A strange twist of fate -- or a bizarrely twisted destiny?

While Nick tried to put 'a nick' in Chloe's travel plans, Victor intended for her escape to come to a screeching halt. But did Victor really believe he was an unintentional accessory to the death of his own son? Fingers are being pointed as to who's really to blame, all in Two Scoops.

Sometimes it seems like our lives are ruled by strange twists of fate and coincidences, but are they really? I guess the debate of how much we are in control of our own destiny could go on forever, yet with someone as unbalanced and manipulative as Chloe around, would the discussion really be all that two-sided? If Billy was proven to be Bella's father, he would be unable to claim it was a simple twist of fate, since Chloe would have orchestrated the whole blessed event. And once he hooked up with Delia's mother years before, Billy Boy seemed fated to be in some bizarrely twisted destiny of Chloe's making. Oh, yes, if Chloe's sperm-stealing plot had proven to be successful, she'd have another delightful, adorable, and beloved daughter with Billy...her Delia 2.0. Billy would never have been given a choice to be a parent or the chance to escape from Chloe's topsy-turvy world.

However, Kevin's eternal obsession for his ex-wife, now ex-fianc, was what kept him bound to Chloe. He never even appeared to struggle to be released from the binds that tied him to her. If Chloe was anywhere in his vicinity, Kevin's radar would light up, and he would track her down and remain doggedly by her side. It truly was sad to see him place her on some crazy pedestal, where she had never belonged in the first place. Kevin treated Chloe like a trophy to be coveted and won over, while she trampled on him, much as she would the dirt under her feet.

Gee, can you tell that I am still not a fan of Chloe? Kevin's devotion to Chloe just made him appear pathetic. Each and every time, her ambivalent feelings and selfish actions would tear down any self-esteem Kevin had. Unfortunately, by pursuing what he thought of as the love of his life, Kevin sealed his own fate. Only when he finally releases the chains can he finally be free of her wishy-washy version of love. Or what she called love anyway, since the only love Chloe ever had for Kevin was for what he could do for her.

Kevin's passionate goodbye to Chloe, before she left town for the mental facility, had become a kink in her scheme to create her Delia 2.0 with the help of Billy's stolen sperm. So, if Kevin turned out to be Bella's father, that would be a strange twist of fate, since Billy was targeted to be the baby-daddy. Although Kevin had loved her dearly, he was not Delia's biological father; Billy was. It's somewhat surprising that Chloe never bothered to check on Bella's paternity, because she certainly would have known that Billy might not be the girl's papa. But then again, maybe Chloe preferred not to know.

As long as she ignored that possibility, Chloe could always look at her adored daughter as an almost clone of her darling Delia, no matter who the true father was. Did Chloe care about Kevin's feelings about this? Nope. Could Chloe even conceive how much upheaval being Bella's father could cause in Billy's life? The truth is she didn't really care. Billy was just a means to an end. And if her farewell romp in the sack with Kevin left her pregnant with his baby instead of Billy's, she would just put that right out of her unbalanced little head.

And just when you think it couldn't get any worse, Chloe went up another 100 notches in the levels of selfishness. The only reason why she returned to town in the first place was because Victor summoned her to aid him in his plot to get even with his youngest son. It certainly wasn't because of some sincere but possibly misguided attempt to reunite father and daughter, especially since Chloe had no idea who the father really was. Chloe didn't seem to care too much if her daughter ever learned the identity of her daddy -- or if little Bella ever got to know him. What a sad and lonely life the little girl would have lived if Chloe hadn't been so bent on getting revenge on Adam. It's rather ironic that Bella now has a chance of being surrounded by a genuine, unconditional love, because Chloe's hatred got the better of her. Bella is so much better off without her mother in her life, even if she may not realize it.

So, who's the baby daddy? The answer wasn't long in coming and ended up being rather anticlimactic. Deep down, I knew the truth before it was revealed, because I felt the writers just wanted to wrap up that storyline in a neat little bow to be stored away in the disappearing storyline closet for the immediate future. Chloe was rushed out of town, and Bella's parentage had to be cemented in so our favorite characters could move on with their lives. Billy couldn't be her father, because it wasn't in the cards for him. It would have totally messed up the direction the writers were taking him in, and no compass could have helped him out.

I actually think a better tale could have been told with Billy as Bella's daddy, which would have put him smack dab in the middle of Phyllis and Victoria again, since he had tried to move on to a lust-capade that didn't include his ex-wife. Billy's niche in a real, loving type of family has always been with Victoria, which would have caused conflict after he had already decided he preferred being between the sheets with Phyllis. I mean, if we are going to have another round of this trio, can it at least be interesting?

But no, Bella was Kevin's daughter, so now we will get to see glimpses, from time to time, of Kevin trying to adjust to being a single dad to a precious girl he had already grown to love. Actually, with Kevin as the father, it will be easier for Esther to be the doting grandmother, always on hand to have charge of the girl. Kevin might as well just move into the Chancellor mansion, since Esther will always be watching Bella anyway. (Until Bella is SORASed to be the same age as the new Charlie and Mattie, who appear to be almost as old as Lily now.) Kevin will be free to work at the police station and to possibly have another romance -- except, of course, he won't be, since he will forever be chained to Chloe. That appears to be Kevin's lot in life, whether Chloe's in town or not. Oh, well, since Kevin has been so obsessed with Chloe, anyway, I guess it's always been his destiny to be the father of her child.

Yes, sometimes fate can play a nasty joke on a person, or in Victoria's case, some seriously bad timing. After all the tug-of-war games between Victoria and Billy over their true feelings for one another, just when Victoria was ready to let the rope go and admit she still loved her ex and wanted him back in her life, Billy called time-out and ran as fast as his feet would carry him back into the lusting arms of Phyllis. Ugh. Not again. I hope the actors are enjoying their scenes together, because I sure am not. Every time I see them together, I think of how much hurt they already caused the ones they supposedly loved.

But now, I guess Phyllis and Billy feel time should have healed all wounds, so Jack and Victoria will either have to like or lump them being together. Yes, Victoria, you waited just a little too long to declare your love to Billy. It looks like lust will win out over love again.

I honestly don't know how these soap characters can just turn their love on and off -- just like a tap faucet with running water. And it looks like Victoria will end up with an ice-cold splash in the face. But if Billy were truly in love with Victoria, how could he dart so quickly over to Phyllis' and dive into her body parts? It's not like Victoria has never gotten angry at Billy before, and even he suspected Victoria's aloofness and her secrecy had nothing to do with him. So, why wouldn't he keep pumping her for information until she finally caved? Because you know she eventually would have.

It was just a matter of time, so why give up so easily? Billy has been bouncing back and forth between Victoria and Phyllis for quite some time now. Oh, he's torn between two lovers all right, but his heart always seemed to belong to Victoria. Has that changed?

So, we have Billy and Phyllis sneaking around on the sly again, and that alone indicates they are very aware that Victoria and Jack have not gotten completely over the betrayal Billy and Phyllis had heaped on them the first time around. Because they both can be incredibly selfish, Billy and Phyllis agreed to happily announce their reunion to their exes before the day was done. To heck with Victoria's and Jack's feelings, they wanted to shine the spotlight on their happiness and their love in public for the whole world to see. But hold on...there may be a glitch. Phyllis had a fantasy where, after she announced to Jack about Billy and Phyllis' burning love for each other, everything was hunky-dory with Jack. Oh, that's a sure sign their big reveal will not go well, if it even happens at all.

And Victoria unintentionally helped to put the brakes on their budding romance by apologizing to Billy and then saying that her big secret was that Nikki's multiple sclerosis had reoccurred, which was a lie. This is ridiculous. Why not just tell Billy the truth and swear him to secrecy? He will only find the truth out later, and if he and Victoria reconcile, the pretense will just blow them up anyway. Nikki is going way overboard on hiding Victor's bad deeds, although I am glad she is finally facing her past of always forgiving Victor and letting him worm his way back into his life.

I think Nick has stumbled onto something. Get rid of the anger. The opposite of love is indifference. As long as Nikki has some kind of feeling for Victor, he still has a chance. But if she truly no longer cares...Nikki could finally walk away from Victor and break the warped cycle. Maybe Jack is the one to help her "get her mojo back." I guess we'll find out fairly quickly, since Victor is back in town.

Scott is also being very hush-hush about dating the "smart, funny, attractive" Sharon. He's probably being wise about keeping this a secret from his mother, since Lauren would have plenty to say about the former Mrs. Newman McAvoy. But you can't say Sharon didn't warn Scott that she is carrying plenty of baggage around. Her Victor trunk alone would be enough to scare anyone off. But, hey, Scott's a brave overseas journalist, who has battled through many difficult circumstances to get the story he wants. Scott doesn't realize, however, that those little skirmishes are nothing compared to any fight he may pick with Victor. He'll soon learn -- don't cross the Mustache!

What is this world coming to? It's one thing to have a person you don't really know teaching your teen son guitar music. However, it's quite another to have the same person you know nothing about having complete control and care of your toddler child. When Nick was searching for a nanny, surely, he required references before he would even consider interviewing them. So what if he's in a hurry? Does that mean that references and the safety of a little one should go flying out the window? And the Newmans are wealthy. Tessa could kidnap Christian and demand ransom from Nick to get him back. Nick just doesn't know that much about her. Why doesn't that bother him?

Abby almost seemed like she was looking for "trouble in Newmanville," as Jack put it. She did a complete about-face in lickety-split time from proudly bragging about being the acting CEO for Newman Enterprises while Victor was gone to insecurely wondering why her father was questioning her authority. Abby thought she scored a big coup as the new owner of a warehouse then almost immediately regretted her decision in buying it. Her lack of self-confidence would have any nearby vulture ready to prey on the carcass of any future actions or business deals she makes.

The question is will Jack help her? As much as he would hate to be compared to Victor, Jack's another one whose quest for vengeance seems greater than his love of family. So, will the kindly, mentoring uncle rise to the surface or is Victor's adversary lurking around to eventually zoom in on Abby for the corporate kill?

The side of Jack that was emerging looked to be up in the air when he offered to buy the warehouse to supposedly help his niece while also suggesting they go in as partners of her ingenious tech start-ups brainstorm. Abby knew Victor would be more furious about Jack being in cahoots with his daughter than by her using the Newman funds without Victor's knowledge, but she still jumped right into water, head first. And you know this impulsive dive will have her all washed up once Victor learns of this unholy alliance. Victor doesn't see Jack as Abby's uncle, only as his rival. Victor claims he does everything for the love of his family, but he never could see where someone else might say the same thing. In this case, he may be right about Jack, whose own interests could outweigh Abby's.

I'm sorry, gang, but I just can't get past the significant age difference between Ashley and Ravi, no matter how cute they look together. And I have tried. The show appears to desperately be downplaying Ashley's age by making her a whole lot younger than what she really should be, but it's just too much of a stretch for me. And there is ten years difference between my husband and me, so it's not that I have a problem with that.

Ironically, Ravi's friends were the one who shone the spotlight on just how vastly different they really are in age. They are in college. Does that make them even younger than Abby? It's funny that no one ever mentions their ages or asks if Ashley and Ravi even have anything in common (besides opera) because each grew up in a different era. My single, younger sister once dated a guy who was considerably younger than she was, but she broke it off because she was concerned that her health might be a factor as they got older. Why is no one questioning this? It's just a fact of life. I guess Ashley and Ravi's cuteness together is supposed to conquer all ailments. Okay.

But finally, by pointing out he was closer to her daughter's age, Ravi unintentionally made a reference to Ashley's, although he quickly apologized for it afterwards. It was like everyone in town was walking around in a fog, not noticing there was any kind of span in their ages at all. The distance is pretty big, but no one could see it? Or were all of Ashley's friends just being nice?

You know, Ashley and Ravi could be kindred spirits without being a romantic couple. But I am all for live and let live, so if Ashley wants to date someone decades younger than she is, who am I to say anything against it? And she did finally mention that Ravi might want to have children one day, but he poo-pooed the idea. Ravi's young though. He could still want that, but that wouldn't be in Ashley's future.

Sure, I realize that Hilary's first episode of her new show, The Hilary Hour, was a class act with her supposedly sincere admission about how her very recent divorce had brought out her insecurities and how she hoped to learn and grow from the experience, but I can't help but be wary of what her real goal was. If Hilary's intention had been to grab Devon's attention to the wonderful wife he had just lost, judging by the longing glances they kept giving each other, I would say, "mission accomplished." Hilary has always had the talent to showcase her sweet and loving side to Devon, whenever the situation called for it, by camouflaging and downplaying her nasty and conniving qualities. As much as Devon would hate to admit it, Hilary has always been able to wrap him around her finger, and just because her fourth one no longer holds his wedding ring, that doesn't mean their ties have been completely severed.

On the contrary, I believe Jordan has become Hilary's tool to use to steer Devon's focus away from Mariah, and once Hilary has succeeded in that, she will give Jordan the axe. One thing's for certain -- nothing that happens in Hilary's world ever seems to be by a weird twist of fate. In fact, once Hilary has her sights set on a man, she makes sure she becomes his destiny. Hilary never intended on letting Devon go, and by keeping Mariah on at GC Buzz, Hilary is holding Devon well in her line of vision. Mariah will need a different type of weapon if she wants to remove Devon from Hilary's scope.

Actually, when "Hilary's House of Horrors" first started out, I thought Mariah might have accidentally struck on the brilliant idea of using humor to steal scenes from Hilary. When Hilary announced that her first show was about self-care, Mariah's response that Hilary cared more about herself than anyone Mariah knew was hilarious. What a great concept. I hope Mariah goes back to that. And humor may be the way to go for Mariah to divert Devon's path from an untrustworthy and self-centered drama queen to a funny, honest, and caring princess.

At Victoria's Top of the Tower employee gala, Hilary even pretty much admitted to Devon that she didn't have a serious interest in Jordan, but I believe that was more to get Devon's goat than anything else. Jordan has an eye for Lily, so he didn't seem to mind too much. And even though Victoria had practically needed to drag Billy to her company celebration, she yearned for another chance to have a life with him. But Phyllis intruded on Victoria's thank-you to her employees by inviting herself along on Ravi's date with Ashley at the restaurant. Is Phyllis really that insecure that she needs to tag along with Billy anywhere he goes? Billy and Victoria work together. Will Phyllis need to be right at his side every minute of the workday too? I am sure Billy was flattered to have Phyllis following him around like a little puppy, but that will get old fast.

Phyllis could write her own version of the stalker's song, "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. She made sure to be watching Billy, as she got close enough to listen to Victoria's thank-you speech to her crew. And Phyllis kept texting Billy throughout the dinner. She seemed to need his undivided attention throughout the entire get-together. It reminded me of their first go-around together, when Billy was doing anything he could to make his affair with Phyllis publicly known, as she waffled for more time to tell Jack -- only this time the shoe was on the other foot.

Phyllis wanted everyone to know about them, whether it be by hook or by crook, and she was willing to do anything to make that happen. Lucky for her, Cane overheard all their secret desires in the coatroom, where Phyllis and Billy didn't need any of the coats to heat them up. If Cane wants to make use of this information, he had better act quickly, before Phyllis spills the beans. Secret information becomes pretty worthless once it is no longer secret.

As their former attorney, Michael would understand the Newman family politics better than anyone.

I couldn't help but notice that Reed said the word "split," meaning to leave. Wow, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I remember the 60s hippies using the word split. Hey, man, like, let's split this joint. Peace, baby, and far out. If Reed starts walking around saying "groovy," then we really will have hit a time warp.

Let's see -- Cane uncharacteristically gets smashed in Japan when he's with Juliet, and then Victoria unexpectedly started drinking too much while she was also in Juliet's company. Hmmm...what's the common element here? Could Juliet just drive people to drink?

It seems Juliet and Lily have the same tastes, but we already knew that because of Cane. If Juliet were so concerned about her career, she never should have slept with a married man after completing a huge business deal. Although she blames Cane for not forgetting about their tryst, she is the one making sure he never forgets about that night.

I would love to have a massage like Chelsea's, which looked so soothing and relaxing. I've only had one massage in my life, which was on a cruise, and that was more like the one Nick received. Believe me, his massage brought back some very painful memories. Never again!

Best of luck to Y&R at the Daytime Emmy Awards! [Editor's Note: Y&R picked up three wins at the Creative Arts ceremony. Read about it here.]

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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