Lyla eventually calms Katie down and admits that Carly never quite said she knew anything. She convinces her that Carly's just fishing and that panicking will only make Carly more suspicious. The next time Katie sees Carly at work at WOAK, she tells Carly to stay out of her business. She and Brad are happy, and Katie snarks that Carly is jealous and bitter over losing Jack. That only makes Carly angry. Carly reminds her that it wasn't too long ago, she was running around town ruining lives because she couldn't get Simon out of her system. Not only is Brad better off without her, but so are Mike, Jack and that fake kid she's not having. Katie slaps her, and they get into a shoving match Kim has to have broken up. Kim chastises them both, but lays into Carly for forgetting Katie is pregnant. Katie plays up to Kim, then Brad walks in and blasts her too and Carly walks off in a huff. Later, as Carly stews alone in her office, one of the secretaries stops by to get Carly's signature on the expense report she turned in after her business trip to Chicago. Smiling wickedly, the wheels start turning in Carly's head. "If it's proof they want..it's proof they'll get," she vows.

Michael admits that he finally gathered himself and has decided to return to Oakdale. Susan scoffs that he made a long trip for nothing, implying that she's moved on. Realizing this isn't going to be as easy as he thought, Michael seeks Alison's help in convincing her mother to meet her at the Lakeview. When she arrives, she's frustrated to see Michael in place of her daughter. Just when he thinks he's convinced her that he's back to stay and that he only left for her benefit, Susan splashes her drink in his face. Days later, Michael runs into Katie who's having problems of her own. Not wanting to include him in the drama, she beats around the bush when it comes to spilling what's bothering her. All of a sudden, she recalls that he works at the hospital and asks for a favor.

Dusty's anger boils over with Emily. She plays the victim the whole time, pledging that she didn't tell Lucinda anything. Dusty angrily scolds her for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and calls off their engagement, hurling the insult that she's still the lying and psychotic tramp that held him hostage in chains last year. Hurt by his words, Emily seeks consolation from Susan who tells her to suck it up; she dug her own hole this time and Mommy's not bailing her out. Realizing that she has no way to avoid Emily's investigative eye, Lucinda acts quick to keep Emily's mouth shut. She arranges a meeting with Emily and hands her a check for $10,000 to keep what she knows tight-lipped. Emily reluctantly agrees, under one condition. Lucinda must cut all ties with Dusty and convince him that she was overreacting when she said Emily knew everything. Days later, Lucinda lies to Dusty that she was upset over a business opportunity gone wrong and took out her anger with Emily. She says that she knowingly lied to Dusty that Emily knew everything about her past with Clark. Surprisingly, Dusty buys it and as a result, tells Lucinda to stay away. By lying, she provoked his anger onto Emily and now, Emily will never forgive him.

Having postponed the confrontation with Colin until Luke can find the fake diamond, Jade meets up with Lily. Pulling the fake out of her purse, Lily reveals that she found it while cleaning Luke's clothes and wants to know what part of "stop" they didn't understand. Fed up with it all, Lily rounds up Luke and Jade and they head to confront Colin. Cornered, he admits that he was in boarding school when the Taylors adopted Jade. When he graduated, Jade had already run away from the loveless home. Colin admits that his folks are greedy and once they learned of Jade's biological mother's tie to the Beloved diamond, they saw a chance at compensation for the years of hell Jade had put them through. Lily rails Colin for his deception and arranges a flight out of town for Colin. On his way to the airport, Colin bumps into Gwen. Having met before, Gwen recalls how creepy he seemed the first time. After a while, she realizes she was quick to judge and asks how long he's in town for. Colin smirks, "Indefinitely. It seems my plans have changed at the last minute."

Emma's shocked, confused, and happy to see Meg walk through the door at Thanksgiving. Holden warns Meg to tread lightly; alot of people are still upset by her actions last time she was in town, including Emma. Meg reveals that she's sought help and has since repaired her relationship with Josh. They're getting re-married, she gushes. Emma introduces Meg to Clark. Like her other family members, she's hesitant to trust the man. Emma lectures that many people's trust with Meg was severed last time; she has no right to judge a man she hardly knows. Clark is good to her and they love and trust one another, Emma softly quips. Later, Clark gets confused with directions and ends up at Lucinda's doorstep. The maid informs him of his route and sends him on his way. Through the window, he gets a glimpse of Lucinda's face (she doesn't see him) and thinks he recongizes her from somewhere.

After a while of waiting, Kathy finally appears at Neil's office, ready to talk. She reveals to him and Rosanna that she was paid to lead Rosanna to the market. She was also instructed to ask for compensation for her clue. Once she had the money, she was instructed to give it to a man she had never met before. The job paid phenomenally well, leading her to wonder why "whoever it was" needed the money in the first place. Rosanna badgers her for details about a baby boy and Kathy hints that she might have heard a toddler crying at one point, but she was told to say nothing. Neil thanks her for her information, but Rosanna insists Kathy must know something else that could lead her to Cabot. Neil gets through to her and tells her that Kathy told them everything she knew. The fact that she was hired and put through such scrupulous terms and conditions says alot. Later, Rosanna goes to Java and bumps into Meg. After a brief and angry showdown with Rosanna, Meg tells Emma she's leaving town again; she came to tell her mother that she and Josh are getting re-married and to patch wounds with family. Now that she's done that, she's ready to return home to Josh. Emma begs her to stay a little longer and Meg reluctantly agrees. Knowing that she has more time to patch wounds, Meg sets out to smooth things over with the one man she hurt the most. While working on designs, Paul's startled when he answers the door and finds Meg on the other side.

Alison and Aaron hash an idea to throw an end of the semester party at Donovan's. Dusty isn't around, leaving Aaron in charge. Alison spies Colin talking with Gwen. She heads up to them, only for Colin to retreat hastily. Alison questions why Gwen was wasting her time with an arrogant mooch like Colin. Gwen reveals that she and Will are officially separated and she can talk with whomever she pleases. Taking it in the negative tone Gwen said it in, Alison warns her once best friend to steer clear of Colin; he's nothing but trouble. Casey and Will head out for ice cream and run into Iris. Iris smirks that Will should be getting an imporant message soon. Will tells her to go to hell and Iris leaves. Casey asks what his mother-in-law was talking about and Will admits he doesn't know and doesn't care. After dropping off Casey, Will gets a call from his mother. He meets her in the living room. She says she's there for support and hands him an envelope. Inside, Will's floored to find papers seeking legal separation and a document stating that Gwen has filed for sole custody of Hallie. Inconveniently, Will blows up just as Carrie walks in. Barbara takes advantage of the unplanned scenario and stands back and watches. She's seemingly convinced that once Carrie sees Will at his worst, she'll want to have nothing to do with him. Instead, though, Carrie's able to get through to Will and calm him down. Irritated, Barbara sends Carrie to work and calls Noah, urging him to keep Carrie busy and away from Will.