Phyllis Taunts Diane as the Exposé Hits the Stands — and Adam Holds a Candid Conversation With Sally

At Crimson Lights, Faith, Sharon and Nick go over a checklist for college. Adam appears and Faith tells him, “Big news Adam, your kidney is going to college today.”

At the ranch, Victor tells Nikki how impressed he is with their granddaughter Faith, who is so bright. He then asks her about being spotted with Talia Morgan. Nikki claims she came to town to cover Ashland’s death, but she persuaded her to take on Diane’s return from the dead. She was happy to provide as much dirt as possible for what she hopes will be a beautiful hatchet job. Victor chuckles into his scotch. “I bet you were.” Nikki hopes it will drive Diane out of town for good. Victor warns her to be cautious — Diane is Kyle’s mother and Summer’s mother-in-law. He doesn’t want the young family impacted.

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At Society, Phyllis and Summer agree it’s been fun working together. Summer’s excited about her ideas for their home line but is concerned about Talia Morgan’s expose on Ashland Locke. Phyllis realizes her daughter still doesn’t trust her and protests that she’s been on her best behavior with Diane. This is what makes Summer so suspicious. Phyllis is doing it for her. Summer reminds her mother she’ll do everything in her power to protect Marchetti’s integrity.

At Jabot, Jack compliments Kyle’s leadership at Marchetti before announcing he has something to tell him… and he’s not sure he’ll be happy to hear it. Jack brings up the need to fill his position at Jabot and Kyle’s okay with it… as long as Adam’s not taking it. Jack’s expression tells him everything he needs to know. Kyle groans, “No, no, don’t say it.” Jack confirms Adam changed his mind. Kyle argues that giving him any power there is dangerous. Jack thinks he’s put his worst behind him. Kyle finds that hard to believe and will keep his eye on him. Jack asks him to try and stay optimistic. Kyle will try and relays he’s planning a bit of a surprise and would like to enlist his support. Jack’s intrigued when he explains it’s a wedding of sorts.

At Crimson Lights, Sharon tells Adam that Faith is heading to the University of Michigan today. Faith quips that she’s taking Adam’s kidney back to college since it already went once with him. She tells Adam he made this possible. Adam’s sure his kidney will have a better time with Faith and congratulates her.

Sharon and Adam step aside to get coffee and he remarks on what a big day it is for her and Faith before revealing that he’s starting a new chapter as well. Sharon learns he’s accepted a position at Jabot with Jack and hopes he didn’t make the decision to stick it to Victor. Adam made it because Jack values him — his dad is a non-issue. Sharon is glad to hear that; it’s great he found something positive to channel his energy into and is sure Sally must be too.

Adam learns that Sharon and Sally have been talking again just as Sally walks through the door.

At Society, Phyllis assures Summer she doesn’t have to worry about her — she just wants to help her create her dream. Diane is just an annoying by-product. Summer snarks that she can’t resist taking a cheap shot at the woman. Phyllis admits she can’t, because of their history, and if the woman self-implodes, she won’t shed a tear.

At Jabot, Kyle knows Summer regrets having a wedding celebration in Genoa City, so he’d like to plan something at the house. Jack becomes emotional and tells his son it’s a beautiful idea. “I would be honored to celebrate your marriage in the Abbott home.” Kyle hasn’t told Summer yet, he wanted to plan everything first. As they walk into the hall, Jack tells Kyle he will help any way he can to make the celebration special. Diane overhears and asks, “What’s this about a celebration?”

At Crimson Lights, Adam asks Sally to speak alone on the patio. Sharon turns back to her plans with Faith and Nick. On the patio, Adam tells Sally he’s happy for Faith on the milestone in her life. Sally knows he didn’t call her out there to talk about his niece and asks, “What’s going on?” Adam makes small talk and asks how her job is going. Sally talks up the big moves she and Chloe are making and says she hasn’t had much time with Victoria, but Nick is proving to be a nurturing and supportive boss. Adam’s not surprised — he knew she would impress him and secure her position there. Sally asks, “Are we done here?” Adam wants her to listen to what he has to say.

At the ranch, Nikki tells Victor that Summer is only tolerating Diane for Kyle’s sake. She’s not the kind of mother or grandmother the kids deserve. When she shows her true colors everybody will see her for the fraud she is. Summer can then be supportive of Kyle but not at all surprised.

At Jabot, Kyle decides to let Diane in on his secret about the wedding celebration. She finds it sweet and wildly romantic. She’ll do whatever she can to help make it a spectacular day. Diane is so grateful to be there for these moments. She’s over the moon to celebrate such a wonderful milestone with him. Summer and Phyllis appear in time to witness their close moment.

Once Summer gets Kyle alone he asks what was going on with him and Diane. Kyle says his mother’s emotions still get the better of her sometimes is all. They take off for a conference call and Diane walks out of the shadows. Phyllis appears and accuses her of eavesdropping. She addresses the moment that she and Summer walked in on, and Diane tells her it wasn’t for public consumption. Phyllis leers that her life has been served up for public consumption today. Diane shoots her a quizzical look. Phyllis grins, “Oh, you haven’t seen it?”

At Crimson Lights, Faith takes off to see Moses, and Nick and Sharon marvel at their baby girl getting ready to take off into the world. Sharon’s confident she’ll come back after college to work at Newman, but Nick teases she may want to work at one of the European divisions. Just then, he gets a text from Victor, who wants to see him. He leaves and Mariah and Tessa walk in with long faces. Sharon asks, “What’s wrong?!” Mariah reveals they got turned down by a private adoption attorney. They were honest about their pasts and were told it was unlikely they would be chosen over people who didn’t have criminal records.

Sharon rants that this is absurd and wrong. Tessa and Mariah point out that the attorney didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. Sharon protests that they had reasons for what they did. Mariah laments that it feels like being punished for the trauma they went through. Sharon finds this outrageous and hopes they won’t give up.

At the ranch, Nikki and Victor marvel about time flying. Victor mulls about Adam’s place in the family. Nikki warns him not to get his hopes up and focus on his other children. She knows Adam’s distance is breaking his heart. Victor still hopes he’ll come around and won’t give up on him — he’s his son.

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On Crimson Lights’ patio, Adam tells Sally that he is Jack’s new co-CEO at Jabot. Sally wonders if he had this lined up when he walked out on her. Adam explains Jack made the offer after he quit. Sally muses that he’s juggling a lot what with a new job and doing everything in his power to destroy his father at the same time.

At Jabot, Phyllis baits Diane about the new article up on Talia Morgan’s site. Diane shrugs that it’s probably a bunch of gossip, but Phyllis counters that she’s not a gossip columnist. She’s an investigative journalist. Diane figures she must have written about old news. She doesn’t have any energy for those clinging to the past. Phyllis taunts that she’s been on her best behavior since returning to Genoa City but after reading this article, everyone will know she’s the most despicable and the most hated woman in town. “That must disturb you in so many ways.” With that, she walks off. Diane pulls up the article on her phone and grimaces.

At the ranch, Nikki salivates over the Talia Morgan story about Diane and reads parts of it to Victor. She runs off to call Talia and Nick walks in. Victor tells his son he’s concerned about Sally Spectra. “How do you think she’s doing at Newman Media.” Nick says she’s lived up to their expectations. Victor grunts, “Not to mine.” He asked her to try and convince Adam to stay with the company and she was not able to do that. “She’s not up to the task.”

At Crimson Lights on the patio, Adam relays to Sally that Chloe accused him of trying to mess with her head, which was never his intention. She was adamant that he needs to make it clear that there’s no future for them as a couple. Sally fumes at Chloe getting involved in her personal life and doubts there is anything Adam could say to hurt her more than he already has. Adam informs her she has it all wrong. “I want to say that I’m sorry.”

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Inside, Sharon vows to Tessa and Mariah that they’ll find another adoption attorney that can see they’ve gotten their lives together in spectacular fashion — they’ll be great parents. Tessa and Mariah thank her. Sharon declares that their pasts will make them better parents because they learned from it and their kids will be the greatest gifts in their lives — and also their greatest heartaches. But they’ll be with them through all the highs and lows because that is what a good mother does. They have a group hug.

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At Jabot, Diane agonizes as she reads the story about her. Phyllis appears. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. “Juicy isn’t it.” She taunts that it’s just the first in a series of articles about her. “Wait until everybody gets a load of this.” Once alone again, Diane shakes her head with tears in her eyes.

In his office, Jack gets a text from Traci that there’s something he should know about. Jack opens the article about Diane and grimaces.

At the ranch, Nick asks his father if he seriously believed Sally was going to be able to talk Adam into doing something he didn’t want to — that was never going to happen. Adam is too stubborn. Nick reminds him he also walked away from Sally, who just wants to put the whole thing behind her. Victor questions if his son really believes Sally Spectra can run a company. Nick knows he doesn’t want to hear this, but she’s done everything they’ve asked of her and has done a great job. He thinks she’ll do an even better job when she gets Adam out of her system. Victor doesn’t think she’s capable of running the company and brings up her manipulation of Summer. “I think you should fire her.”

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On the coffee house patio, Adam apologizes to Sally for being a cruel jerk and lying to her. They could have decided together how to handle the situation. All he could think about was protecting her and her position at Newman Media. She’s shined in the role and proven herself worthy despite all their doubts. Sally feels they had more faith in her than he did. Adam didn’t want her to be collateral damage in his war with the family but now there’s not going to be a war. He didn’t want to repeat the mistake in his past. Sally muses, “Like with Chelsea.” Adam is being sincere and his apology comes from his heart. “Is there any way that you can forgive me?”

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Next on The Young and the Restless: Nikki and Phyllis’ plan backfires.

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