Jack Makes Diane a Shocking Offer — and [Spoiler] Decides to Leave Genoa City

At the Abbott mansion, Summer thanks Kyle for getting on board with her taking Harrison to Paris. She hopes this thing with Diane and Stark will be resolved when they return. Kyle wishes he’d never heard the guy’s name.

Diane finds Jeremy finishing breakfast in Society and remarks on his tie, which is one she gave him years ago. She reveals she’s carefully planning how to prove her loyalty. Stark invites her to sit down and give him the details.

Devon answers his door to Abby, who wants to go for coffee. She quickly realizes he’s not in the mood and asks what’s wrong. “Can I help?”

At Crimson Lights, Phyllis asks if Tucker meant what he said when he asked if she wanted to “burn it all down.” He grumps that she blew him off so the deal’s off the table. Phyllis apologizes and wants to continue the conversation. She realizes she should have been more generous with her time — not necessarily to join him in a scheme. Phyllis goes on to say that he needs a reality check. “You’re never going to be one of us.” Tucker thinks she’s an outsider too. Phyllis snaps, “I have family here.” Tucker argues he does too. Phyllis urges him to fix things with his family or get in his private jet and leave. “Or stay and burn it all down. That’s your option.”

At Jabot, Jack and Ashley discuss business and then he remarks on her coming home late last night. He asks if it had to do with their latest dust-up over Diane. Ashley says it was about Tucker and explains that she learned Tucker was using Audra Charles to go after Chancellor-Winters. Jack wonders how she found out. Ashley says she basically watched Devon disown his father. She also found evidence that McCall was going after Jabot, so all of his claims of wanting her and Devon back in his life were lies. “Like we thought.”

Jack asks if Ashley is okay and questions if he had succeeded in winning back some of her trust. Ashley insists she was always in control — Jack’s the one being controlled by a manipulative ex. She walks out after calling him blind.

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At Society, Diane tells Jeremy he’ll know her plan soon enough. He senses she’s stalling and decides she needs a deadline. Diane argues their partnership will have to be different this time. “You’re in my town now, so I’m the one calling the shots.” She reminds him the thrill is in the anticipation of the score. Stark won’t budge. “You have until tomorrow.” Diane looks taken aback.

At the Abbott house, Kyle doesn’t like the fact that Summer is leaving to get away from his mother, but Stark needs to be dealt with. He worries she feels he’s putting his mother first. He has to help her with this threat, but Summer and Harrison are his world. Summer assures him they’ll get through this like they have everything else. They’re kissing when the doorbell rings — it’s Phyllis, who wants to speak with Summer.

Summer urges Kyle to go start packing for Harrison upstairs. Phyllis learns about the trip to Pari and says, “You’re trying to get away from Diane, aren’t you?” Summer more or less confirms it. Phyllis asks if there’s anything going on with her and Kyle. Summer says they’re fine but he’s staying in Genoa City. Phyllis wants to go to Paris with them, but Summer reminds her they’ve barely been speaking. “You said I broke your heart… what’s changed?”

Phyllis tells Summer she hates that she’s caught between Kyle and Diane. Summer asks, “Really?” She quickly realizes her mother talked to Daniel. She never would have marched over there to confront her otherwise. Summer threatens to call her brother, but Phyllis stops her.

Tucker walks into Jabot and Jack asks what the hell he’s doing there. Tucker wants to speak to Ashley. Jack says she wants nothing to do with him and calls him out for his schemes. “I’m amazed you have the nerve to show your face around here.”

Tucker concedes that the plan to go after Jabot and Chancellor was what brought him to town but it’s now old news. He wonders if Jack will hold a fellow business mogul’s ambition against him. Jack judges him for plotting a hostile takeover, yeah. Tucker says that went away when he started hanging out with Ashley… he just wanted her to get what she deserved there — all she has is the slice of the pie Jack gave her. He’s since offered her a path to independence. “Her own company. Did she tell you that?”

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Jack informs Tucker he has no right to an opinion on what Ashley deserves and informs him he’s deluded. Tucker knows she needs to get away from this place and from Jack. Ashley eavesdrops as Tucker continues on to say she never should have returned from Paris. Jack informs Tucker that if Ashley wants to talk to him, she’ll get in touch. In the meantime, he’s not welcome there.

At the penthouse, Devon tells Abby about the connection between Tucker and Audra. He describes going to his father’s hotel suite and warns Abby that her mother was there. Devon regrets buying Tucker’s lies and letting him get close to his son. Abby bought into it too. Devon calls Tucker a sack of lies pretending to care about his family so he can get what he wants in business. He feels like his family is disappearing. Abby reminds him, “You have a son… You have family that is never going to disappear.”

Devon tells Abby how Audra pointed out that he’s not a good judge of character. How did he miss so many signs? Abby reminds him he’s been suspicious of Tucker since he came to town and he knew Nate was unreliable. Devon complains about how long it took him to figure it out. He allowed himself to be swayed by other people and their agendas. “That’s going to stop right now.” With that, he picks up his phone, calls Jill, and asks her to call him back because he needs to meet with her today.

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At Newman Media, Nate tells Victoria he has a visionary in mind for his COO. Victoria asks her name and learns it’s Audra Charles. Nate explains she’s done her work on Chancellor’s IPO and was about to leave town. Victoria finds the idea intriguing and would like to meet with her. Nate says she’ll be there shortly.

Audra arrives and didn’t realize she’d be meeting with the CEO of Newman Enterprises. Victoria is just sitting in and notes she’s surprised she didn’t stay at Chancellor to see the IPO through. Audra can’t discuss her clients but would never leave an assignment prematurely. She’s excited to pick their brains about Newman Media’s place in the market and has been reading all night. “Shall we get started, I have some questions and thoughts.” Victoria and Nate exchange a smile.

At Devon’s, he’s on a video call with Jill, who blames herself for bringing Audra on board. They’ll have to put the IPO on hold to ensure they weren’t sabotaged. She wonders if Lily should be on the call. Devon says that’s not necessary; he didn’t call to talk about the IPO. Jill asks what could be more important. Devon has come to realize that merging Chancellor and Hamilton-Winters was a mistake. It’s been a disaster and he wants to buy back Hamilton-Winters.

Diane arrives in Jack’s office at Jabot and updates him that the clock is ticking on the next phase of their agenda to draw Stark into an illegal activity and have him arrested. Jack doesn’t want to rush into something that could backfire. Diane reveals that Stark gave her a deadline. “Tomorrow.”

At Society, Ashley wants to talk to Abby, who guesses she knows what this is about. They sit down and Abby says Devon told her what happened. “He saw you and Tucker together.” Ashley feels stupid — she thought she couldn’t be manipulated but he got to her a little bit. She reveals that he made her an appealing offer to start her own company. Abby understands wanting to venture out on one’s own. Ashley couldn’t help but give him the benefit of the doubt a bit. She tears up admitting this.

At Devon’s place, Jill warns Devon this is an extreme reaction, but he thinks it’s a logical answer to the issues they’ve been having. He muses that there may be truth to what Nate said about him not wanting to give up control. Jill fumes, “This is a huge mistake.” She asks what Lily said about it. Devon hasn’t told her yet because he wanted to give Jill the respect of letting her know first. He warns if they try to prevent him from buying his company back, he won’t be quiet about his lack of support for the IPO.

At Newman Media, Audra finishes her pitch and asks if she can help define the long-term strategy for the division. Nate thinks she’s asked great questions and has a strong grasp of the company’s strong points. He thinks they could come up with specifics together. Victoria loves what Audra brings to the table so far. Audra will have more ideas if she gets the chance to dig in. Nate thanks her for coming in. Audra declares, “I’d be ready to give this a shot if you’ll have me.” Victoria thinks it seems she is interviewing them rather than the other way around. Audra is who she is and she doesn’t want to work anyplace that doesn’t want to hear her ideas. Victoria likes her style. She’ll leave the decision up to Nate. Once Victoria’s gone, Nate tells Audra, “That could have gone the other way.” She asks, “Are we doing this, or what?” Nate holds out his hand. “We’re doing this.”

At Jabot, Jack can’t believe Stark expects her to steal something from Nikki by tomorrow. Diane worries that security at the ranch is tight and considers asking Michael for help. Jack thinks that’s too risky. They can’t get Nikki involved but he has another idea. “Victor and Nikki have a pied-a-terre in Chicago.” He used to go there with Nikki and knows the entry code if they haven’t changed it. He also knows where she keeps jewelry for when she’s in town. Diane muses about getting past security. Jack relays that the staff knows him — he can get in and out, and give her the jewelry to give to Stark to prove her loyalty. “The deadline is looming.”

At the Abbott house, Phyllis admits Daniel told her some things and got her to see she was putting Summer in a horrible position. “I am so sorry. I just didn’t realize I was doing that to you.” She chokes up, telling Summer she means the world to her and then enthuses, “Let’s go to Paris now with Harrison. Or you could stay and we could fix this.” Summer will discuss it with Kyle, but she has her reasons for wanting the boy out of town. If nothing changes, they’ll be going.

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At Society, Ashley tells Abby she could use a little distance from Diane, Tucker, and even Jack. “I just think it’s best if I leave Genoa City for a while.”

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At the penthouse, Jill fumes on the video call about Devon threatening her. Devon feels strongly about getting his company back. He points out nothing’s gone according to plan since the launch party. He’d love to end things peacefully. Jill knows he’s been having some personal conflicts lately and urges him to take time to reconsider this. Devon doesn’t think that will change things. Jill’s sorry this is his decision. She’ll have to discuss it with Lily, but hopes he’ll change his mind. Devon remains firm — his decision is final.

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Next on The Young and the Restless: Victor gives Adam a reality check, Chance loses patience with Abby, and Devon and Lily disagree about how to handle a crisis.

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