Traci Makes a Surprising Announcement — and Nick Promises Victoria He Won’t Reunite With

Victoria Worries About Nick

Put out, Victoria tells Nick she thinks he could use a break. He says that’s what this would be. She means from Sharon and all of her drama. He doesn’t like the tone of that and reminds her that Sharon did not go looking for the attention of three psychopaths to ruin her life. Victoria apologizes. She tells him to have fun at Stonehenge and the River Thames with his family. He can see she’s still not fine with it, so his sister reminds him that he’s mortal. She wishes Nick would go back to living a boring life instead of being on-call to rescue his troubled exes. He sighs.

Victoria reminds Nick he’s not only a rock for Sharon and Phyllis; she needs him too. “I just don’t find myself tied to a railroad track calling out for you to rescue me every other week,” she adds. Nick jokes it’s more like every other month. His sister admits she wakes up worried about their family all the time. Almost losing their dad was hard on her. Plus, she notices, even if no one else does, that Nick is continually putting himself on the line. He tries making a joke out of this and assures her that his trip will be healing and awesome.Victoria wonders if Nick is planning on a reunion with Sharon. He’s disappointed she’s jumped to this assumption. His sister wants him to be safe and happy and wonders if this “healing” trip will help him see that Sharon is his destiny. Nick knows that she and Cole are in the hearts and flowers stage, but just because love is in the air doesn’t mean anything is happening with Sharon. “It’s just a trip,” he repeats, insisting he’s not planning to get back together with any of his exes. Victoria worries about him being lonely since he’s not in a relationship. He denies being lonely. It’s best for everyone that he’s single right now. After they joke about what a burden it is for him to be a hero, she makes him promise that he will not get back with Phyllis. After he pays for his drink, he asks his sister to keep an eye on their father and takes off.

Phyllis and Sharon Meet With Traci

Phyllis joins Sharon at Society. They aren’t sure if they should hug or shake hands. They do neither. Sharon admits that not snarking at each other is going to take some getting used to. Phyllis admits it used to be a rush but assures her she has other people to hate on. “Like Martin Laurent,” Sharon says. They hope he rots in prison. Phyllis jokes they can send him some riddles. When she asks Sharon not to “shrink” her, Sharon admits that she’s resigned to Phyllis being larger than life. The pair wonder why Traci asked them to meet there to talk, but assume it’s related to Martin. Sharon claims she doesn’t have time for this because she’s focusing on self-care right now and that means she needs to take off for London with Nick. Phyllis forces a wide smile and nods her head.

Traci arrives and Phyllis worries she’s going to say that Martin is getting away with what he did. Once she gets a drink, Traci explains that Chance has assured her the case is solid. They toast to that and she apologizes for bringing Martin to Genoa City; she feels sick about the whole thing. Sharon assures her that she has no responsibility for his crimes. Phyllis understands that Traci was a victim, but has to ask, “I’m just wondering the exact moment you realized it was Martin that survived?” Taken aback, Traci wonders why that matters. Sharon wonders too, and asks if Phyllis is looking for someone else to blame. She and Phyllis bicker about this until Traci explains that she’s racked her brain for any hint or sign that she missed but found none. “That man was a sociopath,” says Sharon, adding that people like that survive by living through lies. He fooled a lot of people. As a writer, Traci spends a lot of time thinking about people’s motives but admits that she still fell prey to all the lies Martin told her. That’s something she has to find a way to live with.

Traci thanks Sharon and Phyllis for being so understanding and compassionate. She urges Phyllis to talk about how hard this is for her. Phyllis admits it’s hard to process since she had no idea who Martin was while Sharon was connected to him. Sharon has to admit that at least he made her realize that she’s not responsible for Heather’s death. Phyllis says that would make sense since he seemed to want to heal their decades-long animosity. That tracks for Sharon, who thinks Martin was determined to prove he was a better therapist than his brother. “It seems like Martin didn’t want to help anyone. He was all about himself,” says Phyllis. She admits that she thought putting a face to the voice would make her feel better, but it hasn’t.Sharon is sure that Traci is feeling devastated and must need someone to talk to. Normally, Traci would have had Alan, but her old friend Amy is back in town, so she’s reached out to her and they are having dinner later. Sighing, she wonders how she could have been so wrong to put all her trust in that man. Was she so desperate for love that she missed that the man she gave her heart to was a monster? Sharon and Phyllis urge her not to go there and assure her no one deserves what the “chronic narcissistic bastard” did to her. That makes Traci laugh as she wipes away a tear. Sharon knows her heart is broken but urges her not to close herself off from love. She can only do that by loving herself first. Phyllis repeats that she doesn’t blame Traci for any of this. Sharon reminds Traci that Martin took away her whole dream of a future. Waving her hands, Phyllis tells them they can’t give Martin any more power. Traci is determined to move on with her life. Joining hands across the table, they say they’ve got this.
Once Traci departs, Phyllis thanks Sharon for stopping her from dumping all her anxiety on the Abbott. Sharon assures her she’s feeling a lot of the same things. The redhead admits caring about each other’s feelings will take some getting used to. Sharon needs to get going and Phyllis jokes she should join her in London. That gets a nervous laugh. Phyllis assures Sharon she has loads of work to do and has her kids and Billy if she needs someone. She tells Sharon to enjoy London and they share an awkward hug. Sharon tells Phyllis to be safe and exits.

Diane Tells Jack She Feels Like an Outsider

Jack and Diane walk into the foyer of the Athletic Club. She still can’t believe they had a sociopath living under their roof and never caught on. He thinks they all wanted to think the best for Traci’s sake. As they get a table, they talk about how devastated his baby sister is. Jack says she’ll need them all to pull together to help her. Diane is willing if the family thinks it’s appropriate; she doesn’t want to overstep. Jack assumes she was hurt that he didn’t inform her about the Alan/Martin situation earlier, and explains he only told Ashley because she has history with that psychopath and he was worried she would be targeted again. Diane is still hurt that he said nothing to her. He clarifies that Traci asked him not to, and he imagined that keeping his wife ignorant was a way of protecting her. Diane’s unconvinced. Jack insists they couldn’t risk anyone exposing their suspicions until they were certain. She may have agreed to keep the secret, but could she have done so when seeing Alan face to face? His wife still doubts that failing to put her on alert was the best plan, but she doesn’t want to make a big deal about this because it makes her sound selfish. Jack tells her she should call him out if he makes a mistake.

Diane recaps that they are in a good place since they healed the rift with Kyle. Jack remains concerned that she’s still feeling shut out by his family. She muses on the irony that she’s been entrusted with every little detail of the Abbott home’s interior, but still feels like she’s on the outside looking in. They both try to blame themselves for this situation. Jack regrets that any headway she made with the family became collateral damage due to their break-up charade. Diane is sure Billy and Ashley have gone back to hating her. Traci does her best because she loves her big brother so much. It will be hard for Traci to trust anyone after what’s happened to her and Diane is not going to pressure her. When Jack offers to bring this up with his other siblings, his wife stops him. Diane feels she shouldn’t be bothering him with this when he should be focused on Traci. Jack apologizes for keeping her in the dark. She hopes the changes she’s made to the house will be one step to winning his brother and sisters over. “You are my family too,” he reminds her.

Traci Announces Her Departure

Traci meets with her brother and Diane by the bar. Diane tells her how sorry she is about what happened. Traci tells her she’s sorry for shutting her down when she saw that something was wrong. She would accept her help, but doesn’t know what that would look like right now. Traci explains she had her first meeting with the “Martin Laurent Survivor’s Support Group.” If anything good came of this, it’s that Phyllis and Sharon are getting along. Diane wonders how long that will last. Traci announces that she’s made a major decision and already talked it through with Ashley. She’s leaving town and her sister is going with her to New York. She feels it’s time to lose herself in writing a new book. She can still call and lean on everyone who loves her. She’ll be back and can’t wait to see what Diane has done with the house. Hugging her, Diane says it won’t be the same without her there. Jack immediately chokes up and tells his sister he will always be there for her. Traci would never doubt that. They embrace.

Moving Forward

Outside Society, Phyllis calls Daniel and tells him she will get takeout for Lucy. She assures her son that he can stop worrying about her. She just needs to get busy on their great work for Abbott Communications. As soon as she hangs up, she texts Billy, “I’m safe, rested, and ready to roll. LDT!” He texts back, asking what “LDT” is. Phyllis texts, “LET’S DO THIS!!!”

Nick stops by Sharon’s to pick her up. She recaps that Faith is meeting at the airport. He says they’ll pick up Christian on the way… the kid is very excited. Sharon grins, “Not as excited as I am!” They agree it will be a good feeling for them as a family. Nick carries the luggage out to the car.