Fighting with Jack, Ashley Declares That She’s Engaged to Tucker — and Nate and Audra Plot Their Next Move

In Victoria’s office at Newman, she and her mother are discussing a deal in Dubai. She notices that Nikki is staring at her with an odd look. Her mother admits she’s wondering what’s giving her a “glow.” Victoria claims it was the oxygen facial but her mother suggests the energy around her is crackling. It’s the kind of energy you get when you go for the kill. She asks if the big victory was over Elena when she stormed out yesterday. Her daughter explains that Elena did not pull punches and she’s not proud they hurt her. However, she’s glad Elena knows so she can move on and heal while she and Nate can have a relationship out in the open. He’s a real part of her life now and everyone has to accept it. Nikki wants her to be happy. “Then just be happy for me,” her daughter vents, complaining about how everyone keeps questioning her relationship with Nate. She goes on about their synergy and her mother reminds her of what happened when she had the same feelings about Ashland and JT. If Nate is making her happy, Nikki gives her blessing and says it’s time she let her trust her daughter’s own instincts. But she’s sure caution and moderation will be good things to practice. Hugging her, Victoria thanks her for her support.

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Victoria wanders into Society and finds Adam eating alone. They immediately begin bickering and she lets him know that Newman Media is a threat to his new company. When she stalks over the bar, he follows. They taunt each other. She thinks he’s destined to run his company into the ground and he thinks that she’s feeling threatened. Victoria tells him he’ll be keeping McCall on life-support while they roll over him. He’s always admired her confidence but looks forward to proving her wrong. She dismisses him as a “bump in the road.” Business requires a cool head and he’s too emotional for it. Her brother reminds her that he knows the working of Newman Media better than anyone. “Let the battle begin,” he says.

Audra joins Nate in her suite at the GCAC. He tells her they had to meet somewhere they wouldn’t be heard. His news is only for her. As she pours them drinks, she tells him about Elena running off in a fury and he fills her in about the confrontation at the office. He feels guilty. She tells him not to beat himself up. He complains about Devon lashing out at him. Audra says that he can’t throw a pity party because people are annoyed he’s screwed them over. Nate complains about Nick suspecting he’s gunning for his job. She’s sure that he has real feelings for Victoria, but that’s a problem because feelings can make you sloppy. He’s lucky that she has him to watch his back. She’s not sure what the point of this conversation is. All they’ve learned is that Nick is on guard and being protective. Pacing, he explains that Victoria doesn’t have a problem with him moving up in the company at all. She admits she wasn’t shy about telling Victoria that she’d like his job some day. Nate knows. Victoria already told him about her ambitions. He said he admired that. “We’re a team now,” he tells her, and that means no unilateral moves. An opportunity may be on the horizon. A showdown with Adam could be coming and they could parlay that to advance their careers. She knows everything about McCall and that will make it easy for them to win but she thinks it could take some time. When she suggests they fast track this, he tells her they can’t. It won’t be easy to oust Nick and Nikki from the company. He needs to put in the time and get to know Victoria on a much deeper level so he can helm the company when the time comes. Audra notes that he seems to be saying “I” a lot for someone who just told her they are a team.

Summer and Kyle are having breakfast at the GCAC and discussing day camps they can send Harrison to. Things are tense. She’s sorry about that. Her fury about Diane spilled over to him and she shut him out. It was wrong. He admits that he felt like the enemy and that hurt but he knows she was hurting more. However, her mother is alive and she can let go of that pain now. She says her grief has turned into terror and worries about what will happen when the police go looking for her mom. Taking her hand, he says he’s sure that seeing her mom again will make things right and promises to make that happen. She doesn’t feel like she deserves all his support so he reminds her of how much she helped him when his mom came back from the dead. After promising everything will work out, Kyle leaves to take a call about the leather factory.

Daniel drifts in and tells his sister they need to discuss their mom. She’s all talked out. He doesn’t think being angry will solve anything. Kyle returns with Lucy. She says she’s sorry about what Phyllis and Stark did to Diane. Kyle appreciates that and leads her off to the spa for her manicure.

“You told Lucy?” Summer asks her brother, appalled. Is he going to take out an ad and tell the whole world next? He thinks telling the truth is the right thing but his sister doesn’t if it means their mom lands in prison. Daniel doesn’t think that keeping the truth a secret is fair on Kyle or Diane. She knows. She’s been calling Phyllis but not getting a response. That makes her worry their mom already knows he’s told half the city she’s alive and made everything worse.

When Kyle returns, Daniel tells his sister they should talk soon and takes off. Kyle asks his wife when she will cut her brother a break. Flustered, she can’t do this and wants to go. He stops her and asks what he has to do to convince her he’s on her side. Her phone starts ringing and she’s eager to step away. Her husband asks what could be more important than what they are discussing. She answers but they are gone. After he trudges off, she gets an anonymous text requesting a meeting and hopes it is from her mom.

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At the Abbott house, Tucker tells furious Jack that he doesn’t like his tone. Jack demands to know where his sister is. McCall threatens to make his life hell if he hurts Ashley. She arrives and orders her brother to back off. Jack wants Tucker to leave but he won’t. He explains that he knows his sister was plotting a coup against him and threatens to destroy her if she tries. He accuses Tucker of being in on this and they bicker about saving the family company. She thinks Diane will drag them all down and Jack says Ashley is the only threat to the family. “No more! This has to stop,” Diane demands as she walks in. This house has turned into a battleground. She urges Ashley to show some respect. This irritates Ashley, who suggests that Diane move into the pool house. It’s almost exactly as it was before she burned it down. Jack tells his sister that he has been maintaining this house for years while she’s come and gone. Diane is more a part of this family than Tucker will ever be. “Diane is your fiancée and Tucker is mine,” Ashley declares. Tucker’s eyes dart around. “Is this some kind of joke?” Jack asks. Diane notices Tucker looks as surprised as they are. Tucker stands beside his fiancée, happy to hear the words from her mouth. Jack thinks this is a nasty, petty, little game. Ashley claims their engagement is a testament to love, change, and forgiveness. That makes Tucker beam. He listens as his bride-to-be goes on about how he surprises her every day in a good way with his attempts to be a good man. She points out what a fraud Diane is and tells Jack that he’s turned his back on everything in his life to fixate on being Diane’s hero. As she exits, she tells Diane to hold onto her bridal magazines because she’s going to need them.

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Once Tucker and Ashley are gone, Jack wonders how it reached the point that everything is a battle. He worries that he has been selfish and obsessive. Diane loves how protective he is. He wishes he could throw Ashley and McCall out. Diane says that Ashley wasn’t wrong about everything. But even if his sister has every right to be angry with her given that she thinks she’s a killer, that doesn’t mean that the family they have together isn’t important. Jack thinks that she has a marvelous generosity of spirit and that makes him love her even more.

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Ashley and Tucker go to Chancellor Park and she vents about her sanctimonious brother. She thanks him for defending her to Jack. “We are engaged, right?” he asks. They smirk at each other. She thanks him for the idea. It was great to mess with Jack. McCall wonders if there’s more to it than that. She claims she can see the good in him. She sees the man he can be and she cares about him. He reminds her she said she loved him at the house. Was that just for dramatic effect or can she look him in the eye and say it again?

Next on The Young and the Restless: Phyllis makes a bold move.

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