Can revenge be sweet or bitter?

Has loyalty in Genoa City flown out the window? Nate is ready to betray his family for what he perceives as the greater good of the company. Victoria is ready to betray Lily, Devon, and Billy for control of Chancellor-Winters, and Victor is on board for that acquisition. Join our columnist for her views and opinions in Two Scoops for this week.

Since Nate's arrival in Genoa City, he established himself as a prominent surgeon with a stellar reputation. Nate dated Victoria and Amanda, yet neither relationship worked out. He and Elena had a bit of a complicated relationship. He dated Elena (after she had been with Devon but cheated with Nate). She slept with Devon, but they moved past that and eventually moved in together. Elena has supported Nate's decisions -- until now. She says his plan will betray his family. In Nate's plan for revenge on Devon, the rest of his family will be collateral damage.

Nate has gone to Victoria, informing her that Jill and Lily are planning to make Chancellor-Winters public, and he offered to be Victoria's inside man at Chancellor-Winters when they go public. Victoria could then buy as many shares as needed to be in control of the company -- on the condition that Victoria make him CEO of Chancellor-Winters once the company comes under the Newman umbrella. Victoria agreed! Is she crazy? Why has she put her trust in Nate? For someone who was supposed to be a very savvy businesswoman, her greed for power has made her stupid because she doesn't seem to have any issues with insider trading, an offense that could put her in jail. Those aren't the actions of a savvy businesswoman.

Victoria seems to be okay with the fact that Nate is about to betray his entire family, assuming his motive is because Devon isn't willing to put Nate's idea into play. If Nate is willing to betray his family, what makes Victoria believe he would be loyal to her if things went according to plan? If Nate could betray his family with no qualms, he would betray Victoria in a heartbeat with another plan to sever Chancellor-Winters from Newman Enterprises. I think Nate believes he might be able to pull off all his plans and cut ties with Newman Enterprises and have Chancellor-Winters as a stand-alone entity, with him at the helm.

Nate has disregarded all the advice from a seasoned pro who's been down all those roads and knows the potential pitfalls of each project. Nate is brand new to the corporate world, and because he has a medical degree, he thinks he knows better than everyone. Nate's enormous ego is going to be his downfall. There are four people trying to guide him -- Devon, Lily, Billy, and Elena -- but he chooses to listen to an idiot in the persona of Imani, who is feeding him all the information he wants to hear. Nate really believes he can run a major corporation far better than those with years of experience.

What is Nate's motivation for doing this? Is it solely because Devon did not go along with his ideas? Nate wanting to destroy Devon as a businessman the same way Devon destroyed Nate as a surgeon would actually be a compelling motive! Or is it because Devon slept with Elena when Nate was dating her? Only Nate knows why he is doing it. I believe it's the hunger for power over Devon, but that's just how I see it. As a surgeon, Nate had autonomy and only reported to the hospital board when the occasion arose, but in the corporate world, Nate has to report to someone above his status and to receive approval for an idea.

It's obvious that Nate has delusions of grandeur with an overblown ego. He believes he could run a major conglomerate -- with no experience in his background -- better than two seasoned individual like Devon and Lily. When Elena said she couldn't get behind his plan, Nate actually had the audacity to accuse Elena of being as limited in her views as Devon and added that Elena and Devon had more in common than he'd realized. What is it going to take for Nate to realize that he isn't qualified to run a major conglomerate. The only person egging him on is Imani, and she has her own motives for doing so.

Nate has never liked reporting to anyone, and this is why I think he loves Imani's suggestions, because they line up with his egotistical thoughts. Nate refuses to listen to words of wisdom from those who have traveled that road many times before and know what they are talking about. What surprised me was when Nate asked for a second chance. Why didn't Devon, Lily, and Billy wonder why there was such a quick change of heart. Yes, Nate presented a plausible explanation, but hidden innuendos were peppered throughout his little speech.

Victoria is another one with an enormous ego, thinking she was the be-all and end-all as the CEO of a major corporation. Has her quest for more power left her blinded to the fact that Nate was providing illegal insider information, punishable with jail time? Why wasn't she initially ready to tell Victor about her plan for Chancellor-Winters? She is overconfident and overbearing. I used to like Victoria. I felt her sorrow after Ashland betrayed her and her joy at the payback she'd maneuvered as her revenge for his betrayal, but I'm not feeling it now. She is over-the-top power-hungry.

I want to see Nate and Victoria pay the price for their respective actions, but also to see both of them redeemed. They both need to learn a lesson in humility and check their egos at the door.

Nick was the voice of reason with Victoria. One of Nick's first questions was what Nate wanted in return for hurting his family. Victoria was apparently okay with Nate betraying his family, but Nick asked if she was jealous of Billy and Lily's relationship and if her goal was to have Billy answer to her because she wanted to reunite with him. Of course, she denied it, but the look on her face showed something else.

Nick also pointed out the other pitfalls, which also seemed to fall on deaf ears, and Victoria didn't seem to care how this would affect Jill, Billy, Devon, or Lily. It is only about the power it will bring her and the monetary reward. She is willing to put someone in a leadership role in her company, disregarding the fact that Nate has almost no business experience and is willing to betray his family to get what he wants.

The question is, will anyone give Devon or Lily the heads-up about Nate's plans? Will it be Nick or Elena, or will they remain silent? Will Imani still be interested in Nate if Nate's plan fails?

Could Nick's relationship with Sally be considered a betrayal to Adam? Some people seem to think so, but I don't. When Adam ended his and Sally's relationship, Sally became a free agent, and she could see whomever she chose. Adam had no right asking if Sally was sleeping with Nick. It's none of his business anymore.

I'm feeling sorry for Adam these days because I feel he is really committed to changing his ways, but he is being rejected in every direction he turns, except for Jack. I would love to see Adam make everyone see what an amazing job he can do at Jabot and for him to be the success he's always wanted to be. It's time people started to accept him, and this would be the first step in that redemption. Will he and Sally ever reunite? Who's to say? For the moment, they have gone their separate ways -- but perhaps their feelings haven't.

Nick and Sally's relationship...I'm on the fence with that one. I can't see it going anywhere because Sally is still in love with Adam. Having sex with Nick isn't an indication that things will lead to romance. Sometimes sex is just sex, and this might be the case here. However, if it does go beyond the sex thing, it might wind up being an interesting union.

Chloe's never-ending babble about Adam to Sally has frayed my last nerve, and all I want to do is jump into the television set and stuff ten pairs of socks into Choe's mouth, just to shut her up. Are we sure she doesn't belong on The Bold and Beautiful with their repetitive dialogue? If the writers prepare a new song for Chloe to sing, I'll remove the socks. Surely, they can give her better dialogue than to constantly put down Adam to Sally.

Nikki's meeting with Deacon went well. She was able to shirk Deacon's charm and avoid the booze. She certainly held her own, but I wonder how long she will be able to maintain that resolve. She made me laugh because she really seemed to exaggerate that look down her nose at Deacon. Deacon did inform Nikki that Diane had seemed to be quite wealthy, since she'd arrived in a Bentley each time they'd met, and there had been a guy in the backseat with her. Hmm, I can't wait for this guy to help expose Diane and maybe some of her exploits in Los Angeles. This should be fun. I wonder if this backseat guy will turn out to be Trevor St. John.

Phyllis has been a favorite of mine for quite some time, but not so much lately. I understand her need to want Diane out of town because of their history, but Phyllis can't seem to make a plan and let it play out. She has this need to goad Diane in the hope that Diane will cave in and show her true colors.

After Summer and Kyle read the riot act to Phyllis and Diane that if one strays, they would both be let go, what did Diane do? She ran straight to Jack to complain about Sumer and Kyle's ultimatum. Jack wasn't too sympathetic.

Phyllis' attitude seemed to be that none of it applied to her because I think she thought Summer wouldn't let that happen to her. Boy, was she wrong. After Diane lost her cool, Diane and Phyllis were called into Jack's office by Summer and Kyle. Diane owned up to her misconduct and resigned. Phyllis couldn't be gracious and leave well enough alone. Oh, hell no! She congratulated Diane for doing the right thing after her very, very embarrassing outburst.

How much did we love the look on Phyllis' face when she was reminded about their agreement, that if one strayed, they both got the boot. Somehow, Phyllis didn't think that applied to her, and she was incredulous when Summer said that Diane had resigned because of an argument with Phyllis. Phyllis thought she was off the hook because she hadn't instigated anything. Surprise! Diane was right; Phyllis hadn't grasped the concept of the agreement.

Later at the coffeehouse, Phyllis scolded Summer for not defending her instead of firing her over something Diane had done. Phyllis said she wound up paying the price for Diane's mind games. If Diane is playing mind games, what does Phyllis call what she is doing? Phyllis isn't an innocent victim here, since she is actively plotting some form of revenge against Diane to get Diane out of town. Phyllis isn't grasping the fact that Diane's meltdown was as a result of Phyllis' goading and Victor's veiled threat. I mean, sure, Diane probably has some stress and secrets that make it harder to keep up the veneer, but still, Phyllis was a factor.

It looks like Michael Graziadei will be reprising his role as Phyllis' son, Daniel Romalotti. I wonder if he's returning to try to contain Phyllis.

I have to admit, my heart went out to Phyllis when she arrived at Summer and Kye's pre-vow-renewal party. The look on her face just broke my heart. I put myself in her place, and I knew how devastated I would have been. Diane had to be bitchy about Phyllis' reaction. Thankfully, Kyle checked her, but I felt the check should have been firmer.

It looks like Phyllis and Diane have a second chance at Marchetti to make sure they behave. Otherwise, they will be O-U-T! I wonder if Phyllis will be true to form and continue in her plans to get Diane out of town or if Phyllis will toe the line. (That would be a first.)

Who is sending Diane text messages informing her that Nikki was meeting with Deacon. That message seemed to worry Diane a great deal, and it appeared that she wondered if she should contact Deacon to warn him not to say anything to Nikki. Who was the guy in the backseat of that car? As I wondered before, could this be the mysterious stranger that Trevor St. John will be playing? Is he the one involved with Diane somehow? I hope not. I was hoping for something better than that for Trevor St. John's role, but he would certainly make a good villain.

Why is Diane in such a panic over that text message? Who is coming to town? Could it be the guy who Deacon had seen sitting in the backseat of the Bentley that Diane had exited when she met with Deacon? It looks like Diane's past in Los Angeles might begin to put chinks in the armor she has been hiding behind.

What is going on with Chelsea? She used to be one of my favorites, but not so much anymore. Why is she pushing so hard for Johnny to know she is his biological mother. Up until recently, she never looked at him sideways. Now, suddenly, it's of monumental importance that Johnny know about her. I don't believe Chelsea is over her breakdown because, since her return, she wants nothing but honesty from everyone around her, she has become very pushy in what she wants, and she is ignoring how others feel about what she wants. She has pushed Victoria to the point that Victoria finally had to give in about telling Johnny, but she did insist Johnny's reaction had to be on his terms.

Chelsea was overjoyed with the news, and she accepted the parameters set by Victoria, but once Johnny has been told, I have a feeling that Chelsea is going to push for more and possibly want Johnny to live with her. That wouldn't surprise me because Chelsea is at loose ends. Because Connor lives with Adam and she has limited time with him, she just might want Johnny living with her to fill that gap of not having Connor around. I could be very wrong, but the way Chelsea has been acting, it wouldn't surprise me. I wish Chloe would hound her about seeing a therapist the way Chloe has been hounding Sally about staying away from Adam.

Those were my thoughts about last week's episodes. Until next time, stay safe.Nel

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