The Young and the Restless spoilers: Phyllis and Sharon kidnapped by these two family members?

Like many viewers of The Young and the Restless, we too find ourselves racking our brains trying to figure out who is behind the latest abduction in Genoa City (we are also hoping this is the last abduction on the soap for a while).

Initially, we assumed Ian Ward (Ray Wise) was behind the disappearance of Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Sharon (Sharon Case). Having astonishingly survived a gunshot wound after being declared dead, and still with an incredible amount of anger toward the Newmans and others in town, it seemed likely he was back to stir up more trouble. Plus, he targeted Phyllis and Sharon previously when he was working with Jordan (Colleen Zenk), so it would make sense for him to go after the duo again.

However, as the mysterious captor started to make Phyllis and Sharon play games to stay alive while holding them hostage in an abandoned psychiatric facility, we then thought there was a chance the assailant could be Patty Williams (Stacy Haiduk). Patty has a colorful history with both ladies and has a motive to want revenge. Patty generally loathes Phyllis, and Sharon may not have killed her niece Heather (Vail Bloom), but the Crimson Lights owner callously disposed of Heather’s body. Additionally, considering Patty has been offscreen for years, locked away in a psychiatric facility, it would seem like the current predicament for Phyllis and Sharon was poetic justice.

But as the captor continues to communicate with Phyllis and Sharon, we yet again find ourselves changing our minds about the likely suspect. The kidnapper keeps referencing past fights between the ladies, as if they are tired of watching them go after each other, year after year.

In The Young and the Restless episode airing on March 4, Sharon and Phyllis even start to assume that they were kidnapped by a family member wanting the two to finally make peace. With that suggestion, we were prompted to narrow the suspect pool down to two possible people — Lucy (Lily Brooks O’Briant) and Faith (Reylynn Caster).

This theory may seem rather outlandish, but once you let the prospect linger, in many ways it makes sense. Although the young ladies weren’t around for all of the tumultuous history between Phyllis and Sharon, Lucy and Faith know the duo can’t stand each other and could have been brought up to speed on the specifics. Lucy and Faith, with fresh eyes, could look at all the damage the years of feuding have cost not only Phyllis and Sharon, but their families and Genoa City as well.

It’s worth noting that Jordan and Ian may not have gone after Heather, a member of Phyllis’ family by extension, if the evil pair didn’t know Sharon loathed Phyllis and it would be easy to frame Sharon for murder, pointing to the feud between Sharon and Phyllis (and Daniel [Michael Graziadei]). Furthermore, Phyllis probably wouldn’t have been run off the road by Jordan if the Phyllis-Sharon feud wasn’t so well-known.

Additionally, Lucy and Faith could have deduced that their families are connected no matter how much Phyllis and Sharon hate each other. They all live in Genoa City and Summer (Allison Lanier) is Faith’s sister and Lucy’s aunt.

Once upon a time, Lucy and Faith were trying to be friends, but that relationship was complicated by the longtime feud between their respective grandmother and mother (and their friendship was also complicated due to Lucy’s obsession, but we digress). It’s possible that given all that’s happened, Lucy and Faith were able to reconnect in some capacity and decide to accomplish what Nick (Joshua Morrow), Daniel and Summer never could — build a bridge between Sharon and Phyllis.

Now poking holes in our own theory, we realize it would be challenging for women of Lucy and Faith’s size to actually drug both Phyllis and Sharon and drag them to the facility. However, it’s in the realm of possibility. It’s also possible that they recruited someone to help them. Someone like Michael (Christian LeBlanc) who also has a vested interest in the feud dying considering he’s friends with both women on some level. Heck, who knows, maybe Michael is behind the whole kidnapping all by himself.

For now, we’ll just have to pay close attention as this storyline continues to unfold to see if our hunch is proven right.

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus