In the shimmering heart of the French Riviera, where secrets sparkle beneath the waves, the mystique surrounding Aristotle Dumas, the man Cane Ashby pretended to be, has been officially shattered. Cane was exposed as a mere fraud, an assistant who played a desperate game of ambition and self-preservation. But this revelation was merely the first domino to fall. The truly earth-shattering truth, unearthed by Adam and Chelsea, is that Cane did not act alone. Behind the curtain, pulling strings with venomous precision, was a man Genoa City had presumed long dead: Colin Atkinson.

Colin’s survival is a betrayal of history itself. For years, whispers of his tragic end in South America circulated, but Colin had done what he always did: disappear before the final blow. He went underground, feeding Cane the tools and strategies to infiltrate a world that would have otherwise crushed him. It was not Cane’s idea to become Dumas; it was Colin’s master stroke, fueled by a simmering desire for revenge. Genoa City is full of ghosts Colin longs to resurrect or destroy – blaming Victor for turning Jill against him, Billy for the Chancellor legacy’s failures, and Jill for loving too little, too late.

Unaware of the storm brewing in Nice, Jill accepted an invitation she believed was about business. It was, instead, a velvet trap laced with memory and deceit, bearing Cane’s name but dripping with Colin’s intent. When Jill arrived, the air turned cold. Colin emerged, hardened by exile, his eyes still burning with a dangerous fire. Jill’s reaction was visceral: her breath caught, her knees weakened. She whispered his name with disbelief, torn between fury and a desperate need to confirm he was real. Colin, with his poison and charisma, offered no apology, only vengeance, and a chilling vision of reclaiming power alongside her, with Chancellor rising under their rule. Jill, usually the voice of reason, fell silent, caught between her craving for power and love.

The true heart of the storm, however, was Billy. Upon hearing of Colin’s resurrection, Billy’s fury was incandescent. He had buried his mother’s grief, delivered eulogies, and vowed to outlive Colin’s shadow. Now, all that pain felt meaningless. Billy confronted him in Nice, their meeting explosive. Colin, smug and unrepentant, offered Billy a seat at his new table, but Billy spat in his face, shattering the illusion of a new order.

Meanwhile, Adam and Chelsea, having exposed Cane, found themselves at a crossroads. Their victory was dangerous; men like Colin don’t emerge without a plan. Chelsea, wary of powerful men with dark agendas, feared Cane’s collapse was just the beginning. They debated releasing their damning proof publicly, risking chaos, or manipulating from the shadows. As the sun set over the Mediterranean, Genoa City felt further away than ever, replaced by a new battlefield in Nice.

Devon, too, felt Colin’s betrayal to his core. His blood boiled learning of Cane’s deception and Colin’s orchestration. This wasn’t just about money; it was about legacy, honesty, and the names his father and grandmother had tried to elevate. Devon flew to France with a singular mission: stop Colin for Chancellor, for Neil, for Catherine, and for every truth threatened by lies.

But the most chilling realization fell upon Adam. Witnessing “Colin” in the Dumas estate, Adam found him too calm, too precise, too calculated for the erratic Colin he knew. Was this Colin Atkinson, or Dumas all along? A twin? A clone? Theories collided in Adam’s mind, hinting at a deception far older and darker, perhaps orchestrated by Victor himself. The moves are in play: Jill has arrived, Billy is spiraling, Devon is on the warpath, and the Newmans are walking blindly into a trap built not by a ghost, but by a mastermind who has watched them for years. The final question looms: what will Jill choose – love or legacy? Her hesitation gives Colin all the power he needs.