"Rejoining the Mardi Gras soiree, a mystery guest entered and took in the scene, including the latest confrontation between Babe and JR. Babe, absorbed in a makeout session with Del, initially seemed oblivious to his approach. JR warned Del not to get involved with Babe, but Del thought JR was the one missing out. JR offered to give Del money to leave Babe alone, since being paid off was Del's "M.O." While Del would be more than happy to take money off of JR's hands, JR rescinded the offer faster than it had been made.
Moments later, Opal showed up to reclaim her date, swearing that Del was too good to waste his time with people like Babe. Del and Opal made their way back down to the dance floor, leaving JR and Babe to continue arguing. JR swore that he didn't want their relationship to be over, but Babe reminded him that she would never sign away her son. However, if he really wanted to marry her, without a prenuptial agreement, she'd agree to do it that night.
JR didn't like the idea that Babe might be playing him, but she said that it was about time she gave it to him straight: he could do what he liked to her -- trash-talk her, pull the stunts that Adam had pulled on Dixie -- but she would never give up on their son. As Di listened from the floor below and the mystery guest listened from the stairs, Babe promised that she would be a part of her son's life until the day she died, and she stalked off.
Although Erica seemed determined not to believe the accusations, Jamie and Greg continued to try to convince her that Amanda had told the truth at the beginning -- Josh was the one who was guilty of drugging her. Erica started to run off, and Josh tried to help her, but Greg begged her to stay and listen. She told him that she had no reason to believe anything he told her, prompting Greg to reveal that Josh had been out to get her since the day she had hired him.
Unwilling to let the discussion disrupt the party, Erica took Jamie, Greg, and Josh to a private room upstairs. She made it clear that if neither Jamie nor Greg had any concrete proof that Josh was really her nemesis -- Amanda's claim did not qualify, as far as Erica was concerned -- then she wanted the conversation to end. Jamie mentioned that since Josh had finished medical school, he would be perfectly aware of the effects the drug he had stolen would have on Erica. Josh denied all of their claims, citing Jamie's lingering anger about Babe and his father's anger about his son deserting medicine as excuses.
Erica then claimed to be completely aware of Josh's capabilities as well as Greg's capacity for lying. Greg then dropped a bombshell -- he reminded Josh of the conversation they'd had earlier in the evening about Erica's career. He said that he had been afraid that he wouldn't be able to relay it verbatim, so he had taken the liberty of recording it. He played part of the recording, where Josh had said that Erica would fall from grace and be a has-been, while he would be on top.
Erica, horrified that she'd been taken in, stared at the recorder in shocked silence. Josh, enraged at having been exposed, attacked both his father and Jamie. Greg reminded his son that the confrontation had been solely about Josh's secret motives. Greg then told Erica that he had gotten the idea to record the conversation from Josh himself -- and further revealed that Josh had bugged her office and had known her every move.
Erica removed herself from the mix as Josh tried to quickly think up some sort of excuse. She placed a call to Derek and asked that he release Amanda and take her to the Mardi Gras ball. She told him that she had new evidence in her drugging case.
In the courtyard, Jackson rushed over and broke up the tentative first kiss between Jonathan and his daughter. Although Lily screamed and begged him to stop, Jack appeared as though he couldn't hear her. He told Jonathan that if Jonathan touched Lily again, Jonathan would have much more to fear from Jack than a little shake-up. Lily continued to try to get her father to release Jonathan and walk away, but his ire was too great. She announced that Jonathan was her boyfriend and that he could kiss her anytime he wanted.
Lily's declaration only fueled Jack's anger, and he demanded that Lily go inside, find her brother, and have him take her home. She refused just as Reggie, Aidan, and Erin showed up. Reggie immediately went into protective mode and asked if Jonathan had hurt Lily. Jack wanted to have a one-on-one talk with Jonathan, but Aidan and Erin became a physical buffer and kept Jack from attacking again. Unable to handle them anymore, Lily ran off, with Reggie on her heels.
Jack demanded to know why Jonathan was out of jail, and Livia, newly arrived on the scene, informed Jack that while Jonathan had made bail, she had instructed him to stay away from Lily and the party. Jack snidely started to run down just how obedient the Laverys were, but that got Erin going, and she started to get in Jack's face. Unaffected, Jack reminded her that Braeden had raped his sister, Ryan had destroyed Greenlee, and Jonathan liked to rape and pillage. He made a very stern proclamation that there was no way Jonathan would ever get to his daughter again without going through him.
Jonathan tried to take off to find Lily, but Jack grabbed him and tried to detain him. Jonathan managed to spin out of Jack's grasp, just in time for Ryan's arrival. Ryan asked what was going on, and Jack accused Jonathan of molesting Lily. Jack's inflammatory language upset everyone, and Jonathan tried to make it clear that he had only kissed Lily, and only because she had asked. Julia, who had been following Ryan, showed up on the scene and immediately asked if Jonathan was okay. Jack was horrified that Julia could be so nice to Jonathan, especially after what Jonathan had done to Edmund.
Jonathan revealed that Julia had been his Life Skills teacher, and Jack turned a cold eye to Julia, enraged that she hadn't felt it necessary to fill him in on that tidbit of information. Just then, Reggie returned, admitting that he had lost Lily during the chase. Everyone started to scatter in different directions, but Ryan stopped Jonathan from going. Both Ryan and Livia informed Jonathan that it had been a bad idea for him to go to the ball, and it would be a bad idea for him to join the search party. Jonathan insisted that he had to look for Lily because he loved her.
After Kendall left Zach, she ran into Ryan in the hall, and he whisked her off into a separate room. He asked her if Zach had confessed and, when met with her distraught silence, reconfirmed that Zach had been the main person behind the blackout. He then apologized for leaving her alone with Zach and for everything that had happened in the aftermath of the blackout. He hugged her in an attempt to comfort her and told her that he would help her in any way that she wanted. The mere words enraged Kendall, and she slapped him across the face. She pointed out that his good deed had just been revenge in different clothes.
Kendall admitted that she was aware that Ryan blamed her and Zach for Greenlee leaving town, and she asked if he'd gotten revenge enough. Ryan tried to protest, saying that he had exposed Zach's misdeeds for Kendall's good. Kendall told him that Zach had been for her good -- as were her wedding and her happily ever after. Instead, according to Kendall, Ryan's need to be self-righteous had wrecked her life completely. He told her that she could hate him if she needed to, but he couldn't, in good conscience, let her marry Zach again without knowing the whole truth.
Kendall confirmed that she did indeed hate Ryan for what he'd done. Ryan asked if she could have really been happy not knowing and with letting Zach get away with what he had done. She told him that she could have been -- she wished that she had never found out. She also said that she was sick and tired of people protecting her when she didn't want or need it. She blamed him for stealing her last chance at true happiness, told him that she would never forgive him for it, and walked out.
Zach and his son faced off, and Zach congratulated a smug Ethan on a ruse well played. Ethan gleefully said that he was pleased that Kendall had finally done what she should have done long before -- leave. Zach asked if Ethan really hated him, and Ethan confirmed it. Ethan then told his father that if Zach loved Kendall half as much as his son, then he knew the pain Ethan had suffered on the docks in Florida.
Zach said that Alexander was applauding Ethan from hell and that Ethan had proven himself to be a true Cambias. Ethan declared that he loved his lineage but wished he could have inherited it without being connected to Zach. He then invited his father to go back to the party, where he could enjoy his pain, because he had earned it. Without another word, Zach walked out of the room, leaving Ethan with a less-than-joyous expression on his face.
As Janet descended into the ballroom and had a quick consult with Mirror Janet, Adam and Brooke enjoyed spending a few moments together, and Krystal warned David not to get too happy about the apparent failure of Babe's plan.
Kendall reentered the ballroom and ran into Julia. She asked how Kendall was doing, but Kendall was confused about why Julia cared. Julia admitted that she had spoken with Ryan earlier and that he had filled her in. Not surprised, Kendall told her longtime rival that she could have the father of her baby -- and she could take him far, far away. She disappeared into the crowd again, and Zach, after descending the stairs moments after, started to trail her. He ended up in the wine cellar, but after realizing that Kendall wasn't there, he started to leave.
A noise alerted Zach, and he opened a side door and found Lily on the floor, rocking and repeating, "Love hurts." Zach managed to get her to calm down and then asked her what she meant. She revealed that while her father loved her and her boyfriend loved her, her father didn't want her to be with her boyfriend. Zach told her that things weren't always that simple. She then revealed the identity of her boyfriend and told a stunned Zach that she didn't understand why, when she knew that Jonathan was better, her father would want to keep her away from the person that made her happy.
Zach reminded Lily that Jonathan had done a lot of bad things the year before. She told him that she couldn't forget how he had scared her and locked her in a cave. But she also knew that he was better, and he was sorry about what he had done. Lily asked why people had such a hard time with forgiveness. Zach told her that it was difficult for some people to let go of the past, and that would always get in the way or forgiveness.
Zach and Lily talked a bit more, until Lily felt ready to rejoin the party. She stated her intention to go find Jonathan, but Zach urged her to find her father first. She couldn't understand why, especially since her father never listened to her. Zach told her that she had a good father, and she should never want to lose that.
As JR ended his dance with Anita, he observed Babe and Krystal talking. Unbeknownst to him, Babe filled her mother in on the fight they'd had and how she thought she might have to let him go. Krystal asked how she knew JR wouldn't really give up on her. Babe admitted that she held no such knowledge, but she wouldn't give in to his demands on the off chance that she might lose her son.
After Babe walked away, JR turned and ran into Di and Tad. Di tried to express concern for what she had overheard, but JR was no closer to letting her back into his life. He accused Tad of trying to substitute a fake for the original and reminded them both that Di was not his mother. Tad retorted that Dixie was gone, and JR caustically replied that he was glad one of them remembered that. JR walked away and ran into Kendall. He attempted to get her on board with a dance, which would serve as a bit of revenge against Babe, but Kendall wasn't so easily fooled. She'd seen him practically drooling all over Babe throughout the night, and she refused to get caught up in another game where he ended up miserable.
Jonathan listed all the reasons why he felt that he loved Lily and why he wanted to be with her. Ryan asked if Jonathan could see the problem with what he wanted. Jonathan admitted that he knew Jack didn't like him and said that Jack could yell at him and push him all he wanted. It wouldn't change how he felt toward Lily. Ryan tried to encourage his little brother to stay put, as Jonathan finding Lily was the last thing that Jack would want. Jonathan replied that when a person loved someone, that person was supposed to watch out for them and protect them, even if it did make people angry.
As he danced with Di, Tad watched the exchange between Kendall and JR. He was soon distracted when he saw Amanda arrive with Derek Frye. Amanda looked around briefly, but Derek led her upstairs. Tad excused himself and headed upstairs to join them. After a few snide comments from Josh about how they might as well invite the whole town and make popcorn, Erica asked Amanda to tell them her whole story, explaining why she thought Josh had been behind all of the things that had gone wrong.
Josh tried to trip Amanda up by warning her that they would build a stronger case against her if she got anything wrong, but Erica and Jamie demanded his silence. Amanda noted that the erased master tape had been Josh's doing, that he had given her the wrong address so that she would miss the interview with Geraldo, which he had been miraculously able to fill in, and that he had been the one that had prepared the cup of tea that he had then asked Amanda to give Erica. Erica apologized to a grateful Amanda and said that they should have listened to her from the beginning. She then turned to Derek, handed over the tape that would corroborate their claim, and asked that Derek arrest Josh.
Josh announced that he had never confessed to any crime, and what they had against him didn't amount to much. Even though Erica fired him, Josh stood strong in the belief that they had nothing to hold him. Knowing that Josh was right, Derek made no move to arrest him. Erica was flabbergasted and slightly defeated. Amanda thanked Erica for finally listening, and Derek suggested that they all give Erica some time alone.
Everyone filed out of Erica's office but Tad. Erica urged him to follow suit, stating that she needed time alone to recompose herself before going back downstairs. Tad told her that he couldn't oblige because he had news about Josh that she needed to know first. Erica was in no mood, but Tad was relentless in his insistence. She finally caved in, and Tad revealed that Josh was actually her son.
Ethan met up with Simone and filled her in on how everything had gone down. He told her that he'd been waiting for that moment since the day his father had married Kendall and that part of him felt great. She told him that she was glad it was over and begged him to let their relationship be enough to sustain him.
As the mystery guest looked on, Di confronted Babe about the argument she'd had with JR earlier. Babe declined to get the third degree from Di, but Di noted that even though JR hated her, she still loved him. She just wanted to make sure that whatever Babe was doing, it was because she loved JR.
In the courtyard, Adam found his son and reminded him that ending things for good with Babe was the right decision. He then asked if everything was back on track, and JR told him that it was. He planned to marry Babe right after he tore up the prenuptial agreement. Adam called JR's latest plan, which included giving Dixie's star necklace back to Babe, stupid and an insult to Dixie's memory. JR told his father that he could never forget the things his father had done to his mother while she had been alive, and therefore, Adam had no right to speak about her memory. As the mystery guest looked on, JR told his father that he thought his mother would be proud of him for giving the necklace to the woman he loved.
Lily returned to the party and found her father. She told him that Zach had encouraged her to talk to him about Jonathan, but Jack couldn't handle it at that moment. Jonathan saw them from across the room and started to go check on her to make sure she was okay. Ryan held him back, noting that Jack and Lily needed some time alone. Jack suggested that his daughter leave Pine Valley for a while -- perhaps go back to her old school. Lily was visibly upset by the idea that her father wanted to send her away.
Jamie, Derek, and Amanda went back to the party, and Jamie asked Derek what the timeline was on taking Josh in for what he had done. He also asked if Amanda had to go back to jail. Derek couldn't pinpoint anything specific on Josh and needed to consult with the D.A. about Amanda. While Derek made that phone call, Jamie turned around and found out that Amanda had disappeared. He took off to find her. On the other side of the ballroom, Josh confronted his father about his betrayal.
As Janet surfaced in the wine cellar and made a rambling toast justifying hurting "people that don't love you," Zach caught up with Kendall on the main floor and told her that he loved her and that he wouldn't give up on her."
- Soap Central