Plot

Daniel and Emily plan an engagement party; Victoria uses Conrad's father against him; Jack spirals after Amanda disappears; Charlotte finds herself tangled in a web of deceit.

Daniel's parents not only agree to his engagement, Victoria invited and briefed Conrad's father, the firm founder and board president, who demands a 'decent' divorce and intends to replace his son as CEO with Daniel. Conrad makes up with Charlotte, whom he sent back to Victoria under a practical pretext. After Jack is badly roughed up, he finds one of the incriminating tapes stolen from Mason's arson-wrecked home and assumes 'Amanda' did it before she left. Amanda gets her to leave with a new identity and trusts Nolan to destroy it, but he lets Jack hear the truth about David's death. Jack .—KGF Vissers

In an atmosphere of nervous excitement for Emily & Daniel's upcoming engagement party, things quickly start to unravel: Victoria tries to regain the upper hand by using Conrad's own father against him; Jack finds himself wandering deeper into the fray; the rug gets pulled out from under Charlotte, and even more so for Emily.—ABC Publicity

Everyone is opening their ornate invitations to Emily's and Daniel's official engagement party which Victoria is calling a "Fire & Ice Ball."

Victoria is watching an old Daniel Clarke interview when Charlotte comes into the room. She says she's pleased to have her daughter back and expresses hope that the engagement won't result in a wedding.

Emily looks at more video of David Clarke talking about being Charlotte's father. Nolan calls and he thinks they should be holding back. She tells him that her plan is to go public with Charlotte's paternity, and wants to do it "my way." She places a DVD of the interview into a package addressed to Charlotte "from Amanda Clarke." Emily looks at Amanda's cell phone and sees seven missed calls from Jack.

Jack is still recovering from his beating. He asks Nolan if he knows where Amanda might have gone. He wants to get in touch with her and let her know the reason he was beaten up wasn't her fault. Under his bed he finds one of Mason Treadwell's interview tapes labeled "Interview 14: Amanda Clarke."

Conrad and Daniel have lunch. They start to talk about David Clarke and what Victoria has "been through" when Conrad's father, Grandpa Grayson (William Devane), arrives. Apparently Victoria called him to let him know about the divorce. Grandpa tells Conrad he's worried what a messy split could do their company.

Jack leaves Amanda yet another voicemail, this one letting her know about the tape. He said he wants answers and the only way she'll get the tape back is if she meets with him.

Nolan and Emily talk about how Jack could have gotten the tape. She's not sure what it may contain and how much damage it could do.

Prior to an engagement photo shoot Victoria asks Ashley about her relationship with her family. Ashley thinks growing up without great parents can help a kid be more resilient. Victoria says she wants to go to lunch with Charlotte and Declan. Daniel tells Victoria it's not fair to keep Charlotte in the dark about her father. Victoria says it needs to be handled delicately. While Emily and Daniel pose for their photo, Emily flashes back to the first time she, as a bookish-looking, dark-haired college student, first saw him. She overheard Daniel telling another girl about being "weighed down" by his family.

Conrad shows up and has a word with Victoria. He yells at her for calling Grandpa. She tells him that if he wants her to behave at dinner that night he has to promise to be nice to Charlotte and never reveal her true father.

Nolan tries to get the tape from Jack when he asks about how to play it. Jack hangs on to it, telling him to find a player.

Victoria invites Daniel and Emily to dinner with Grandpa. Emily gets a call from Nolan. He says he might be able to find a degaussing device that could ruin it. She thinks the tape is an interview she gave when she was ten.

Amanda calls Jack. She's short with him and tells him to come to a hotel room in the nearby town of Riverhead and bring the tape. Emily is with her. She tells Amanda that they can't let whatever's on that tape lead him to Victoria. Amanda wants to tell Jack everything, but Emily says that Jack won't forgive her if he realizes she's been pretending to be someone else.

Victoria has lunch at the bar with Charlotte and Declan. Charlotte asks if she can invite Declan to dinner that night, but Victoria doesn't think it's a good idea.

Conrad asks Ashley if she's trying to work some opportunist angle. He says she's with the wrong Grayson if that's her game. He tries to appeal to Ashley's unhappiness as Victoria's overqualified Errand Girl, but Ashley doesn't bite.

Jack shows up at Amanda's door furious, but she remains cold. He pushes his way in and demands answers. She vaguely tells him the truth is that she's pretended to be something that she's not and that the little girl he fell in love with is gone. She again demands the tape. He says no and leaves. Emily appears from another room and tells her to go after him. "No!" Amanda says defiantly. "I don't care what's on that tape. I'm not doing that to him again!" "Amanda," Emily tries to convince her, but it's no use. "Stop calling me that!" she snaps, then walks away.

Later, Nolan shows Emily the degausser that will destroy all information on the tape. He continues to pester her about not telling Jack the truth. She says her plan is to use Victoria's lies against her with Grandpa.

Declan meets Grandpa, who tells him he succeeded without a flashy education. Emily is then introduced. She flashes back to more of her first meeting with Jack, when she advised him to be better than his parents in order to get beyond his last name. Conrad shows up and calls Charlotte into the study with him.

Grandpa asks Victoria to promise him the divorce won't get ugly.

Jack comes to Nolan, as his only real friend, to help him view the tape. Nolan is touched by this. He asks Jack why he wants to watch the tape at all. He says if he's going to let her go, "I have to know." Instead of degaussing it, Nolan puts the tape into a player, and we see an interview with a very young Emily, talking about her father kissing Victoria on the lips "all the time." A distraught-looking Jack walks away.

Conrad apologizes to Charlotte for how he's been acting towards her. She reminds him of a story when he made her laugh after she was dumped by a first love. She says "as long as I have you, there's nothing I can't handle." They hug and Emily witnesses the embrace. Emily goes to retrieve the package containing the DVD for Charlotte that she'd had delivered to the Grayson home. When she grabs it, Victoria startles her, causing her to drop it. When Victoria picks it up, Emily quickly takes it, claiming it was a DVD from another wedding planner. "I wouldn't want Ashley to get the wrong idea," she says as she hastily shoves it into her purse.

Jack goes back to Amanda's Hotel and tries to get Amanda to come to the door. He says after seeing the tape he's not surprised she wanted to burn down the house. An emotional Amanda calls Emily and tells her about him seeing the tape. Amanda says she's going after Jack. Emily tries to reason with her, but she says she's done listening to her. We see her just miss him driving away.

At dinner Grandpa tells Emily she reminds him of Victoria. A distraught Jack bursts into the dinner and confronts Victoria about her relationship with David Clarke. He says that she did nothing to prevent Amanda's troubled life. He shows her the tape and says if she doesn't stop telling lies about Amanda he's going to start telling the truth about her. After Jack leaves Grandpa asks if what he said was true. This leads to Daniel talking about the "rape," and Conrad revealing that David Clarke is Charlotte's biological father. She leaves the table in tears and Victoria tells Conrad she'll never forgive him. Conrad reveals to everyone that Victoria had an "ongoing" affair with David Clarke and Daniel learns his mother lied about being raped.

Grandpa and Conrad argue about what happened the last time David Clarke's name was linked to the company. Grandpa thinks that Conrad should step down as CEO and start grooming Daniel to take over.

Emily calls Jack to make sure he's okay. He hasn't spoken with Amanda yet. Daniel tells Emily he feels foolish for defending his mother.

Declan tries to comfort Charlotte. She goes for the booze and he tries to stop her. But she's convinced Conrad will stop being her father now.

Emily yells at Nolan about letting Jack see the tape. She walks in her front door and sees that someone has gotten into her private floor safe. Her secret box is gone! All that's left is an R.S.V.P. card for the "Fire & Ice Ball" with the name Emily Thorne on it and "Will Attend" double underlined.