YOUNG AND RESTLESS SHOCKER: HAS CANE ASHBY BEEN PLAYING PHYLLIS SUMMERS THIS ENTIRE TIME—AND IS SHE TOO DESPERATE TO WALK AWAY?

TL;DR: On The Young and the Restless, Phyllis Summers was caught snooping through Cane Ashby’s belongings in his private train car. When she confronted him about his late father Colin Atkinson’s criminal con, Cane refused to deny involvement, instead responding with the chilling question: “Would that be a problem?” Despite this massive red flag, Phyllis doubled down on their partnership, declaring she’s still “all in.”

The train car confrontation that just played out between Phyllis Summers and Cane Ashby wasn’t just awkward—it was a full-blown stress test of their entire alliance. And the results? Let’s just say this partnership is built on a foundation that’s shakier than a house of cards in a windstorm.

Here’s what went down.

What Happened When Phyllis Got Caught Snooping?

Phyllis was literally caught red-handed rummaging through Cane’s private belongings in his luxury train car. Her excuse? She was “looking for a deck of cards.”

Right. Because that’s totally believable.

Even Cane didn’t pretend to buy it! The excuse was so transparently flimsy that they both just moved right past it into the REAL confrontation. This wasn’t some innocent misunderstanding—this was Phyllis actively investigating her own business partner because she doesn’t trust him. And honestly? She has good reason not to.

After weeks of watching Cane operate under his mysterious “Aristotle Dumas” persona, making power moves against Newman Enterprises and Jabot Cosmetics, dealing with pressure from Victor Newman, Jack Abbott, his own mother Jill Abbott, and his ex-wife Lily Winters—Phyllis clearly decided she needed answers. So she went looking for them in the most direct way possible: good old-fashioned snooping.

The fact that she was willing to violate his privacy tells you everything you need to know about the trust level in this so-called partnership. Spoiler alert: there isn’t any.

Did Cane Admit to Being Involved in Colin’s Criminal Schemes?

This is where things get really interesting. Phyllis didn’t beat around the bush—she went straight for the jugular and asked Cane point-blank whether he’d known about Colin Atkinson’s con.

Cane’s response? He didn’t deny it. He didn’t confirm it either. Instead, he hit her with: “Would that be a problem?”

Think about that for a second. That’s not the answer of an innocent man. That’s the response of someone testing boundaries, gauging exactly how much shady behavior his partner will tolerate if it gets her what she wants. It’s classic con artist deflection—turn the question back on the interrogator and put THEM on the defensive about their own moral standards.

It’s the kind of move his late father Colin (played by the late Tristan Rogers) would’ve been proud of. And that should terrify everyone, Phyllis included.

Colin Atkinson was a master con artist whose schemes destroyed lives and families throughout Genoa City. His final con—forging Katherine Chancellor’s will—was the reason Cane left town in disgrace back in 2019. The man was a career criminal who taught his son every manipulative trick in the book, even if Cane spent years trying to distance himself from that legacy.

Now? It’s looking more and more like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree after all.

Why Is Phyllis Staying in This Partnership?

Here’s the million-dollar question: after getting caught snooping, after receiving the shadiest non-answer possible, after essentially confirming that Cane might be neck-deep in his father’s criminal activities—why did Phyllis decide to stay “all in”?

Because she’s desperate. Let’s not sugarcoat it. Phyllis Summers is currently estranged from both the Newman and Abbott families. She’s been cast out, sidelined, made irrelevant by the very power structures she spent decades trying to infiltrate. And for someone like Phyllis—someone who’s constitutionally incapable of accepting marginalization—that’s an unbearable position.

Enter Cane Ashby, who returned to Genoa City as the mysterious billionaire “Aristotle Dumas” with seemingly unlimited resources and a clear agenda: burn down the establishment that rejected him. For Phyllis, he represents her ticket back to relevance. Her path to revenge. Her chance to matter again.

And if that means partnering with someone who might be following in his criminal father’s footsteps? Well, Phyllis has never been particularly squeamish about moral compromises when power is on the line.

The woman has a history of this exact pattern. She’s partnered with Victor, with Jack, with Nick—always hitching her wagon to whoever seems most likely to win, regardless of the ethical implications. This is just the latest iteration of that same strategy.

But this time feels different. Because unlike those other alliances, where she at least had history and understood the players, Cane is an unknown quantity. He’s been gone for years, came back with mysterious wealth that nobody can quite explain, and is displaying behavior that’s setting off alarm bells for everyone from Victor Newman to his own mother.

Could This Be Following Colin’s Playbook?

The ghost of Colin Atkinson is absolutely haunting this entire situation. In fact, you could argue he’s the invisible third partner in this doomed alliance.

Colin passed away earlier this year (both the actor Tristan Rogers and the character in August 2025), but not before delivering some powerful final words to his son. On his deathbed, Colin urged Cane to abandon the “Aristotle Dumas” persona and prioritize his family over everything else. “You bury Dumas forever, son,” he pleaded.

But here’s the tragic irony: when Cane returned to Genoa City trying to reconnect with Lily and their children, they rejected him precisely BECAUSE of his association with Colin’s cons. He’s trapped in a psychological catch-22. In order to win back the family his father told him to prioritize, he feels he must first achieve overwhelming success using the very “Dumas” persona his father told him to abandon.

So is Cane following Colin’s playbook? All signs point to yes. The evasive responses, the calculated deflection, the testing of boundaries—it’s all straight from the master manipulator’s handbook. Whether Cane’s doing it consciously or whether it’s just ingrained in his DNA after a lifetime of watching his father operate is almost beside the point.

The result is the same: Phyllis Summers has partnered with someone who’s displaying classic con artist behavior, and she’s choosing to overlook it because she needs what he can provide.

What’s Next for This Doomed Partnership?

Short answer? Nothing good.

Rumor has it that Cane and Phyllis are planning to deploy some kind of sophisticated AI program as a weapon in their corporate war against Newman Enterprises and Jabot Cosmetics. Given Phyllis’s tech expertise and Cane’s deep pockets, this actually makes perfect sense as their next move. It would be a modern, technologically-driven assault on the old-guard companies that have rejected them both.

But here’s the thing about partnerships built on mutual distrust and desperation: they don’t last. Someone always betrays someone. Someone always has a secret agenda. And when these two finally turn on each other—because let’s be honest, it’s a question of WHEN, not IF—the fallout is going to be spectacular.

Phyllis is already collecting evidence by snooping through his things. Cane is already testing how much criminality she’ll tolerate. Neither of them trusts the other. Both of them have hidden agendas. And Colin Atkinson’s criminal legacy is poisoning everything from beyond the grave.

The confrontation with Adam Newman that’s reportedly coming next suggests Cane’s corporate offensive is ramping up despite all the personal drama. He’s moving forward with his plans, Phyllis is moving forward with him, and they’re both pretending that train car disaster never happened.

But the cracks are showing. The foundation is crumbling. And when this whole scheme inevitably implodes, it’s going to take both of them down with it.

The Bottom Line

Phyllis Summers had a chance to walk away when Cane Ashby basically admitted he might be involved in his criminal father’s cons. She had every reason to cut ties, protect herself, and find a different path back to power in Genoa City.

Instead, she doubled down.

Is she making the biggest mistake of her life? Quite possibly. Is she too desperate to see the warning signs that are flashing neon-bright in front of her face? Absolutely. Is Cane playing her, consciously or unconsciously channeling his con artist father’s manipulative techniques? All evidence points to yes.

But here’s what makes this fascinating: Phyllis might be playing him right back. The snooping suggests she’s collecting insurance. The questions about Colin suggest she’s building a case. The decision to stay “all in” despite her suspicions suggests she’s got her own endgame planned.

These two are locked in a partnership where neither trusts the other, both have secrets, and someone’s definitely getting destroyed. The only question is who betrays who first.

Stay tuned, Y&R fans. This trainwreck is just getting started.

Don’t miss our latest The Young and the Restless spoilers for more twists and turns.