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Nick Marone’s sudden return to Los Angeles initially seemed like a swoon-worthy comeback, complete with a fiery kiss shared with Brooke Logan—rekindling a flame many thought had long since burned out. But beneath the surface of romance, something far more sinister was brewing. Nick wasn’t just back to chase an old love; he came bearing a secret that could shatter the very core of the Forrester family.

In a bombshell scene at Forrester Creations, Nick interrupts a tense moment with Ridge Forrester and drops a manila envelope on the table—a quiet but deadly move. “You might want to sit down for this,” he says with a deadly calm, his eyes locked on Ridge. Thinking it’s just another dramatic stunt to steal Brooke away, Ridge opens it casually—until the contents flip his world upside down. Inside are test results, photographs, and hand-written letters. As Ridge flips through the documents, his hands begin to tremble.

Nick’s words hit him like a freight train: “Steffy and Phoebe… they’re not your daughters. Their father is James Warwick.”

Silence falls like a heavy curtain. Ridge’s face drains of color as he absorbs the unimaginable. Tucked within the envelope are DNA reports from a private clinic in Paris, documenting a truth that was buried years ago. Alongside the reports are photos of Taylor Hayes and James Warwick during a period she had claimed was spent in therapeutic retreat. And most damning of all—letters from Taylor, written but never sent to Ridge. Letters that hold confessions he never dreamed existed.

Ridge stares at Nick in disbelief. “This is insane. Even for you.” But Nick doesn’t flinch. “I didn’t believe it either… That’s why I had it verified. Multiple labs. It’s real, Ridge.”

As the truth takes hold, Ridge reels back in a mix of anger and heartbreak. And just then, Taylor walks in. The sight of the open file in Ridge’s hands is all she needs to see. Her face turns pale. She whispers, almost inaudibly, “Where did you get that?” When Nick answers, her voice drops even lower. “You weren’t supposed to see that… I was going to tell you. I just didn’t know how.”

But it’s too late. The damage is done. Ridge’s heart is breaking in real time. His voice wavers with emotion as he turns on her: “You let me raise them. You let me believe they were mine.” The weight of betrayal is suffocating. Taylor begs for him to understand. “It was one night. I was lost. I didn’t know I was pregnant. I truly believed it was yours.”

But the explanations only deepen the wound. Ridge, shattered, questions everything he’s known and loved for decades. The foundations of his identity—his pride as a father—are now in ruins. Everything he built with Taylor, every moment with Steffy and Phoebe, suddenly feels like a lie.

Meanwhile, Steffy remains blissfully unaware that her entire identity is on the brink of implosion. What will happen when this truth reaches her? Will she confront Taylor for lying to her all her life? Will she even believe it? And how will she react to learning that James Warwick—someone she barely knows—might be her real father?

The revelation doesn’t just threaten Ridge and Taylor—it threatens everyone in the Forrester orbit. Brooke, now caught in the middle, must question Nick’s motives. Did he truly come back out of a sense of justice, or is this a carefully orchestrated act of revenge aimed at Ridge, his longtime rival? And is Nick using this scandal as leverage to win Brooke back, hoping that by destroying Ridge’s world, he can rebuild his own with her?

James Warwick, too, is about to be pulled back into a storm he never saw coming. Will he embrace his new role in Steffy’s life? Or will he want nothing to do with the drama that’s about to ensue?

As whispers turn into confrontations, the Forrester family legacy hangs in the balance. Relationships will be tested. Allegiances will shift. And one man—Nick Marone—may walk away as either a hero who uncovered a painful truth… or a villain who dismantled a dynasty for personal gain.

This revelation is a ticking time bomb, and once it goes off, nothing at Forrester Creations will ever be the same.