Hey, Jack. It's me.
Just wanted to check in.
Obviously, that news story was a gut punch.
And Victor is a son of a bitch.
And his Mini-Me son doing his dirty work once again--
not surprising.
Look, I know you're probably doing damage control,
so no need to call me back, okay?
I'll just, uh, I'll see you later.
Whoo.
Hey.
Hi. We did it.
Yes, we did.
Abbott communications is officially
-up and running. -Cheers to you.
Tonight was beautiful.
Mm. Thank you. I don't know why I was so nervous.
I told you you were gonna be amazing, did I not?
I know, but with all the back and forth
and the not knowing if we were actually gonna get money
for the company--
-Thank you, Jill. -Ha ha.
Hey. She at least deserves that.
Fine. I'll do it for you. Thank you, Mom.
See? Wasn't so hard.
You have no idea.
And thank you, too, Billy.
I was simply your plus-one.
You were a rock star tonight
and everyone in this room knows it now.
Well, if I was anything at all,
it's because I have you in my corner.
Anytime I doubted myself
or I wondered what I got myself into,
I just looked over at you
and I knew that everything was gonna be okay.
'Cause I knew that I wasn't alone
and I knew that I had a partner.
We make quite the team, don't we?
Mm-hmm. The best.
And I also...
I really appreciate you being able to focus
on our company tonight.
I know that was not easy for you.
Yeah. Thanks to Victor,
the unfortunate gift that keeps on giving.
Man. Those Newman Media articles came out of nowhere.
It's funny to me
that Adam actually thinks that he runs Newman Media.
He doesn't. He's a puppet.
Victor's the one in charge, so it's not surprising
that he would use tonight
to release all those lies about Jabot, you know?
Two birds, one stone.
I know you're trying to put on a good face for me,
but can you be honest, Billy?
Are we really sure that Newman Media
made all that stuff up?
JACK: No, no, no. Any rumors of Jabot's demise
are wrong.
We are moving some assets around.
It's all part of our corporate restructuring.
We are fine. We're better than fine.
We are thriving.
Yes, you can quote me on that.
Thank you for checking in.
That was some pretty nice
-tap dancing, Dad. -Thanks.
Are any of the business reporters
buying our version of the story?
Well, they're gonna say what we tell them,
but I'm not sure anyone's
gonna believe it.
How do things look online?
Well, not good.
The news outlets are all running with the attack
from Newman Media.
They're putting their own spin on it.
Like sharks in the water.
Well, we can do whatever
repair we can do tonight, but tomorrow
we're gonna be talking to our business partners,
reassuring them the lights on Jabot are staying on.
-[phone buzzes] -Oh, excuse me.
-It's our crisis PR team. -Yeah, take it.
Okay, yeah.
Yes, Kate, I-I know it's bad.
-How did he know? -Victor?
We knew he would find out eventually.
We had a strategy for that.
How did he mobilize his attack dogs so quickly?
It's like he knew what was coming.
You don't think there's a mole, do you?
Everyone we told about our plan I trust completely.
Somehow, Victor has eyes and ears everywhere.
That's how he hit us before we were expecting it.
So what do we do going forward? What's the plan?
The crisis team says we keep denying that Jabot's in trouble,
we reassure our customers and suppliers, and...
we do a lot of praying.
-And when that doesn't work? -I'm not gonna sugarcoat this.
This may be the end of us.
♪♪
DANIEL: Quite a night, huh?
Seems like no one can throw a party in this town
without some kind of earthquake going off in the middle of it.
Yeah, uh, yeah.
It was full of surprises.
Hey, if Jabot is really going down,
what does that mean for Summer and for Marchetti?
I wouldn't bury Jabot just yet.
Right. But those stories paint a pretty grim picture.
I mean, they've been quietly closing divisions?
A company as solid as Jabot moving money around?
At best, it seems suspicious,
and at worst, they're a sinking ship.
Yeah. Don't paint that picture for your sister, please.
No, of course not.
You know she can read, though, right?
Yeah, I know. I'm just gonna call her later tonight, okay?
I already called her. I left her a message.
-Oh, you left her a message? -Mm-hmm.
What'd you say?
It wasn't anything bad. Oh, thank you.
Just told her to reach out to me when she got a chance.
Okay, well, it's still kind of early in Milan
and, um, maybe she's had a good night's sleep
before all--all of the stuff starts hitting the fan.
Mm. It doesn't make any sense, though.
Jabot's always been such a rock.
How could things fall apart for them so quickly?
You wouldn't have any ideas about that, would you?
You see what I'm seeing?
Looks like a record number of hits
-on the Newman Media platform. -Wow!
This story has only been out for a few hours, and...
I mean, it seems the whole world is...
look at this.
Yep. The power of the press.
-Are you all right? -Hmm?
Yeah, sure, I mean, we hit a home run.
It was a real triumph.
Well, you don't seem very triumphant.
You know, it's just...
it's been a long night.
I'm gonna tell you what I told Michael Baldwin.
There's no reason to feel any remorse at all.
Jack Abbott brought this onto himself.
We are merely reporting the facts, all right?
Yeah, with a good dose of conjecture.
Why do I sense this hesitation in you?
There's no reason to be remorseful.
Oh, good, you're here.
I wanted to share the numbers on the Jabot stories.
They are off the charts.
Oh, I'm sure they are.
What I was wondering
is why I wasn't told this was even happening.
I don't know why Jabot is tanking.
Why would I know? I don't know why.
I mean...
your guess is as good as mine.
Right, well, guessing is all we've got right now.
Jack sure didn't seem to have any good answers.
He was obviously blindsided by all this.
Yeah. He didn't give me a hint
of how he was feeling.
Why would he single you out?
I mean, he didn't talk to anybody.
You know I'm not anyone.
You know that. I mean, we were married.
So we've known each other for years.
Mm. Yes. Some of those years, they weren't so great.
I'm just surprised why-- why he didn't tell me anything.
I just, um...
I'm really shocked, because I walked to him
and he just turned his back and he walked away, so...
But this isn't really about you.
-Okay. -I me--I mean, it is
because of Summer, right?
But I mean...what this really is
is it's Jack's information to tell to
whoever he feels comfortable telling it to.
Okay. And why would he not wanna tell me?
Well, you know, historically speaking...
you always haven't been the most
reliable person in the world to tell things to,
'cause you just...
never know where that news might end up?
Chelsea, are you having problems with the Jabot story?
Oh, it's a legitimate news story.
Yeah. My issue is it was news to me as well.
And, yeah, I have a problem with that.
Okay, it happened very fast, and we didn't have time to--
Have time to what, Adam, give me a heads up?
I am your partner at Newman Media.
-[softly] I know. -I should have had an inkling
that this was coming down. Instead, I was just left
standing there, blindsided with Victoria
like some idiot, not knowing what the hell was going on.
-It was embarrassing. -Well, what did you
-tell everyone? -I told them the truth,
that tonight was the first I heard of it.
Not only does that make me look bad,
but it's not a good look for Newman Media
for one of their top executives to be left in the dark.
It couldn't be helped.
Come on, Victor, you couldn't have shot me a text
or some cryptic message?
ADAM: Chelsea, I'm sorry that it went down this way.
Adam, how would you have felt
if you were standing in that room,
being forced to answer questions you knew nothing about?
Then you withhold comment until you have more information.
Well, that's... that's what I did.
Good.
Then we can move on.
Am I being dismissed?
I think you have made yourself rather clear.
Apparently not well enough.
Do I need to remind you that I own Newman Media?
That you two work at my discretion?
And I had to do what I did for reasons
that are mine.
And I don't want to have you question it.
Is that clear?
[huffs]
"Jabot quietly shuts down divisions."
"Is the cosmetics juggernaut failing?"
Well, here's a good one.
"Holiday woes for the cosmetics giant."
-Geez. -My God. These are only
the legitimate business outlets saying all of this right now.
Oh, my God. The social media platforms are even worse.
"Something stinks at the perfume powerhouse.
What is the makeup company really covering up?"
Yeah. Everyone loves a scandal online.
And a chance to run amok on metaphors, apparently.
Man, all of this from one Newman Media article?
You know the way the press works.
-If it bleeds, it leads. -Yeah, well, the sharks
are definitely circling.
I mean, there's some legitimate concerns about Jabot.
Yeah, but not in the way people think.
Look, I know this was the plan to protect the company
while Victor's holding Cane's AI software over Jack
and quietly transferring assets
so that there's no company for Victor to actually attack.
I know. It's a ruse.
But the truth is, Jabot's fine.
It really is. It's actually better than ever.
It's a pretty risky strategy, don't you think?
Oh, I agree, but we talked about it as a family,
and we decided this was the best option we had.
Yeah, but I mean, it gives Victor the last laugh
using Newman Media to trash Jabot
and make it look like it's going out of business.
I hear you, but you know what?
We hadn't even got to stage two yet.
Thought we had more time.
Yeah. Well, this whole thing is just gonna feed on itself.
It's gonna get bigger, it's gonna get uglier,
and Jabot could actually go out of business because of all this.
What are you doing? Who are you calling?
We're a media company too, aren't we?
-Yes, we are, but Sally-- -Okay, well,
we can't just sit around and talk about it, you know?
We actually gotta get to work.
We have to put out some positive articles
and stop Newman Media in their tracks.
-No. -Why?
-We can't. -But Billy--
Jack, you're not giving up, are you?
Hell, no. I will fight for this company
with my last breath if I have to.
No, I'm being realistic. We're in a terrible spot right now.
Okay, let's just take a step back.
Right now, it's just a lot of press gossip.
None of these Newman Media stories have any attribution.
And a lot of people know
Victor's always had it in for you.
DIANE: Yes. And you've got a stellar reputation
leading Jabot-- the reputable press knows that.
They'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
I will talk to them and maybe that will buy us some time.
-You don't think it'll work? -Maybe. I don't know.
Let's talk about who the enemy is.
Victor Newman. What do we know about him?
Uh, besides the fact that he's the devil?
-Serious. -No, I am being serious.
He is a despicable, hateful person.
How does he fight, Diane?
Does he ever make just one move?
No. You're right.
Victor wouldn't be relying on just bad press to kill Jabot.
There's got to be another shoe he's going to drop.
So now we're down to three questions.
What, when, and where?
SALLY: You really don't wanna fight them?
Of course I wanna fight. I wanna pin Victor
up against a wall.
But that's not how we handle this.
Okay, well, if we're not gonna set the record straight,
then who's gonna do it? 'Cause Newman Media's
definitely not gonna back off.
I agree with that.
But if we counter their lies and propaganda with a puff piece
about how great Jabot's doing,
how do you think that's gonna look?
Like we're protecting one of our own.
And it could make things worse.
You really don't think it's worth the risk, Billy?
It's all about perception, Sally.
Look, the reality is Jabot is doing great.
It's doing better than ever.
But if we use one Abbott company to prop up
and support another Abbott company,
people are gonna think there's fire underneath Victor's smoke.
Not to mention it could damage
Abbott Communications' reputation before
-we even get out the gate. -Exactly.
Yeah, you're right. No, it was a really dumb idea.
No, it's not a dumb idea.
Trust me, my first instinct was to punch too.
Look, we can cover it as a legitimate news story
with no bias in either direction.
Well, thank you for talking me down.
You know what I love about your suggestion?
You're fighting for the family.
Almost makes you one of us, doesn't it?
Well, it still doesn't solve the problem
of what's gonna happen with Jabot.
No.
We're gonna have to trust Jack
and Kyle and Diane.
Trust that they can figure out a way to survive.
Okay, I agree. Victor probably has another move up his sleeve,
but that doesn't mean we should question everything we've done
to protect Jabot--we all agreed it was our best option.
Yes. It was either that
or open the door to that AI software,
and that, we know, would have been a disaster.
And at least this way,
we're still in control of all of our assets.
Yes. It's the only way we could survive.
KYLE: So I guess we keep doing interviews
to push back against the Newman Media blitz.
I'll hit the road and hold every buyer,
supplier, and employee hand if I have to
so they know that all is well.
We tell them that this is just temporary.
And we keep the time frame vague.
And then we spin it so that we're taking this time
to build a bigger, better house.
You know a little bit about that, don't you?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.
So what do you think, Dad? You up for this plan?
It's fine as far as it goes,
but eventually our customers are going to sense
that this is about a lot more
than building a bigger, better Jabot.
Okay, so we come up with something else.
It's like you said--we just have to buy ourselves time.
Until we fix the real problem, though,
our competitors are going to step in and fill the void.
That's how this business works. You know that.
Nobody cares about our problems.
Their only concern is what can you give to us now?
And the truth is, there's not a lot we can do,
and Victor knows that.
I understand how you felt out of the loop
regarding the release of the stories tonight.
But as Adam may have told you...
things happening at lightning speed.
We had to act quickly.
I-I get all that. I really do. I-I--
I guess it just would have been nice
to have some advanced notice is all.
Just know that we...
value you here, all right?
I do. Thank you.
But I do have to ask you, why tonight?
What triggered this?
Jack made a countermove
to protect Jabot's assets from the AI program.
And he shut down all e-commerce so far.
I mean, he has no online sales, and Chels, that...
is news.
Yeah, but you didn't just release a news article.
I mean, you're implying that Jack Abbott's entire company's
on the rocks.
Don't you think people are gonna question the source?
Look, my issues with Jack Abbott
will always be grist for the gossip mill, all right?
It's just the way it is.
But we're telling the truth now.
Jabot is finished.
And we are merely shining a light on it.
Are you saying there's more on the way?
Let me just say that we'll
continue to cover the story, if that's what you're asking.
It's not what I'm asking, but it does seem to me, Victor,
that you have more plans in the works.
So I'm just wondering...
are you gonna let me in on that?
Well, that's a fine thing to say to your mother.
Why are you doing this to me, Daniel?
Why are you talking to me like this?
Listen, it's from years and years of seeing you in action.
I mean, I could see your wheels turning
the way you were talking to Jack tonight.
-I can read you like a book. -Oh, my God!
What are you implying?
I mean--don't tell me! It's usually something negative.
-It doesn't surprise me. -Oh, okay, well,
that's a non-answer if I've ever heard one.
Okay, do you have a question? I didn't hear a question.
Yes, I have a question.
Why were you pumping Jack for information tonight?
Because I'm interested in critical information
about Jabot.
I'm worried about your sister's company.
Okay. I mean, that might be true to a point,
-but that's not all of it. -How do you know that?
Because I know you.
Leave Summer out of it for a second, okay?
What do you care what happens to Jabot?
I mean, there's no love lost between you and Jack,
certainly not between you and Diane.
Jack and Ashley, they gave you the boot from that company
years ago, and I would think, if anything,
you would be doing a happy dance on Jabot's grave,
but you're not, and that just makes me wonder.
Wonder what?
If you have some other agenda
that you're not telling me about, so what--what is it?
Why are you so anxious for Jabot to survive?
You know, I don't envy my brother.
I'm sure we all have...
you know, we all have stock in Jabot,
but this is Jack's company.
-Yeah. -He's been the one constant
-the whole time. -It's a lot of pressure.
It's a hell of a lot of pressure.
And I know Jack. He...
he sees himself as carrying the legacy from our father.
And if this company fails,
he's gonna take responsibility for that.
Even if that's not true, that's how he's gonna feel.
It's gonna be his fault.
That's very hateful on Adam and Victor's part.
I'm glad you're finally seeing your old friend
for who he really is-- Adam the opportunist.
Jumping through every possible hoop just to please his daddy.
Yeah. What I would really like to do
is wipe the smiles off their faces
and give them a taste of their own medicine.
But I know we can't. I know not yet.
That's my girl.
Don't worry, we'll get our chance,
and when we do, we'll smack 'em with everything we have.
You do realize that all of this press
could bleed over into Abbott Communications, right?
Guilt by association.
And we are gonna respond to that, right?
Hell, yeah, we're gonna respond to that.
As if building a company on its own
wasn't challenging enough-- now we have Victor, once again,
making it 10,000 times more challenging.
I am 100% confident you will handle
whatever Victor throws your way.
And I'll be right there alongside you,
supporting you and cheering you on.
You already are, Billy.
I couldn't do this without you.
I wouldn't want to.
You know what?
Let's not let Victor Newman ruin our night.
The launch of Abbott Communications
was a huge success.
And that's because of you,
Sally Spectra.
I'm proud of you.
There's nothing else to say, Chelsea.
No hidden agenda. Nothing up my sleeve.
Chelsea--[clears throat]
I think he already answered your question, okay?
Tonight was a special case.
I mean, you saw how I got pulled away at the last minute.
I didn't even know what was going on until I got here.
I know.
I believe you.
Both of you.
You know, you both put a lot of trust in me
making me COO of Newman Media,
and I left a career that meant a lot to me.
I wanna do the best job I possibly can for this company,
but respectfully, I'm not gonna be able to do that
if I'm not included in our strategy.
Let me tell you what the situation is.
Jack Abbott has two dismal choices--
he can either watch his company go down the drain
or put Jabot back online to avoid bad press.
Making him vulnerable to the AI attack.
Either way, it makes no difference.
We're just moving him in one direction or the other.
But he's finished. That's all.
I wish I could paint a rosier picture, guys. I can't.
No, we all know what we're up against.
Yeah. You're just saying what we're thinking--this is bad.
And it could get worse before it gets better.
But you know what we're not doing?
-What's that? -We're not going to fix
all of this tonight. Victor hit us,
and he hit us hard... but we're still standing.
Yeah. We're not gonna lie down either,
especially not for a swine like Victor Newman.
Swine, mom?
Well, I...
If the hooves fit...
-[laughter] -Good for you.
-That felt good. -That did feel good.
-Yeah. -I guess if you can't laugh
at your impending disaster, when can you?
You know what we are forgetting?
The Abbotts scored a big win tonight.
Here's to Abbott Communications!
-Ah, to Abbott Communications. -To Abbott Communications.
Oh, my God, I feel--I feel like I'm being interrogated here.
-Like it-- -I'm sorry, Mom, but you know,
sometimes trying to dig the truth out of you
feels like I'm trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.
It's just sliding off
-in giant blobs. -That's a ridiculous image.
Why is this question so hard for you?
My interest in Jabot begins and ends
with how it affects your sister--that's it.
-End of story. -Okay, so if, in a few days
or a week from now I learn differently,
that means you are lying to me right now.
Oh, my God, why do you keep on going on with this?
Because I've seen this movie, and I know there's more to it.
And the fact that you are trying so hard
to avoid giving me a straight answer lets me know
-that I'm on to something. -Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
You're on my list. You're on my list right now
of people I don't wanna talk to.
-Don't--don't do this. -Okay? No! Don't do what?
-Don't do what? -Don't just leave
when you don't wanna answer my questions.
That's not what I'm doing. And you have ruined
a really fun...time for two
with your bullying of me.
Well, technically, it was a fun time for three,
-when Tessa was-- -No, it was a fun time for two.
But you ruined it with your accusations.
I've had enough of this. I don't wanna answer
these questions anymore. Have a good evening.
Oh, she's so guilty.
How did the Jabot news go over at the party?
Oh, everyone was very surprised.
Including myself, as we discussed.
A few people even congratulated us on getting the story.
What was Jack's reaction?
Jack didn't say much.
-Did he...seem upset? -Yeah.
Yeah. He sure did.
He was getting hit with all these questions, you know,
what just happened, what this was all about.
He and Diane just left in a hurry.
I think Billy would have, too,
if it wasn't his party, you know?
And Sally's big night.
He actually gave Sally a lot of credit
for her leadership. He...he let her shine.
Well, smart man.
His leadership being what it is.
But, no, Billy was probably pouting
because our news story stole all of his thunder.
Well, I mean, not actually all his thunder.
Sally and Billy did a great job
presenting their product tonight.
People were impressed.
I'd say the launch was a success.
Let me tell you something about Billy Boy Abbott.
His venture...
as all of his ventures,
will go down in flames, all right?
And then he and his brother Jack can watch whatever they own
die a slow death.
Hi, Billy. Are you here to join the wake?
Yeah. So?
Do we know how Victor found out about our plan for Jabot?
Well, that is the billion-dollar question
we have been asking ourselves.
-Have we? -Kyle and I discussed it
when you were on the phone.
Kyle is worried we have a mole.
And what did you tell him?
-Diane-- -No, Jack.
We need to consider it.
You know exactly who could have told Victor.
She is not the one who told him.
-[scoffs] -BILLY: She?
Care to fill me in?
Yeah, Jack, please. Fill him in.
I shared our plans to protect Jabot with Nikki.
She is on our side. she does not want Victor
using that AI program any more than we do.
I swear on my life.
Well, you've put your life on the line for Nikki before.
That's why I know she didn't tell him.
-Do you believe this? -I do believe this.
Jack and Nikki, they have a special bond.
What, stronger than hers to Victor?
It's different, Diane, but it's just as deep.
O-okay, Billy, so you think it's wise
that Jack told Victor's wife,
the man whose attack we're trying to avoid
by shutting down our company, that that was our plan?
I didn't say it was wise. I said I understand it.
And then shortly after Jack confided in Nikki, right,
Newman Media breaks the news
that Jabot is quietly shedding divisions
-and transferring assets. -I know it sounds bad.
Jack, I can't believe you didn't see it the second--
You have to trust me on this!
I know for a fact, in my bones,
Nikki did not tell him.
She is not the source.
Look, she would not betray me like this.
And in a million years, I would never have told her
if I thought she would. There was too much at stake.
Look, I don't think it was a good idea that you told Nikki,
but, Jack, you're telling me that you trust her,
then I trust your judgment, but ultimately, right now,
it doesn't matter how Victor found out.
-This is happening. -You're right.
The damage is done. That's why Kyle and Diane and I
have been weighing a lot of lousy options.
I'm sorry that this is happening.
I'm sorry this all came out during your launch party.
Diane and I both thought that you and Sally
did a bang-up job presenting yourselves.
Well, I appreciate that.
But we all know right now
Victor putting out this news today is not an accident.
Nothing Victor ever does is an accident.
To me, it feels like the old man is scrambling.
How do you figure that?
Because I think he was caught off guard
by the bold move to take Jabot offline.
You know him--he likes to take his time to make his move.
He likes to be methodical. He didn't have time
to do that this time, so...
He panicked. And he had to move fast.
Look, I was looking at all the press that was out there
from Newman Media and it's crap, okay?
It's exaggerated. Most of it is outright lies,
and it's sloppy, so this is our opportunity to spin it.
We own it. We tell everyone exactly what it was.
It's a hit piece by the maniac himself.
People will trust us, okay? They'll be on our side.
And Jack, maybe, just maybe,
your plan might work.
By the way, I totally forgot to compliment both of you
on your vintage outfits.
-Thank you, Victor. -Wow!
Yeah. At first I thought this costume idea was kind of dumb,
but it was actually kind of fun, wasn't it?
Oh, is that a compliment to Billy
-that you're sneaking in there? -Oh, come on.
I'm sure it was Sally's idea to do the theme party.
Anyway, I'm very sorry that I pulled both of you away from
what probably would have been a delightful evening
with all this news.
Why don't you go home, see Connor,
and forget about it, all right?
We should text Connor that we're on our way.
-Oh, no, I already did. -Oh.
He didn't go to the Walnut Grove winter dance?
No, he, uh, decided to back out at the last minute.
Oh. Everything all right?
He's had a minor setback with the new doctor,
but it's--it's all good. He's gonna be fine.
All right. Thank you for coming by,
and you both look great. Have a nice evening.
-Bye, Victor. -Bye, Chelsea.
-Good night. -Bye.
I-I don't know, Billy.
Our PR team suggested that we take the high road
and that we stick to the messaging
that this is just part of a restructuring for Jabot.
You know, if we start accusing Victor of slinging mud,
then it becomes a game of he said, he said.
She's right. He just drags us down in the mud with him.
We release it from a third-party outlet.
It doesn't have to come from us.
I wish I was as optimistic as you are.
Believe me, this horse is out of the barn with this story.
Sally and I were looking at some of the headlines.
Yeah. I stopped looking.
Well, that's smart.
I mean, we could simply hope this blows over, but...
Well, not with Victor cracking the whip.
We also talked about releasing something
from the Abbott Communications platform
to try and set the record straight.
I think that would be a mistake.
-We came to the same conclusion. -You'll come off biased, Billy.
You do not wanna introduce yourself to the world with--
Jack, we agree. It's not the right thing to do.
I'm sorry. It's been a bit of a night.
-Understood. -Yeah, ten minutes ago,
we were all laughing.
Gallows humor.
What do you need from me?
What can I do to help?
I keep knocking this around again and again.
I can only come up with one answer.
We have to get this program away from Victor
and destroy it-- it's the only way
we can eliminate his threat once and for all.
Send her in.
You wanna tell me what you did and what you're up to?
Phyllis, what makes you think that I'm up to something?
Did you put out that hit piece on Jabot?
Did you...did you do it?
Well, we're reporting the news, that's all.
Is it true?
Is Jabot tanking?
Why don't you ask Jack Abbott?
Not that he will tell you the truth.
Oh, my God, it's true.
Jabot's going under.
Seems like that, yeah.
That wasn't our deal.
I gave you that AI program,
and in turn, you were gonna give me Jabot.
Well, what I didn't reckon with is that
Jack would pull Jabot offline, you know?
What was I supposed to do?
Oh, my God, if that company is completely destroyed,
there's nothing for me to run, victor.
That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?
Oh, my God, I'm so stupid.
I'm so stupid to think that you...
you would keep your word.
I'm such an idiot. I'm such an idiot.
I stole the AI program and I gave it to you.
I gave it to you to use as leverage against Jack Abbott.
But instead, you used it to destroy his company
and destroy him.
Oh, my God.
You don't need the program anymore, do you?
That means you don't need me.
Are you shutting me out? Are you?
Yes, in a perfect world,
we find the program and we kill it.
But here's a needle, and there's a haystack.
I didn't say it was gonna be easy.
I just think it is the one place
we need to be focusing our resources.
DIANE: All right, well, Kyle and I will get together
with the tech team, and we will see what we can come up with.
Hold on. Before you do that, there might be a better way.
To find the program?
We go straight to the source.
To the person who stole the AI software in the first place.
Phyllis?
Hey, did you see the news about Jabot?
Yeah, no, it was a shocker for everyone here too.
[sighs] I don't know, Summer.
I would talk to Jack directly about that, you know,
ask him what it means long-term for Marchetti.
Might not have any answers for you, but, you know,
at least it'll get the ball rolling.
Yeah, I talked to Mom.
Something's definitely up with her.
[snorts] I don't know. But if I had to guess,
I'd say she's right smack in the middle
of this mess with Jabot.
No, she didn't tell me, Summer.
But you and I both know if she's trying to hide something,
it's never good.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Phyllis, relax, relax.
Everything is going well. Everything is under control.
No. We made a deal.
We made a deal that I would get Jabot.
That's what I was counting on you delivering to me.
Is that still on or what? I'm not leaving here.
I'm not leaving here until I get an answer.
Why would you assume that Phyllis would want to help us?
She won't even admit that she took the software.
We would have to offer her something big,
something that she really wants.
Oh, well, good luck with that.
Victor probably already promised her the moon.
And you guys, we're ignoring the fact
that she might be even more untrustworthy that he is.
Phyllis has no love for Victor. Let's be clear about that.
And she maybe has even less love for me.
This isn't about love.
It's not about loyalty.
Right. Because she's only loyal to herself.
Exactly. And that's what we exploit.
-How? -Diane, you just said it.
She only cares about herself.
If we offer her something big,
something that she truly, really, really wants,
then she'll have no problem going to Victor,
double-crossing him, stealing the software from him,
and giving it back to us.
I agree with all of that.
All right, well, that would also be assuming
that she'd be willing to risk Victor's wrath.
JACK: One thing we know about Phyllis.
She is not easily scared.
Do you think she'd come over to our side?
Phyllis, please, don't get all worked up, all right?
You'll get what I promised you.
-You have my word. -Oh, your word?
You've given me your word before,
and I was left with nothing.
I deserve the truth.
After everything I've gone through because of you,
I deserve the truth, Victor.
Are you reneging on our agreement?
Are you screwing me over?
BILLY: I don't know if Phyllis will come to our side.
I would hope that she would, but honestly,
I don't know if I'm the right person
to talk to her about that--we're not really seeing eye-to-eye.
I honestly think you're a better choice.
I was particularly unfriendly with her
when she came up to me at the party tonight.
Just because you were blindsided by the Newman Media story, Jack.
-She'll forgive you for that. -No, th-there...
things have been bad between us for some time.
Well, please don't look at me.
Well, someone has to do this.
Fine.
Let me see what I can do.
And what are we prepared to offer her?
At this point...
just about anything.
Captioned by Los Angeles Distribution and Broadcasting, Inc.
Captioning provided by Bell Dramatic Serial Company,
Sony Pictures Television and CBS, Inc.
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