2022 kicked off with Devon seeking partial custody of his biological son, Dominic, as Chance struggled with man pain. This threw Abby and Chance fans into more of a lather than it did the characters themselves and the whole thing was resolved with a disappointing lack of drama. All remained quiet on the Abby/Devon/Chance… at least until year’s end.
Adam and Sally became an official couple after a jealous Chelsea fired her from her fashion line and he offered the redhead a job at Newman Media. It was full-steam ahead for this twosome until Adam, as he is wont to do, made a fateful error in judgment. But we’ll get to that later.
Christian Le Blanc’s Michael got a special episode as he contemplated retirement and looked back on his life. Though he had the best intentions of prioritizing time with Lauren, Michael ended up back on Victor’s payroll after hanging up his D.A. hat.
Mariah and Tessa each popped the question to the other with heartfelt proposals. Despite Noah carrying a torch for his sister’s wife-to-be, he was in attendance when the family celebrated the happy news and offered to help them plan their wedding.
Billy tried out a new vocation of sorts when he took to airing his thoughts in podcasts for Chance Com. One was supposed to be anonymous but it turned out to be the worst-kept secret in town.
Ashland got a new look in 2022 as Robert Newman took over the role from Richard Burgi. Things started going downhill in his relationship with Victoria, however, once it came out that he had lied about having cancer.
Chelsea tried to poison Rey as part of a scheme and could have killed him, but thanks to Rey’s forgiving nature (and honestly, his loathing for Adam) he found compassion for her. What’s more, Chelsea began to fall for the very-married detective and fantasized about kissing him!
Jack began receiving mysterious texts, which led him to a house in Los Angeles after learning his son Keemo had died. There he discovered not only the granddaughter he never knew he had, Allie, but the person responsible for bringing them together — none other than his son Kyle’s mother, the believed-to-be-dead Diane Jenkins.
Devon took some convincing, but ultimately agreed to merge his company with Lily’s (or should we say Jill’s?) Chancellor Industries. They became Chancellor-Winters. Amanda and her sister Imani headed up the legal department, Billy acted as Lily’s COO, and Devon made it a true family affair by hiring Nate as his right-hand man.
Sharon was devastated when Nick broke the news that Rey had died following a car wreck involving both Victoria and Ashland. It was later revealed that Rey had suffered a heart attack behind the wheel as he drove back to Crimson Lights from home, where he had gone to retrieve a ticket. That night he was taking Chelsea and Connor to an NFL game in Chicago. Chelsea was hit hard by his death as well and it proved to be the beginning of a downward spiral for her.
Kyle learned his mother was alive, and after an emotional confrontation about her allowing him to be torn apart as a child believing she’d been murdered, he came around to accepting her back into his life and even let her get to know his son Harrison. All of this happened right around the time Kyle and Summer decided to move back to Genoa City with Harrison and bring Marchetti under the Jabot umbrella.
After enjoying a period in which he stood with his family against the threat of Ashland Locke, Adam fell out with them again when Victoria returned and was once again handed the reins at Newman Enterprises.
The tale of the Locke Ness Monster came to a tragic end when Ashland confronted Victoria in her home. Locke ran into Nick’s fist and banged his head on the fireplace hearth, which caused his death… but the body disappeared. Victor had his men remove the body and put it in his rental car at the bottom of a ravine to protect his children. Chance covered for the Newman, which put a strain on his marriage to Abby.
Mariah and Tessa were married in a 70s-themed celebration that included all of their family and friends, including Tessa’s sister Crystal, who had been cleared thanks to the late Rey. The newlyweds looked forward to starting a family through adoption.
Diane’s return pivoted Phyllis into an intense storyline in which she was determined to rid Genoa City of her rival. She and Jack broke up, and she sold her hotel to go to work at Summer and Kyle’s Marchetti in hopes of sabotaging Diane in the workplace. Family and friends had to work to keep the women apart, and Phyllis joined an alliance with co-haters, Ashley and Nikki to strategize ways to run Diane out of town.
Sad sack Noah, who was heartbroken by a lover in London, and pined for Tessa, finally found happiness when he hooked up with Jack’s granddaughter Allie. An Abbott and a Newman. What could go wrong?!
Sally was heartbroken when Adam cruelly dumped her. He still loved her, but wanted Victoria to keep Sally on to run Newman Media after he left. Knowing his sister wouldn’t want the redhead working for her if she was still connected to him, and wanting to see Sally get the chance she deserved, he broke up with her. Sally suspected his reasons but he refused to admit it. She warned he’d soon realize his grave mistake, and sure enough, it wasn’t long before he did as she took up with his brother Nick, who championed her as Newman Media’s new CEO.
From the moment Nate over-stepped his authority and announced fifty new podcasts at the Chancellor-Winters launch, it was downhill for his and Devon’s working relationship. Nate resisted Devon’s authority as CEO, and their personal past began to come into their conflict. It proved to b a recipe for disaster when Jill urged Lily and Devon to take the company public and Nate began scheming with Victoria Newman to help her get a controlling interest in the firm.
Tessa was frightened when she had to undergo surgery on her vocal cords and faced the prospect of never being able to sing and tour again. With a nudge from Mariah, she landed a job modeling for Marchetti.
Newcomer Audra Charles turned up in Genoa City to assist Lily and Devon with taking their company public, but fans knew there had to be more to her story than that. They were right — Noah was stunned when his ex from London turned up in his new nightclub! A
After a falling out with Chloe putting the kibosh on them working together, Chelsea took up with Billy — in the podcast booth, that is. Exhibiting increasingly erratic behavior, Chelsea kissed Billy and later started pushing him to convince Victoria to let her tell Johnny the truth — she is his biological mother. Chelsea managed to talk them into it, but it turned out to be a case of “be careful what you wish for,” as the boy didn’t take the news well. Neither did Connor.
Moses and Faith both went off to college, dashing the dreams of Young & Restless viewers hoping for a meaty story for the younger set.
Kyle and Summer, who married offscreen in Milan, decided to have a do-over. As in, saying “I do” again — this time on the Abbott estate and surrounded by their friends and family!
No sooner had Kyle and Summer said their vows when a new drama dropped out of the sky. Devon’s shifty father and Ashley’s ex, flew in by helicopter. No one was impressed, least of all Diane, who, it was later revealed, had a connection to him during her time in Los Angeles. He not only had her feeding him information on Ashley’s whereabouts but expected her to deliver Jabot’s financial documents to him. But Diane came clean with Jack and Kyle and threw a monkey wrench into those particular plans. Tucker claimed he was only back to try and reconcile with Ashley, spend time with Devon and meet his grandson Dominic, but it soon became clear he had a connection to Audra, and had his eye on Chancellor-Winters as well.
When Johnny rejected Chelsea and Connor fumed over her having another son, it was the last straw in a depression that had been creeping in on Chels since Rey died. She ended up on the roof of the Grand Phoenix wanting to put a permanent end to the pain. Billy stopped her from jumping and, along with Sharon, got her help. Now, his ongoing support of Chelsea is causing friction with Lily.
Speaking of Lily, she started spending a lot of time with her ex-husband Daniel when he returned to Genoa City… and that was before they decided to start working together at Chancellor-Winters! Daniel got the green light from Lily and Devon to develop a new video gaming platform… and hired Phyllis to head up his team.
Despite dating Nick, Sally landed back in bed with Adam after he drunkenly proposed. Apparently, it was all the proof she needed that whatever they had shared was in the past, because she told him goodbye and let Nick know that she wanted to get to know him better.
No one was more surprised than Abby and Devon when their friendly comfort session turned into a red-hot sex romp. Well, perhaps Amanda and Chance, who walked in on them in a post-coital cuddle. Needless to say, that was the end of his relationship with Amanda, who moved to Virginia to be with her sick mother, and Abby’s marriage to Chance, who asked for a divorce.
Unsurprisingly, Diane had more secrets about her time in L.A. It turns out she was smuggling cash for a criminal named Jeremy Stark. It was also not a surprise that Phyllis summoned the guy to town in hopes of running Diane off. It worked… kind of, as Diane went into hiding at the Abbott cabin.
Capping the year was the return of rocker Danny Romalotti. Of course, we’re all hoping that the handsome singer will stick around in Genoa City for an extended stay. Daniel would love it.. and so might a certain beautiful blonde bug!
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