The sharks are circling

Things have really been jumping in Genoa City this week. It seems everyone wants to be top dog. Victor wants to outsmart Tucker and vice versa, Victoria thinks she can rule the world, Nikki and Phyllis dig deep to expose Diane, Diane thinks she can outsmart everyone, and Nate thinks he can run a conglomerate. Join our columnist for her views and opinions in Two Scoops for this week.

It seems the quiet little town of Genoa City has suddenly been zapped with a stun gun because so much has happened in the past week. Let's begin with Summer and Kyle' vow-renewal party.

Wouldn't you think that at least one celebration would be drama free? But true to form, Summer and Kyle's big day wasn't drama free. Tucker McCall literally dropped from the sky and made a grand entrance in his helicopter. No one was happy to see him, especially Diane. Jack asked Tucker to leave, but Tucker refused to leave before he presented the happy couple with the keys to his vintage Bentley. Tucker told Kyle it was the same make and model John Abbot had. Tucker was disappointed that Ashley was still in Paris. Everyone knew Tucker's grand entrance had been staged for Ashley's benefit. I was happy when Kyle refused Tucker's generous gift.

Diane later confronted Tucker in his hotel room. She was furious, and while she was giving Tucker a piece of her mind (something she really couldn't afford to do), Victor knocked on Tucker's door. I had to laugh when Victor yelled at Tucker that he was getting pissed off waiting for Tucker to open the door. Typical Victor, he expects everyone to jump in his presence. Thank goodness we haven't reached the point where everyone was expected to kiss his ring. Two very crafty opponents, for sure.

Diane hid in the bathroom when Tucker invited Victor in. At least she had a seat if their meeting ran long. The sparring between Victor and Tucker began, each trying to expose each other's plans and getting nowhere. After Victor left, Diane tore a strip out of Tucker for antagonizing Victor. Diane said she didn't want to lose her foothold with Kyle, Harrison, and Jack. She was terrified that Tucker would destroy that for her. Tucker assured her there was no way anyone could connect them. Tucker said that once Diane informed him Ashley had returned, it would end their arrangement and Diane would be free of him.

Oh ho, little does Tucker know that the Bentley had given Nikki a major clue, and she was aware that it was the same Bentley that Deacon had seen Diane in while she'd been in Los Angeles. I wonder if Phyllis will find any interesting information when she hacks into Private Image Finance records and Wild Beauty Incorporated. Nikki and Phyllis are determined to prove that Diane has been lying from day one.

I think Diane's world is going to develop a major fissure. It appears that Jeremy Stark (James Hyde), who shared a connection with Diane in L.A., will be turning up in Genoa City very soon. I wonder what gems he will have about Diane. Will he blow her out of the water or protect her?

Tucker is one smooth dude; he tells people exactly what they want to hear, and he knows how to play them. Abby pulled out her big guns and told Tucker to stay away from Ashley because Ashley didn't want anything to do with him. Abby said Tucker wouldn't get near Dominic, despite being Dominic's grandfather.

After such a warm welcome from everyone, I would have hightailed it out of town the fastest way I could arrange, but not Tucker. I think Devon was happy to see Tucker, but it seemed like a standoffish kind of interaction. Even Devon questioned why Tucker had returned after such a long absence. Tucker claimed that Devon and Dominic were at the top of his list to reconnect with. Liar, liar. Diane already knew that the main reason Tucker had returned to town was to reconnect with Ashley. If Tucker had cherished his moments with Ashley in the past, he wouldn't have cheated on her three gazillion times. Good luck with that, Tucker.

Nikki questioned Noah about his time in London and asked if he'd heard of a fund called Wild Beauty Incorporated. Noah said that the woman he'd been dating at the time, Audra Charles, worked for Wild Beauty Incorporated. Noah thought it was strange that Audra had suddenly shown up out of nowhere at the opening night of his club. Isn't it interesting that Jill just happened to hire Audra to help Lily and Devon navigate the Chancellor-Winters process of going public. It looks like Audra has kept Tucker apprised of every move made at Chancellor-Winters.

Are Victoria, Victor, Lily, and Billy right in suspecting the timing of Tucker's return to Genoa City. Funny how he returned just when Chancellor-Winters is about to go public. Oh, you betcha. Does anyone believe Tucker's claim that he found life was the greatest thrill and should be lived to the fullest? I say it's a load of bull. He will never change, despite his proclamations that he has. He has always been a low-down dirty dog, and he is after Chancellor-Winters.

Let's add Nate into this mix. This egotistical upstart really believes he can run a conglomerate better than seasoned people like Devon and Lily. It reminds me of that mouse floating down a river yelling "Open the drawbridge, I'm coming through." That mouse thought he was bigger than life. So does Nate. Victor has already contacted Nate and asked him to let him know if Tucker was aware that Chancellor-Winters was going public.

I wonder if Nate's plan to sell his shares to Victoria and become CEO of Chancellor-Winters will proceed as he hoped, or if he will be foiled. I'm hoping for the foiled part. Nate really needs a good kick in the butt and a huge dose of reality.

I used to like Victoria, but since the whole Ashland revenge thing, she has become shrewish and seems to think she is the epitome of CEOs. She recently bought up a dozen companies, and if that wasn't enough, she wants Chancellor-Winters to add to her collection, and not shockingly, with Victor's approval. Why? Is it to prove she can, without any regard to the destruction of another family's desire to own and operate their own company? How many enemies does Victoria want to add to the notches already on her belt? She claims it isn't personal, it's business. Not personal? Hell, that's as personal as it gets. Recently, Lily and Victoria had congratulated each other on being in the small circle of women as CEOs, and now Victoria is after Lily's company. Think it's because she's jealous about Billy? I do.

Elena doesn't share Nate's vision of betraying his family, and Nate is angry because she isn't supporting him. Nate believes that once the deed is done, his family will see that he didn't betray them, he'd only taken their company to a higher level. Really, Nate? You really believe your family will throw their arms around you and say thank you for the betrayal, but you done good? Nate needs to see a professional to help him turn his head in the right direction. No, I'm not talking about exorcism... hmm... maybe that could be the solution.

Elena has moved out of the penthouse because of Nate's obsession of taking over Chancellor-Winters. So far, she hasn't said anything to Devon or Lily, but I sure hope she says something soon. I don't want to see Chancellor-Winters under the Newman umbrella. I want it to rise and shine on its own under Devon and Lily's care.

Yikes, Devon has hired Esther as Chancellor-Winters' receptionist. Esther has always struck me as a bit of a scatterbrain. I wonder how long it will be it before she screws up, but then again, she might surprise us and be terrific in that spot. Go, Esther.

There seems to be a bit of trouble in paradise. Abby isn't happy that Tucker was back in town, and she is angry that Chance isn't supporting her to keep Tucker away from Dominic. Abby claims Tucker could endanger their son or be a negative influence. Chance asked how Tucker could manipulate a toddler. I think Chance got fed up with that silly conversation and left Abby on the pretext of being wrong about the time of his meeting.

When Devon arrived at Society, he told Abby he wanted a tighter bond with his biological father, but he admitted it was difficult to believe Tucker's intentions, given his past. Devon said Chancellor-Winters was doing well, and he found Tucker's timing a little suspicious. Devon couldn't help but wonder about Tucker's agenda.

Moving on to that annoying gnat, Chloe, the naysayer... I'm at a point that when Chloe is on, I'm ready to turn off the sound because I just can't take her anymore. Okay, I got that she wanted to warn Sally off Adam, but even that was overkill. Now that Sally is seeing Nick, Chloe sees the negative side of that relationship, too, and she is all over Sally about it. Can someone please tell me when it became Chloe's business to counsel Sally on the men she dates, or better yet, why she is meddling in Sally's personal life at all? Chloe needs to mind her own business and stick to business in the office. Why hasn't Sally told Chloe to stop inserting herself into Sally's personal life.

I like Sally and Nick together. There isn't that constant scheming and manipulation that she had with Adam. With Nick, it's all about them getting to know one another and enjoying each other. Sally and Nick have decided to call their union a situation rather than a relationship, and they agreed to see where their situation took them. Here is the big question: how will Summer react to Nick dating Sally after Sally almost destroyed Summer and Kyle's relationship?

Even though I like them together, I'm on the fence. Summer might be okay with it now that she is married to Kyle and raising Harrison, or she might still hold a grudge. Summer seems to be all about forgiveness. It's possible she would want Nick to be happy because she adores him and would be okay with him and Sally, but that remains to be seen.

In the meantime, Adam asked Nick to back away from Sally because he was still in love with her, and he wanted Nick to give him and Sally a chance to work things out. Well, Adam, dear boy, you should have thought about the ramifications of your actions when you broke things off with Sally under the pretext of protecting her job. Now the piper must be paid the price of that decision.

Adam also hates that Nick is with Sally. It appears that Nick and Adam have been in love with the same women: Sharon, Chelsea, and Sage. I can't recall if Adam and Sage had ever been a couple. I recall that he and Sage posed as a married couple when he pretended to be Gabriel Bingham (played by Justin Hartley at the time). They did have sex together because there had been a question of "who's the daddy?" about Sage's pregnancy. Sage had also had sex with Nick. Christian was said to be Adam's, but legally, he was Nick's son according to the birth certificate.

I'm not sure who I want Sally to be with. I like her with Nick because it's an honest relationship without all the drama. On the other hand, Sally and Adam really loved each other, but I have to wonder if that was a toxic relationship because of all the scheming and manipulation on Adam's part. To me, that seems to be the only thing on Adam's mind: how do I get even? That's how I see Adam. I would like to see him with someone who would rein him in a bit. I'm hoping that working at Jabot will mellow him a bit.

Let's move on to Chelsea. Chelsea never completed her therapy from her original breakdown when she'd tried to frame Adam for attempting to kill Rey. She certainly isn't the Chelsea we knew before her stroke. Chelsea seems to be desperate about everything lately. Why has she been pushing so hard about telling Johnny she is his biological mom? In my opinion, if a child isn't interested in knowing who the biological parent was, leave it alone. If the child has heard something and asks the parent what it meant, then the child is interested and should be told what they want to know. I'm talking about kids Johnny and Connor's age, not a child of five or six years of age.

Chelsea had insisted that Johnny and Connor be told they were half-siblings and that she was their biological mother. Chelsea claimed that she was afraid of the ramifications if the boys heard that part of their life had been hidden from them. I wish Chelsea would be true to herself. She knows she is doing it for herself. She has been a lost soul since she lost Adam, then Rey, who'd been so kind to her, died, Billy rejected her advances, and she didn't have Connor because he lived with Adam on the ranch. Chelsea is adrift, and she can't seem to find her way home. She is trying to self-heal, and it isn't working.

When Billy told her she should have seen a professional to help her navigate through these troubled waters, Chelsea agreed she should have done that. Billy suggested she do so now, and she agreed. So, why did she explode when Sharon suggested the same thing. Chelsea went completely off the rails when Sharon suggested professional help. Chelsea accused Sharon of trying to make herself look good and Chelsea look like a complete lunatic.

Adam admonished Chelsea for telling Connor about Johnny without him being there to support his son. I agree with Adam; he should have been there. Chelsea should have waited until Adam was available, but Chelsea had to have it her way, and she told Connor without Adam's presence. Chelsea is now crying on Billy's shoulder because both boys are angry and don't want to have anything to do with her. Chelsea hasn't recognized the reason she wants Johnny to know she is his biological "mom" is because she is to trying to fill a void in her life.

Chelsea followed Johnny to the park. I guess she hoped she could talk to Johnny, and he would welcome her into his life. Chelsea's plan backfired, and I guess she felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Johnny accused her of starting the whole thing, which had left him feeling that his world had lost its axis. Johnny told Chelsea that neither he nor Connor wanted anything to change. He told Chelsea their conversation had never happened, and he wanted things to go back to the way they used to be. Johnny said he was in the wrong place and left.

Chance caught up with Chelsea in the park and invited her for coffee. Chance was shocked when he and Chelsea entered the coffeehouse. After Adam greeted her, Chelsea completely lost it. She accused Adam, Chance, and Sharon of ganging up on her to try to fix her and claimed everyone was conspiring against her. She said all she wanted was to be part of Johnny's life and for him to be a part of hers. I think she wants to be his mommy.

It's obvious Chelsea is having a nervous breakdown with a little paranoia thrown in for good measure. Chelsea hasn't been right since she had her stroke, and I'm hoping she will finally realize she needs to get professional help. Chelsea is so lost, and it's heartbreaking.

Those are my thoughts and opinions about what has been happening in our little town. Until next time, stay safe.Nel

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.