In the maze by the chateau in the south of France, Cane admits to his guests that he’s not surprised that Victor is the one who first figured out that he was Dumas. The Newman demands to know why he brought them there, Jack demands to know why they were lured to meet someone they already know, and Billy asks if the big reveal gave Lily a heart attack. Cane assures them Lily is fine.
Cane realizes some of them feel blindsided but they have now met Aristotle Dumas. He’s relieved that the pretense is now over because it was exhausting. There were reasons for keeping his identities separate, but he’s decided it’s time to retire “Dumas” and return to Genoa City as Cane Ashby. Lily and Billy demand to know what this party has all been about. Cane explains that many of them have inspired him and throwing this party was his way to thank them and give them a good time. “Well, you failed,” declares Lily.
Cane admits he was worried no one would show up if he let them know his true identity. Diane asks if there will be more surprises. Cane expects to speak to each of them alone for some organic conversation. Distraught, Lily runs off. Devon tells Cane he’s a real piece of work and this was all a stupid idea. He trails after his sister and Victor steps up, getting in Cane’s face and insisting they speak alone immediately. The two men leave the guests behind.
Cane’s Guests Keep Wondering
Sharon finds this all to be bizarre. Billy admits he never guessed that Cane was behind this. Phyllis starts probing Amanda about how well she knows Cane. The lawyer says she respects him a lot and she’s seen his books; his fortune is real. This leaves Phyllis wondering what the plan is. Her friend is not about to blurt out any details. “I need to be in on the ground floor,” Phyllis says.
Nikki complains to Nick about Cane having them all “in a tizzy” for weeks. She certainly doesn’t envy him now. As soon as Nikki steps away, Phyllis buzzes over to gossip with Nick. She assures him she has a plan now that she knows Dumas is Cane. He doesn’t recall them being tight in the past. She says they weren’t enemies and she can respect someone who reinvents themselves. She’s flexible on how to handle this and wishes Amanda was more forthcoming with information. Nick assures her he hasn’t had any dealings with Cane either. He came up so fast something big must have changed.
At a table, Audra tells Kyle that their host is easy on the eyes. Kyle assumes Cane hid his identity because he’s afraid of something but she thinks he’s just being strategic. He admits no one saw anything like this coming and fills her in on how messy things were given that Cane’s father was a con man and crime boss. This is all very interesting to Audra, who keeps prodding him for more details. He wonders if she wants to know if he’s single. She insists she’s very happy with Nate… but any information can be useful.
Jack asks Billy how he could have no idea about this. Billy snarks that they don’t have a family group chat. He explains to Sally that Cane once came back as his fake long-lost brother. They may not be blood, but they have sibling rivalry and Jill adores him. So did Katherine. Billy never even recognized Cane’s voice when he thought he was speaking to Dumas. They wonder why Cane went to all this fuss. Billy assumes this is all about Chancellor. “I suspect Chancellor is just the tip of the iceberg,” Jack says. Cane is now a billionaire with an axe to grind and that could affect all of them.
As Billy downs another drink, he expresses his doubts that he and Cane will ever work together again. He admits that he has no idea of whether Jill has been speaking to Cane. As he puts down his next drink, Billy recalls Katherine’s will. She may have left Chancellor to Victor, but she wanted Cane to run it. Maybe he feels like he deserves the company after all.
“Did someone mention Chancellor?” Phyllis asks, nosing in. Diane snaps that she’s shameless and Phyllis claims she’s only mingling. She asks Billy how he never tuned in to the fact that he was talking to his former fake brother and then takes a stab at Sally as the “boo” he brings to work. Sally immediately leads Billy away, leaving Phyllis to ask Jack if Cane is gunning for Chancellor. He doesn’t think they can rule anything out. “Those are wise, wise words,” says Phyllis.
At a table, Sally tells Billy that Jack is right. They got what they came for. It’s time for them to go home and launch Abbott Communications by breaking this story before anyone can beat them to it. Even if he doesn’t want to run this story, she thinks they should get far away from there. He senses more is going on. Billy is determined to find out what it is.
Sharon approaches Nick and they joke about how excited Phyllis seems to be. Her mind is going a mile a minute trying to figure out how to game the new situation. She’s fired up and that’s probably good. Not long ago, he was worried she’d never be excited enough to do anything again. Sharon says they are both bouncing back. Nick’s feeling is that Cane is determined to keep everyone’s attention on him now that he’s caught it. Sharon is sure Phyllis can fit right in with his sense of drama and deception.
Jack wanders over to Nikki and they talk about how Victor managed to predict this. She claims her husband was determined to prove he has the upper hand. Jack is not sure how much longer that can last. To him, it looks like Cane has come a long way in only six years and they’ve barely scratched the surface. If there is a war between Victor and their host, Jack wouldn’t count Cane out.
Lily Updates Devon and Damian
Lily, Devon, and Damian make their way onto their train car as she vents about what a nightmare this is. She had no idea the person they had been talking about for months was her ex. Her brother hands her a drink to calm her down and she complains about being brought there under false pretenses. If she’d only known… “How in the world did Cane pull this off?” she wonders. This all seemed more like something Tucker would do.
Lily explains to Damian that Cane was never wealthy like this. He did have experience in the corporate world but never ran his own company or seemed very ambitious. Devon adds that Cane’s dad was an Australian crime boss and Cane grew up surrounded by thieves and con artists. Lily won’t make excuses for Cane but she knows he never wanted to be like his father. Devon suggests he may have changed his mind about that. Lily says her kids never mentinoned anything, nor did Cane ever hint at his change in fortune. She admits that they were on good terms after their split, but that ended. She lost her respect for Cane and he became someone she didn’t even want to know — he crossed a line that she couldn’t forgive.
Lily explains that she and Cane went to LA to help Mattie during a crisis. Once their daughter was stable, they had coffee. As they talked about how the kids needed parents they could trust, he informed her that he had reconnected with Colin, who had turned his life around. She wasn’t happy to hear that his father was aiding him in his new business dealings. Cane explained that his father was sick and that had changed him. Something felt off to Lily about all this; it felt so forced and she sensed things would get worse.
Lily recalls that the Cane she married was loving and protective. He ran away from his family and wanted to do the right things for the right reasons. Even when he lied about being Jill’s son, it wasn’t just a scam. Lily was never okay with the idea of the kids seeing Colin. She always thought that Cane recognized how vicious his father was, but Cane told her that people deserve forgiveness and that applied to his father too. After begging him not to drag the kids into this, Lily told Cane she never wanted to see him again. She pitied him for being gullible enough to open himself to his father again… but it turned out that he was building an empire the entire time. “How is that even possible?” she wonders.
As they continue to mull over what’s happened, Lily realizes that Charlie loved The Count of Monte Cristo and ponders if this was all part of some bigger game. Damian wonders why this is all coming out now. He and Devon agree that it’s time for them to go. There’s no reason for them to stay. She explains that she can’t go until she knows all there is to know. For the sake of her children, she needs to know everything Cane did in the past six years.
Cane Has An Offer for Victor
Cane and Victor make it to the other end of the maze. Ashby reminds him he has his favorite tequila in stock and explains he planned the trains to give everyone a sense of old European romance. “Stop the bull! What do you want from me and my family?” Victor demands, adding that he and his family will leave in the morning. Cane thinks that’s unfortunate because he has more plans for them.
Victor complains that the extravagant show he’s put on strikes Victor as being more in line with something Colin would have done. “My father died six months ago,” Cane explains. He was with him at the end. Victor half-heartedly pays his condolences and Cane explains that he and his father finally made peace. Ashby admits that he couldn’t have climbed to power without his father’s support. This leads Victor to assume he got his fortune through grift and graft. Cane insists that Arabesque is legitimate from top to bottom.
Victor presumes that Cane created this whole false identity because people he’s cheated are after him. Cane denies this and explains that his father repented his old ways and wanted to make things right. They became a team and used the money that his father had swindled. He gave back all he had stolen and sold all the land he’d accumulated. Using money from that, they invested in crypto currency and the money grew… but all that money couldn’t save his life.
Victor admires Cane for amassing such a vast fortune in a short period of time. That admiration means something to Cane. He explains that he asked Victor there because he is ready to give up the businesses under Dumas’ ownership. When Victor asks why he would part with what he’s built, Cane explains that losing his father has put things in perspective. He wants a clean slate and a fresh start. That means he’s willing to trade a chunk of his empire to Victor in exchange for control of Chancellor. This gives Victor a laugh. “It ain’t gonna happen,” he says.
