“Cole’s Secret Life Exposed: Faked Death, New Identity, and a Shocking Escape to Nice”

In a move that could shake Genoa City to its core, whispers are growing louder: Cole Howard may not be dead at all. Instead, he may have orchestrated the ultimate deception—faking his own death to escape the weight of his past and reemerge as someone entirely different. Sources close to the investigation suggest a shocking possibility: Cole is alive, living under the name Dumas, and he’s already established a powerful new life in Nice, France.

The clues were there all along. The suddenness of Cole’s illness, the rushed cremation, the odd discrepancies in hospital records—it never sat right with Victoria or Clare. Now, with fresh intel leaking from private sources, everything begins to make sense. Cole’s “death” wasn’t a tragedy—it was an exit strategy.

Behind the name Dumas hides a man who was always five steps ahead. According to international business filings, a mysterious figure named Laurent Dumas appeared in Nice less than a week after Cole’s alleged death. He’s now the CEO of a high-level security and data intelligence firm specializing in encrypted communications and discreet relocations. The kind of firm that could cover its own tracks—and the tracks of anyone who needed to disappear.

If Cole is Dumas, this isn’t just about self-preservation. It’s about control. After years of being used, betrayed, and emotionally manipulated—by Victoria, by Victor, by the entire Newman legacy—Cole may have decided to reclaim his narrative on his own terms. Dumas isn’t just a new identity. It’s a rebirth. One that comes with a price, especially for the family he left behind.

Victoria, devastated by Cole’s death, had begun the slow process of healing. Now she must confront the idea that he left by choice—that he looked into her eyes, held their daughter’s hand, and still walked away. For Clare, the pain cuts even deeper. She thought she’d lost her father to an act of fate. But if this was a choice, how does she come to terms with being abandoned again?

And yet, questions remain. Why did Cole fake his death? Was it to protect his daughter from further manipulation? Or was he escaping something darker—perhaps even an undisclosed threat from Jordan or Victor himself? Did he believe the only way to survive was to vanish?

Back in Genoa City, Chance has reopened the case, now reclassifying it as a missing person file with international implications. The FBI has become involved, and Victor—furious at being deceived—has reportedly dispatched private agents to France.

What will happen if Victoria confronts Cole in his new life as Dumas? Will he embrace her and explain everything—or shut the door on the life he left behind?

One thing is certain: the story is far from over. Cole’s “death” was just the beginning. And when he returns—if he returns—it won’t be as the man Victoria or Clare remembers. It will be as Dumas, the man who chose reinvention over reconciliation. And in Genoa City, that choice may come at the ultimate cost.