Ava’s Portrait Reveal Elicits Jaw-Dropping Reactions

At Wyndemere, Ava goes to Nikolas’s room to let him know the guests are starting to arrive. She’s taken aback to find him fresh out of a shower in a towel. Downstairs, Scott, Maxie, Peter, Lucy, Dustin, Lulu, Nina and Jax arrive for the party. Ava and Nikolas make their entrance and welcome everyone. As guests mingle, Peter decides to get a drink, and when Maxie takes a sparkling water, Lulu realizes she hasn’t told Peter about the baby. Meanwhile, Nikolas continues to pour the guilt on Ava about Spencer, and how it’s tragic they both lost a child. Ava rushes out, and Franco chides Nikolas for bringing up Kiki.

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At the hospital, Terry asks Liz for the lowdown on their new chairman of the board Cyrus Renault. She fills her friend in on Cyrus. The topic turns to Franco and Ava’s portrait unveiling, and Liz refuses to celebrate an event honoring the man Franco was because that man is not her husband.

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At The Floating Rib, Anna and Finn finalize their wedding guest list, and she asks him if he’s inviting his father. Finn would rather not, but she asks him to consider it for Violet so she can get to know her grandfather.

Back at Wyndemere, Nikolas is surprised when Liz turns up. They head out to the parapet, thinking Franco might be there, but he’s not. They take a moment to chat, and Liz thanks Nikolas for stepping up to try and help the hospital. Elsewhere, Dustin ignores a call from Brook Lynn while he chats with Peter. Dustin talks about how Rocco was going to come tonight but thought the event sounding boring, so he gave him one of his toy cars so he wouldn’t be bored. They talk about kids, and when asked if he wants them, Peter never thought about it until Maxie came along. Scott chats with Lucy about the hospital, and when pressed Lucy admits she sided with Valentin in an ELQ vote against bailing out the hospital, but it’s fine because Cyrus stepped in. Scott fumes and Maxie asks for a moment with Lucy. Lucy tells Maxie she did what she did to save Deception, and Valentin would have pulled all their funding. Jax interjects and takes Lucy aside to talk. Jax understands the deal she made with Valentin, but Cyrus is a different story. He warns her that Cyrus is a criminal and to be careful around him. Later, Maxie suggests to Lucy that she leave because she’s not the best brand ambassador for Deception at the moment, and she should rest up for the Nurses Ball tomorrow. Lucy suggests Maxie rest up too as she looks pale, and Peter agrees.

Franco finds Ava out in the stables and thinks what Nikolas did was awful, but she feels she deserved it. Ava explains how she turned Spencer against his father and says if Nikolas leaves her then she gets ninety percent of the estate. She admits she is entertaining walking away to give Nikolas and Spencer the closure that she and Kiki never had. Liz finds them and Ava is glad she made it. She gets back to her guests, and Franco thanks his wife for coming.

Back at the estate, Nina finds Ava on the parapet and they talk. Ava admits she’s having regrets about trapping Nikolas in this marriage, which is hurting him, but also Spencer. Ava knows what she needs to do. In Nikolas’ room, Lulu asks her brother how things are going with Spencer. She can tell he’s keeping something from her about the boy, so he divulges their plan to guilt Ava into leaving him and the money. Lulu is appalled because he is making his son his partner in crime. She can see he’s still as bent on revenge as he’s ever been. Down in the living room, Maxie takes Franco to task for exploiting and reliving his criminal, glory bad boy days when he’s told everyone he’s a changed man. Peter looks concerned during her speech, but later Liz tells Franco Maxie is right and they are celebrating someone who isn’t her husband. Meanwhile, Peter talks to Maxie about her outburst, but she thinks Franco hasn’t changed at all and is nothing like Peter who is putting in the hard work to turn his life around. Peter can see something is physically wrong with her and asks if she is okay. In the main room, Ava begins the big reveal and invites Franco to stand next to the portrait, which he does. Nikolas stands by Liz, and Ava explains how happy she was that Franco agreed to paint her. He unveils the portrait, which shocks everyone.

On the next General Hospital:

Maxie has something to tell Peter.

Valentin says they couldn’t stop him.

Liz warns Nikolas that Ava is pulling him down.

Ava tells Franco that she will rectify this.

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