I was holding the ring box when my father walked up. He glanced at it, then at me, and said, “You’re going to propose to Nicole? ” I told him I already had. He didn’t congratulate me.
He just stared, and I knew what was coming next. My dad has never trusted Nicole. He still believes she warned Lucas when he was questioned about Franco’s murder, even though the mob was responsible. I tried to make him see that he was wrong about her, that she’d changed, but he wouldn’t listen.
“Can’t you trust my instincts? ” he asked. I shot back, “Can’t you trust mine? ”
Kate, Lucas’s mother, was all smiles when she heard the news.
“Congratulations,” she said, but her eyes were cold. She’s never liked Nicole, and I knew she’d do anything to keep her away from Lucas. What I didn’t know was that she’d already set her plan in motion. Nicole and I were supposed to be on a trip to Chicago together.
She’d left her ring at home by accident, and I was keeping it safe for her. But Lucas showed up uninvited, claiming he’d freed up his schedule to tag along. Nicole wasn’t happy about it. She told him she’d had enough of his family to last a lifetime.
Lucas pushed her to explain. “What has my mom done now? ” he asked. Nicole said nothing, but I could see the tension between them.
Lucas tried to reassure her, promising to make her career soar, to protect her from being hurt again. “I love you,” he said. “That’s why I proposed. ”
But Nicole knew better.
She knew about the custody hearing for Will, Lucas’s son, scheduled for the next day. She knew Lucas had a deadline. She asked for space, and Lucas, in a dramatic gesture, had the driver pull over and got out of the car, calling for a helicopter to pick him up. Nicole begged him to come back, apologizing for her behavior.
He did, and they continued on to Chicago together. Meanwhile, my father was dealing with his own crisis. Roberto, the man who could have exonerated my sister Sami, had been found in a coma. Someone had tampered with his medication, swapping it out while he was in the ICU.
My dad suspected a third nurse had gotten past the guard and changed the syringe. He was going crazy trying to find her. I tried to help him piece it together. The nurse had dark hair, but that could have been a wig.
The guard had questioned every nurse on staff except those who’d gone to a medical convention out of town. The same convention Carrie and Mike had attended. My dad hoped Austin could patch things up with Carrie and bring her back to Salem, because he’d need her help to get custody of Will. Kate, meanwhile, was feeling the strain.
She’d hidden the fact that Lucas shot Franco, framed Sami, and put Roberto in a coma. She was terrified that if Nicole didn’t marry Lucas, he’d crack under the pressure. Victor tried to calm her, reminding her of their goal: custody of Will. “Life with Nicole is a small price to pay,” he said.
But Kate had already made her move. She’d offered Nicole a check, a bribe to marry Lucas and keep quiet. Nicole had torn it up and thrown it in her face, but Victor was confident. “As long as that check’s in one piece, she’s thinking about it,” he said.
“When she comes face to face with what we’ve set up for her, she’s going to take that check straight to the bank. ”
On the way to Chicago, Nicole got a call from Kate. Kate reminded her about the check, then told her to take a long look at the guy sitting next to her. She warned Nicole that if she didn’t marry Lucas, Eric would find out about her past and dump her like a bag of garbage.
“Take the money before it’s too late,” Kate said. Nicole hung up, her face pale. Lucas asked what Kate had said, but Nicole brushed it off, saying it was just advice about her personal appearance. She didn’t tell him the truth.
Meanwhile, Bo was making his own plans. He’d come to see Vivian, who was dying, to ask for her help in destroying Stefano DiMera. Vivian was shocked, insisting that Stefano loved her and couldn’t be responsible for her failing health. But Bo was adamant.
“He is a monster,” he said. “I’m going to destroy him. ” He offered Vivian a deal: help him bring Stefano down, and he’d help her reconcile with Victor, the man she truly loved. Vivian was tempted.
She’d seen Bo and Hope together, and it was bizarre, like they were thick as thieves. She knew Kate had broken Bo and Hope up, and she hated Kate. After Celeste warned her not to take on Stefano, Vivian made her decision. She told Bo, “It’s a deal.
”
Greta, meanwhile, was confronting Gina, who was pretending to be Hope. Greta had come to ask if Gina was committed to a future with Bo or if she was going to keep torturing him. But Gina turned the tables, accusing Greta of being in love with Bo herself. Greta denied it, saying she only cared about finding the truth about her mother.
Gina then made a demand: she wanted back the silver compact with the engraved “G” that Greta had stolen from her purse in the bayou. Greta was taken aback. “I want it back,” Gina said. “I need that compact.
”
Back at the picnic, John and Marlena were enjoying a rare family day with their kids. John had promised to prove that his priority was his family, and they played soccer and laughed together. But Marlena was worried about John’s health. His last hypnosis session with Gina had triggered a massive headache, and she didn’t care what was in that box Gina had given him.
“The most important thing in the world right now is your health,” she said. John disagreed. “The most important thing is you and our family,” he said. But as they played hide and seek, Marlena’s voice echoed in a way that felt wrong.
“Are you ready, John? All right, then. I’ll go ahead and put you under. When I count to three, you’ll open your eyes.
1, 2, 3. ”
It was the voice of Gina, not Marlena, and John’s eyes snapped open, lost and confused. I didn’t know any of this at the time. I was just happy, engaged to the woman I loved, even if my father didn’t approve.
I thought Nicole and I would be happy together. I had no idea that Kate was already on the phone, making sure everything went according to plan. “I just hope it all goes according to plan,” Kate said to Victor. “Don’t worry,” Victor replied.
“We’ve taken care of everything. ”
And in Chicago, as Lucas and Nicole arrived at the hotel, a man called out, “Hey, Nicky, baby. Long time no see.
” Nicole’s face went white, and I knew, even from miles away, that nothing was going to be as simple as I’d hoped.
