Y&R Spoiler Alert: Did Victor just hand Cane the biggest gift (and most major plot twist) on The Young and the Restless?

On The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman shamelessly extorted Cane Ashby. But did he really, or does he (and Cane) not yet know that his plan backfired in the most significant way possible?

Reading between the lines on The Young and the Restless

Billy Flynn as Cane Ashby on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

On Monday’s episode of The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) triumphantly gave a letter to Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) and told him that its contents proved all of his wealth was illegally gained. Victor promised the letter would never see the light of day if Cane promised to do his bidding and help him take down Jabot.

Cane confirmed that Victor was indeed shaking him down after he read what was in the letter. The handwritten note was a last will and testament of a woman named Madame de Leon, the former owner of the chateau in France where Cane had been residing, also known as Aristotle Dumas’ estate. In the will, she bequeathed her fortune to the love of her life, a man named Lord Jeremy Edgerton. Victor clarified to Cane that “Lord Edgerton” was an alias of Cane’s father, Colin Atkinson (Tristan Rogers), and accruing her money was his last scam.

Cane didn’t flinch, but on today’s show, he shared with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) that the alias came from his father’s bookie’s name, Jeremy “The Edge” Edgerton. He didn’t know Madame de Leon, but felt disgusted that his father had scammed her. Phyllis told him he had no proof of that, and they could have been in love or at least, she felt loved when she died.

But before Phyllis came over, Cane re-read the letter. And there, at the end, may have been a coincidence — or maybe it was the biggest clue to a massive spoiler to this entire storyline. Disclaimer: You may want to stop reading here.

Was the letter more than a will?

The letter about Colin and Genevieve on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

“Above all, I leave you my unending love. May we find each other in the next life as we did this one...always remembering what truly matters is the secret to dying without regret,” Cane read in a letter by Madame de Leon. But that was not how she signed it. She closed the letter with “Your everlasting, Genevieve.” Stop the presses!

Cane was so distressed that his kids hated him that he didn’t put much stock into the details in the letter. And that, my friends, is where we come in. Cane told Phyllis that his father gave him the start-up funds for Arabesque, but had promised the money was legit. Cane now thinks his dad was lying…but was he? What if Colin had changed and was being honest about the money being a true gift? Given the words in Genevieve's letter, dying without regret was something she and Colin had talked about. Was the inheritance a plan all along?

Cane and Colin on The Young and the Restless | Image: CBS

You see, Cane’s dad was Colin Atkinson…but his mom was Genevieve (Genie Francis). She was well aware of Colin’s scams (and fought with him plenty), but she, too, wasn’t adverse to using aliases herself. Cane claimed that his dad had spent the end of his life righting his wrongs — was Genevieve one of them? Did Colin use the alias of Lord Edgerton so that he and Genevieve could live in peace in the French Riviera, and did he actually love her until the day she died? Did he promise his wife that he would use the inheritance to help their son Cane rebuild his life and make his own atonements?

Maybe, just maybe, it’s Cane who actually has the upper hand right now against Victor; he just hasn’t realized it yet, since he’s wallowing in despair about Lily and his kids. Of course, it could all be a coincidence — and even if was the twist Cane didn’t see coming, would he use it against Victor? He could view this opportunity as a means to prove to Lily and his kids that he really is the good person he so desperately wants them to see him as.

Bonus clue: Colin was a smart man. If he scammed an unknown woman named Madame de Leon…why on earth would he have left the evidence sitting around in a box of other memories for someone to find?

Watch what happens on The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.