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At the Athletic Club, Audra asks Kyle how badly he threw her under the bus. Nate wants to know too. Kyle tells Audra that this is private Glissade business. Audra excuses herself to Nate and steps aside with Kyle. They accuse each other of attempted sabotage. She wants to know exactly what he said to Victor. Kyle insists they talked about the custody battle with Summer. Not everything is about Glissade or her. Audra hopes he’s not pulling a number on her. Kyle points out she’s the one who set up a private meeting with Victor and didn’t include him. They need to stop the mistrust. Summer appears and says she’s sorry to interrupt, but she wants to speak with Kyle privately. Audra informs her there are a few things the two of them need to clarify.
Summer informs Audra she isn’t there to talk to her and has nothing to say to her. Audra complains about her dragging her into their custody battle over some boy she’s had zero contact with. Summer asks Kyle, “What did you tell her?” Kyle asked Audra if she did something to incite her. Summer wishes she didn’t have to think about Audra. Audra tells her to stop trying to blame her for her custody issues. She’s not her problem, “Unless you want me to be.” Kyle intervenes and Summer asks again for a civil, private conversation. Audra wishes them luck and rejoins Nate, who says, “You’ve got to know this is not going to work out, right?”
Michael arrives in Victor’s office, and they banter about whether or not he’ll reinstate him. Michael has something to report, and Victor wants to know if it’s something damaging about Billy Abbott. Michael says Billy’s been keeping his nose clean. He’s looked under every rock and there’s nothing since his past transgressions and his personal life is pristine now that he’s with Chelsea. Victor’s irked that there’s nothing new. Michael says he did find out something, but it’s not directly related to Billy, and he doesn’t think Victor will like it.
On Crimson Lights’ patio. Billy tells Chelsea he overheard her in the park. She’s clearly keeping something from him. She says that he just overheard her feeling guilty about fighting with Adam. Billy can see this secret is eating her up inside and implores her to just tell him. Chelsea loves what they have, but she can’t deal with this right now. Billy’s disappointed he doesn’t trust him enough to open up to him. Chelsea says Connor’s upstairs and she has to go. Billy appreciates that, but whatever this is, it’s eating her up inside. They have to talk about it. She says not now. Billy asks, “When?” Chelsea makes rambling excuses involving Connor’s treatment. Billy’s hearing that she has no time for them. Chelsea says maybe she does need a break. Her focus needs to be on her son. Billy will give her some space, “But you’re not going to be able to avoid this forever.” Billy can see that the stress of keeping this secret is tearing her up inside. She has to know that’s not good. Chelsea gasps, “I’m sorry, Billy. I just can’t do this right now.” She kisses him and walks out.
At Adam’s place, Sally tells him no more deception. She knows something is going on and wants him to tell her what it is. Adam plays dumb and she asks him to stop gaslighting her. She knows he’s keeping something from her. “Adam, what is it that happened that made Chelsea feel so guilty about that one night?” Adam insists he was a complete jerk to Chelsea that night and unforgiveable things were said on both sides. He’s let it go and wishes Chelsea could do the same. He turns the conversation to their worries about Connor. Sally understands how difficult this thing has been. Adam knows he’s worried her and hasn’t been as attentive as he should have been. He’s trying to get a handle on this, “Can you please believe me?” Sally just can’t shake the feeling that he’s lying to her.
Adam asks why he’d lie to her. Sally says that what she heard in the park was a lot more than what he’s saying. Adam says Chelsea is struggling with the guilt she feels. They have to reprogram themselves and learn again how to parent Connor. It’s a lot and she’s worried they’ll make a mistake and cause a setback. It doesn’t help that Billy keeps hammering her with his suspicions. “Sally please promise me that you won’t let Billy’s paranoia get to you.”
In the jazz lounge, Summer rants that Audra is unbelievable. Kyle reminds her this was going to be a civil conversation. Summer says she feels bad about how far off the rails their last conversation went. Kyle is also sorry for how he reacted. Summer has been thinking about some of the things he said, and he has a point. They know how to push each other’s buttons. Kyle says he was sincerely trying to find common ground, but she began throwing out ultimatums. Summer guesses he’s still not ready to cut Audra out of his life.
In the dining room, Nate thinks Audra’s partnership with Kyle is ill-fated… but the two of them have potential. Audra smiles and says she’s not thrilled with the partnership with Kyle. She just needs time to figure out how to manipulate it to her advantage. Nate thinks Kyle doesn’t trust her as far as he can spit, and he guesses he’s gone behind her back to make that clear to the mystery investor again. Audra explains that the investor has made it a condition of the deal that she and Kyle work together peaceably. Nate wonders why the investor is hell-bent on keeping him around. Audra guesses it’s because he grew up in the cosmetics industry. She thinks he’s trying to get her to reveal the name of her investor, but it’s not going to work. Nate already knows it’s Victor Newman. Audra asks what makes him think so. Nate says Victor would like nothing better than to be behind the company that takes down Jabot. He knows how he operates, by going after the weak spot. Kyle is Jack’s weak spot. Kyle’s a pawn in whatever Victor has planned next.
In the jazz lounge, Kyle asks Summer why she’s so upset with Audra. Summer doesn’t trust her and can’t stand the idea of her being around Harrison. Kyle asks why she so vehemently mistrusts her. Summer doesn’t see how he can. He counters that this is about her. Summer reminds him she turned on him before. Kyle tells her she doesn’t have all the facts, it was complicated. Summer says it’s always complicated with her. She knows that someone that untrustworthy shouldn’t be around Harrison. It bothers her that he doesn’t see it. Why is he so adamant about being in business with someone who screwed him over. She narrows her eyes, “You don’t trust her either, do you?”
In the dining room, Audra wants to tell Nate something confidential. “Would you swear it wouldn’t go beyond this table?” Nate asks if she really thinks he’d betray her confidence. Audra tells him he’s right, her secret investor is Victor Newman. At first, she was thrilled, but now she doesn’t like where things seem to be headed. “None of it’s good.”
In Victor’s office, Michael explains he did some digging to find out why Jill relinquished control to Billy so suddenly. He found out she’s in London with her brother Snapper undergoing treatment for cardiac issues. Victor’s sorry to hear that. Michael thinks it explains why she handed her power to her son. Victor guesses she’s testing him, and wishes she’d handed it to Lily. Billy didn’t learn business acumen from his father.
Michael asks why Victor is so interested in Billy and Chancellor Industries… does he plan to wrest it away from him? Victor muses that he won’t need to… Billy will tank it on his own and then he’ll swoop in and save Katherine’s legacy. Michael smirks, “Like a dark knight on a white horse, or a white knight on a dark horse? It’s hard to know with you.” Victor continues by saying he’ll put Nikki in charge. Michael thinks that’s perfect considering how close she was to Katherine. Noting that he came up empty digging dirt on Billy, Michael asks, “Please tell me you’re not about to weaponize Jill’s medical condition against her own son.”
At Adam’s place, Sally knows something is going on with him and he’s not letting her in. He asked her to move in so they could be closer, but ever since she did, she’s felt further away from him than when they lived apart. Adam says it kills him to hear that. Her being there means everything to him. “I just wish you could believe me.” Sally cries, “I do too. But I don’t.” She doesn’t know what to do. Adam says he loves her and promises things will get better. Sally asks if she’s supposed to wait around for things to magically get better. “Is that what you expect me to do?” She grabs her purse and leaves. Adam grimaces as she shuts the door.
In the park, Billy sits down looking stressed out. Sally appears.
At Adam’s place, he thanks Chelsea for bringing Connor by and says he could have picked him up. Chelsea says the kid needed a change of scenery. They step into the kitchen and Adam asks what happened with Billy. Chelsea says she pushed him away again… this time hard; almost to the brink. She told him she needed space because it was the only way to make him stop. She can’t keep doing this. “It’s taking too much of my energy and attention away from Connor.” She can’t let that happen. She can’t keep worrying every day that this secret is going to come out. “I can’t do it anymore.” Adam feels the same way with Sally. He thinks it would help everybody if Billy would back the hell off.
In the jazz lounge, Kyle tells Summer that his mother fired him and his father did nothing to stop her. His experience in cosmetics made him just the kind of partner Audra was looking for, so why wouldn’t he jump on a great job offer. “We don’t have to like each other. We just have to work together.” Summer points out they can’t do that if they don’t trust each other. She asks why he’s sticking this out. He says the job is tailor-made for him. Summer thinks there’s more to this than what he’s saying.
In the dining room, Audra tells Nate that she thought she could manage the situation. He chuckles, “Manage Victor Newman?” Audra saw it as a perfect opportunity to work with Victor. She would get to run her own corporation and take it from Tucker. Now she sees that it’s just personal for Victor. Her entire job could be contingent on a family feud she has no desire to get caught in the middle of.
In Victor’s office, he instructs Michael to get all of the information he can on Jill’s condition. His wife should know what’s going on with her sister. Michael’s reluctant to use the family connection, but sighs that he’ll see what he can do. He asks, “So, we’re all good.” Victor says if he brings him useful information, they’ll talk about it.
In the park, Billy learns from Sally that Adam held the party line. He says it’s getting difficult for Chelsea to hold this in. She won’t be able to do it much longer. Sally says she knew even after Adam’s denials that there was something he wasn’t telling her. She’s tired of it. She’s sick of trying to figure out what they meant by “that one night.” Sally asks, “You think they’re keeping something from us, don’t you?”
At Adam’s place, he tells Chelsea to stop torturing herself over this. Chelsea can’t help it. The more she evades Billy, the more suspicious he becomes. She asks what happened with Sally. Adam says she knows him well enough to know he’s lying. He complains that Billy has her all worked up with her probing. They have to find a way to put this behind them once and for all. Chelsea says there’s only one way out for them now. Adam says, “
No, no!” Chelsea says they tried to pretend it never happened, but they failed. Adam says it will ruin everything and they can’t give in. Chelsea cares about Billy and can’t lose him. “There’s only one option. We have to tell the truth.”
