If Alexis was suspicious when Stefan summoned her to Wyndemere - his voice filled more with urgency than rancor - she didn't let on, saying only that she was tired and was going to her room. Stefan's icy response was simply to pull out one of those ornate, high-backed chairs and order Alexis to sit. At that moment, she knew - as did we - that Stefan was setting the stage for an execution.

Skipping the prologue, Stefan began to pelt Alexis with a recitation of her transgressions. Throughout his unflinching discourse, Grahn kept a tight grip on her character, sharing freely of her own strength and dignity, two qualities that the Cassadines worship. At the same time, one could see the wheels turning in Alexis' head, since she knew her only chance to survive the onslaught of Stefan's fury was to present a plausible (at least to her) rationale for her actions. By virtue of Grahn's keen insight into Alexis' position, and the sincerity that flows freely from actress to character, Alexis' explanation was remarkably clear and logical, and - if we didn't know better - sounded almost benign. Only in her eyes did Grahn reveal enormous devastation and remorse; while her words tried to build a posture, Grahn allowed viewers a discreet but crucial glimpse of Alexis's shattered heart.

In the defining moment of the confrontation - when Stefan took Alexis' face in his hand, looked deeply into her eyes and said, "You broke my heart" then kissed her hard - Grahn's expression mirrored our own discomfort with what inevitable lay ahead. Without giving her - or us - a chance to recover, Stefan ripped the chain holding the Cassadine family crest from Alexis' neck. From the look on Grahn's face, he might just as well have cut off her head.