Deacon Stops Lauren In Her Tracks With One Word — and RJ Lets Luna Know Where He Stands

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In Forrester Creations’ main office, Finn and Steffy kiss. He tells her he got takeout from Il Giardino for dinner. Steffy guesses he ran into Deacon and he wouldn’t let it go about Sheila. Finn nods. Steffy says he needs to stop spreading this nonsense that Sheila is alive.

Steffy asks if Finn thinks he got through to Deacon. Finn says no. He can’t let go of the idea that he saw ten toes right before she was cremated. Steffy is trying to be understanding of the connection Finn had to Sheila. It’s easier now that they don’t have to worry about her anymore. Finn won’t let the details of her death distract him, or Deacon distract him either. His focus is on her and her happiness, and their kids and their happiness. They express their love and embrace.

In the design office, Zende and Poppy work to convince RJ to forgive Luna. Zende says there’s plenty of blame to go around but not on Luna. RJ doesn’t need Zende telling him what to do. They go over the fact that Zende stabbed him in the back — intentionally — even if he thought she wanted him. “You stabbed me in the back!” he hollers. Zende protests that she was in his bed saying she was happy to see him. RJ asks, “Did you forget that she was my girlfriend?! No! You knew exactly what you were doing and who you were doing it to! Your cousin!” Zende is sorry and hopes one day he’ll forgive him. He’ll understand if he can’t, because he’s right, it was a betrayal. “On my part, not on Luna’s. You are so lucky RJ. Don’t blow this.”

Luna doesn’t want RJ to feel pressured. Poppy doesn’t want to pressure him either, but if it weren’t for her mints this wouldn’t have happened. RJ says she’s right. He orders Zende out so he can be alone with Luna. Poppy leads Zende out. “Let’s give them some time.” On the way out the door, Zende tells RJ he knows his world has been rocked, “But don’t break Luna’s heart over something that wasn’t even her fault.”

At the Forrester mansion, Eric tells Lauren she’s spoiling him with two trips to L.A. in one month. Lauren thanks him for making time for her and tells him he looks stronger and healthier every time she sees him. Eric says the doctors tell him he’s gaining on 100% every day. Lauren thinks they have a lot to celebrate, including not having to worry about Sheila Carter anymore.

Lauren tells Eric that she visited Steffy when she was there last and told her she doesn’t have anything to feel guilty about. Eric muses that it was her husband’s birth mother. Lauren thinks if Finn is mourning Sheila, he’s the only one who is. Eric says there’s one other person — Deacon Sharpe. Lauren finds it hard to wrap her head around someone falling for Sheila. Eric reminds her he did. Lauren says he was conned and fell for a pretty nurse. Deacon, on the other hand, when into it knowing full well what she was capable of. Maybe one day he’ll be glad she died before she upended his entire life. They celebrate surviving Sheila Carter.

At Il Giardino, Deacon does an online search, “Who is Sugar?” but all he gets is photos of desserts. He looks at a photo of Sheila and says he saw her face. “It was you… until it wasn’t.” He saw ten toes and she may still be out there. “I’m not going to give up, baby. I promise.”

Deacon is still looking at Sheila on the laptop when Lauren appears and tells him he might want to delete that and any other reminder of her. “Trust me. You are better off without Sheila.”

In the design office, Luna asks RJ if he’ll ever be able to look at her the same. She’s not the honest woman she once was. RJ asks her to stop. He doesn’t need Zende to tell her who she is, “I know who you are.” He understands that she didn’t mean to cheat on him, but it doesn’t make it any less shocking or hurt any less. “I don’t know where to go from here.”

RJ knows that’s not what she was hoping he’d say, but he wants to be honest. He wishes she had told him right after it happened. Luna hopes he knows how much she regrets that. Keeping the secret was literally making her sick, but she wanted to protect his relationship with his cousin. RJ doesn’t care about Zende. He cares about them and where they go from here. It would be a lot easier if he didn’t love her so much. RJ is trying to make sense of this still, but every time he looks at her, he sees her in Zende’s bed… in his arms. “I need time.” Luna understands. “Just know that I love you. So much. I always will no matter what you decide on.” She touches his arm but he flinches away.

In the main office, Finn tells Steffy he’ll take care of everything at home and get the kids to bed. Maybe later they can open a bottle of wine. They canoodle until Finn gets a strange look on his face. He recalls that Deacon asked if part of him wished Sheila was still alive. He thinks Deacon is just having trouble letting go. Steffy says she was there. She lived it. Unlike Deacon, she knows exactly what happened. “I was there, I had the knife in my hand. I saw Sheila’s face. I know what I did. I defended myself.” There is no doubt in her mind that Sheila Carter is dead.

At Il Giardino, Deacon muses, “Lauren Fenmore in the flesh.” He asks how things are in Genoa City. She says everyone’s heaving a collective sigh of relief that Sheila is gone. She’s celebrating and she’s not apologizing for it. Deacon knows their history was bad. Lauren scoffs, “Putting it mildly.” She doesn’t know how or why he fell for Sheila, but what she knows for sure is that his life is better off without her in it. Deacon asks, “What if Sheila’s still alive?” Lauren says that’s ridiculous. Steffy stabbed her in the heart. She saw her. She identified her and so did he. Why does he have these stories in his head? “Deacon, what you had with her wasn’t real, and you should be so thankful that you never saw the monster that she was. If you even knew a fraction of what she did to me, the decades of torment… Sheila is gone. She is out of our lives, and I never want to hear her name again.” She’s walking out when Deacon yells, “Does the name Sugar mean anything to you?” Lauren stops and turns. “Sugar?” Deacon nods, “Yes. What do you know about Sugar? I need to know!”