Billy Hounds Victoria and Ashland Out of Crimson Lights, Spars With Victor, and Gets a Warning From Jack

At Newman Enterprises, Ashland updates Victoria that Tara denied being behind the leak. Victoria wonders if he plans to make a statement. He’ll act as though the whole thing is beneath his notice and wants to focus on the merger. Vikki thinks he needs a break and says, “Come on.” He grins and follows her.

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At the Abbott house, Tara flashes to Ashland accusing her of leaking the news about his health. Jack comes in and announces he came to check on her with regard to the rumors about Ashland. Tara’s grateful Harrison’s too young to know what’s going on. Jack laments that people will do anything for money. He assures her if the rumor turns out to be true and Harrison loses Ashland, he and the rest of the Abbott family will help her through it.

At Devon’s place, Amanda marvels that she’s going to visit Naya in jail and relays that Imani won’t return her calls or texts. Devon finds that ridiculous — she has to know Amanda didn’t want this to happen. Amanda reflects on them all being financially dependent on Sutton. He has an iron grip on all of them… except for her. He’s about t find that out.

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At Chance Comm, Lily listens as Billy tells a reporter to keep digging about Locke. He disconnects and they debate whether it could be a rumor someone started. Lily muses it could be someone he screwed over in a business deal. Billy recalls that Victoria said something big was going on. He feels they need to widen the scope and he knows exactly where to start.

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At Society, Devon and Victor meet about Newman Media promoting some of Devon’s recording artists. Devon explains that Lily will be giving them coverage too — it’s not an exclusive. Victor understands. Talk turns to Moses and then to Amanda’s family. Devon admits it’s a complicated situation. Victor can relate to her situation and feels a kinship with her. He muses about Amanda wanting to get to know her parents and then learning one of her parents killed the other. It must be devastating. Devon confides it’s tough watching Amanda try to deal with the ups and downs. Victor figures they have a lot to hide. Devon asks his opinion on Sutton. Victor wonders how far he would have gone to safeguard his reputation. Devon fills in the blanks about what Amanda’s learned most recently, and Victor’s glad Devon is there for her.

At Crimson Lights, Amanda takes a call and learns Sutton visited Naya in jail.

At the park, Victoria counsels Ashland to find something to help him decompress; something unrelated to business. Ashland feels a sense of urgency. Victoria talks about how it was for her after the stabbing and the need to slow down and focus on what really matters.

Billy arrives at Jack’s, who immediately realizes he’s there to get the scoop on Ashland’s health. Jack relays he just found out and warns Billy not to speculate. If the man’s dying, it’s his private business. If he publishes it as a hoax it will be a losing situation. Billy figured that was the speech he’d get, but the fact is, he’s not there to see Jack. His brother hopes he’s not there to interrogate Tara and calls him self-serving. He reminds him what everyone there is going through right now. Billy’s sorry to hear Summer left Kyle, but is undeterred. He can handle this responsibly and set the tone. Tara appears. She’s willing to talk to Billy. Jack adjourns to the sunroom. Tara lets Billy know she’s comfortable with him — she knows as Harrison’s great uncle he’ll keep his interests in mind when he writes the article. He asks if she’s concerned about how quickly their exes moved on with each other. Billy’s concerned for his children. Tara assumes Ashland’s using Victoria to get over his wounded ego.

At Chance Comm, Lily and Nina catch up and discuss Chance and Abby’s baby. Nina has time on her hands and would like to be put to work on a freelance news article. Lily learns she’s experienced with research and has an assignment in mind. She’ll get back to her after speaking to Billy.

At Chancellor Park, Sutton appears in front of Amanda and says, “I’m glad I found you.” He relays that Naya wants her to know how much she regrets what she did. He sighs that it’s a tragic day for their family. Sutton muses about Naya being fragile and suffering depression after giving up her babies. Amanda counters that no one ever mentioned this and asks who took care of her. Sutton says the family takes care of each other. Amanda concludes there’s no medical record of her state of mind and wonders if Naya will try to claim depression made her do it. She bluntly asks how Sutton convinced Naya to take the blame for a murder he was responsible for.

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Sutton warns Amanda to keep her voice down, but she is undeterred and asks what he threatened her mother with. Sutton insists he’s not a violence man; any mistakes he’s made have been to protect his family. Amanda snaps that it was to protect himself — he gave up his granddaughters and now he’s sacrificing his own daughter. Sutton seethes, “I have heard enough from you.” He insists she’s wrong about him, but he appreciates her fiercely defending her mother. Amanda’s stunned when he asks her to defend Naya against the charges and snarls, “Go to hell!”

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At Crimson Lights, Victoria and Ashland discuss their merger until Ashland grimaces and coughs. Billy walks in as Victoria expresses concern. Victoria asks her ex to stop hounding them. They walk out since they can’t sit there in peace.

Victor arrives and Billy needles him about backing off; he knows how badly he wants to take him down. Victor figures Abbott will dig his own grave sooner or later… he’s betting on sooner. Billy thinks they have a common problem — Victoria’s involvement with Ashland Locke. Victor thinks she finally found someone she can respect. They spar verbally. Billy can’t believe he’s going to trust Locke with his daughter after his deception in business. Victor warns him to stay out of her business. Lily arrives as Victor exits. She asks Billy, “What happened.” Billy updates her that Victor and Adam seem to be dropping their vendetta against them. They can’t drop their guard, but for the time being they can stop looking over their shoulders. Lily’s relieved and wants to celebrate.

At the Abbott manse, Jack apologizes for his brother, but Tara was happy to dish on their exes if it will get some good coverage for her shoe line. Jack’s surprised that Billy dragged Victoria into it. Tara believes he’s concerned about her welfare.

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At Newman Enterprises, Ashland doesn’t want to tip anyone off to what they’re planning, but Victoria counters that people may just think they’re dating. Ashland will take her to dinner to fuel that fire. She says maybe tomorrow; she needs to eat with her children. Ashland remembers he has to fly to L.A. the next day and invites her to join him. Victoria declines so he teases her about how she changed her mind about New York. When he starts to cough, she becomes concerned and hands him a bottle of water. She offers to call the doctor, but he insists he’s fine. She’s worried about him. Ashland invites her again to escort him to L.A. She’s not convinced he’s well enough to go. As Ashland leaves, he passes Victor, who walks into Victoria’s office and says, “The rumors are true, aren’t they? He’s dying.”

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At Devon’s place, Amanda updates him that Sutton got to Naya. She describes their confrontation in the park that ended with her telling him where to go. “He’s lucky that’s all I said.” She’s determined to bring that man down.

Next on The Young and the Restless: Victor and Victoria clash.

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