Sharon is still shaken up from the kidnapping. Nick and Sharon tell Victor the gist of what happened, and that the kidnapper was killed in a fight. Sharon admits to Victor that she's now afraid for Noah. Victor gives her a phone number to a good therapist, saying that it will help her to talk through her problems with someone. Nick asks Phyllis if he can move in with her, and she enthusiastically agrees. Noah tells Nick that he hates living with Sharon, since she doesn't let him do things by himself and yells at him a lot. Nick tells Noah that Sharon loves him very much, she's just still going through a tough time right now. Later, Nick tells Phyllis that he isn't going to be able to move in with her yet, since he needs to spend a lot of time with Noah during this transition. Michael tells Gloria that even if she isn't legally married to John, they had two ceremonies and John left half of his estate to her, so that proves that John loved her with all of his heart. He suggests selling her shares of Jabot stock and investing it in something she will enjoy, far away from the Abbott's. Gloria says that she wants to invest it in John's company and make it even better than it is today. Gloria, Michael, and Kevin meet Christine, Jack and Ashley at the courthouse. Ashley reveals that there is a new will, and Christine is angry that she wasn't told of this new development when they found out. Christine tells Gloria about this, and everyone starts to yell at each other. The judge reads John's will, which says to divide all of his assets between his children. Gloria is stunned. Michael argues that John was under heavy medication and not in the right frame of mind when writing the new will. Christine states that her clients want to go by the date on the will, not the date that the chaplain wrote on the outside of the envelope as the day John gave it to him. Gloria returns home only to find her belongings in suitcases outside the door. She puts her key in the lock but it doesn't open the door. Jack comes to the other side of the door, holding up the new set of keys he has for the new locks.
Gloria bangs on the door at the Abbott mansion and demands that Jack let her in. Jack tells her and Kevin they are through with unwelcome guests and tells them to get out. Gloria tells him that the judge hasn't ruled so he has no right to kick her out, but Ashley agrees that they are unwelcome and need to leave. Jack tells her if she doesn't vacate the premises, he'll call the police. Jack and Ashley celebrate Gloria's absence. Ashley thinks Jack is being a little harsh and reiterates her suspicion about the will. Kay shows up at the Abbott's and questions Jack and Ashley about the will. She tells them John conveyed his wishes to provide for Gloria to her; she's going to check on when exactly John talked to her about his last wishes. Was it before of after the ‘so-called' new will? Jack asks if she's accusing them of something; she says no and leaves. Ashley scolds Jack for his treatment of Kay and continues to wonder about the new will. She tells Jack that underestimating Michael is a mistake. He tells her even he isn't good enough to forge a will in court. They discuss Jabot. Jack tells her their father's company will be back on top and that doors are starting to open for him. Ashley thinks everything good that's happening to him is too much to be a coincidence. Maybe he knows how to make his own luck.
Billy comes to the Chancellor Estate and Jill asks if he's given anymore thought to staying in town. He says no and tells Kay and Jill about the new will; they're shocked. Kay and Jill agree it doesn't sound like John. Kay returns from the Abbotts and conveys her suspicions about the new will to Jill. She says she needs to get her legacy in order, but reassures Jill that her inheritance is safe. Kay asks Billy to come to the house and asks him if he would like to work at Jabot.
Daniel calls Lily and asks her to meet him. She comes to the coffee house and they talk. She thanks him for coming to her graduation dinner and he gives her a gift since he didn't have one at the dinner. It's a silver box with her name on it and keepsakes from their relationship in it. Billy comes in and Lily introduces him to Daniel. Jana and Billy talk and flirt. Billy talks about wanting to travel. Kevin comes in and asks Billy to talk about the living situation. Billy tells him it doesn't concern him. Daniel asks Lily on a date. Jana and Kevin decide to go out after work.
Michael worries about Gloria and the will. Gloria and Kevin show up and tell them that Jack and Ashley threw them out. Michael plans to use Jack's treatment of Gloria against him in court. They talk about the suspect nature of the will. Lauren and Michael tell Kevin and Gloria they can stay there until this passes. Gloria tells them how lucky she is to have them as family. Michael and Lauren stress about Gloria and Kevin living there, but decide to be gracious hosts.
Lily and Daniel met at Crimson Lights. He thanked her for being willing to see him. Lily admitted that she felt like they were on their first date. Daniel said he felt as nervous as if that were true. He wouldn't tell Lily where they were going. When they got to the lake, he'd set up a romantic picnic for them. The two of them reminisced about their trip to California and how much trouble they'd been in. Then Lily suggested they go skinny dipping. Afterward, Lily seemed to forgive Daniel for the incident with Alex as their night turned passionate.
At Newman Enterprises, Noah was being sulky because he had to make a book about his summer vacation to take back to school. Nick and Phyllis both offered to help him with it. After thinking it over, Noah realized that his summer hadn't just involved the breakup of his parents' marriage.
With Nick's and Phyllis's help, Noah put together a book about seeing eagles with Aunt Casey in Colorado, his ball-playing at baseball camp, and how much the benefit in Cassie's memory had meant to him. He sadly said he wished he still had a sister, and Nick and Phyllis exchanged a meaningful look. When Nick and Noah were alone, Nick wondered if they should invite Phyllis to join them for dinner to pay her back for helping. Noah was fine with that because he said Phyllis was fun.
Jack called Carmen to thank her for the flowers she sent and the contribution she'd made in his father's name to stroke research. The two of them agreed to meet at the club for dinner. But as Carmen was waiting for Jack, Neil came in. Devon had called to break their dinner engagement because he had a date. Neil wanted Carmen to have dinner with him, but she admitted she already had a date. Neil was surprised when Jack came in.
After Neil left them alone, Jack and Carmen ate dinner. She said she wasn't sure about her plans to return to New York. She thought she would, but right now, there was something else she wanted. When Jack wondered what, Carmen said she didn't want to jinx it and glanced at Neil across the restaurant. Jack, too, was about to fight for something he said he should have fought for long before. He didn't give Carmen details, but he clearly meant to position himself to take back power at Jabot.
Neil went upstairs to play basketball. Another guy tried to get a game going with him, but Neil was too distracted to play well. After the other player left, Carmen came up because as she and Jack were saying goodnight, she'd noticed Neil's cell phone on the table. Neil thanked her and the two of them starting shooting baskets while they talked.
Dru noticed that Sharon was extremely jumpy and had been crying. She also knew there was extra security at the ranch. When she pressured Sharon to tell her the truth, Sharon broke down and admitted that she'd been kidnapped. She and Nick had decided that no one except family should know. However, they'd also decided not to tell Noah. Once Sharon shared the information with Dru, she felt better. She said it had been hard not having a friend since losing Brad as a confidante.
When Dru told Sharon she could tell her anything, Sharon confessed about her attraction to Brad and how they'd spent a night together on a business trip to New York. She was afraid Dru had lost all respect for her, especially since Brad was her sister-in-law's husband. Drucilla then made a confession of her own: Lily was Malcolm's daughter. Sharon was a sympathetic listener as Dru explained the past. The two women then commiserated about Phyllis, who'd broken up Sharon's marriage and had been the means for Neil's discovery of Lily's true paternity. Drucilla said Phyllis had a clone, too: Carmen, who was a threat to her marriage. Both women wondered why these women had to go after other women's husbands.
Devon called Dru and told her that Neil was having dinner alone at the club. Dru wanted to go there, but Sharon said to wait. She'd go with her. That way, it wouldn't look like Dru was spying on Neil, but as if she was out to dinner with a friend. When they got to the club, they found Carmen and Neil shooting baskets on the roof. Dru misunderstood what Carmen said about her date earlier as meaning that Neil and Carmen, not Jack and Carmen, had been out together. After they went back downstairs, Dru told Sharon she was going to powder her nose. But Dru sneaked back up to the roof and saw Neil and Carmen leave together.
Sharon ran into Jack in the club's restaurant. She expressed her condolences on the loss of his father. She assured Jack she wasn't out drinking alone again; she was there with Dru. Then the two of them watched as Nick came into the club with Noah and Phyllis. While Jack kept his seat, Sharon went to their table. She told Noah she looked forward to seeing his back-to-school project the next day when he came home. Then she urged him to wash his hands before dinner.
When Noah left the table, Sharon chided Nick for taking their son out to dinner with his pregnant mistress. When Sharon walked away, Nick apologized to Phyllis. Phyllis said it was understandable that Sharon was hurt. Nick said that he wanted to tell Noah that they were expecting a baby. Phyllis said he should do it alone, but Nick insisted that he wanted Phyllis to be there, too. Phyllis finally agreed. Neither of them mentioned letting Sharon know about or be part of the decision.
Phyllis gives Nick some information about talking to Noah about his parent's divorce. Nick thinks that Noah is doing okay, and he wants to tell him about Phyllis' pregnancy. Phyllis and Nick go over to pick up Noah for a trip to the lake. Victor has been spending the morning with Noah and gave him a "worry rock." Victor said that he got it from a monk on his trip, and that he wants Noah to have it. When Sharon comes downstairs, she isn't happy to find that Phyllis is there. Nick tells her that he's taking Noah to the lake. Sharon asks Nick to let her know next time they decide to take Noah somewhere.
Sharon talks to Victor about her struggles dealing with the divorce. She says that it feels like her family isn't her family anymore. Victor tells her that this is a whole new adventure for her. He tries to teach her how to box. As he puts on his boxing gloves, Victor madly starts punching the bag. When he snaps out of it, Sharon asks him what happened. Victor seems confused.
At the lake, Nick tells Noah that he is going to have a little sister. When Noah finds out that Nick is the father of Phyllis' baby, he wonders if that is the reason that his parent's are divorcing. Nick admits that is a big reason. When Noah asks if Phyllis and Nick are going to be married, Nick says yes.
Ashley wonders why Jack is joyous at the breakfast table. She worries that things might not go in their favor in the courtroom. Ashley says if Jack did manipulate his father into creating a new will, she doesn't like what it says about Jack.
Kevin tells Gloria that he had forgotten how terrible Michael's couch felt to sleep on. He says that he has to get a new place. Michael jokes, and says, "Like tomorrow?" Gloria wonders what Michael has in mind to tell the judge. She can't wait for Michael to expose Jack as a fake. Michael receives a phone call regarding the handwriting on the new will. It has been confirmed as John's.
At the courtroom, Michael provides evidence to prove John's intention of loving Gloria. He reveals information of their second wedding, the legally filed will, and talks of John's memory loss in jail. Michael also says that John checked off Gloria as his spouse on his "Do not resuscitate" papers and declared Gloria to be the final say. When Ashley stepped up to testify, she called Gloria a con artist, a woman who only wanted John for his money. She said that Gloria lied to her father and that ultimately, was responsible for getting John put in jail. Jack also testified to Gloria's untrustworthiness. He said that all John would have wanted was to protect his family.
When it was time for Gloria to speak, she spoke of the love she and John felt for each other. She described the second wedding John surprised her with, and how letting him go in the end was the hardest thing she had ever had to do. Although her love for John had nothing to do with the money, she knows that John wouldn't have left her with nothing. To Jack and Ashley, Gloria says that it's not about the money, she can't let anyone deny her marriage to the one person she's ever loved in her life. They know in their hearts and their souls, that this is not what John would have wanted. The judge went off to think over the case, they will rejoin tomorrow.
On the morning of the hearing, Michael told his family that he felt good about Gloria's chances. They had established a clear paper trail that showed that John loved her and considered her his wife. Although Kevin thought it might be better if his mother wasn't in the courtroom, Gloria insisted that she was going. No matter how the judge ruled, she wanted John's children to have to face her, because she knew, and they knew, that John had loved her and she'd made him happy.
At the Abbott house, Ashley went upstairs to finish dressing and Jack began to have visions of his father. John told Jack that what he was doing was wrong. That was Gloria's home and he'd loved her. Jack had coerced him into making that last will in prison. Jack defended himself to his dead father, insisting that everything he did, he did to protect their family. Gloria had ruined their father's life, involving him with Tom Fisher, which had landed his father in prison and eventually contributed to his death. John told Jack that he needed to go into the courtroom and make things right, so that at the end of his own life, he could be proud of the kind of man he'd been.
When Ashley found her brother acting strangely, Jack told her that he'd just seen their father. Ashley humored him and wondered why John would return. Jack said he'd wanted to say a final goodbye to his son. Ashley jokingly asked if she could expect a visit, too, but on a more serious note, thought there might be more to Jack's vision than that. Was Jack's conscience bothering him about something? Did he feel that there might be something he needed to make right with their father?
The Abbotts and the Fishers converged once again in court. The judge agreed that the paperwork Michael had given her established proof that John had loved Gloria very deeply. But Gloria's own behavior had shown a pattern of deception toward her husband. For that reason, the judge had to speculate that John's incarceration had made him reevaluate their relationship and decide to disinherit her. So the judge ruled that the second will was valid.
Jack could visualize his father staring at him in the courtroom with disappointment. When Gloria walked over to John's children, she said that he'd be ashamed of them. But no matter what the outcome had been, Gloria knew that John had loved her. That was something neither Ashley nor Jack could ever take from her.
Later, at home, Kevin tried to comfort Gloria, but she said she wanted to be left alone. However, Michael had something to say to her. He told her that a woman less strong couldn't have survived all that she'd been through. He'd watched her make the difficult decision to have John removed from life support. He'd seen her mistreatment at the hands of the Abbotts. But none of that had broken her, and he was proud of her. Both Kevin and Lauren understood how much Michael's words of approval and support meant to his mother.
Sharon was determined to stay in a cheerful mood while she had breakfast with Noah, even though he was acting a little bratty. When she asked if Nick had told Noah his news, Noah stunned her. Not only did he know that he was going to have a little sister, but Phyllis was to be his stepmother. While she was still trying to deal with that information, Sharon was surprised when Nick came to pick up Noah to go swimming. No one had told her they had plans.
Nick was a little defensive with Sharon, saying that he would have expected Noah to let her know about their swim date. Sharon was icy to him when she told him to do whatever he wanted. He would anyway. When Nick tried to get to the bottom of what was wrong, Sharon told him that things had worked out very well for him. After months of lying to her about his mistress, now he was going to trade one family for another. He would have a wife, a son, and a daughter. Nick was hurt by the implication that he was trying to exchange one family for another, or that Cassie could be replaced. Nick reminded Sharon that she'd been the one who wanted the divorce. Sharon said he'd wanted it as much as she had. And he needed to stop making it look to Noah like she'd been the person who'd broken up their family.
Sharon was crushed after Nick left. She tried to call Brad because she needed someone to talk to. When he didn't answer, she left a message. At that point, Dru came in and realized that Sharon was falling apart. She was appalled to hear that Nick was planning to marry Phyllis. But she told Sharon that she needed to forget Nick and Brad. She was a queen and deserved much better treatment than either man had given her.
Later, when Noah and Nick were alone, Noah said that he didn't like living with Sharon. She was still acting strangely. Nick told his son that he needed to be nicer to his mother. She'd gone through a lot and needed Noah's support, too. Noah agreed to try. Later, when they went home, Noah went upstairs and Nick was left with Dru because Sharon wasn't there. Dru made it clear that she knew all about the baby and Nick and Phyllis's plans. When she said she had to go to work, Nick said that was probably a good idea. But Dru got in one last comment, implying that she hoped he knew what he was getting himself into with Phyllis. Her words seemed to affect Nick somewhat.
After the ordeal of the hearing, Jack went to the club. He was ordering a martini when he spotted Sharon walking in, so he ordered her a drink, too. Sharon admitted that she also had endured a bad day. Maybe the two of them would feel better with a little company. When Jack told her the gin martinis he'd ordered had been his father's favorite drink, Sharon suggested that they make their toast to John. They did, then Jack thought he saw his father sitting across the room and watching him with disapproval.
Ashley returned to the Abbott house alone. When she walked in, she seemed to notice its emptiness. She'd told Jack that if she could see their father again, the only thing they'd have to talk about was how much she loved him. She'd also told Jack that she almost felt sorry for Gloria. Although she agreed that Gloria had deceived her way into their father's life, Ashley understood how much John's wife had meant to him.
