Tanya Sullivan (Anne Heche; 1969-2022) is the villainess of the 2006 Lifetime film Fatal Desire. She was the wife of Mark Sullivan, with whom she had a daughter named Molly. The film began, however, with Tanya engaging in an online relationship with casino pit boss Joe Donnely. Eventually, the two met in person when Tanya visited Atlantic City, with Joe being unfazed by Tanya's reveal that she was married and had a child. For months, Tanya and Joe continue their relationship through Tanya sending Joe seductive pictures and videos.
But one day, when meeting with Joe again, Tanya revealed a shocking revelation: she was pregnant and believed the baby to be Joe's. When Joe tried to convince her to leave her husband, Tanya claimed that her husband was abusive and that she was afraid of what he might do to her or Joe. Soon after, Joe began receiving emails from someone claiming to be Mark, insulting Joe and revealing that he knew about his wife's affair and was planning to make her lose her baby. Soon after, Tanya sent Joe photos of herself bruised and claimed that Mark and his friends had beaten and raped her, resulting in her miscarrying.
Vengeful and wanting to protect Tanya, Joe went to the auto repair shop (with Tanya giving him directions to avoid police) where Mark worked and shot him dead. It was soon after that Tanya's villainous persona was revealed, as she began deleting Joe's multiple emails to her and refurnished her house using her husband's life insurance policy. Eventually, Joe traveled to Pittsburgh to see Tanya and began to uncover Tanya's lies, learning from a hospital that the sonogram Tanya gave him was that of her daughter, revealing she had never been pregnant. Joe confronted Tanya about lying to him about everything (including her husband abusing her), and the manipulative vixen callously rejected Joe. Heartbroken, Joe committed suicide, leaving behind all the evidence to Tanya's greedy scheme for his friend Paula to find and give to the police. When interrogated, Tanya initially denied having a relationship with Joe offline before being confronted with all the evidence. Cornered, the evil Tanya coldly disregarded what she had done and went on to reveal that she had done similar acts to numerous men in the past. Tanya was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Trivia[]
- Anne Heche went on to appear in Quantico as the evil Dr. Susan Langdon.