The Young and The Restless Victoria and Cole Make a Shocking Request — and Adam Asks Sally for a Reset

In the Club dining room, Cole and Victoria go over the visit to see Claire in jail in Oregon. They realized that Jordan was running the show, not Claire.

Victoria laments the emotional abuse that was heaped on her since she was five years old.

Cole begins, “If the damage that was done to her cannot be undone…” Victoria doesn’t want to go there.

Michael appears and shakes hands with Cole — he didn’t realize he was in town. Cole tells him they have a shocking story to tell him. After they fill him in, they’re going to ask him to do something even more shocking.

At the ranch, Victor complains about Jordan, who is a damn menace walking around free tormenting Nikki, “This has got to stop now.” Nikki rants that she’s trying to bring her down in shame with the stripper music. She has no shame about dancing at the Bayou when she was young. She ruined her sobriety! Victor declares that come hell or high water he will find that woman before she can do more damage. They go over their rough day and Victor’s glad Nikki went to the AA meeting. Nikki suggests he go up to bed; she’ll be up shortly. Victor agrees and leaves the room. Nikki picks up her phone and then looks longingly at the vodka.

At the Club, Victoria and Cole have finished telling Michael that whole story of Claire and Jordan. He ruminates about the history and bad blood, and Cole and Victoria being forced to relive the grief of their daughter passing away. They have him wondering if Claire could actually be their child. Victoria says, “We met with her. She agreed to do a DNA test.” Cole says she’s pretty freaked out about being in jail; they told her they would find her a lawyer. Michael says he could go away for decades, “You’re going to have to find somebody good.” Suddenly, he realizes that they want him to represent Claire. He rants that after everything he’s heard that she did to terrorize the family… If there’s anyone who can get her out, it’s him, but if he succeeds, what then? “Do you have a plan?”

Victoria admits they haven’t thought that far ahead. Michael would request a comprehensive mental evaluation. Even if he can’t get her exonerated, he could have her put into a facility, which would get her out sooner. He asks if they really believe she could be their child. Even if she is, she’s an adult, and terrorized people she believed to be her family; she’s not blameless. Victoria hears him but she needs to know the truth. Cole says it seems pretty obvious to him that Jordan brainwashed Claire. Victoria asks Michael to talk to her. Perhaps he can gain some insight they couldn’t see.

Michael asks if they’ve spoken to Victor and Nikki about hiring him. Victoria assumes they’d try to talk them out of it. A DNA test is the only way out of this and the only way to do that is to get Claire a really good lawyer. Michael worries it’s a trap and that Claire and Jordan are making plans for after she’s acquitted. Cole insists they’re not naïve. Michael points out they already conned them once. If they get Claire out of jail, she and Jordan can go in for the kill this time. Cole asks Victoria how they can trust Claire. What if she leaves and goes back to Jordan. They’ll be dealing with a real fiasco. Michael suggests they find something with her DNA on it and then they wouldn’t have to rely on her to cooperate. Cole volunteers to go back to the house.

In her jail cell, Claire hears Victoria’s voice ringing in her mind, “I am not your mother. I am not your mother!” She hears a noise and looks up to see Aunt Jordan standing there. Claire’s jaw drops. Jordan tells her to be quiet, so as not to give her away. Getting in there was even more difficult than getting into the maternity ward when she was born. Jordan tells Claire she’s weak and that’s why she was caught, “But I’m not like you. I’m strong and savvy and determined to win.” Claire has let her down and now mother and father will think that poor little Claire is broken and can be managed, “They won’t fear you anymore.” She throws an old doll through the bars onto Claire’s cot. Suddenly, Claire awakens screaming. Jordan’s visit was a bad dream.

In her motel room, Jordan unpacks, placing a framed photo of her sister, Eve Howard, on the nightstand, and then removing a large knife from her bag along with three vials. Sitting on the bed, Jordan looks through an old photo album with photos of Victor and Eve and then angrily closes it.

At the ranch, Nikki gets two texts. The first is a photo of her in the bed at the lake house with her eyes closed, the second is a message: “She ne’er shall force an echo more. Thrilling to think, poor child of sin! It was the dead who groaned within.” Shaken, Nikki heads right to the bar and drinks vodka right from the bottle. She then pours some in her coffee cup.

The next day…

At Crimson Lights, Adam runs into Nick and asks if he has a minute. He’s been wondering where everyone has been and explains he’s been trying to get a hold of Victoria for the past three days about the Boswell deal. She hasn’t returned any of his messages. Dad, Nikki, and Nick have been around either. Nick says they’ve been dealing with a personal matter. Adam snarks, “A personal family matter that doesn’t concern me?” Nick nods, “Yeah.” He’s heading out when Sally arrives and bumps into him. He grimaces in pain.

Adam asks if he’s injured and whether it has anything to do with the personal family matter. Nick isn’t forthcoming. He walks out despite Sally calling, “Nick.” She wonders that that was about. Adam guesses he’s not had enough coffee. He tells Sally that something is up… they’ve all been MIA at work lately. He’ll find out what the big mystery is soon enough. He wants to know how she’s doing. Sally says she’s fine and asks what he’s been up to since they last saw each other. Adam says he’s mostly been thinking about her… a lot.

Victoria arrives at the ranch and Nikki asks how she’s feeling. Victoria came there to ask her that and goes over the horrible woman stealing her sobriety. Nikki went to a meeting and will go to another one today. She won’t let those women defeat her. Nikki asks what Victoria was thinking going to see Claire. Victor appears. He’d like to know that as well. Victoria says she and Cole went. It was overwhelming but they learned a lot, including how Jordan tried to destroy Claire’s personality for her own selfish reasons. She’ll tell them everything, but right now she wants them to know they’ve asked Michael to defend Claire. Victor gawps, “What?!” He rants that she needs to come to her senses — Claire brutalized her entire family, why would she want to defend her?!

Victoria tells her parents that Claire had no reason to ever doubt Jordan. She was indoctrinated. She agreed to take a DNA test if they got her a good lawyer. Cole has gone to the lake house to find something with her DNA on it as a back-up. Nikki and Victor are concerned about the idea of Claire roaming around free. Victoria felt compelled to help Claire — she saw the pain and loneliness in her eyes — she was a victim too. Nikki holds up her hands, “I’m sorry but I cannot accept this. I cannot see Claire as anything other than the monster that she is.” Victoria argues she needs help. Nikki asks if she’ll feel as kindly if she’s not her daughter. Victoria says yes; she would like Claire to have a better future. Victor argues that she comes from a family with enormous mental problems — she can’t go easier on her. Nick walks in and tells his sister if she pursues things with Claire it could put them back on Jordan’s radar. Victoria argues if this is her baby it changes everything. Nick asks if Nikki got a good night’s sleep. Nikki says it will be a while before that happens. Victor declares that Nikki has withstood the assault on her sobriety, “I’m very proud of you.”

Michael meets with Claire in the jail holding room. He introduces himself and explains that he hasn’t decided to take her case yet, but he’s her best shot at getting out of there. Claire says she’s grateful for any help she can get, “Just tell me what I have to do.”

Michael asks Claire to tell the truth and gets her assurance that she will uphold her part of the deal by doing a DNA test. He asks if Jordan has tried to contact her since her arrest. Claire replies, “Only in my nightmares.” Claire explains she grew up trained for one thing, “To hate my mother and father and all the Newmans.” She taught her that they were undeserving of understanding and mercy. Michael relays that Jordan and Eve were estranged for years; she couldn’t possibly have known how the Newmans treated her sister. Claire tells him that didn’t faze her. She was going to pay them back if it was the last thing she did. Claire had no reason to believe anything different. She was told she was discarded because of her connection to Eve. She was more than happy to help her fulfill her life’s mission. She had to train to get behind their emotional walls and did everything Jordan told her like a good little soldier. “It was the closest thing I ever had to a mother’s love.” She cries that when she saw her real mother, she wanted her to instinctively know she was her child and to tell her that they made a mistake in giving her up and that she deserves their love. “But they didn’t say that, and they never will.”

At the ranch, Nick asks if Nikki is ready to go back to Newman Media. Nikki can just picture all the work that’s piled up. Nick and Victor go off to work and Victoria asks Nikki if she needs extra support. Nikki asks, “What are you suggesting?” Victoria muses, “Someone trained to help you deal with everything you’ve gone through.” Sometimes it’s not enough to be determined. Nikki’s phone dings. She picks it up and her jaw drops. Victoria asks what it is. Nikki snaps, “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Victoria asks her mother not to shut her out, “Let me help you.”

At Crimson Lights, Sally tells Adam she hasn’t figured out what the night they spent together meant yet. It changed things; how could it not, but even if they did go down that road again, they would probably fail. They should know better. Because of who they are, what they had, and what they lost, the stakes are really high. Adam argues it might succeed in ways they never expected. He’d like to leap off that cliff hand-in-hand. If they crash, she can hate him for the rest of his life and he’ll accept it. Maybe this time fate will be on their side for once. Can they at least have dinner? Sally smiles, “Sure.”

At the jail, Claire tells Michael that what Jordan told her for her entire life wasn’t true. Her parents didn’t abandon her; she stole her. What else could she have lied about. “My entire life is meaningless,” she cries. Michael asks, “Do you need a moment.” Claire shakes her head. She wanted to hurt her parents after what she endured, but to find out Jordan had lied, “She robbed me.” Claire saved her parents’ lives in the end but she doesn’t see them forgiving her. Claire just wants to get out and leave all of this behind. “So, Mr. Baldwin, will you help me?”

In her motel room, Jordan tells a photo of Victor and Nikki, “So, you think you’re so invincible. That you’ve won, that you can’t ever lose. Well, the high and mighty are going to fall and they’re never going to get back up.” She turns to Eve’s photos, “All for you, my sister. All for you.”

In the Club dining room, Cole and Victoria go over the visit to see Claire in jail in Oregon. They realized that Jordan was running the show, not Claire. Victoria laments the emotional abuse that was heaped on her since she was five years old. Cole begins, “If the damage that was done to her…