Summer Diane Jack Y&R
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

Chelsea walks into Crimson Lights and finds Billy sitting alone and completely out of it. He says he’s lost track of time. She asks, “Something’s wrong? What happened?” She assumes he’s upset about their kiss but he sets her straight — it was the highlight of his night and the best part of the past month. “It’s got nothing to do with you, Chelsea,” he explains. “I just got a phone call and Phyllis is dead.” Chelsea’s stunned.

At the GCAC, Danny herds Daniel into a suite and warns him to keep his voice down; people are hearing the threats he’s making against Stark. Daniel fumes that he’s manifesting his death and bellows, “Why did you make me come back up here?!” Danny says it’s too late to accomplish anything and there’s nothing any of them can do right now. Daniel hollers that there has to be something they can do. Someone has to be responsible! Danny says Phyllis is gone and they have to accept it. Daniel yells that if this happened to one of them, Phyllis would be kicking ass and taking names. “I just feel like there’s nothing I can do for her.” What hurts the most is that he can’t blame her death on anyone else. “She’s dead because of me.”

More: Kelly Ripa rips sexism in daytime TV

Daniel details the way he treated his mother in the past month. He pushed her out of his life. Daniel wishes he had seen the signs but instead he turned his back on her. Danny urges him not to do this; he’ll drive himself crazy. Daniel complains that they’re supposed to have time to forgive and forget. Danny tells him to hang onto the good memories. Daniel smirks, sighs, and sits down. “You know what I’m going to remember? I’m going to remember that I was the one who called her out in front of the whole town and broke her heart.”

At Society, Elena tells Nate, “I can’t help but feel we let Phyllis down somehow.” She laments how tragic the whole thing was and wonders if they knew the EMT driver she died with. Elena can’t understand why the seemingly healthy woman passed out, out of the blue. They owe it to her to find some answers. Elena picks up her phone. Nate didn’t envision the night ending this way. He recalls watching her in the lounge dedicated to Neil. “All night, all I could picture was taking you home and…” Elena was thinking the same thing. Nate says, “I miss you.” Elena misses him too. She turns her attention back to her phone and getting answers for Phyllis.
Elena Nate Y&R

At the Abbott house, Jack tells Diane that gala was a memorable night for all the wrong reasons. She can’t help but feel their engagement announcement had something to do with what happened to Phyllis. Ashley walks in. Diane tells her it’s not the time for a fight. “Save it. I am not in the mood.” Ashley agrees there’s been enough conflict for one night and says she’s heartbroken over Phyllis, who seemed indestructible. Kyle appears and says Summer’s sitting with Harrison, hardly speaking. Jack brings up Jeremy’s claim that he married Phyllis and Ashley says marrying someone who is universally despised is kind of like pouring salt on the wound of those who really care. She looks directly at Jack as she makes her point. Diane rolls her eyes.
Ashley Diane Jack Y&R

In the suite at the GCAC, Daniel goes over how Phyllis felt betrayed by her own kids and laments, “It wasn’t supposed to end like this.” Danny says it’s going to take some time and urges him to get some rest. Daniel can’t right now. Danny says punishing himself won’t bring his mother back. If he can’t sleep, he should go to the gym or do whatever he needs to get out of the downward spiral. Daniel says okay and he’s sorry for acting like he’s the only one who’s suffering. Danny assures him they’ll support each other. Daniel decides to go for a shower. Danny hugs him, “I love you.” Daniel, emotional, says, “I love you too.” He then asks, “What the hell are we going to do without her?!” Once Daniel goes into the restroom, Danny calls Lily, who asks how Daniel’s holding up. She assumed he was with Summer. Danny says he’s not with his sister and is in a really dark place right now.

More: Ride preview!

At the Abbott house, Diane informs Ashley that she can’t compare her relationship with Jack to whatever criminal activity Jeremy and Phyllis had going on. Ashley snaps at her that it’s not the time to speak ill of the dead, especially with her daughter grieving upstairs. She tells Kyle to let her know if she can do anything and then leaves the room. Kyle wants them to set aside their differences for now. Summer suddenly appears. Diane says, “I can’t imagine what a terrible time this is for you.” Summer retorts, “No, you can’t.” Jack and Diane assure her they’ll get to the bottom of this. Diane blames Jeremy and is sorry Summer’s mother paid the price. Summer steps toward her and yells, “You’re sorry?! You caused this! All of this!”
Kyle Ashley Y&R

Diane argues she had nothing to do with whatever plan Jeremy came up with. “I was as shocked and horrified by what happened tonight as anyone!” Summer hollers that this isn’t about Jeremy, “This is about you, Diane!” She reminds Jack and Kyle, “We were all there! We were all witnesses! You said to my mom you would be doing the world a favor if you strangled her to death. You were furious with her and now she’s dead.” Diane insists she said that in the heat of the moment, “I mean this from the bottom of my heart…” Summer interrupts with laughter at the idea of Diane’s infamous heart. Jack insists tonight was an accident. Summer wonders if there’s a word for a random event that benefits certain people. Kyle tries to lead Summer upstairs but she jerks away and hollers, “No! Nothing is going to change by the morning!” She turns back to Diane and screams, “You have no right to talk about my mom! You didn’t like her! We all knew that. You resented her because she knew exactly who you are and as long as she was alive you would have no real place here!” She continues, “You couldn’t be her so you had to destroy her.” Jack tries to intervene but Summer balks, “No! I didn’t speak up before but I am going to now. My mom was right!”
Summer Diane Jack Y&R

Summer tells Diane, “You really are the monster that she was warning us about. You did every single thing that she said you would. You came in and you took over her life. You’re standing there clutching your pearls? Saying you’ll find the real culprit?!” Kyle says, “I’m sorry, Mom. She doesn’t mean it.” Summer spins on him and fumes, “She means every damn word. Kyle! This is me being honest for the first time in a very long time.” She invites Diane to try it. “My mom’s dead. It’s what you’ve wanted for a very long time, isn’t it?”
Kyle Summer Diane Jack Y&R

At Crimson Lights, Chelsea tells Billy she’s so sorry about Phyllis. He says it’s shocking. They go over how she once meant everything to him. After their break-up they got back to a decent place. He recalls they brought out the worst in each other, but says her being gone just feels wrong.
Billy Chelsea Y&R

At Society, Elena tells Nate the situation has made her realize she has to let the people in her life know how much they mean to her. She remarks on how nice it was to work with him again. Nate enjoyed it too but reminds her that’s his past. His life is moving in a new direction and he needs her to accept it.
Elena Nate Y&R

In his suite at the GCAC, Daniel comes out from his shower and is stunned to see Lily there. She explains his father let her in. They embrace. He’s glad Lily is there — being with someone who’s not going through the same emotional minefield as him will do him some good. Lily sighs, “I’ve been there.” Daniel knows she’s familiar with this territory and asks, “What was it like for you? Losing Neil?” Lily says it felt like the end of the world losing someone who was there from the beginning. The hardest part is the suddenness of it. “I was angry too.” Daniel asks, “What about when your mom died?” Lily recalls they never found her body so that’s a whole other trauma she doesn’t let herself think about. How could someone so much larger than life just be gone? “But you have to let go.” Daniel chuckles, “That’s going to be a problem.” Lily tells him grief is love with nowhere to go. Daniel says it feels like it’s going to hurt forever. Lily says it will but it will get better. “Just know that you have people who love you and want to support you, okay?”
Daniel Lily Y&R

In the Abbott living room, Diane insists she never wanted actual harm to come to Phyllis. What she said to her were just words. Summer demands to know how Diane felt when she heard that her mother was dead. Kyle begins, “Maybe we should go upstairs, and…” Summer cries that she needs to know and breaks down. Kyle convinces her to go upstairs and talk. Summer sobs, “I just miss her so much. I can’t do it, I can’t.” Kyle helps her up the staircase. Diane chokes up, “Poor girl.” Jack assures Diane that Summer needs someone to blame and won’t remember this tomorrow. Diane asks if he thinks she’s responsible for what happened to Phyllis.

At Crimson Lights, Chelsea and Billy think Genoa City without Phyllis will be a lot quieter. She says she left her mark on the town and has a lot to be proud of. Billy apologizes for being a lousy date. This isn’t how he thought the night would end. Chelsea wants him to sleep on her sofa so he’s not alone. He’ll take her up on the offer.
Billy Y&R

At Society, Elena assures Nate that she supports the direction his life is taking, she just doesn’t want it to change him. “There are people who can bring out the best in us and people who can bring out the less attractive aspects of ourselves.” He asks if this is about Victoria again. He is lucky to have her guidance and respect. Nate needs some rest but Elena wants to stay and will walk home later. Nate kisses her and goes.

More: See Conner Floyd’s “life dump”

In Daniel’s suite, Lily tells him she thinks of her parents a few dozen times every day. As time goes on the pain lessens and you start thinking about the things that went wrong and instead how you made them proud. She urges him to grieve the way he needs to and suggests he get into bed and try to rest. Daniel agrees. He’ll call her tomorrow. Lily will stay right there and tucks him in.

At the Abbott mansion, Diane needs to hear what’s in Jack’s head and heart. “I saw the look in your eyes when you found us fighting in that suite.” She knows he was ready to blame her for the altercation. “Maybe you thought I wanted her out of commission while we made our announcement.” She swears she had nothing to do with what happened to Phyllis. “I need you to be completely honest with me.” Diane asks, “Do you think I’m innocent.” Jack has a mountain of questions about what happened to Phyllis and she’s not part of any of them. “You should never have to question, ever.” Diane breaks down sobbing in his arms.
Diane Jack Y&R

At Society, Elena looks up JT Hellstrom’s name on her phone.

More: How Elena’s plan will backfire

At the Abbott mansion, Jack tells Diane he can’t help but feel that Jeremy had a hand in this somehow. “If it’s a setup it’s the ultimate payback.” Diane wonders what will happen next. Jack reminds her she knows him. Diane thinks there will be more mind games. Jack feels they should get some sleep and assures her again that he has unshakeable faith in her. They embrace.

In Daniel’s suite, He struggles to sleep. Lily watches him and then moves to lie in bed beside him and put her arms around him.
Lily Daniel Y&R

Someone unseen walks into a hotel room with 158 on the door. Inside, another door opens and Phyllis appears. She says, “Took you long enough.”
Phyllis Y&R

More: Thad Luckinbill’s TV return is set

Next on The Young and the Restless: Victor and Jack join forces, Michael receives a disturbing message, and Nikki takes matters into her own hands.

All new! Don’t miss these hot shots of your faves in Neil’s jazz lounge in the gallery below.

Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Miss today’s episode? Catch up via Paramount Plus