Grace Makes a Shocking, Emotional Confession — and Brooke’s Thrown Into the Sea In Naples

At a table for two by the dock, Nick assures Brooke the weather will clear soon, and they’ll be off to Capri.

In Eric’s suite, Ridge rants about the idea of Nick proposing to Brooke. He won’t allow Marone to ruin her life (apparently only he’s allowed to do that). Ridge takes off, asking his dad to stay there in case she returns.

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As Brooke tells Nick how eager she is to get on his boat, Ridge runs all over Naples searching frantically for her. Nick and Brooke are served a feast and delight each other by trying out Italian phrases like, “Buon appetito.” Nearby, Ridge finds two men arguing and learns that they’re trying to fix Marone’s boat, but the steering is no good.

The next thing we know, Nick and Brooke are taking off on the boat with the wonky steering wheel. Ridge calls Brooke to warn her not to get on the boat but it goes to voicemail. Back in his suite, Eric shudders at the thought of Nick with an engagement ring and decides to go find Brooke. At the harbor, Ridge sees Brooke kicking up her heels, literally, on Nick’s boat.

Reliving a Nightmare

Hope fawns over Liam at Bill’s place and they banter as he teases that she’s overdoing it. He’s confident that he’ll be alright given the tumor is gone. Hope declares that it’s all due to Dr. Buckingham. They marvel at one Dr. Buckingham giving him a miracle, while the other one nearly stole the life from them when he took their daughter. Liam dubs this the “Tale of Two Buckinghams.” They flash to Liam telling Hope their daughter had died. It was all a lie Reese told them because of his gambling debts. Hope will never understand how someone could do something so heinous in the name of money.

In Buckingham’s office, Finn tells Grace that Liam’s treatment couldn’t possibly have cost $1 million dollars. He warns her to tell him what’s going on right now. Grace tries to justify the cost, but Finn’s not buying it. He acknowledges that it was expensive, “But was it necessary?” Grace acts outraged and accuses Finnegan of wanting to leave Liam to die. Finn doesn’t remember anyone from neuro being in Liam’s room. It was always her delivering the findings. Switching from doctor to detective mode, Finn declares there are holes in this case. The more he’s examined the issues, the more questions he has. Grace asks for the bottom line. Finn levels that he’s wondering if Liam ever had brain cancer at all.

Grace tries to escape the office, blustering that she doesn’t have time for this, but Finn stops her. He can tell something is very wrong with her. Grace just wants him to be grateful that Liam will live. Finn says it doesn’t add up. He hollers that the incisions are way too small for such a surgery, and his recovery is way ahead of anything ever medically documented. Dropping the hammer, Finn tells Grace the neuro team has no record of Liam other than his brain bleed. She must have faked it all.

Still on Bill’s couch, having no idea what Finn is doing as they speak, Hope and Liam go over what a saint Grace Buckingham is, and Hope thanks God they didn’t lose him.

Grace Cracks

Back at the hospital, Finn wants Grace to confess. He hollers that they’ve been colleagues for years. He trusts and respects her and she needs to tell him the truth. Cracking, Grace sobs, “I had no choice. I had no choice!” She admits she made up the brain cancer and faked his diagnosis. “They were threatening my girls!” she wails. Finn learns Reese had serious gambling debts and the men after him were not fooling around. They knew where Zoe and Paris lived and where she lived. She screams, “I needed the money! I needed the money, I needed the money! I was desperate.”

In Italy, Nick clocks Ridge waving at them from shore and speeds up. Just then, another boat crosses their path and he swerves, unable to properly steer. Brooke slides off the back into the sea, and it’s Ridge to the rescue as he dives into the water and starts swimming.

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