The lying game

Things are ramping up in Genoa City with Marchetti relocating its headquarters there, and too many people are lying. Is Ashland still lying to Victoria? Is Victoria lying to herself, or does she have an ulterior motive? Diane seems to be fooling everyone, and Billy has suddenly realized he has been lying to himself. Let's have a look at who is lying in this week's Two Scoops.

I think the only place to start is to ask how many adjoining states heard Victor's rage at Victoria. I remember hearing him bluster sporadically, but this was classic Victor Newman showing off his extreme vocal cords and his utter disgust with Victoria's decision to reconcile with Ashland and leave town. Victor was obviously outraged, and I was waiting for his head to explode or for him to collapse from a heart attack. In complete shock, Nikki's jaw remained dropped, as did mine, for that matter. I have to wonder whether Victoria fell down and scrambled her brain -- or did she simply lose her mind completely? I truly believed she would move on, whether Ashland stayed in town or left.

I guess Ashland's theory of bombarding someone with constant "I love you's," ad nauseum, and "you've changed me into a better man," worked because Victoria seems to have fallen for his lines -- hook, line, and sinker. I will be the first to say that some misdeeds can be forgiven, but Ashland's weren't just petty misdeeds. He allowed his best friend to die in a burning car; he took his friend's wallet and assumed his friend's identity; he altered a dying woman's will and built an empire on a lie; he conspired and manipulated Victoria into a merger with his company in the hope that he would take over Victor's legacy, Newman Enterprises; he married Victoria based on a lie; he faked having cancer and then discovered a miracle cure for it; and he topped things off by telling Harrison he was sick and dying. His crimes were punishable with imprisonment, and Ashland has never paid for any of them.

I can't make up my mind whether Victoria's brain has traveled to where no one has gone before or if she has an ulterior motive. My dilemma stems from when Victoria married Billy, and they separated because of his gambling and such, but they reunited; however, Victoria reached the end of her rope with Billy's gambling, and she tossed him aside. She later married Ashland, but when she discovered all the crimes he'd committed and lies he'd told, she was crushed and decided she would bring Ashland down her own way. Then Adam stepped in with his own plan to get rid of Ashland by paying him off.

I'm speculating that it was Victoria's heart that was crushed; she wanted the satisfaction of bringing Ashland down, and that opportunity was taken away from her. I am wondering whether she is playing Ashland to get the satisfaction of being the one to destroy him. To that end, is Victoria lying to everyone that she wants Ashland above everything else? I'm hoping this is the case, otherwise this reconciliation makes no sense.

Victoria had adored Billy, but she tossed him aside because of his gambling. Given Ashland's major crimes, I can't understand how she could toss Billy aside for gambling and forgive Ashland for his crimes. This makes no sense to me. I can't see her just sweeping all that under the rug. Didn't she hit her head in the accident? It could also be a possibility that if she did hit her head, perhaps she might be temporarily suffering from a dissociative behavior. Hmm, that's something to ponder.

I felt that Victoria's demeanor seemed off when she confronted her family, with Ashland, and with Billy. Victoria has stood up to everyone previously, but this time, she appeared a little too animated and cocky, and her elation seemed to be over the top. Either Ashland has perfected his manipulation, or Victoria has been hurt so badly that she isn't thinking straight. I would hate to think that she is in her right mind, reconciling with Ashland. I agree with Nick. Victoria is the savviest person he's ever met, and he couldn't believe she would fall for Ashland's manipulations.

Victoria went to see Billy to tell him she had taken his advice and was getting out of Dodge. Billy was obviously happy that she was getting out from under Victor's thumb, as long as it had nothing to do with Ashland. Did Victoria really believe Billy would give his blessings for her new endeavor with Ashland? We all know how much Billy hates Ashland, and hell will freeze over before Billy will allow his kids to be under the same roof as Ashland. He told Victoria he will fight her for full custody of the kids if she leaves with Ashland.

Billy is threatening a lawsuit for sole custody of the kids, and I am wondering if Ashland will follow suit and file his own lawsuit for visitation with Harrison. This might prove to be interesting because, with Ashland's past crimes and his name appearing in both custody suits, what are the chances of Victoria and Ashland winning their case? That would certainly be an interesting storyline, if it happens.

Our Adam 2.0 has reverted to his old ways. During the family meeting that Victoria called, Adam sat on the sofa, relishing every word Victoria said about Ashland, and he is over the moon that his and Sally's plan succeeded without their intervention because Victoria is doing it for them. Adam holds himself in very high esteem.

Adam told Sally that Victor will see him as a genius because earlier, he'd informed Victor that Victoria was still in love with Ashland. Victor saw Adam's information as self-serving, and he warned Adam to stop eying the Newman CEO chair. Adam seems to think he's all that and then some and that he deserves the Newman CEO chair because he is the best and smartest person for that position. I am going to laugh my butt off when Victor appoints Adam as the CEO but then withdraws the offer for some reason -- and we all know Victor will.

What will Adam do then? Will Adam decide there is no pleasing his pops and leave Newman Media, or will he finally grow a backbone and show Victor what a success he can make of Newman Media despite the competition from Chancellor-Winters, or will Adam plot revenge. It will be interesting to see how this storyline plays out.

Adam, the liar, had the nerve to tell Victor that he'd done his part in helping Victoria by getting rid of Ashland, but Adam claimed he was out of ideas for how to get through to Victoria. Well, isn't that a laugh, since he and Sally have been plotting to reunite Victoria and Ashland and trying to maneuver Adam into the CEO chair. They don't give two hoots in hell how Victoria feels, what she is going through, or how to help her. Adam and Sally are gloating because they don't need to lift a finger, since Victoria has done it for them.

Let's check out our other expert liar and manipulator, Diane. Like Ashland, Diane seems to think being constantly in someone's face and claiming, "I've changed," again, ad nauseum, is going to get her what she wants, and so far, it appears to be working. She is deliberately showing up where she hasn't been invited and is constantly in Kyle's face. I wish Kyle would smarten up, listen to what people have said about her, and send her back to Los Angeles.

Diane tried to manipulate Allie into believing she'd set Jack up to meet Allie, his granddaughter, because he deserved to know about her, but Allie saw right through that and said that it had been self-serving because Diane had had her own agenda for arranging that meeting. Allie is keeping Diane at arm's length because she doesn't trust her, and Diane isn't happy about it. Allie seems to read people very well.

Diane is doing a bang-up job of manipulating Jack. I wonder how long she practiced in front of a mirror to perfect that sad face and the crocodile tears before she put on the performance for Jack. I almost choked when I saw Jack was buying this big fish story. It looks like Phyllis has been right all along. Diane has managed to put a big wedge between Phyllis and Jack, and she is still playing her mind games, just as she did in the past. Diane's face must hurt after keeping that phony smile on her face for everyone. It must be a relief to enter her hotel suite and let the scowl take over.

It appears that Jack isn't the only one who seems to be warming up to Diane. Traci had a rather friendly conversation with Diane at the coffeehouse, and it looks like Summer might also be warming up to her, as well. Jack and Summer better figure Diane out in a hurry and run because Diane is scheming to have Jack in her life and Summer out. Traci will move away from Diane once she sees the extent of Diane's manipulation. Kyle needs to come up for air and really look at Diane to see who she really is, and once he sees the monster called Diane, he will finally believe what everyone has said then he really needs to send Diane packing back to Los Angeles.

Diane is being very subtle with her mind games. It appears that Diane's endgame is to reunite her family that only consists of Jack, Kyle, Harrison, and herself. I believe she will try to alienate Summer because, in her twisted mind, her family only consists of only four people. I have to wonder what she will do if her plans don't work out. Will grandma Didi try to kidnap Harrison?

I find Diane's timing suspect. She stayed away for 20 years, but when she saw that Kyle had a son -- poof, there she was, back in Genoa City. Perhaps she is hoping she could have a second chance of raising a child to maturity, something she didn't have with Kyle. Diane told Ashland that under the circumstances she couldn't help him with Harrison; is that because she really wants to reunite her family or because she wants to have Harrison to herself without Ashland's interference in Harrison's life?

We all know that Victor won't stand by and watch Victoria reunite with Ashland, and it appears that neither will Billy. Billy told Victoria he won't allow Johnny and Katie anywhere near Ashland. As I mentioned above, there might be a double custody court battle.

I can't blame Lily for the way she feels about Billy trying to interfere in Victoria's life. They are divorced, and Victoria doesn't need Billy riding in on his high horse and trying to fix her or her situation. Lily was absolutely right; this was all about Billy and his history with Victoria. I believe he is worried about the kids being around Ashland, but he has been lying to himself about his feelings for Victoria. I was happy to see Lily blow up at Billy and make him face the truth about himself. Oh, good grief, we might be in for another one of Billy's podcasts about self-exploration and how to be true to oneself.

Lily told Billy he didn't need to fight for custody because Ashland wouldn't hurt the kids, and Billy had to let go of Victoria. Lily said that because he and Victoria were co-parenting, it didn't give him the right to run her life. She told Billy that if Victoria was making a mistake, it was hers to make, and it wasn't Billy's responsibility to fix it. Lily was absolutely right when she said that everyone was trying to micromanage Victoria's choices. At first, I believed that Lily was being insensitive, but then I realized she was right, and so did Billy. Let's hope he moves on.

Summer and Kyle have managed a huge coup by having Jabot acquire Marchetti and relocating its headquarters to Genoa City. This has also been wonderful news for their families, having them home permanently. I giggled when Summer told Sally that Marchetti was relocating to Genoa City. Sally was shocked. Sally wasn't going to be outdone, and in a snotty high and mighty manner, she said that if Summer's little fashion house needed a push from a giant media conglomerate that she and Adam ran, she would be happy to help. You know Sally's first love is fashion, and she knows she will never be hired by anyone in Genoa City as a designer, so she tends to lash out in any way she can to elevate her own importance.

When Kyle was walking through the park, he noticed that Adam and Chelsea couldn't seem to have a civil conversation without it turning into an argument. Kyle stepped in to rescue Chelsea. After Adam left, Chelsea invited Kyle for coffee as a way of thanking Kyle for helping her with Adam.

Uh-oh! Rey showed Chelsea kindness, and she believed she was in love with him. Is she going to do the same with Kyle because he showed her a bit of kindness? Is Chelsea that desperate? I believe I have said this before -- they need to bring some new men to town because at the moment, the women outnumber the men, and rather than recycling old relationships, let's bring in some new boy toys for the ladies to fight over.

With Marchetti being acquired by Jabot, I see this giving Chelsea a new outlook on life, since she would be designing for Marchetti. I really hope this happens, and perhaps there might be a new man who comes with the Marchetti package.

Just when I started liking Imani, she turned the tables on me with her incessant flirtation with Nate and her rude comments to Amanda when Amanda called her out about her flirting. I am no longer a fan after seeing how irreverent she is. Imani wants what she wants, and she doesn't care who stands in her way. I guess with having been ruled by Grandpa Sutton, he taught her that was the way to get what she wanted. I am really rooting for Elena to shut Imani down in a big way, or even for Nathan to do it.

Imani encourages Nate to go his own way, and Nate is wallowing in her praise. Nate seems to forget that Lily and Devon call the shots because they have been in the corporate world for quite a while, and Nate is a newcomer and should be listening to those in the know and not the lovelorn Imanis of the world. It will be interesting to see if either Elena or Nate put Imani in her place or if Nate will feel the pull to stray. Perhaps Nate will be taught a valuable lesson by Lily or Devon.

That's it from me for this week, so until next time, stay safe! Nel

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