Simon stood on the top of the high hill called St. Peter's Dome. The snow was falling quickly in large, wet flakes and was accumulating rapidly. He liked to come up here to think. It was a quiet, peaceful place except for the wind that blew through the pine, spruce and hemlock trees at his back. His eyes took in the sight of the snow covered countryside but visibility was poor today. He could not see the frozen blue expanse of Lake Superior in the distance like he could most days. It was a mysterious, beautiful sight, much like the woman that he could not forget.

He really had no liking for the winter and cold but it just seemed to be somehow fitting that he would choose to come here and hibernate his heart during the frigid winter. It was a place of solitude and isolation, of escape from the memory of a green eyed sorceress that had bewitched him. Simon wore the veneer of an angry, angry man but behind the anger laid a deep hurt that no one could see. He felt that if he worked at keeping his anger built up on the surface he might not feel the pain that lay buried within him like the frozen earth beneath the snow. But within the depths of him there was still a small glimmer of hope that refused to die, so because of this he had not returned to Australia. Instead he burrowed himself into this winter refuge that was close enough to Oakdale to get back in a hurry if he needed to. The Chicago suburb was only a 12 hour drive.

He should be on top of the world right now. So much had come to pass since Lily had left him. The INS had finally stopped dogging his every step and accepted the fact that he and Katie's marriage was legitimate. Then, once that transpired, he had been free to pursue a divorce. Katie had fought it tooth and toenail, but his contempt of her because of her lies had finally worn her down and she resigned herself that no amount of conniving would work. She'd run off with Henry. That suited him just fine. They complemented one another perfectly; a snake and a scorpion. Woe to the person whom they set their schemes upon in the future. His good fortune had come upon him after a quickie divorce, thanks to ex-brother in-law, Craig. And thank goodness that divorce had come before he had known about the diamond so therefore Katie could not get her greedy little paws on it.

The diamond! Who would have ever thought that he would now be a wealthy man with no want for anything. But there was one thing he wanted and that was something he could never buy, no matter how much money he possessed. It was unbelievable that Celia had survived. Well, he had always said his sister had 9 lives like a cat and she screeched like one too. It seemed that she had been picked up by passing boat on the other side of the island. When she came to, she had started her caterwauling and they had believed her to be mentally unstable because of her accident. When they'd gotten her to safety she was hurriedly confined to a home for the unbalanced. In her wild ramblings she had talked incoherently about her brother Simon Frazier, a couple of twins from Oakdale and her diamond. When they were changing her out of the wet suit the diamond had been discovered and after a lengthy search for him, Simon had been contacted. Celia then had been shipped back to Australia and placed in an institution for the mentally challenged where she couldn't harm herself or anyone else anymore. Simon had claimed the diamond as his own.

But Simon was not the scoundrel he once was. Conscience would not allow him to go on without coming clean with Rose. He had made a promise to Lily back on the island that he would share the spoils and he meant to keep that promise. He knew that Rose had a claim to the gem and it really didn't mean that much to him any longer without the Love he adored to share it with. So, he had gone to see Rose and how she'd handled it was a complete shock to him. The saucy little showgirl from Jersey had softened under the care of the Snyders. After much consideration they'd agreed to split the wealth fifty/fifty and in the end everyone was satisfied with the arrangement. Everyone that is but Simon. The respect and prestige that had come with wealth held no allure for him any longer. He vowed he would not be broken but he was a man who felt torn in half. And that other half was, to him, lost forever.