We know it would only be a matter of time before The Young and the Restless’ Victor (Eric Braeden) said enough is enough, and permanently put an end to all the fighting in Glissade’s executive suite. Weeks ago, he warned Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Audra (Zuleyka Silver) that if they didn’t stop all their bickering as co-CEOs of the company, he would have to take matters into his own hands. Well, the Mustache makes a bold move in The Young and the Restless episode airing on October 2 and fires Audra.
Before we get to that unceremonious moment, earlier in the episode, Audra talks with Victor about her new skincare product and how their new partner Bob Elton fully backs the idea. Victor appears impressed, and feeling the momentum of the occasion, Audra shares with Victor that her pitch may not have happened if Kyle had his way as he tried sabotaging her.
In perfect timing, Kyle shows up and the Newman patriarch wants to know if there’s any truth to Audra’s accusations. Kyle defends his actions, saying that Audra’s proposal is not right for Glissade. Kyle and Audra go back and forth until Victor puts his foot down to make a declaration. He now sees that only one of them can run Glissade and leaves it up to them to prove who that will be.
Kyle stops back home at the Abbott Mansion and he eyes Diane’s (Susan Walters) work laptop open and the screen unlocked. He makes sure no one is home and then searches through files on the computer until he finds information about Jabot’s new "game-changing moisturizer." The Abbott heir then runs that information to Victor, bragging that betraying his own family in this way is proof he should run Glissade by himself.
As all of this is going on, Diane has a contentious conversation with Jack (Peter Bergman) at Society. Jack goes on and on about his need to protect Billy (Jason Thompson) in his pending war with Victor, and she implores him to let Billy fight his own battles. She stresses that she and Jack have other things they need to worry about like filling Jabot’s vacant COO position.
Jack isn’t pleased by her attitude and he can’t believe she wants to give someone Kyle’s old job. The Abbott patriarch feels replacing Kyle won’t help in repairing their relationship with their son, and Diane doesn’t think Kyle would care. As the husband-and-wife duo continues arguing, Jack gets a phone call and excuses himself.
Audra then walks in, and Diane wastes no time approaching her. Diane immediately becomes snarky, asking Audra what it will take to get her "claws" out of her son. Audra rightfully takes exception and explains Kyle is safe from her. Diane accuses Audra of being "greedy, self-serving, status-seeking," to which Audra replies, "Isn’t that also you?" (We’re glad Audra said it because we’ve often thought Diane doesn’t like Audra because the two are very similar.)
Jack winds up returning to break up the tense moment between the ladies, and Audra takes it as her cue to walk over to the bar. From there, Audra looks on as Jack and Diane exchange some words.
Thinking Jack and Diane’s marital problems is key information, Audra runs to Victor to share what she witnessed. Unfortunately for her, Victor doesn’t really care about the news. Things then go from awkward to uncomfortable for Audra when Victor says, "Miss Charles, thank you for your service. You’re fired." Audra is left stunned.
With all of that being said, we don’t believe Audra is going to be unemployed for long. Remember that opened COO position at Jabot? We think Audra may soon find herself in the role.
Now we’re fully aware that Diane doesn’t like Audra and even Jack isn’t her biggest fan. However, Audra is a very experienced executive who recently worked in the beauty industry thanks to Glissade, and she could prove useful to Jack’s growing battle with Victor. She may have intel that could prepare Jack and Jabot for the looming conflict. Plus, it’s not hard to imagine Audra grinning from ear to ear at Jabot knowing she’s working with Kyle’s parents and may have an opportunity to get revenge on him and Victor.
The remaining question we have though, is who will offer Audra the job? Jack isn’t so keen on replacing Kyle, thinking his son will eventually come back to the fold. This is why we ironically think it will be Diane.
She may loathe Audra, but she may see this as "an enemy of my enemy" situation and believe Audra’s commitment to taking down Victor is worth hiring her. Not to mention, if Jabot takes down Glissade, it would mean Kyle would be out of a job and possibly return to the family business (we hope family counseling occurs for the Abbotts before that happens though).
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
