Standing in the shadow of love -- OR -- Weddings, teardrops, and family feuds

Will Chelsea continue to stand by her man? Does Kyle really believe that he is in love with Summer, or is he still pining for Lola? Is Summer really excited about marrying Kyle? Will Jack be able to make the connection between Dina and the ''Teardrop of Love''? Will Victor carry out his threat to strip Victoria of her CEO position and leave her with nothing because he feels she betrayed the family? Join our columnist as she offers her opinion on these questions and more in this issue of Two Scoops.

Now that Adam's nefarious deeds have been exposed, Adam continues to either threaten someone or sit and cry a river. Far be it from daddy Victor not to be threatening someone, as well. Victor has threatened his lawyers, Billy, and Victoria. Adam has threatened Billy, and he has been crying on Chelsea's shoulder. Why does this con artist Chelsea stay with Adam? Oh, wait, I retract that. I guess they go hand in hand. Perhaps Chelsea can reel in the suckers for Adam to either kidnap them or kill them. What a striking duo they make.

Everything in the article was true. Adam is guilty of everything that had been written. How does Adam think he can whitewash anything he's done, like killing A.J. Montalvo, gaslighting Ashley, kidnaping Faith from Sharon and giving her to Ashley, killing Delia, forging Victor's diary, killing a man in Vegas, blackmailing Victor for the CEO seat, and almost killing Victor with his medication. There were too many other ugly deeds to mention. I can't wait to hear what twist Adam will put on everything.

Victor tried to enlist Victoria's help to find out what information Billy had on Adam, because he knew Billy had some serious ammunition in his hands. He told Victoria that he had to stop the story from snowballing. Victor has always loved throwing his weight around, but he certainly doesn't like it when the shoe is on the other foot.

I don't blame Nick and Victoria for feeling that Victor favors Adam, because he has excused Adam for everything he has done. I'm not sure he would go that far for Nick or Victoria, and he proved that by threatening to strip Victoria of the CEO seat and leave her with nothing because she'd had a hand in the article. If Adam had done that, all would be forgiven.

Victor's confrontation with Billy and his comment about Billy not protecting his family were the things that triggered Billy to publish "The Making of a Monster." Billy claimed he only wanted the truth to be told about Adam. Whoa! When did Billy become such a perfect specimen of moral standards? He had the nerve to remind Phyllis about all her failed relationships with Jack, Nick, and Billy himself. He said that he doubted it would last with Nick this time, either.

Has Billy forgotten that he bedded Summer to get back at Phyllis, cheated multiple times on Victoria, and hasn't been able to keep his relationship with Victoria together for more than 30 seconds? Will he ever be normal? He just seems to jump from one persona to another. Could he have bipolar disorder? He seems to be on either an extreme low or an extreme high, with nothing in between. I think Ashley described him best -- he keeps trading one addiction for another. I think he published the article as a personal vendetta and not because he wanted the truth told. I think he believes he can one-up Victor, with Adam as an added perk. Billy might have won this one because his information is accurate, but Victor will get his payback.

It's obvious that Billy hadn't given much thought to collateral damage. Poor Faith is being bullied. I would have thought a story like that would elicit sympathy, not bullying. Adam kidnapped Faith, so why bully Faith? Nick will have to do some heavy parental counseling and provide a lot of sympathy for Faith. Poor Faith is already dealing with the fear of losing her mother to cancer. Billy should have foreseen that people would figure out who the baby had been and what ramifications the article would have on her.

The was a lot of blowback on Victor, as well, for covering up that Adam had killed A.J. Rey pointed out that it was strange that George, the caretaker, the only one who could have corroborated Victor's story, had suddenly disappeared. It does seem strange that George suddenly vanished. Who has hidden George -- Victor or Adam? It had to be one of them.

Victoria appears to be filled with remorse about the article. Shame on Billy for not allowing her to read it before he published it. I'm sure Victoria would have asked him to change a few things to temper how Victor appeared in the article, and I believe she would have removed any reference to Faith. But my hat is off to her; she stood her ground when Victor confronted and threatened her.

Wasn't that a sweet story about the Italian princess and the Teardrop of Love? Made my heart go pitter-patter. Well, not really. I wonder why the writers are going down this road with a mystery. It just seems pointless. Dina probably had her own reasons for wanting to see the movie. Perhaps it was only to see John again, but for some reason, Jack and Traci have turned it into a mystery. Well, okay. I hope they find their answers, but in my opinion this storyline is as dull as dirt.

What am I missing? Dina is in the late stages of Alzheimer's, and she has fleeting thoughts about things. She remembered Bixley. That was the camera that had taken the video, but did she know why she wanted it? I doubt it. It had been a fleeting thought, and she wouldn't have remembered it two minutes after she'd mentioned it. She probably enjoyed watching the movie and seeing John again and seeing Jack as a baby, but I don't believe it went any further than that.

I hope Jack and Tracy can solve the mystery of the Teardrop of Love. Perhaps it will lead Jack to a new love interest. The love story of the princess and the millionaire was interesting, and I hope Jack and Traci find some interesting information at the end of their journey with this mystery.

Jack had been incensed that Billy had included Faith and Ashley in the article, but Ashley said she wasn't upset about it and that every word Billy had printed was true. She asked Jack if Victor shouldn't be punished, as well, for his part in covering up what Adam had done. I'm in Ashley's corner. Those were my thoughts, also, but Jack still considers Adam his friend and will keep defending him.

When Jack described the necklace to Ashley, she knew the name of the necklace immediately, and she told Jack that Victor had had a hand in it. Jack ran to Victor, and Victor told him that John had bought the necklace on the black market and given it to Dina. She'd had it until it had been stolen around the time that Dina had abandoned her family. Victor had wanted to buy it. He apparently spent a lot of money, and it had taken a year for him to discover the necklace was with a holding company called Bohdi. This necklace has turned a lot of corners to get to this holding company. But does someone we know own Bohdi?

This necklace story reminds me of the reliquary storyline, and that wasn't very interesting, either. I hope this mystery becomes more interesting as we move forward. It just feels like they didn't know what to do with Jack, so they involved him in this quest.

Phyllis is in deep doo-doo with her hotel. She can't pay the heavy taxes that are due. She is scrambling to put the money together by liquidating all her assets. In her suite, she was talking to herself and blaming Abby for her situation. Oh, Phyllis, will you ever accept responsibility for your own actions? You borrowed money to buy Abby out, and somehow, it's Abby's fault that you are cash poor and can't pay the taxes? Sit beside Adam, and you can both cry a river.

Phyllis had been so desperate to own the hotel that she pulled every stunt she could think of to stop Abby from building her hotel across the street. Well, we all know the saying "Be careful what your wish for." Phyllis is the proud owner of a cash poor hotel! Phyllis came up with what she thought was a brilliant idea, and she called Victoria, claiming she had a proposition for her. Go, Phyllis! I doubt Victoria will want to help you with your hotel woes. If Phyllis doesn't find the money for her taxes, she might have to sell her baby.

When did Phyllis become such an oracle of wisdom? She has given some good advice to Nick and Amanda. She told Amanda that even though Amanda and Hilary were twins, Amanda was her own person and not half of a whole. My jaw dropped, because Phyllis has never been a pillar of wisdom.

Phyllis and Nick aren't happy about Summer and Kyle's engagement, and they did their best to discourage them from getting married. That made me giggle. Really? Nick and Phyllis trying to coach Summer about marriage? These two have been married and divorced how many times, and they are trying it again? I think they hurt Summer more than Kyle ever would. She just wanted their blessing, and instead, she received nothing but disapproval. Thanks to Nick and Phyllis, Kyle and Summer have eloped to get married. Will they make it to the altar? I doubt it.

When Summer agreed to elope, she didn't look like someone who was on cloud nine and about to marry the man of her dreams. I have a feeling that this is where Summer is going to start slipping into her old habits and becoming footloose and fancy free. I think both Summer and Kyle are in love with love but not each other. Kyle's problem is that he had pined for Summer for such a long time, and she just became a habit. Summer, on the other hand, is just happy that she won Kyle away from Lola. I still believe that Lola is his soul mate and the love of his life. I don't believe he is over her at all, and I don't believe Lola is over Kyle, either.

I was happy when Lola broke things off with Theo. Theo is a self-centered egotist, and he would never put Lola first. His immaturity is glaring. They were such a mismatched pair. I noticed that people have been complaining about Lola's sour face, but come on, people. Kyle was her first love, and they hadn't been married a year when along came Summer. Lola had believed in Kyle's commitment to her, and he betrayed her. Between the betrayal and the divorce, there is no way her life is all sunshine and roses. Give this poor girl a break. She will smile again.

Summer is coming off as very insecure. Why would she follow Kyle when he went to see Lola? She has Kyle on a very short leash. Kyle only wanted to make sure that Lola was okay because their divorce had finalized that day, but somehow, Summer managed to read something into it because she was all pouty and accusatory when she saw Kyle. I'm a Kola fan, and I loved Lola and Kyle together. I think Summer is too selfish and self-absorbed to put Kyle first. She will always want things done her way. These two need to go their separate ways, because they are not destined for each other, in my opinion.

Speaking of insecurities, Elena is certainly wearing her insecurity like a crown. There is no way that she will ever believe that Devon has no romantic inclination toward Amanda because she is a spitting image of Hilary. Devon has told Elena that he only has eyes for Elena, but for some reason, she can't see it.

While at the clinic, Elena and Nate save Jared, who had overdosed on something. Because they knew Jared, he was someone special to them. They had been scared they might lose him, but they didn't, and he was taken to the hospital for further treatment. The incident had been very unsettling, and because of that, coupled with Elena's insecurity about Devon and Amanda, she had sex with Nate.

Well, that certainly fixed all her problems, right? How many ways does Devon have to show her that he only sees Amanda as Hilary's sister and nothing more? He admitted that Amanda had brought back many memories about Hilary, but he's told Elena repeatedly that Hilary was his past, and she was his future. Devon has told Elena that Amanda has brought up many emotions and old feelings, but that didn't change the present.

Okay, am I crazy? I don't remember Hilary and Mariah ever being friends. Hilary had tolerated Mariah, and from time to time, Hilary had shown her softer side to Mariah. But on the whole, she'd always either bordered on cruel or was out-and-out cruel to Mariah. The only time I saw them as possibly friends was when Hilary was dying, and she complimented Mariah and told Mariah how good she was on and for the show. I must have missed the episode where they were friends.

It looks like Chance is going to have a snoot-full of trouble. I love how Abby is standing by him. She and Chance had an uncomfortable conversation about children. Abby told Chance about her miscarriage and how that had affected her physically and emotionally. She told him she wanted kids but needed time, but she wanted to have his children. Chance was good with that. Later, Abby told Mariah she would love to see a houseful of mini Abbys and Chances, that Chance made her really happy, and that they were both committed to each other. I understand Abby's reluctance to have another child, but I don't see her holding out too long.

Because of the article, Rey knew that Sharon had been treating Adam because he'd killed A.J. Montalvo. He said that what Adam and Victor had done was reprehensible. I thought that was a little harsh, since he didn't know all the circumstances. Oh, I'm not defending what Adam and Victor had done. We know the details, but at this point, Rey doesn't, and he and Sharon disagreed on that point.

I hope you enjoyed my insight and views about what has been happening in Genoa City, and I would love to read your comments -- good, bad, or indifferent -- on last week's episodes.

That's a wrap for this week. Until next time, stay safe!Nel

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