Monday, May 26, 2008, Episode #5319

Katie advises Donna to come clean with Eric.

At the Marone mansion, Katie tries to console Donna, who fears that her son hates her. Katie thinks Marcus is just overwhelmed, but Donna thinks he's angry that she gave him away to total strangers and kept it a secret for years. "You wanted him to have more than what we did," Katie states, "but you can't do that anymore." Katie urges Donna to tell Eric the truth, but Donna fears that Eric and his children will judge her once they learn that she's been lying about this for years. Katie doesn't think Eric will let that happen, but Donna doesn't want to burden Eric with this. Katie advises Donna that a secret like this could destroy her marriage, but Donna thinks some secrets will destroy everything, no matter what you do.

Eric is sure that Donna won't let him down.

Eric is in his office looking at a photo of Donna when Ridge comes in. Eric doesn't want to hear another word from Ridge about Donna. Ridge insists that he's just trying to protect the company and the family. "You can do right by Donna and your children," Ridge states. "You just can't do it here at work." Eric warns Ridge that their relationship will be jeopardized if he keeps pushing. Ridge tells Eric to minimize Donna's role, reminding him of his promise to step down if there's ever any scandal. Eric is sure there won't be any scandals, since he trusts his wife not to let him down.

Donna tells Eric that she has to talk to him.

When Donna arrives, Eric tells her that Ridge was just leaving. Ridge offers to pick this up later, but Eric wants to deal with it now. "Nobody drives my wife out of my office," Eric affirms. Donna doesn't want to get into this now. Eric sees that she's upset and asks what's wrong. Ridge offers to leave, but Donna tells him to stay. Eric tells Donna that the things his family said about her earlier were completely inappropriate, and he thinks she deserves an apology. Donna asks Eric if they can go somewhere. Ridge thinks it's obvious that his dad and Donna have issues to talk about; Donna asks him not to take his feelings about her out on his father. She turns to Eric and tells him that he doesn't have to answer for her. After Ridge leaves, Eric tells Donna that she doesn't have to feel guilty about his children behaving like kids, but Donna doesn't want to do anything that will pull his family apart. Eric tells her not to let this get to her, since they're in this marriage together. Sitting down, Donna sighs that she has something to tell him, and she hopes it won't change his opinion of her. "That could never happen," Eric assures as he sits down across from her and tells her to tell him what's on her mind.

Brooke tries to help Phoebe understand.

Phoebe nervously sits in her father's office, recalling her confrontation with her mother and Rick after finding them together in her mom's bedroom. Brooke comes in and is surprised to see that Phoebe is back from Australia. Phoebe stutters that she wanted it to be a surprise and asks where her dad is, since she needs to talk to him. Brooke tells her that Ridge is meeting with Eric and asks if there's anything she can do, but Phoebe only wants to talk to her father. Seeing how upset Phoebe is, Brooke guesses that she has already knows about Rick and Taylor. Phoebe explains how she walked in on Rick and Taylor together and asks how they could do this to her. Brooke tells Phoebe that she and Ridge knew about this and tried to reason with Rick and Taylor, in the hopes that they could put a stop to this before Phoebe found out. Phoebe says that it HAS stopped, since her mom ended things with Rick and sent him away. Brooke points out that Taylor has said it's over before. "Not to me," Phoebe points out. Brooke assumes that it was hard for Taylor to be confronted that way, Phoebe is surprised that Brooke feels sorry for her rival, but Brooke points out that no parent wants to betray their child. "Then why didn't they stop?" Phoebe tearfully asks. Brooke admits that she doesn't know. It can't be that they're in love, Phoebe weeps.

Ridge comforts Phoebe.

Ridge comes in and sees Phoebe crying, so he asks what happened. Once Brooke tells him what happened, Ridge embraces Phoebe and promises that everything will be OK. Phoebe sobs that she saw what was happening, but her brain wouldn't let her believe it. Ridge tells her that her mom has been under a lot of stress since the custody battle and the divorce from Nick, suggesting that the affair with Rick is a response to that. Brooke tells him that Taylor broke up with Rick. "She did it for me," Phoebe states. Ridge wishes Taylor had done it sooner. Phoebe asks why he didn't tell her if he knew. Ridge explains that he hoped her mom would come to her senses. He pulls her into another hug and tells her that he'd give anything to erase the memory of catching her mom with Rick. "Me, too," Phoebe sniffles.

Rick asks Taylor to hear him out.

Rick shows up at the Bel Air mansion in the hopes of changing Taylor's mind about ending their relationship. Taylor tells him that he shouldn't even be here, since she refuses to hurt Phoebe. Rick tells her that they can't keep avoiding this, but Taylor doesn't think they should talk about this tonight. Rick asks when they should talk about it, since she's been avoiding his calls. He begs her not to shut him out. Taylor tells him again that they have to end things for Phoebe's sake, but Rick senses that she still wants to be with him and asks her to admit that. Taylor sighs that she does want to be with him, but this isn't about what she wants. She reminds him how hurt and angry Phoebe was when she caught them here and says that she can't bear to see her daughter so angry. Rick argues that denying her feelings isn't going to help, since it won't change what Phoebe saw, nor will it change how they feel about each other. "I need to do this for Phoebe," Taylor declares. Rick tells her not to get caught up in some knee-jerk reaction that jeopardizes the future they were planning together, but Taylor tells him that Phoebe can't accept that future. He suggests that she give Phoebe some time rather than running from this like it's a dark dirty secret. Taylor tells him that she doesn't have a choice.

Taylor tells Rick again that it's over.

Taylor tells Rick that she can't be happy knowing that she broke her daughter's heart, but Rick assures her that Phoebe just wants her to be happy, and he's sure that Phoebe will change her mind once she sees how good they are for each other. Taylor tells him that he shouldn't have come back there, but he says that he had to, and he thinks she knew that. Taylor asks how she's supposed to explain her feelings for him to Phoebe when she doesn't quite understand them herself. Rick tells her to just tell Phoebe that they never expected this, but Taylor refuses to say it that way. She explains that she intentionally kept Phoebe from seeing her as weak and broken while going through the custody battle and the divorce. Rick says that she's not broken, but she insists that she would have been without his love and support. But when she looks at it from Phoebe's perspective... Rick tells her that what Phoebe said is just like what they heard from his mom and from Ridge, but it hurts more because it's coming from Phoebe. "This is how people react to unconventional relationships," he proclaims, pointing out how his dad and Donna bucked the odds and got married, even though no one else wanted that marriage. "I want that for us," he states, vowing not to give up.