Young restless Nikki tucker
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

Tucker arrives at the ranch, hoping that Nikki’s invitation means they are on good footing again. He’s having a ball getting to know the grand families of the city again. She makes it clear that this is not a social call and calls Talia out to meet him. He knows her by reputation and agrees to answer any questions she has.

Young restless Tucker Nikki Talia

Once Nikki has filed out to give them some privacy, Tucker asks her not to ask him about the rumor he wants to build a rocket with Victor. She asks why he thinks Nikki encouraged her to write a profile of him. He claims the Newmans are in his past. The journalist asks why he’s liquefying so many of his assets. McCall tells her not to read much into that. He’s always buying and selling to make room for whatever might come down the pike. When she quizzes him about what he likes to do, he gets sarcastic. Sighing, she says she has things to do and would like to interview him if he ever decides to get serious.

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Once Talia’s gone, Tucker calls Nikki out from the corner she was hiding in and asks what that was all about. Nikki feigns ignorance. Tucker wonders why she’s concerned about what he was doing in L.A. and suggests she just lay her cards on the table. He knows she and her friends think he’s connected to Diane. She hopes he’s smart enough to avoid Diane but suspects there is a connection between them. If he’s been collaborating with Diane, Nikki wants to know why and what the schemer has planned. If he knows something that would help her protect her loved ones, Nikki needs that information. Tucker can’t help her with that.

young restless lauren phyllis

Lauren and Phyllis head to Crimson Lights to talk about business. Once they sit down, Phyllis admits the plot against Diane has stalled a bit but it is progressing. Now is the best time to get rid of her since Kyle and Summer are out of town. Lauren wants her to get rid of Jenkins too. She holds a grudge like the best of them and can’t stand how much empathy Michael is showing her. She’s surprised that Jack is accepting Diane back into his life.

Her friend senses that Jack is starting to see her for who she is. “What brought that on?” Lauren asks. Phyllis gossips about Diane and Tucker being close in LA. They just need to nudge Jack some more. Lauren worries about how this might backfire. “Boo hoo!” Phyllis says. It’s more important to her that she protect her daughter and Jack by showing them the truth about Diane than her having a future with Jack.

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young restless summer kyle honeymoon

On their honeymoon, Summer dusts the sand out of Kyle’s hair. He looks for places to run aloe vera on her and they make out before dropping their bathrobes and having sex. They lounge around and talk about having all they’ve ever wanted. Nothing matters to him more than having her and Harrison in his corner. That’s nice, but she feels like he never felt whole until Diane came back. Kyle hadn’t thought of that but admits that having her around makes him feel more at peace. He’d been looking for something out of reach and isn’t anymore. She admits she was afraid that his mom’s return was going to be a real mess. He thanks her for being so awesome and supportive.

At Jabot, sobbing Diane admits to Jack that she and Tucker crossed paths in LA. He learned that she did things she’s not proud of, things she had to do to survive. “I had no choice,” she insists. Jack reminds her that he’s already given her many openings to tell the truth. She begs for him to provide her the chance to come completely clean.

YR Jack diane office

Once she’s sat down, he scowls at her as she explains how she created her new persona after faking her death. She had to assume the identity of a dead woman to get a new life. Shortly after she settled in LA, she met a charming man named Jeremy Stark (played by James Hyde) who let her know her life could be good again. Diane flashes back to them going out and her telling him how long it has been since she’d had a good day. Stark assured her she had her whole life ahead of her and he would be the one to make that happen. She wasn’t looking for a serious relationship but fell hard for him. He was a wealthy jet-setter and that’s her type.

YR diane jeremy los angeles

Flashing back to a champagne supper with Jeremy, she recalls him showing her a photo of an island he owns and inviting her along. She tells Jack they had a whirlwind romance and he took care of her. It was like she found something that had been missing in previous relationships. What she didn’t realize until it was too late, was that it was a trick. They never traveled together. It was months before she realized he was using her as a mule. His assistant would hide cash in her suitcases and Jeremy would deposit it in a foreign bank when he arrived.

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Diane insists she knew nothing about this until a trip to Barbados. It was shocking and devastating but she waited until they were back in L.A. to confront him. When she accused him of using her as a mule for money laundering, he told her to calm down and explained that the man who arranged for her to assume a fake identity worked for him. That meant she worked for him too and had to continue doing so or he would expose her.

Tearfully, Diane tells Jack she was trapped. Fate intervened to get her out of it eventually. They continued their trips and she pretended to be his lover but couldn’t stand him. One day, he told her that he was about to be arrested. He offered to cover for her if she covered for him. She got away before she could be arrested. There were four years of investigations and a trial. In all that, she managed to avoid being implicated. After years of being terrified she would be caught, she tried to get her life back on track. The thought of a rich husband being the answer to her problems was squashed. Once Jeremy was in prison, she was able to relax and focus on getting back into Kyle’s life. That’s when Tucker showed up. He was the man in the Bentley. They were connected but that was totally random. She was hoping that he would leave her alone but he quickly uncovered she was working with Jeremy and blackmailed her. Jack is almost afraid to ask what he wanted. She explains that he wanted an in with the Abbotts. He’s the one who found Allie. All he wanted from her was that she would keep tabs on Ashley. After all the work she had done on herself to reunite with her son, she refused to let it go to waste and agreed to help Tucker. She sold all she had to buy Keemo’s house. Jack knows the rest.

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Young restless phyllis diane office

After pacing around the room, Jack doesn’t know what to say. Diane insists this was about survival and she was forced to do whatever it took to reunite with her son. Sniffling, she continues to apologize until Phyllis interrupts and asks if everything is okay. Diane shakes her head. Jack says everything is fine and leaves for an appointment, promising to continue this later. Getting in her face, Phyllis whispers that whatever just went down, it doesn’t look good for her.

Next on The Young and the Restless: Phyllis tell Nikki that Diane is about to snap, Nick informs Sally she and Chloe are being replaced at Newman Media, and Adam goes to see if Chelsea is okay.

Ever wonder who your favorite Grey’s Anatomy stars are dating in real life? Wonder no more, ’cause the gallery below will give you all the deets! 

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