Monday, June 9, 2025: Today on The Young and the Restless, Daniel expresses concern about Phyllis' plans, Sharon backs out on Nick, and Tessa grills Mariah.
At home, Sharon picks up a family portrait of Mariah, Tessa, and Aria and holds it to her chest. Nick comes to the door and begins rambling about the trip to France. He has already planned out an itinerary for their free time. There are beaches and restaurants they can hit up when he’s not busy watching out for his mom.
Sharon muses that Mariah’s memories of Ian are torturing her. She admits that she flashes back to him sometimes herself, but shuts the thoughts down and refuses to give him any power over her life. Her daughter can’t do that and must live with those thoughts constantly. The damage Mariah is doing to herself by refusing to get help is hard to watch. Sharon isn’t sure it’s a good idea for her to go to France while her daughter is dealing with this. Nick can understand but he admits he’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t go. Sharon wonders what he means by that. Nick says they had a great time in London and it reminded him that traveling with her is a lot of fun. He was looking forward to doing that again.
Sharon says she had fun too, but this trip would be different since it would be the two of them. He points out a lot of other people will be there and admits he’s worried the trip feels like a disaster waiting to happen. He doesn’t like that Dumas is dominating all of their lives and will probably tell him that. If Dumas goes after Chancellor and his mom, Nick will go after him. Nick was hoping Sharon would be there to talk him down if he started boiling over. Sharon assures him she wants to go, but she needs to look out for her daughter. Nick tells her that if things change, the offer still stands. He worries that the trip is a smokescreen to get them all out of town, so Sharon offers to keep her eyes and ears open.
Tessa Coaxes Mariah
In Chancellor Park, Tessa begs Mariah to tell her what is going on. She says she doesn’t know that she can. Tessa can sense it is big, but assures her she doesn’t have to carry this any longer. What’s holding her back? “I’m scared,” Mariah admits. She realizes she hasn’t been good at hiding this. Tessa says she can never hide anything from her, especially a broken heart. Something has clearly hit her so hard that she can’t even open up to her. As Tessa pushes, Mariah tells her she won’t understand it because she doesn’t understand it herself. “There is nothing safe in telling you about what I did,” she says, “Nothing.”
Tessa assures her wife will always be safe with her. That’s not making this easier for Mariah. After some more gentle prodding, Mariah admits she fell apart while she was away. She couldn’t get Ian out of her head. Every time she fell asleep, she could see him mocking her. Heather died because he was obsessed with her,Sharon nearly lost her mind, Victor was shot, and Lucy no longer has a mom. All of these things happened thanks to Ian’s obsession with Mariah; she couldn’t handle the guilt any longer. Crying, she says the guilt has wrecked her.
Tessa had no idea Mariah was going through this and asks why she never called her or reached out. Taking her hand, Tessa asks again for Mariah to tell her what happened on her trip. Mariah explains that the thoughts get worse late at night. When watching TV failed, she went out to have a drink and she kept drinking. Tessa is surprised to hear this, but she’s not angry. Mariah says she should have been thinking of her and the baby, but she wasn’t. She felt heartbroken and lost. As she flashes back to drinking with a man in a bar, she shudders. Tessa pleads for her to tell her what else happened. This has gone on too long and she needs to know so they can move on. With tears running down her cheeks, Mariah flashes back to the man again. He offered her his hand. As she remembers taking it, she shudders again. “I can’t go back there!” she blurts out, leaping from the bench. Tessa pleads with her not to shut down again, but Mariah runs.
Daniel Rains on Phyllis’ Parade
In the Club dining room, Daniel excitedly tells Phyllis that something finally clicked for him today; he never imagined that playing the guitar would be the thing to pull him out of the hole he’s been living in. Tessa has been fantastic and a great teacher. They even wrote a song. At the first opportunity, Phyllis whispers she has news about Dumas. Her son grimaces and she guesses he won’t want to hear this. Daniel reminds her that Dumas ducked out of their last possible meeting, but his mom insists it will be different this time because Amanda has procured an invitation for her. Worried, Daniel assumes she will take an expensive trip to Nice and nothing will happen. She explains all the heavy hitters in Genoa City have been summoned and something big is going down. She’s looking forward to watching them squirm and then using what she learns to her advantage.
Daniel’s sure she’ll just get the door slammed in her face again. He wishes she would listen to reason and stay home. Phyllis complains no one at home will hire her. She knows that Dumas has his eye on Chancellor and something big is going down. “You are just going to be a sitting duck caught in the crossfire,” Daniel warns. Phyllis insists she’s prepared to pounce and will capitalize on whatever goes down. All the idiots who make fun of her will be forced to eat their words.
Daniel warns she sounds like a desperate shark swimming around for prey. Phyllis doesn’t appreciate the analogy; she’s just trying to get back on top where she belongs. “It’s called ambition and you could use a little of it,” she points out. Daniel refuses to apologize for spending his time playing guitar to get peace of mind. His mom says that won’t put bread on the table. Phyllis is trying to restore her sanity and says she’s doing this for him too. Daniel doesn’t want her help, but she’s convinced he’ll change his tune when she comes back with the world in the palm of her hand.
Phyllis makes her way to the bar, where Daniel repeats that going to the party will not get her what she is looking for. She tells him she’d be an idiot not to go to a party where the mystery man will reveal himself. Daniel knows he’s being a drag, but he doesn’t want to see her let down again. She asks him to trust her instincts; Dumas is a powerful guy. She’ll make him love her and beg to work with her. Phyllis is confident she’ll end up as “the biggest deal in town.” She’s as relentless as a shark. Sharks are winners and so is she. She makes her son promise not to be a buzzkill next time she sees him.
Phyllis Updates Sharon and Nick
As Daniel heads out, he runs into Nick and Sharon in the foyer. Nick starts chuckling as Daniel asks him to talk Phyllis out of her latest crazy business idea. Even without knowing the details, Nick guesses Daniel is right that it will end poorly. After Daniel warns this scheme is “out there,” even by his mom’s standards, he exits. Nick and Sharon approach Phyllis by the bar. They chat about Nikki’s party and her fancy new car. Phyllis is surprised that Sharon was at the shindig given that she’s hardly Nikki’s favorite person. Nick looks uncomfortable as Phyllis pastes on a smile and Sharon explains she was Nick’s guest. Phyllis brings up the Dumas party and jokes that it sounds like he better hire a referee to get between the Newmans and Abbotts. Nick admits he doesn’t know why the Winters family were invited. Phyllis informs them that Dumas invited her to France too. Nick and Sharon are shocked.
Mariah Snaps at Daniel and Tessa
Still sniffling, Mariah walks into Crimson Lights and pounds her purse on a table. Daniel notices she’s distraught. She snaps at him when he asks if she’s alright and then apologizes. He mentions Tessa said she was upset. She says Tessa shouldn’t have said that because it is no one’s business. Tessa rushes in and her wife repeats that she doesn’t want to talk to her right now. When Tessa begs her not to be afraid, Mariah snaps again. “Just give me some space! Quit breathing down my neck! You’re just making it worse!” she declares before storming out.
