Original subtitles

I'm Cookie Lyon, baby. I'm unforgettable.

Catch all-new episodes Wednesdays.

And check out our other Fox programs...

Star, The Gifted, and Lethal Weapon.

That was the best idea you've had all day.

Only on Fox.

- Previously on Empire... - You had a mild heart attack.

You might not be so lucky the next time.

The car bomb. It was me.

- I'm sorry. - I hope it's enough.

I'm done apologizing. I'm done

doing stupid interviews that I don't want to do.

Got room for only one man in your life.

He's sitting right in front of you.

- "Desperate" is what you've made us. - Everyone will be paid

once I push this deal through at Empire,

and we'll all be back where we belong.

When do we tell the Lyons that I'm buying Empire?

- Leave the Lyons to me. - You let Eddie into Empire,

and he's about to steal it from under you.

I stepped in when you needed me.

I saved your ass!

Get the hell out of my house.

Come on, Ma.

Want to make sure you get in, Ma.

Boy, I had a heart attack.

Okay? I still got both my legs.

No offense, Lucious.

None taken.

Um, we're ready.

All right, Ma,

we got Chef Rahim here,

who has made you the healthiest

vegan Cajun soul food.

Yeah, well, one of them words don't belong in a sentence

with the other words, but whatever.

Honey, I have something for you.

What is this now?

It's a fitness bracelet.

What it does is it monitors

your heart rate, your blood pressure.

If you get too excited, an alarm will go off

and, via an app, it will alert both our phones.

Okay? . So, basically,

it's a fancy ankle monitor.

I'm on house arrest. Lord.

You're on love arrest until you get better.

Delivery.

From Mr. Eddie Barker.

Eddie wants us to know that he's

sincerely apologetic for his outburst.

- Yeah, he got to be embarrassed. - Was it that bad?

I thought he was gonna stroke out on the floor over there.

Think about it... before we roped him into all our mess,

he was retired,

on the golf course, counting his money.

Now, who knows, maybe he just got overzealous.

- Well... - How you like your breakfast, Ma?

I don't know how he did it. This is good.

- Yeah. - See, told you some good might come out of all this.

When's the last time we all sat down

and ate some breakfast together?

We? All of us ain't here.

- Where's Andre? - Told him not to come.

Right. So I don't get to see my son

'cause you don't want him here.

He tried to kill me, Cookie.

Hey, you know what, Lucious? I hate to break it to you,

but everybody at this table, at one point, wanted you dead.

Look, I... I know you're doing all of this

'cause you love me,

but if you really want to heal my heart, Lucious,

please talk to Andre.

Please give him a chance.

Okay?

Let's go.

Hey.

Let's go. Hey.

Y'all keep rushing the song.

Why do you keep rushing?

Sorry, T.

Thought we were on point.

Well, obviously, you weren't.

Look, T, if you just stop

skipping a beat, they'd be on point.

No, no. Controlling them is your job, right?

If not, then why are you here?

You know what? Let's just take five.

Come on, ladies.

What's up?

Look, I know you're going through a lot,

but every time you come in, I can't keep getting sidetracked

when you need a shoulder to cry on. I'm sorry.

Ain't no tears here, mama.

And get it right.

I'm here to rehearse.

So go ahead and move along.

Actually, you-you're not on the schedule today, Hakeem.

- I don't reserve spaces we own. - Of course you don't.

Yet, and still, we have reserved this space,

so I'm gonna need you guys to go, because we are having

a super intense rehear... Hey!

Excuse me! Off the snacks. Come on.

- Come on, let me walk y'all out. - This ain't gonna work.

Come on, let's go.

Have a good night. All of the cupcakes?

- Thank you. - Selfish.

- Where you finna go? - Ask her.

What?

She's useless, so I fired her.

Families and survivors

of the tragic mass shooting.

The president has been petitioned to meet with...

Porsha, Miss Cookie.

Ooh! Thank you.

I thought I was gonna have to watch the news all day.

Child, this news is depressing.

What you got for me?

Got some 20 For 20 info for me?

- What about Becky's A&R budget? - I'm not supposed to

bring you anything dealing with business.

That's Lucious' orders.

You know what stresses me out? Not being at Empire.

I brought you some messages.

Bey and J sent get well wishes, and some chick named Asia

been blowing up the phone since you got sick.

It don't say Asia, stupid. It says Chyna.

Chyna. That's what I said.

She been calling every day. Who the hell is she?

We were in prison together.

She wants to see you.

Damn. I haven't talked to Chyna since we got out.

Well, I'll tell her you ain't up for it.

No. Call her back.

Tell her I'm sending a car.

You sure?

Okay.

- Everything's starting to look so dated now. - Pop?

Pop. I need you to take a look at this.

It's your problem, man, now.

You're the one who taught me to follow my instincts.

Now, ever since Eddie lost it,

my instincts have been screaming at me.

He flipped out specifically because his deal fell apart,

like he personally stood to lose, Pop.

Six entities bought Empire stock just before,

when Eddie thought we were going to announce his plan

to sell Empire to Kelly Patel.

Each company bought just enough shares so that they would remain

under the SEC threshold.

We are a globally traded company.

Everybody buys and sells Empire stock.

That's true, Pop, true.

But if the companies were somehow connected,

someone would've made hundreds of millions

on the stock valuation alone.

And your instinct says that Eddie is behind this?

I know I'm right.

Prove it.

She Dragon Holdings, Incorporated.

They bought enough stock to walk away with $15 million

if Eddie's deal went through.

You know the company?

That's a name that Eddie used to call his,

um, second ex-wife, Celeste.

She Dragon. Okay, what about...

Blue-Z Ventures?

You're kidding me.

That was a corny quote

from one of Eddie's favorite films.

He used to say, "It's a bluesy adventure."

That's two buyers with a link to Eddie, Pop.

That's no coincidence.

I don't know, man.

Eddie has enough money.

I mean, why does he want to screw me over?

Let's ask Celeste.

The She Dragon.

I am so proud of you.

I mean, all of us back there are.

I'm in here with you and them.

Ooh.

I got this. Thank you.

You know, Chyna,

I know you think I forgot about you guys,

but it's really not like that.

I wouldn't have survived if it weren't for you and the crew.

Yeah, well, sometimes it's just easier to

not deal with life on the inside.

Yeah.

We spent all those nights

dreaming about getting out.

God...

Never really realizing how hard it'll be.

And no one on the outside, like, gets you. You know?

I mean, I was so used to being on guard 24/7.

You dis me, hey, we gonna fight.

Yeah, you better calm it down,

'cause one false move, they throw your ass right back in.

You remember how we used to bet on how long chicks

would be making it on the outside?

Man, I used to hate seeing them sad faces walk back in.

Well, I think the mama was a psycho.

Anybody that do this to they own child...

Yeah, well, at least she ain't kill her.

- She tried to. - No, the mama was sick.

She had her own pain.

True, but still...

pain makes people do crazy things.

Look who's back.

Five years gone, and I still knew

this bitch would end up right back in here.

Can I talk to you, Cookie?

After you had me thrown in hell

for your "get out of jail free" card?

You got the wrong bitch.

Ain't nobody getting no write-ups today.

Move on, Poundcake. Come on.

Yeah, move on, Poundcake.

Ain't nobody getting written up today.

I ain't messing with you, Poundcake. You a snitch.

Sit down.

We reading the Bible next time,

'cause y'all acting crazy.

- What page are we on? - 89.

- 89. Like I said, the mama is crazy. - Right.

Poundcake still on the inside?

Yeah, she's still locked up.

But I heard she was in hospice.

Hospice? What's wrong with her?

Cancer.

It's bad.

But maybe she finally getting what she deserved.

Becky, come on.

Literally, first of all, the fans will love it.

It's unexpected, it's unapologetic.

It's that new stuff. You know what I'm saying?

That's what we need.

You are a true artist,

and we are 100% behind you.

- Thanks, y'all. - However,

we've been doing some testing, and your fans feel differently.

Testing?

That's what we doing around here now?

Well, yeah, we've been testing

some of our 20 For 20 releases,

and that is just a bit of feedback from them.

"Angry Jamal's killing my vibe."

"Who does Jamal Lyon think he is, Migos?"

This is stupid. These-these are obviously just trolls.

- Y'all know that. - All right, but, Jamal,

this bad boy narrative is on you.

It's the Warren situation, Angelo, Robin Roberts.

This sort of behavior,

along with this new sound, is just...

it's not what your fans expect or want from you.

What they expect. Okay, well-well,

whatever's happening outside of the studio, though,

is not the narrative that I'm selling. The music is.

- I know. - I guarantee you if y'all

pull together, do your job,

do it right, you'll sell the record.

I got to do my job.

Okay, look, I'm feeling the verses, but the hook

needs a little work, so we're gonna loop the track, let you

- work it out for a minute. All right. - Okay.

You can take five.

You were right, man.

I'm always right.

What about now?

I've been letting all that Tiana stuff

plus the whole thing with my mom get to me.

I got to focus on my music.

So hook me up with some bomb-ass beats, Shine.

Smart man. I got you.

But I need one thing from you.

Young gun in there...

He could use a little peer mentorship,

help learn the ropes of the game.

There's not a white boy in the world that needs help from me.

My mom and dad taught me that much.

Blake's from Chicago. He's the real deal.

Being from the Chi and looking like him

ain't the same as being from the Chi and looking like me.

Lucious and Cookie taught me that, too.

He wasn't raised by a Lucious. Or even a Cookie.

The streets raised him.

See them tats?

It's to cover up three bullet holes.

He says music is gonna save his life.

For the record, I don't deal with no culture vultures.

The boy can spit.

You know, he's a fan of yours, by the way.

I got a lot of fans.

Let somebody else save his life. You know what, man,

forget helping me out with those tracks.

I'll do it on my own.

Excuse me.

I'm Cookie Lyon, and I am here to see

my good friend, Sara Lee Williams.

Well, I call her...

Poundcake. Yes, she knows you're here.

We'll just be a few more minutes.

Okay.

- Gin. - Again?

- Again. - I don't know how, but you's over there cheating.

No cheating. Just age and wisdom, baby.

Age and wisdom.

Um, Ruth, can I talk to Cookie, please?

- Why you asking her? - I'm asking her to step away...

Okay, listen.

I need to talk to you in private.

Thank you.

Listen, um...

you have every right to be mad at me.

Mad don't even begin to measure it.

I had to find my baby, Cookie.

Because every minute that she's out there

and I'm in here, it feels like

she's getting further and further away.

Now, I-I'm... I'm...

I'm sorry that you got hurt.

Really, truly sorry.

But if I'm honest with you, Cookie,

I'd kill everybody in here

if it helped me get my baby girl back.

You caused a lot of pain, Poundcake,

to a lot of people.

But I understand that beat about

doing what you got to do for your family.

Five minutes, ladies.

I spent five years out there

looking for my little girl,

and the one thing I know for sure

is that that bastard

made my baby disappear.

Hey.

What the hell you doing here?

Remember, you promised me you'd never look back.

You look good, Cake.

My Lord. Well...

if you startin' to lie to me, then I know it's bad.

Stop staring at me with those sad eyes.

Tell me some good news.

Tell me about that glamorous life of yours.

Please... it ain't all that.

No? So Ebony,

Essence and Jet...

They just lyin' on your life?

How are your boys doing?

They are great.

I mean, I'm-I'm just thankful to God

that they are all alive and they're with me.

You know, but my oldest, Andre,

I-I can't...

I can't even get into that, but...

Listen, whatever's going on,

you remember that you are blessed,

because you have them with you.

I think about my little girl every day.

I'm sorry, Poundcake.

You still haven't found her?

No.

She's probably in college right now.

I like to tell myself

that she wants to be a doctor

or a lawyer.

Or maybe, she might even want to do computers.

Yeah. I could,

I could see that.

What else is she up to?

She dating this boy right now.

And he... he cute.

Not too cute, you know.

He's smart,

and he's real good to her.

You know what? Hell, maybe she's dating a chick.

You know, I-I would be okay with that.

'Cause I know that she got my spirit.

Yes, I know that.

Yeah, she won't put up with no mess.

We've been through hell, haven't we? Yes.

We have, Poundcake.

This is not right,

you laid up here like this.

And your baby girl is out there;

She don't know that you didn't want to give her up.

She don't know how much you love her.

Poundcake.

I'm-a find your baby girl.

I'm gonna find her, and I'm-a bring her here.

Okay?

So you can see her.

Okay?

O-Okay.

Yo. Sorry to interrupt.

But you're doing it anyway.

What's up?

I heard,

Shine kind of took a heavy hand on the whole mentor thing,

and I just wanted to let you know, it wasn't my idea.

I mean... don't get me wrong.

I respect you, and I know it'd be a dope opportunity.

Don't worry about it.

Yo, is-is this you?

Yeah.

It's nice.

Kind of reminds me of,

"Bread Winner,"

off one of your early mixtapes, Birth of the Young Lyon? Right?

That's what I'm going for.

Word.

Yo, I must've played

that song like, over and over and over and over and over again

when I first heard it, man.

I think it actually, blew out my speakers.

The bass, you know?

Hey, what's your name?

Blake.

Blake. Memorizing the song

is one thing.

Spitting your own bars

is another.

Right.

I got to get back to work.

Yeah, yeah.

Cool, man.

Let's mess with this beat and see what happens.

That's what's up. Let's do it.

Okay, thank you very much.

Celeste is at her tennis club.

Why are you doing this?

You can't possibly think that this is gonna

get you back in with me.

Pop, you and I may have our differences, okay?

But an attack on Empire is an attack on our entire family.

So now you about family?

Really?

Got you.

Okay, okay, so that rat bastard Burleson lives in Wood Haven?

Text me the address. Thirst...

Thirsty, let me call you back.

Hello, Lucious.

- What's up? - Your blood pressure,

that's what's up. What are you doing?

You running laps?

No, look, I got upset.

All right? That bitch Trump is tweeting again.

How did you know...

It's called technology, baby.

This watch?

Look, I need you to sit down,

put your feet up.

Matter of fact, where's Porsha?

Porsha? Well, you know, I sent her out

to get me some more tofu. Look,

I'm gonna put my legs up right now as we speak.

I'm sitting down, okay? I'll text you later.

All right, bye-bye.

I can't have this watch snitching on me.

Yes, Lucious?

- Put it back on. - How did you even...

Well, either you took it off

or you just died.

Now, I need you to put it back on.

Busted.

Shut your ass up

and get Thirsty back on the line for me.

Treat me like I'm a criminal.

Okay, so here are the sketches for the album.

I love this for "Unforgettable."

I'm thinking, like, the whole Asian motif that we did before.

Classy.

You're the last person I need up in my face right now.

Yeah, which one? You seem to be wearing a lot of them lately.

Bye, bitch.

It really is so sad, the way you just let Eddie

turn you into his little Barbie Doll.

Well, I don't see you giving back the hits he gave you.

You know what? I'm just trying to help you, okay?

The old Tiana was so confident. And look at you now.

Are you even happy with what he's having you do?

'Cause if so, then why is everyone around you

so miserable?

You know what? You can stay mad, Tory.

I'm gonna be bigger than you ever were.

And guess what.

I don't have to be high to do it.

I love that one.

You know this is boring. Like...

are these songs supposed to be awful?

It wasn't that bad.

With you on it, it's a safe bet.

Let's end for today.

Hey, Jamal, I didn't mean anything by that comment.

I know you didn't, man.

And we'll just, we'll hit it hard tomorrow.

Okay.

What was that all about?

Becky and her team.

Apparently, the two and a half fans

I actually still have left

don't like the new music, so I'm in here

looking for inspiration, but it's just the same old thing.

It's like, just let me have this one song.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, I think this is it.

I need a live audience to really hear it.

Well, maybe you just need the right live audience.

- Okay, okay. - When you come up...

So we just need to know if Eddie advised her to buy Empire stock.

Well, just let me do the talking,

'cause, um, Celeste loves me.

Ooh.

That's an amazing form you got there, as always.

Lucious Lyon. Wow.

Please tell me why I pay exorbitant dues to this club

when they let thugs stroll right in here?

Come on, Celeste. I mean, how've you been?

You mean, how did I make out

after you introduced my husband

to that slut Giselle while he and I were still married?

You know that I had no idea

that Eddie and Giselle

was gonna become a thing.

Right. What do you want, Lucious?

I need to know a couple things about, um,

She Dragon.

I don't have any idea what you're talking about.

Sweetheart, don't-don't...

don't insult me, all right?

If you think you can come in here and strong-arm me

into running my mouth like I'm one of your rappers,

you are sadly mistaken...

sweetheart.

- Okay. - All right?

- Yeah. - Let's try another one.

- Right, right. - I'm telling you,

this is a waste of time.

Well, I'll do the talking this time.

Hello. Hi. Hi.

Um, I think we might've gotten off on the wrong foot.

I apologize for that. I'm Andre Lyon.

I thought I recognized you.

You're the smart Lyon cub.

- Went to Wharton, right? - That's right, that's right.

I remember you, too.

And might I say, you look even more beautiful now.

That sounds like one of your daddy's tired lines.

- You can go. - We could.

But we're here in the interest of transparency,

if indeed She Dragon is your company.

Armando, can you give us a moment, please?

Sure.

Thank you, Armando.

Transparency about what, exactly?

We know that Eddie promised you'd make a lot of money

from Empire's sale to Kelly Patel.

Unfortunately, that deal is not happening.

- Why not? - Because we shut it down.

Eddie said you were on board.

That we'd all be richer than God.

Don't worry, um, we're positive

that Eddie will take good care of you.

He did give you the same deal points as Giselle, correct?

What the hell does she have to do with this?

- Um... - Yeah,

that-that looks about right, yeah, Pop?

Um... yeah, I mean, Giselle,

she's got the job at Empire.

Right. So her-her salary's a bonus

on top of her points, right?

That bitch is getting a salary?

- She's getting, like, $300. - Four, Pop.

- Four? - Four, $400,000.

Plus her cut of the clothing line.

Hell no.

That no-good son of a...

Broke-ass loses all his money...

- Whoa, lost his money? - Everything.

His, mine, the ex-wives.

Everything we had was invested

in Steve Lawrence's Ponzi scheme.

Eddie told me to sell all my property,

and buy up Empire stock.

And this is how he plays me? Come on.

The way you talk about this Burleson,

you would think he live in a castle

in Transylvania or something.

Just because you have a nice house

don't make you no less of a monster.

I thought you didn't even like this Poundcake.

Why you even going out the way for her?

We went through a lot on the inside, okay?

I owe her.

You have no idea.

Lucious gonna kill me

for bringing you out here.

- Give me your hand. - What're you doing?

What're you doing? Cookie!

What am I supposed to do when he call me?

Keep calm, and he won't call.

Remember,

nice, slow, steady breaths, okay?

Think happy thoughts.

Pretend like you in the Bahamas.

I don't know, child.

The Bahamas?

My. You're...

Yeah. Does Mr. Burleson live here?

Who is it, Joyce?

Yeah?

Throw her in the hole.

Holloway? Is that you?

- My God, it is. - Yeah.

I can't believe it.

After all these years.

See, now, I told you I wasn't lying.

Well, come on. Don't just stand there.

- Come on in. - Come on in.

So, what brings you here?

You writing a book? Y-You want an interview

with me or something or...?

It's a nice, life you have, Burleson.

Bo, please. Friends call me Bo.

What do your kids call you?

We don't have any kids.

That's our one regret.

I just never could get pregnant.

Joyce, honey, come on, that's not talk for company.

Bo would have made such a great father.

I could tell by, you know,

how much of a difference he made to all of you.

Yeah. Yeah, he really changed our lives.

I always loved hearing all about his "girls"

looking up to him for guidance.

I mean, look at you now.

Joyce, I hate to say it,

but I wasn't Bo's favorite.

- No? - No.

- Poundcake was. - Poundcake?

You didn't tell her about Poundcake?

She doesn't want to hear about those old stories.

I do want to hear the stories.

Which one's Poundcake, Bo?

Joyce, honey.

Cookie and I got to talk about that book she's gonna write.

Where are my manners?

Let me go get you two some snacks.

Get your hands off me.

What the hell you think you're trying to pull, Holloway?

Must've seemed like a real smart idea

up there in that cute little head of yours?

- You know, it's against the law. - What?

Ex-convict coming to C.O.'s house.

Now, you get the hell out of here.

The next time you step your foot on my property, I'll shoot you.

You know what? The days of you scaring me

are long gone, Bo.

I got enough dirt to put your wrinkly ass away

for the rest of your miserable life.

Hell, I've had the governor in my house for dinner.

You want to try me?

You want to see how fast I could drop a dime on your ass?

What do you want, Holloway?

I want to know what you did with Poundcake's baby.

And if you don't tell me,

I'll just tell your wife how that baby came to be.

What the hell do you think happened?

Prison babies go in the system.

You're lying.

That baby never made it into the system.

So what did you do, Bo?

Did you kill that baby?

I didn't kill no baby.

Shh. I wouldn't do that.

What kind of monster you think I am?

Okay, look...

that baby was half-white, you know.

- Really? - The dark kids

go in the system. The lighter kids got adopted.

They took the white kids and the lighter-skinned kids,

and they put them into a special adoption agency.

- Hope House, it's called. - Hope House?

Yeah, you better hope you're not lying.

Because if you are, I will blow your life up.

I got lemonade and fresh cinnamon pound cake.

That's so sweet of you, Joyce, but I can't stay.

You know it's good to know that Bo still like eating pound cake.

- Have a good one. - What...?

Okay, Cookie, can we please go?

So Hope House is legit, Thirsty?

All right, well, then I need you to find out what you can

about a mixed-race baby born on the dates I gave you.

Okay.

Finally, can we go now?

- No. - No...

I'm not done. Leave the engine running.

Let me get Bo.

No, no, no, no.

Joyce, it's you I want to talk to. I don't know.

I, I don't want to get in the middle of anything here.

Your husband is a rapist.

He beat us. He tortured us.

He raped lots of girls in prison.

He raped this one girl, Poundcake. They had a baby.

He took it from her

and sold it to some baby brokers.

- No. - You should get out of this.

You need to leave him. Your husband...

What the hell are you doing?

Believe me.

This is crazy.

I mean, Eddie had ten shell companies set up.

I mean, he had some plan

in which he was gonna put himself way back on top.

Yeah, a plan that exposed Empire to an insider trading scandal,

could've gotten us all thrown in prison.

You need to give Eddie his walking papers, Pop.

Hey, Dre, you remember when you were, like, um...

nine or ten

and the police raided our house and you hid my gun

inside of your box of Legos?

Yeah, I remember.

It seemed like you always had my back back then.

What happened to that boy?

What happened to my son?

March 22, 2005,

11:37 a.m.

That's the moment I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

From that day on, that's all you saw

when you looked at me.

Damaged son.

But you are damaged.

And what about you?

Your sickness is so deep.

You're a sociopath.

You have no remorse for anything you do,

ever.

You sound pretty damaged to me, too, Pop.

We got it.

Bring it in.

Yup.

Hey, I told you, hard work pays off, gentlemen.

- Good stuff, boy. - Yeah. So...

being that this is the end of a hard day's work,

off to the strip club we go!

Unless you still locked down, right?

Stop that, bruh.

Come on, let's move.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Where you think you going, grasshopper?

You got dues to pay. Look around.

I got to clean this up?

Hey, don't ask me. That's your sensei now.

Nah. Start with the ashes in the carpet.

My dad hates that.

Enjoy.

So I'm not going to the strip club?

Hey, man, you gonna love this club, just opened up.

The girls is out of control. Wait till you see Cinnamon.

- I'm gonna catch up with you. - Yo, where you going?

Hey, hold up. Wait...

Whipped.

For real, man.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

What, are you back to take back what you own?

You should probably get some rest.

No, I shouldn't.

Everything has to be right.

The-the costumes, the lighting, the moves.

And right now, it's all wrong.

People out here doing the best they can for you.

You cursing folks out.

Firing folks on the spot.

That's not the girl I know.

I'm not that girl anymore, Hakeem.

Eddie saw something in me,

and he promised that if I just stay focused,

that he'd get me here.

Okay, no distractions.

That's why you turned down my proposal?

Everything is not about you.

Eddie knows what I have to do to get what I want.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get back to my rehearsal.

Okay.

Hey, how you doing?

- It's good to see you. - Jamal Lyon, DJ Selection.

What's up, man. Thank you for having us.

- Welcome to my den of misfits. - Can you play this track, love?

- Who's the artist? - It's a new artist.

Who'd like to remain anonymous for the time being.

All right, y'all.

We got an exclusive here tonight.

No introductions needed.

You already know what to do. So let's go.

You think Empire's ready for this?

It don't really matter, 'cause I am.

What'd y'all think? How'd y'all like it?

- Baby? - Yeah?

What, you over here working?

You sure your cardiologist would approve?

No, I'm just putting some money

on the books for some girls

still behind the wall, that's all.

Somebody shaking you down?

No. Not at all.

So, um...

How did today go?

It was good. It was good.

Okay.

You gonna let me just walk away with that?

Are you okay, baby?

I saw two women today.

One was dying,

and one was just living a lie.

And after all of this stuff that happened with my heart

and seeing those women, I just...

I don't want to take my life for granted anymore.

And Lucious, I hear you saying

you want me back and you want things

back the way they were, but I'm not interested in going back.

I-I want to move forward.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. What are you saying?

- I mean, are you... - What?

You're saying you don't want to be with me anymore?

Is that what...

That's not what I said, Lucious.

For a minute, I thought you were

winding up to sing me some swan song.

I'm... Look.

I'm being serious. Okay?

I love you.

I do, but I don't

want things to go back to the way they were

because I can't deal with the lies and the cheating and...

and the competition.

I just...

I just need things to be better.

You are my better.

I don't want half of what's yours.

I need to share what's ours.

I want to be your partner in business

and in life.

I need your respect, Lucious.

Cookie.

I respect you

and appreciate you more than anything in life.

Okay?

Yeah.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH.

Now that Empire has you all fired up,

here are a few more shows to check out from Fox.

You know what time it is? It's time for the...

Epic return of last year's sensation, Beat Shazam.

Ding-ding.

Identify hit songs, win a million bucks.

With Jamie Foxx, big stars...

Demi Lovato!

And a brand-new DJ.

She's talented. She's incredible. She's my daughter Corinne.

Finally, someone who can keep Jamie in check.

Dad, Dad.

Beat Shazam returns.

Play along live with the app.

This May on Fox.

Beat Shazam!