Ridge and Carter Have It Out Over Hope, Who Walks In On an Unexpected Scene

At Forrester Creations, Ridge appears in the doorway and says, “It’s lonely at the top, isn’t it…brother?” Carter turns to look at him. Ridge takes in the blood from the broken necklace and muses, “Blood on your hands. That tracks. You stole this company from your family, you betrayed your best friend, and you killed a friendship.” Carter tells Ridge that if he’s done, he’d like to celebrate. Ridge is confused. He looks at him and sees the man who stayed up with him night after night when they thought his father was dying, the man who stayed on his couch after Maya left him. “This is my company and you stole it from me.” Carter argues, “I’m protecting it.” Ridge asks if that’s what he tells himself so he can sleep at night. He points out he’s thrown his life away for a woman who only started talking to him when she needed something. Carter says he dreamed of taking the company from a couple of bullies who signed a contract without reading it. He took power from a man who wouldn’t tell his daughter to stop calling employees bitches. Ridge is seeing something else. He sees a man who’s scared of what he’s become… he’s afraid all of this will eat him alive.

Carter hated betraying Ridge, but it had to be done. Ridge asks if he’ll keep trying to stand on the moral high ground. His head is so far up in the clouds he can’t see what Hope is doing to him. He reminds Carter they held a meeting and decided to cut Hope For the Future. “You agreed with that. What happened?” When Steffy asked him to run the company with her after he stepped down if would have been the perfect time to bring up his ideas but he didn’t do it. “Why do it now? What changed?!” Carter says he walked into an office and heard Steffy threatening Hope if she didn’t stay away from her husband. Ridge concedes that Steffy made it personal, “Maybe because she didn’t want your little girlfriend sniffing around her husband.” Carter grimaces.

Ridge says he put his name on paperwork and stole the company. “Is that good leadership?!” Carter retorts, “At least I didn’t have Charlie escort your daughter out of the building.” Ridge says, “You’re too good for that.” Carter says damn right. He’s so good he let Steffy come back in. He invites Ridge to do the same. Ridge won’t answer to him and Hope, “Not in this lifetime.” Carter thinks it kills Ridge to see that the jewelry line was the right move. Ridge hollers, “The jewelry line had nothing to do with you!” Even if they pretend it did. “Where’s the party?” He texted Electra earlier, she didn’t seem that happy. It should have been a big day for Brooke, but it wasn’t. Carter says they’ll come around. Ridge says they won’t. Carter says it doesn’t matter. Today was a win for the new Forrester Creations. Ridge says he has good instincts, but not good morals. His make up as a man, as a friend, is awful. Hope can tell him he’s a hero, “But you know who you are. You sold your soul to gain the world, and now all you want to do is turn back time. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Hope Makes a Vow to Brooke

Hope storms into the design office and fumes to her mother that they should be celebrating right now. Brooke asks why she’s not with Carter. She asks her daughter what’s wrong. Hope is tired of losing. Even when they win it feels like a loss. Brooke asks, “What did you expect?” Hope rants about all of them feeling bullied and getting called bitches and sluts. Brooke agrees that Ridge and Steffy have made mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they should steal their company away. She asks again why she’s not with Carter. Hope says he’s beating himself up because he feels guilty.

Hope says this proves Carter’s vision for the company was the right one. Brooke’s sure he thought he’d be celebrating with Ridge, Eric, and Steffy. “He feels guilty, honey.” Forrester is their company. It belongs to them. Hope fumes about her mother defending them. Brooke says they’re talking about Carter right now. He knows what he did was wrong. He destroyed his relationship with his best friend! Hope says Ridge has taken Carter for granted. Brooke argues that it goes deeper than she thinks. The Forresters have been like family and Ridge has been like a brother. Hope scoffs that if that was true, they would have listened to him and given him a seat at the table. He should be celebrating his accomplishments rather than thinking about throwing it all away. Brooke urges Hope to support him. Hope will do that… even if it means protecting him from himself. Carter has a huge heart, and she won’t allow Ridge to take advantage of it.

Hope informs her mother that they can’t give in to Ridge and Steffy’s demands. Brooke complains that she’s turning this into some kind of war. Hope argues that it’s been a war for years. She and Carter are trying to change the culture of toxicity and they’re succeeding. They can’t let guilt undermine the future they’re trying to build. Brooke ask what kind of future it is when you can’t even look at yourself in the mirror. “Carter is hurting.” Hope says Carter is hurting because he’s a good man and people take advantage of that. She will make sure Ridge won’t take advantage of his goodness.

Zende Updates Steffy, Daphne and Taylor

At the Forrester mansion, Steffy declares that Forrester Creations is her legacy. “And I will get it back.” Daphne still thinks Carter will do the right thing. Steffy says it will be harder after his recent success. “He’s riding high right now.” Zende comes in and says that wasn’t the vibe in the room. The only person who was excited was Hope. Steffy says the Logans are good at getting men to give them what they want. Zende likes Hope, but something was so off with her today. She couldn’t read the room. Everyone was feeling conflicted, but she was calling for champagne. Steffy says, “Of course she did.” Taylor asks about Brooke. Zende says she was just as torn as the rest of them and struggling with the changes at Forrester. Steffy tells Zende that Brooke doesn’t care about anything but herself. Zende argues she loves Uncle Ridge and this takeover is weighing on her. Taylor says she should prove it then by talking to Hope and getting her to stop.

Carter and Ridge Argue About Hope

In the main office, Carter tells Ridge he can drag him all he wants but he won’t give him the company back. Ridge wonders how Hope did this to the most honest man he knows. Carter tells him to stop blaming Hope. All she did was support him. Ridge bellows, “I supported you!” He made him COO of the company and promoted him repeatedly. He didn’t like the idea of the luxury company. If he’d said yes to that would they not be here right now? He asks Carter what the first thing he said to him when they met. Carter sighs, “You said I’m going to have to start working out if I’m going to wear shirts this tight.” Ridge asks, “And what was your comeback?” Carter replies, “Says the guy who’s trying to bring mullets back.” Ridge says they clicked at that moment. He trusted him right away. Why can’t he trust him when he tells him Hope is taking him for a ride. He always falls in love so hard and doesn’t see the red flags. Carter protests that what he and Hope have is real. All Ridge knows is that she got what she wanted, “Like that,” he snaps his fingers.

Carter says Hope wanted respect. Ridge yells, “She wanted to beat Steffy! That’s all she’s ever wanted for years! And now you’re caught up in the middle of it because you championed her!” Relationships are supposed to make you a better person, not more powerful. “Are you a better person now than when I first met you?” Losing the company was awful, “But losing you… I thought the two of us would be sitting on a park bench when we were ninety.” Losing his best friend in the world broke him. “Now I’m done.” Ridge heads to the door and Carter says, “Wait.” He never thought he’d be implanting his ideas for the company without his brother. “I miss our friendship, Ridge. I miss my brother.” He throws his arms around Ridge, who stiffens, then hugs him back. Hope walks in and gawps at the teary-eyed men.