Zoe's story was nothing but an enormous lie, yet he was even more laughable than her. At least Zoe knew that it was a lie from the start, but he had believed her story up until now.

"Avery Tate, why would you do this to me?" Elliot mumbled as he quietly sobbed, "why?"

All he received in response was the sound of the wind blowing.

On the way home, Layla muttered in confusion, "why isn't Dad happy when he finds out that Mom was the one who performed surgeries on Shea?"

"Layla, would you be mad if your brother lies to you?" Mike tried to explain with a metaphor. "Your dad wouldn't have been upset if he had known about it all along."

"Why didn't Mom tell him, then?"

"Because your mom didn't want anything to do with him at first. She was afraid that if she gets involved with him, he would come and take you and your brother away from her. By the time their relationship improved, it was too long in the past for her to mention."

Layla still seemed slightly confused by Mike's explanation