Ashley, Nikki and Phyllis Form an Alliance to Rid the Town of Diane Forever — and Adam Crushes Sally

At Newman Media, Sally stews. She is then relieved to see Adam walk in. She thought something was wrong or that he was ghosting her. She tries to put her arms around him, but he extricates himself. Sally realizes he was avoiding her.

Adam admits he never went to Chicago. He went over Victor’s latest mind game and all the moves and counter moves they made. Sally asks why he didn’t go over it with her. Adam needed to be alone. He’s questioning everything that he’s done since he came back to this town, and everything he did to infuriate his father and make him question his fitness for the job. “I realized you are the reason I am on the outside. You are standing between me and everything I want.” Sally’s stunned.

More: Watch! Adam turns on Sally

At Crimson Lights, Allie and Noah tease each other as they order coffee. They go over him having to disappoint his father. Noah thinks he should bring her along with him to blurt out the news. Allie isn’t sure why she did that with his sister and her wife. She apologizes. Noah reassures her. They’re looking into each other’s eyes when Phyllis walks in and declares that they’re adorable together. She chats with Allie about her internship at Jabot and mentions she was once CEO there and could give her some insight. She wants to sit down now, but Noah blurts that they have a “thing” to get to. They rush off. Diane appears and mocks Phyllis. “Wow, you can really clear a room.” Phyllis snarks, “You’re still here.” Diane sniffs that Allie is onto Phyllis — she knows she wants to be her bestie to get back in good with Jack. “You’re using his granddaughter. It’s not a good look.”

At Society, Jack beams as Ashley tells him that everyone in the Jabot lab loves Allie. He finds this all a dream come true and hopes it works out. Ashley thinks it will — she’s happy. She wonders if Jack’s happy. When he hangs his head, she figures Phyllis pulled a Phyllis. “What did she do?” Jack admits she lured him into a romantic assignation in her hotel and it turned out to be an opportunity to send Diane a message. Ashley wonders why it couldn’t have been both a big step forward in their relationship and a message to Diane. She understands why Phyllis would want to set boundaries with Diane. Jack is floored. “You’re saying I should forgive Phyllis?!”

At Newman Enterprises, Victoria wants to hear from her executive team, aka Nick and Nikki, before making a decision about Sally. Nick agrees with her that they need someone experienced, plus there’s the connection to Adam, despite him saying they were breaking up. Nikki feels it could be a bluff. Victoria agrees and thanks them. Nikki will leave it to the two of them to let Sally go and walks out.

More: Y&R Preview: Danger for Victoria

At Newman Media, Sally yells at Adam that blaming her makes no sense — she’s the one who stood by him. Adam reminds her of what she did to Victor’s granddaughter and how she nearly sabotaged the Newman Media launch. He made her a fixture in his life and she’s become a huge liability. Sally thinks Victor has accepted her and maybe even respects her a little. Adam counters that it’s made him stop respecting him. Keeping her in his life has cost him everything he’s ever wanted! Sally tears up and asks why he’s being so cruel. He’s just being honest. She thinks he sounds crazy. Adam tells her the only crazy thing was him deciding to be with her at all. As Sally reels, Adam turns his head to try and hide his emotions. Adam wishes he’d listened to his father when he told him Sally was bad news. Though he backed off, he let him know his displeasure by not taking him seriously as an heir to Newman Enterprises.

Sally doesn’t buy any of this and hollers, “Stop acting like this!” Adam reminds her this is who he is — Billy laid it out in graphic detail. Sally’s voice shakes as she tells him he loved her — he showed her in ways that are impossible to fake. Adam’s voice wavers in response as he concedes, “I didn’t say I didn’t love you. I just didn’t love you enough.” Sally knows he meant it when he said she was what he always wanted. Suddenly, she realizes this is his solution to keeping her in the CEO chair. “If you are distancing yourself from me so I can keep this job, I don’t want it! So you can just drop this cruel, and frankly pointless, act and tell me that you are just doing all of this to protect me… and I will forgive you.”

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At Society, Ashley tells Jack that he had a light in his eye when he was with Phyllis she hadn’t seen in a long time. He was falling back in love and it made him happy… so it made her happy. Jack mutters, “You’re not wrong.” This made her betrayal all the more painful. Ashley reiterates that all bets are off where Diane is concerned, and wonders why Phyllis felt the need to let Diane know where things stood with him. “What set her off?” Jack wants to drop it, but Ashley refuses. Jack is clearly forging a path to forgiveness for Diane, but won’t do the same for Phyllis when she was just protecting their relationship. “I think you have more complicated feelings for Diane than you’re willing to admit.”

At Crimson Lights, Phyllis snarks at Diane for believing she has ulterior motives with Allie. She won’t allow her to provoke her. Diane reminds her she toyed with Jack to make a point to her. She’s trying to wheedle back into Jack’s good graces using his grandchild. “I actually feel sorry for you!” Phyllis throws back her head, “Oh, please.” Diane recaps how she’s making inroads with Kyle. She’s so looking forward to working with Kyle, Summer… and Jack of course. Phyllis isn’t buying her miraculous transformation she’s peddling all over town. Diane warns she needs to accept that she’s a permanent fixture there. Nikki walks in and asks Phyllis, “Did she say, ‘permanent fixture’?” Diane feels so special, bringing together two woman who despise each other. Nikki’s glad Diane’s feeling more confident. Phyllis agrees. “She’ll let her guard down.” Nikki nods.

At Newman Media, Adam insists there’s no future for him and Sally. He doesn’t want her in his life anymore. He’s regaining his father’s respect, hell, he’s regaining his respect for himself. “I hate what being with you has cost me.” Adam rants that it’s turned him into someone who whines about not being taken seriously. He needs to get back to being the kind of man who takes what he wants. Whatever pleasure he derived from being with her, it wasn’t worth it. “We’re done. Is that clear enough for you?” Sally declares everyone was right about him and calls him a self-serving bastard. Adam retorts, “At least you got a CEO job out of it… if you can hold onto it.” He walks out and collects himself outside the door. Nick and Victoria walk up. Adam tells them he’s finished it with Sally and would hate to see her lose her job on top of it. They should give her a chance, she’s a hard worker.

More: Trouble ahead for ‘Skyle’?

Inside the office, Sally wipes away her tears when Victoria and Nick knock and enter. She tries to act professionally and guesses they’re there to tell her it’s not working. Nevermind what she can accomplish there… all they care about is playing the game, right?

At the Abbott house, Allie thanks Noah for getting her out of the conversation with Phyllis, who is trying to use her to get information on Jack… she thinks. Noah finds Phyllis to be a force of nature, but she doesn’t understand boundaries. He feels she has a good heart. Allie finds her so different from Summer. Noah thinks she’s more like their father. Allie feels it’s time he had that conversation with Nick — he’s a good dad, and good dads want their kids to be happy. He thanks her for saying that, for a great day at the pool and for everything. He leans in and they share their first kiss.

At Society, Jack declares to Ashley that whatever is going on between him and Phyllis has nothing to do with Diane. Ashley retorts, “You cannot possibly be that dumb!” He has complicated feelings for Diane. If she notices it, can he imagine how it must make Phyllis feel? “It’s making her crazy. It’s making me crazy!” Ash tells her brother, “Diane is not your friend.” Jack argues he can’t give Phyllis any more chances; they are better off as friends. Ashley reminds him things are never as simple as they seem with Diane. Just then, Adam walks in, upset. Jack wants to go see what is going on. Ashley snaps, “Are you kidding me?! Do you have to befriend every single pariah in town? You’re too forgiving… except when it comes to Phyllis.”

Jack joins Adam at the bar. He’s not in the mood for company. Jack knows that look; he’s perfected that look and knows what it means. They go over the Newman press conference. Adam gets it now, why Jack was at war with his father all those years. “He’s relentless.” You’d think he’d learn that you can only push a man this far and vows this time there is no going back.

At Newman Media, Sally thinks she deserves the right to be judged on her own achievements and not her personal relationship with Adam. Victoria replies, “I see.” Sally continues, “What you haven’t seen is that I’ve been working night and day to studying and researching the history of this company. I have established a clear mission statement and I am building connections that matter, and it is having an impact.” She continues her pitch impressively and chokes up as she says it’s been one of the greatest opportunities of her life. She’ll really miss the view from this office, among other things. Sally asks them to please just get this over with. Nick pulls Victoria outside to talk and closes the door. Sally cries.

At Crimson Lights, Ashley sidles up to Nikki, Phyllis and Diane and asks if this is a private party or can anybody join? Phyllis tells her they’re just talking about how Diane is just strolling around town without a care in the world; gainfully employed and pretending to be a doting grandmother to Harrison. Ashley figures it will only last until he grows up and finds out who she really is. Diane has a job to get back to and tells Phyllis she’ll give her love to Kyle, Summer… and Jack. After Diane’s gone, Nikki, Phyllis and Ashley decide they have to do something about her. Ash declares, “We can.”

More: Kyle’s making a major mistake!

They can’t understand why Diane gets a do-over and Michael, Kyle and Jack are going along with it. Phyllis feels she’s using Kyle to get to Jack. They go over Diane’s crimes and Nikki declares that something has to be done about her. Ash thinks it would be a public service. Phyllis wonders if the three of them could do something. Nikki asks, “Why not?” Phyllis points out they can’t stand to be in the same room together. Nikki breathes, “Ah, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Ashley adds, “At least temporarily.” If they all pool their talents, maybe they can get Diane out of their lives. “Forever this time.”

At Newman Media, Nick and Victoria debate about Sally. Nick found her impressive, but Victoria felt she was scrambling to keep her job. Nick counters that when people’s backs are against the wall, you find out what’s important to them. Victoria questions if has what it takes. Nick thinks she does — she has good ideas and her vision for Newman Media is exactly what they’re looking for.

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In the office, Sally stares at her nameplate and slams it down in tearful frustration.

At Society, Jack warns Adam not to give over to his worst impulses; that’s exactly what his father is expecting him to do. Adam knows it’s pointless for him to go after his father and muses that he’s the last person that he needs to worry about.

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In his jail cell, Ashland harbors a simmering rage as he sits on his cot and thinks.

More: Ack! Would Ashland actually murder Victoria?

Next on The Young and the Restless: Jack shares words of wisdom with Allie, Ashland plans his retaliation, and Ashley clashes with Phyllis.

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