The Young and the Restless spoilers: Victor PUNISHES Adam?

If you’ve been keeping up with The Young and the Restless, then you know that Victor (Eric Braeden) has been warning Adam (Mark Grossman) for months to drop his obsession with Newman Media. 

Most recently in the episode that aired on July 28, the Newman patriarch sat with his son at the Newman ranch and told him to drop his obsession with Newman Media and to remember that Victor runs Newman businesses how he sees fit. In many ways, it felt like The Mustache was issuing his wayward son a final warning not to cross him. 

Always one to buck authority and do things his way, Adam let his dad’s words go in one ear and out the other. Once the Adustus CEO discovered Audra’s (Zuleyka Silver) secret with Tucker (Trevor St. John), he knew he had leverage to blackmail the Newman Media CEO into doing his bidding. During the week of August 7, Adam makes it clear that she either convinces Victor and Victoria (Amelia Heinle) to fold Newman Media into Adustus, or he will reveal her hand in the McCall cover-up. 

Seeing the scandal as something that could ruin her career, Audra agreed to work for Adam. Unfortunately for her, she’s not made any headway in her mission. Although in the episode airing on August 10, Audra’s partner in crime Nate (Sean Dominic) pitched a Newman Media and Adustus merger to a shocked Victoria and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), by the August 11th episode, Victoria reveals she’s not interested going through with it. 

Coincidentally, on August 11, Audra pitches the merger to Nikki in an awkward one-on-one conversation, and Nikki immediately shuts down the idea. When the Newman matriarch asks if this sudden pitch was one she discussed with Nate, Audra lies and says no, which immediately raises red flags for Nikki who finds it odd that Audra’s random proposal sounds eerily similar to the former doctor’s. 

Fast forward to the week of August 14, and Victor is back in Genoa City and Nikki warns him about her suspicions of Audra and Nate and their latest ideas. 

Victor is a smart man and may deduce that their sudden interest in merging Newman Media with Adustus is fueled by his son. He knows Adam isn’t above playing dirty and could suspect that Adam is either blackmailing Audra, Nate or both. 

Should Victor start to put the pieces together, we can imagine him cornering either Audra or Nate and persuading them to tell him the truth. They may at first try to play coy, but how long can a novice really lie to Victor before cracking under the pressure? 

With a confession, we’d imagine Victor making a beeline to Adam and laying down the hammer. We’ve had a hunch for a while now that Victor would replace Adam as CEO of Adustus with Nick (Joshua Morrow), especially since Nick is more inclined to listen and do as his father wishes. 

So where would that leave Adam? Well, that’s the million-dollar question. There’s a chance Victor could leave him on at Adustus, but just as second-in-command to Nick. Or perhaps Adam takes his talents to Jabot, Chancellor-Winters or the newly formed Simply Ashley. Although considering Billy (Jason Thompson) can’t stand Adam and Tucker and Adam are like oil and water, working at Jabot and Simply Ashley may not be the best idea. 

We’d propose the idea that Adam starts his own business from the ground up, much like Victor did, but does Genoa City really need one more powerhouse corporation?

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