the grave that bears her name. Not you, not me, none of us…none of us can have any idea where Beth can be.
[Phillip, stunned for a second, recovers and tackles his father onto the desk in the office.]
-[COMMERCIAL]-
[Phillip’s still choking his father, who is pinned to the desk.]
Alan:
Stop it. Just hear me out. If you never listen to another word I say, so be it. But you have to know this.
Phillip: (enraged but sad, whispers)
You’re sick.
[He releases Alan, who stands up.]
Alan: (straightening his jacket)
I falsified the report of Beth’s death, and I arranged for a Jane Doe to be buried in her place. (Phillip, looking stricken, nods). Phillip, I did it because I couldn’t stand to see you suffering that way. I could see the toll it was taking on you, day in, day out. You didn’t know if she was dead or alive, and I knew that you would not rest until you could be certain that she was gone. We couldn’t find the body. So I decided to manufacture one. (Phillip now looks smug, as if he knows what Alan is trying to pull) I had the body of an unidentified girl from Chicago substituted for Beth’s. I found someone who was more than willing to take a bribe and go along the plan. And after that, well it was easy to convince people. Phillip, Phillip, I just wanted the hurt to stop, you understand? You believe me, don’t you?
Phillip: (ironic smile, shakes his head)
You are so much sicker than I ever imagined.
[Phillip turns to leave the room]
Alan:
Phillip! I can prove it.
[Phillip stops dead in his tracks.]
-[COMMERCIAL]-
Alan:
The evidence is in a safe, hidden in the producers’ office at WSPR. I even kept the receipt of the necklace I ordered to match the one you had given Beth. Phillip, you have to remember how you were at that time. How I was. I was worried sick about you. You wouldn’t eat. You wouldn’t sleep. You were obsessed about finding Beth. You were flying all over the country, grasping at rumors. It was obvious to everyone—EVERYONE—except you that she was really dead. All I did was provide the proof. I mean, you got over the pain. You moved on with your life. You found another woman. You fell in love…
Phillip:
How could you do this? You know how much I loved her. How could you do this?
Alan:
That…THAT is why I did it. I just wanted to help ease your agony.
[Phillip starts kicking things around the office]
Phillip:
I don’t understand you. I don’t understand you, Dad. I never have. You can’t lose, can you? You can’t lose. You’ve got to try to come up with a more despicable lie. How could you do this? How could you drag Beth’s name into this, just to try to keep me away from Blake?
Alan:
That is NOT what I’m doing.
Phillip:
I came here hoping that somehow you and I could salvage some kind of decent feelings about each other, just so that we could pick up at some point. But you never stop, do you? You just keep spewing the garbage.
Alan:
Why would I lie?
Phillip:
Why do you ever lie?
Alan:
I know what hearing this makes you think about me, but it’s the truth.
Phillip:
You save it for your cellmates, Dad. They’ll have plenty of time for your fiction. I don’t. You see, I see right through you. This is your last ditch attempt to try to keep me from marrying Blake. Well guess what? Once again, you lose. Because I am going to marry her. And while you are stinking and rotting in jail, she’s going to be Mrs. Phillip Spaulding, looking through the files, working at the company, everything you don’t want her to be. Think about that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get my gunshot wound checked.
[Phil starts to leave again]
Alan:
I made a lot of mistakes in my life. And the worst one is believing that Beth is really dead. (Phillip pauses at the door and turns around). Phillip, if I’m telling the truth, and God knows that I am, doesn’t it make you wonder just for one second that Beth could still be alive?
Phillip:
You go to hell.
(He opens the door and leaves.)
