Billy Issues a Warning to Chelsea — and [Spoiler] Declares She’s Leaving Genoa City

Mariah and Tessa come into Noah’s club and apologize for missing the opening night — they had to submit paperwork to the adoption attorney. When he doesn’t give them a snarky comment, Mariah asks what’s wrong. He’s not sure but explains his ex from London, Audra, showed up the other night.

At Crimson Lights, Audra runs into Allie and guesses Noah is too busy to spend time with her. Allie lets her know they spent time together on their breaks and are never apart for long.

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Chelsea sits in the park and Billy walks up. She smiles and says it was such a beautiful day she had to… Billy interrupts, “You had to what? Camp out here and wait for your chance to ambush my son?” Chelsea protests but Billy calls her out for waiting for Johnny so she can talk to him about being his mother. Chelsea insists she didn’t accost the boy, but Billy says, “That’s not how he took it.” He fumes, “Pushing him to bond with Connor as his brother, Chelsea?” He wants her to respect the boundaries they set as Johnny’s parents or they’re going to have a problem. Chelsea snaps that she has a biological connection to Johnny and that deserves some respect too.

Billy thought they were all on the same page about giving Johnny space but she keeps pushing. Chelsea argues it was just a conversation. Billy argues he wasn’t ready to have it and she freaked him out. Chelsea wonders if she should have turned around and walked away, which would have hurt Johnny more. She tells Billy he doesn’t understand what it feels like to have the child you carried want nothing to do with you. “This whole thing is ripping me up inside, so if you could stop chastising me…” Billy thinks maybe she’s feeling a little lost right now and is seeing Johnny as an opportunity to balance things out. Chelsea hollers that he’s just like Adam, who accused her of using Connor to fix her broken parts. Billy has tried to be respectful and wants nothing but the best for her, but above all else he will protect his children.

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In the office at Newman, Victoria updates Nick that Victor has Michael looking into whether or not Tucker has an agenda with Chancellor-Winters’ IPO. They speculate as to what his motive may be given Katherine didn’t leave him the company in her will. Nick figures he might be pissed off. Victoria wonders, “What if he wants it all?” Nick questions if they really want to get in a fight with McCall over what he considers his birthright. It could turn into a colossal battle they don’t need, especially considering the legal ramifications with Nate. Victoria feels they have to move now — Nate has persuaded Devon and Lily to speed up the IPO. Nick really thinks she needs to question her motives and think about not just what they have to gain, but what they have to lose.

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At Chancellor-Winters, Devon tells Lily he’s having second thoughts about the IPO and isn’t sure speeding things up is the right approach. It’s not a great feeling to think his father might be after their company. Lily thinks they can protect themselves if they take precautions.

Elena and Nate arrive at the penthouse, and he thanks her for coming there to talk so they can figure out how to make things work again. He misses her and recalls when he surprised her with keys. Nate reminds her this is their home where they started building their future together. “Elena, I want to create more memories with you. I want to fill this place up with more chapters of our story.” He’s sure they can get past this, but only if they do it together. “Elena, please, come back home.” Elena hates being away from him, but it’s killing her to see what’s happening to him. Nate is still the same man she fell in love with and what he’s doing for Chancellor-Winters is following his gut instinct. She should trust him to make the right decisions in his new profession. He suggests they leave their jobs outside the penthouse door from now on. Elena isn’t sure. Nate asks if she still loves him. She says, “Of course, I do.” He asks her to put faith in their love then.

Just then, Victoria arrives and tells Nate if he’s busy they can talk later. Elena has to get going and tells Nate she’ll call him. Once alone, Victoria tells Nate if he needs to back out, now would be the time. “Because that window is about to close.” She knows it’s causing conflict in his relationship with Elena. Nate insists he has everything under control. She’s happy to hear it. Victoria warns what they’re about to do is going to require his full attention. Nate’s curious why she wanted him to back out — is she having second thoughts? Victoria recalls that Katherine left her company to Victor, not to Devon or Tucker. Even though Jill convinced him to sell it to her, Katherine wanted Victor to be her successor. Her moves will set things right, the way that her godmother, her mother’s best friend, intended.

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At Noah’s club, Tessa and Mariah question Noah about Audra. Noah says she’s working with Chancellor-Winters on some big deal. He got a bad vibe due to their history. Mariah declares, “I don’t like her.” She thinks the woman should finish up her business and leave town. Tessa doesn’t think she’s a threat since Noah now has Allie and his life is on track. Noah smiles as she declares Audra powerless. They all talk about how amazing Allie is and Mariah’s relieved this Audra person won’t be any trouble. Noah says, “I didn’t say Audra wouldn’t be trouble.”

At Chancellor-Winters, Billy leaves Victoria a voicemail to call him when she gets a chance. He disconnects as a voice says, “Good morning, Mr. Abbott.” It’s Esther, who reveals that she’s the new receptionist. Billy is stoked. Esther’s so excited about her new job. She takes Billy into Lily’s office and hands her the files she requested. She also pulls out a feather duster and says she did a little light dusting earlier. Billy asks Lily why he didn’t tell her about the real hire. Lily spars, “Considering your little proclamation that you don’t even know what you’re doing here, I’m surprised you care.” Billy tried to make it work and will wait until after the IPO to leave so as not to give the impression of instability. Lily thanks him. Billy hopes this won’t change what they have; she is the most important part of all of this. Lily smiles.

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At Crimson Lights, Audra invites herself to join Allie and asks how she and Noah met before warning her he has moody artist phases. Allie says the Noah she knows is upbeat, hilarious and productive. He’s an amazing son and boyfriend. “He’s incredible.” Audra says he must not be doing the art thing anymore. Allie says he is, and that her boyfriend is a work of art himself. If she can’t see that, she never really appreciated him. Allie should thank her for whatever she did to make him leave London. “Now he is back where he belongs.” Audra thinks she’s getting the wrong idea. Allie can see right through her and warns nothing she can say or imply will make her doubt Noah’s feelings for her. Audra denies she was trying to and explains how the electricity and fire between her and Noah were bound to burn them both out. Audra snarks that it doesn’t sound like that will be a problem for the two of them, and raises her coffee cup, “You’re so lucky.”

On the coffee house patio, Victoria happens upon Elena and tells her she and Nate had a productive conversation. She asks to sit, and Elena says, “Of course.” Victoria knows Nate has filled her in on their plans and she has some concerns, but Nate is a smart and good man. She’s genuinely sorry if this is causing problems in their relationship. Elena questions if she’s really sorry — she stands to gain the most from this. Why doesn’t she care about what’s going to happen to Nate, who has set himself on a collision course with his family? Victoria tells Elena not to fault Nate for learning to play the game. Elena says her calling it a game is all she needed to hear. She walks out.

At Chancellor-Winters, Lily will miss having Billy by her side for advice. Billy will still be at her beck and call at home and when she walks through the door at night, he’ll be missing her. He promises to keep it quiet about him leaving for now. They kiss. Esther knocks and lets in Audra, Devon, and Nate for the meeting. Audra announces if no one has concerns, they can go ahead and file the paperwork for the IPO. Devon can’t help but wonder what Katherine and Neil would think about this. Billy feels they’d say, “Go big.” Devon agrees, as long as they protect the company from Tucker or anyone else making a move. Audra asks, “Are we ready?” Just then, Elena walks in. Nate gets up and tells her they’re in the middle of the meeting. Lily happily tells her they’re seconds away from filing their IPO paperwork. Nate urges Elena to wait in his office and they’ll talk after. She says, “This can’t wait.”

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At Noah’s club, he tells Mariah and Tessa that Audra can be very strong-willed and is known to spiral emotionally. You never really know what’s going to set her off on one of her moods. She then acts like a spoiled kid and will do anything to get what she wants. Mariah wants her on the next flight back to London. Allie appears, guesses they’re talking about Audra, and says she ran into her earlier. She explains that Audra acted friendly, but you could tell there was more going on underneath. The woman couldn’t wait to regale her with tales of London. Mariah fumes but Allie says, “I’ve got this.” People have underestimated her for her entire life. People like Audra don’t intimidate her. Noah calls her badass and they kiss.

At Chancellor, Elena needs to speak to Nate alone. They step out into the hallway. Nate say for a second she was going to tell everyone what he’s planning with Victoria. Elena muses that it would have been easy to let them know that while he’s sitting their smiling to their faces, he is plotting to stab them in the back. Nate asks, “Why didn’t you?” Elena couldn’t do that to him. He asks why she came there. Elena says, “I’m leaving Genoa City.” Nate thinks maybe a vacation is exactly what she needs. Elena corrects him. She’s leaving forever — the hospital in Baltimore is still interested in her. Nate learns it’s not a done deal but she’s going to interview for it and will almost certainly get an offer. Nate thought they were making progress. Elena wishes that were true. She can’t pretend she doesn’t care about what he’s doing. Nate asks her to give him one night. Elena’s leaving tonight. “This is me saying goodbye.”

At Newman, Victoria informs Nick that she’s taken his concerns into consideration and has made the decision she believes is right for them. “Newman will be moving full speed ahead with its plans for Chancellor-Winters.”

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At Chancellor, Nate doesn’t want to give up on them, but Elena tells him, “It’s over. There’s no future for us.” It’s better that they end things now so she can move on, and he can get back to work. Nate protests, “You’re too important to me. No!” Elena loves the man deep down inside, but the man he’s turning into, who is obsessed with power, she doesn’t want him in her life anymore. Elena kisses him and walks out. Nate walks back into the meeting and says, “Devon and Lily, there’s something I need to say to you two. In private.”

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Next on The Young and the Restless: Tucker makes Ashley a promise, Adam crashes Nick and Sally’s date.

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