On this episode of The Young and the Restless (Tuesday, September 9, 2025), Mariah admits to Tessa that she attempted to kill a man, Nick warns Phyllis about Cane and they strike a risky deal, and Claire and Kyle move towards reconciliation.

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Last Episode

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Chancellor Park

Daniel and Tessa sit in the park. Daniel strums on his guitar and Tessa sings along.

They smile at each other. Daniel can’t believe how good they sounded… And they wrote the song together!

Tessa grins and says that their connection and timing made this happen… This could actually be a hit in any market! She thinks it’s too good to keep to themselves. Who should they play their song for first? Lucy?

Daniel laughs and says that Lucy doesn’t have very good taste in music… She’d probably hate it! He says they could play it at his dad’s wedding… Tessa could be his plus-one!

Tessa thinks that’s a great idea. She wants everyone to see how good her student is!

Daniel knows that he’s made the progress he has because of her.

Tessa shakes her head. He did all the work, she just showed him the basics!

Daniel figures she made the time for him, even with everything that’s going on in her life. He feels like he owes her!

Tessa thinks he needs to give himself more credit. He came up with the song.

Daniel scoffs. He only came up with some chords! She was the one who put it together and created the lyrics, and now it’s something beautiful… Just like her! He winces. “I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Tessa smiles. He did say that! She admits it felt nice to hear someone say that.

Mariah walks into the park and sees Tessa and Daniel talking.

Tessa sees Mariah and says it’s good to see her… Is she okay?

Mariah asks if she could speak to Tessa privately. Daniel agrees. He packs up his guitar and leaves the park. Mariah thinks that Tessa and Daniel seem to be getting closer.

Tessa nods. Daniel’s a good friend, and she needs friends right now. She doesn’t want to talk about Daniel, though… She wants to talk about Mariah.

Mariah says she’s been going to some dark places in her mind that she’s locked away for a long while.

Tessa hopes it’s helping her heal.

Mariah isn’t sure. She needs to go away for a while.

Tessa asks where she’s going, and for how long… Does this mean she’s not going to see their daughter anymore?

Mariah shrugs. Her therapist suggested a clinic in Boston. She’d be able to get more intense therapy there. She knows it won’t be easy on Aria.

Tessa shrugs. Maybe it will be easy on Aria!

Mariah asks what that means.

Tessa says that when Mariah is with Aria, she can tell she’s not really present. She says Aria is sensitive; they can’t hide anything from her!

Mariah thinks she’s right; maybe Aria shouldn’t see her like this. She knows she’s a mess and doesn’t know how long she’ll be away for… She figures it’ll take as long as it takes!

Tessa says Mariah has been so busy with her “deep dark secret” that she hasn’t checked in on Tessa or Aria to see how they’re doing.

Mariah shakes her head. She has to take care of herself before she can take care of them!

Tessa says that before this, they used to mean everything to each other. She says she can’t understand why she’s losing her because Mariah won’t tell her! She turns to leave.

Mariah comes after her and promises she’ll tell her what happened. She cries and says she tried to kill a man.

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Crimson Lights

Claire and Kyle are talking on the patio. She tells Kyle that she’s been working hard in therapy to deal with not trusting people… She asks him to tell him what deal she made with Victor.

Kyle agrees. He says that his deal with Victor was motivated by how much he loves her, and he knows Victor loves her too… It’s one of the few things they have in common!

Claire smiles. The toast Kyle made at Nikki’s party really made her realize how he really does love her.

Kyle takes a breath and tells her he went to Victor after the party and made him a deal he couldn’t refuse. He tells her that he signed a contract saying that if he broke Claire’s heart or hurt her, he’d pay Victor $5 million dollars and leave Genoa City forever!

Claire sits and takes it in. She’s conflicted… He put a pricetag on their relationship!

Kyle thinks it was the only way he could get Victor off his back. Victor was surprised by it, but accepted the offer right away. He says he’d do anything for Claire.

Claire thinks he might not have told her about the kiss with Audra because if the truth came out, he’d be out $5 million dollars!

Kyle shakes his head. He isn’t worried about the money! He wanted to make sure that she wasn’t hurt by the news.

Claire tells him that Victor was impressed that Kyle didn’t tell her the details of their arrangement; Victor thought it showed he was sincere and didn’t do it just for show, and that’s when she told him that Kyle hadn’t told her about kissing Audra.

Kyle figures that’s when Victor must have said, “I told you so!”

Audra says that she was surprised that Victor didn’t say that… He was supportive of Kyle! She understands why he did what he did in Nice. It wasn’t the kiss… She’s worried that there’s more that he’s not telling her.

Kyle promises there’s nothing more.

Claire nods. She knows he’s sincere, but he’s broken her trust, and she’s not sure that can be fixed.

Kyle can see the distrust in her eyes, and it hurts him.

Claire knows he loves her… Maybe she’s being too tough on him!

Kyle says she’s done nothing wrong, he deserves it. He apologizes again and says he put their future at risk. He wonders if there’s anything he can do to make it right.

Claire isn’t sure. She needs time to figure it out; she wishes she could let it go, but she can’t.

Kyle wishes it never happened, but he’s glad she knows the truth now. He figures she won’t be coming to the launch party tonight.

Claire says she wouldn’t be much fun there, and besides, Audra will be at the party, so she doesn’t want to start a fight. She tells Kyle to go and support his uncle.

Kyle shrugs; he’d probably spend the entire night missing her!

They move to the front of the coffeehouse and Claire tells him not to miss the party because of her.

Kyle thinks it’d be awkward if he went; everyone would be asking where Claire is and he wouldn’t be able to hide how he feels about hurting her. He figures Audra would pick up on it and… Meow! The catfight Claire didn’t want would probably end up happening anyhow! He tells her that he loves her.

Claire smiles. She loves him too, and she wants to believe they can get through this! She leaves the cafe.

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Chancellor Park Overlook

Phyllis walks up to Nick in the and they look out on the city. Phyllis says it feels good to be home, even though France was beautiful, too. She asks Nick what he wanted to talk to her about… Did he want her to fall over the overlook? Would that be considered an accident?

Nick says it’s too soon after what happened in Nice to joke like that. He asks her to tell him exactly what Cane wanted her to do for him… He doesn’t want Phyllis going to prison!

Phyllis feigns ignorance… She hasn’t done anything illegal for Cane or anyone else!

Nick scoffs. She’s in with Cane, who’s coming after the Newman family… And that puts her at odds with them! Did Cane hire her to use her computer skills to break into their company? Did he hire her to use A.I. for nefarious purposes?

Phyllis says she’s not on trial; she’s not saying anything! She asks where he’s going with these outrageous questions.

Nick says he’s trying to help her. She needs to cut ties with Cane immediately! He’s worried about her… Cane is leading her down the wrong path! If she trusts him, then he needs her to be honest with her.

Phyllis says she trusts him… Why does he think Cane is leading her astray?

Nick says Cane has developed an A.I. weapon that will take corporate warfare to a new level. He won’t say where he got this information, but he hopes he’s wrong about it. The software infiltrates corporate networks without a trace. Once it’s inside, it destablizes finances and can sell off divisions. Cane will try to steal the companies out from under the rightful owners!

Phyllis laughs and says he’s watching too many sci-fi shows.

Nick says his legal team has told him that anyone involved will go to jail for at least ten years… He needs her to tell him if she knows anything about this!

Phyllis promises she doesn’t know anything about the A.I. software. She turns to leave.

Nick thinks that she’s still affected by Martin kidnapping her. He doesn’t want her to go to prison!

Phyllis swears she knows nothing and is innocent… She hasn’t committed any crimes! She hasn’t hacked into Newman, Jabot, or any other company. She’d never put herself in a position where she wouldn’t be around for her children.

Nick is relieved to hear it, but he needs to know what Cane wanted her to do… Did Cane ask her to plant a virus in the computers?

Phyllis says Cane wouldn’t have hired her to do something so simple… Any teenager could do that!

Nick sighs and says that she needs to tell him… They need to stop Cane, and this might be their only chance to do it!

Phyllis takes a breath and says she’ll tell him everything. She says Cane was willing to put her life and future at risk. She says that Cane has gotten nowhere with his plan, and he might have pulled the plug altogether. And at present, Cane hasn’t gotten into Newman, Jabot, or any other companies at this time; he’s preoccupied with repairing his relationship with his kids. She says Cane is about to lose his relationship with his kids because of the hit piece that Newman Media put out. Everything is on hold for now.

Nick wonders if Cane is just saying that so Phyllis doesn’t know his plans… How well does she know him?

Phyllis knows Cane well enough to see he’s devastated. She understands him and knows that type of pain! She says that Cane never mentioned how he’d use the A.I. If he’d told her what he planned, she’d be out. She wants respect and recognition for her skills, but not at the cost of her freedom or her relationship with her kids!

Nick thanks her for telling him. He knows she can usually handle things like this herself.

Phyllis grins and thanks him for butting in.

Nick wonders if Cane ever comes to the overlook to look over Genoa City and tries to figure out how he’ll take it all over.

Phyllis laughs. Maybe he does… Maybe she does! She looks over the city and says she just sees home.

Nick asks her to do him a favor, and Phyllis agrees without knowing what it is. He says he needs her help to save Genoa City… Whatever Cane shares with her, she needs to share with him.

Phyllis nods. She’ll keep him in the loop!

Nick kisses her on the cheek. “Thanks!” He leaves the park.

The smile drops off Phyllis’s face as she dials her phone. “You sonofabitch! Why didn’t you tell me what you were getting me into?!”

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