Hope Confronts Steffy About Her Machinations — and Brooke Warns Taylor to Stop Her Daughter

At Brooke’s place, she’s leaving Ridge a message on the phone saying she missed him last night and noting he left early this morning. Hope creeps in as she disconnects and asks what happened last night. Brooke says, “Steffy happened.” Hope asks what that means. Brooke relays that he didn’t come home in time for them to be together. He was at Steffy’s and she made sure he didn’t come home until very, very late.

At the cliff house, Steffy admires Thomas and Zende’s collaborative design and says they should show it to Hope. She manages to turn the conversation to Taylor and Ridge needing to reunite as her mother enters the room and complains, “Steffy!” The group goes over how great a place the family is in these days. All they need, Steffy adds, is for Ridge to leave Brooke and come home to her mom. Taylor looks exasperated.

At Il Giardino, Wyatt and Liam want to know what Bill has “summoned” them. He claims he just wants to have lunch with his boys. “Gimme a kiss.” They cringe and groan. Liam asks, “Let me get this straight… you just want to catch-up?” He thinks they should start by discussing the fact that Ridge walked in on Bill and Brooke in each other’s arms. Wyatt leans forward eagerly.

Bill complains this is how rumors get started. He insists nothing was going on. Ridge just walked in and made something out of nothing like always because he’s riddled with insecurities. Liam asks if it he shouldn’t have known it would have been triggering for him. Bill complains about everyone being “triggered” these days and laments of Brooke, “Why she puts up with Poser the Clown I will never understand.” He wants to grab the guy by the neck and remind him how lucky he is to have Brooke. Bill feels he’s an uptight waste of skin and he’d like to know what she sees in him. Liam tells his father he doesn’t get the family man side of him and the love between him and Brooke is undeniable up close. Liam knows there are outside forces working against them, however. “Steffy and Thomas for example.”

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Wyatt and Bill think grown kids should stay out of their parents’ lives. Liam complains about Hope going to the Forrester dinners to which he’s not invited. It’s classic Thomas but she doesn’t see it that way. He thinks he’s getting into her head; she keeps getting distracted by what she sees when she goes over there, like Taylor and Ridge. Hope doesn’t know how much to tell Brooke as she’s afraid of ratcheting up the Logan vs. Forrester war again. Bill doesn’t think Brooke will let anyone undermine her marriage.

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At Brooke’s place, she recounts to Hope how Steffy answered Ridge’s phone and refused to disturb him. When she reminded her that she was his wife, she actually said, “Not for long.” Hope’s floored. She asks if her mother called back. She didn’t see the point, and by the time he got home she was asleep. Hope rants that Steffy has no right to interfere and keep her from speaking to her husband. Steffy and Taylor have gone too far. Brooke agrees and thinks it’s time to have a talk with Taylor. Hope thinks she’ll have a word with Steffy about her blatant campaign to end her mother’s marriage.

At the cliff house, Taylor tells Steffy that wishing for the end of their father’s marriage should never come out of their mouths. Zende takes the sketch and heads for the hills. Taylor asks Thomas and Steffy to focus on something other than their parents, but Steffy makes her case all over again. Taylor’s exasperated but still loves them.

Later, Thomas enthuses to Taylor about taking Douglas to the skate park and spending so much time with him. He thanks her for supporting him. They embrace and he heads out as Brooke arrives. Thomas says, “You two play nice,” and leaves. Brooke informs Taylor that her daughter is out of control. “I expect you to put a stop to Steffy.”

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Taylor asks why the blonde is coming after Steffy. Brooke insists it’s the other way around. It’s great that Finn is back; it’s all very precious, but wedding vows are precious too. She’s trying to sabotage her marriage. Taylor says every kid wants their parents back together. She surprises Brooke by saying that she just told Steffy and Thomas that they need to stop meddling. Brooke explains what happened last night when Steffy intercepted her call. Taylor cringes, “Oh God, I don’t want to believe that.” Brooke declares that she is playing the gatekeeper. Brooke reminds Taylor her daughter is doing all of this in hopes that her marriage will fall apart so she can step in.

At Forrester, Steffy is going over designs with Paris when Hope comes in and asks to speak to the CEO alone. Paris files out and Steffy says dismissing the young woman was inappropriate. Hope counters, “Kind of like you trying to sabotage my mother’s marriage to Ridge?” She questions Steffy screening her father’s calls and complains that he’s at her house more than he’s at home… which is all by design.

Hope wonders what happened to bringing the family together and putting the kids first. Steffy says this is about her parents and the future that was stolen from them. Her father’s starting to see what it would be like to be drama-free with no pain, just love. It’s what her grandmother wanted for him all along. She’s no longer there to fight the battle, but Steffy is. She declares, “It’s time for my father to come back to his real family — the Forresters.”

Next on The Bold and the Beautiful: Li is charmed by Bill when he invites her to lunch and Hope puts Thomas on blast for helping Steffy ruin Brooke’s plans.

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