"Summer!" She slammed her hands onto the door again. "Summer, are you in there?!" Phyllis glanced down towards the end of the hall as she heard a door open. The older woman stuck her head out and looked down at her, her eyes flashing in obvious disapproval. On any other day, she probably would have apologized for making such a scene, but today, she didn't care. She didn't care about disturbing these people's peaceful lives. Her own life was falling apart in chunks and now wasn't the time for a quiet, polite conversation. Summer needed to know she was serious and if she thought she could hide from her, she had another thing coming.

"Have you seen her?" she spat as she eyed the woman still clad in her bathrobe.

"I think it's safe to say she's not in there," she sneered, "or at least if she is, she doesn't want to talk to you."

"It doesn't really matter what she wants," Phyllis managed, her voice still shaking in a mix of anger and pain. "She's going to talk to me. I've got way too many questions for that girl and she's damn well gonna answer them."

Billy felt his eyes open slowly, the sound of the knocking on the door no more welcome now than it had been a few hours ago. He considered ignoring it. It was probably Summer. If Phyllis had found her, it would make sense that she would show up her, needing his reassurance, his support … thinking he'd be the one that would comfort her now. He rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head, the feathery puff barely muffling the sound.

"Open the damn door, Billy!"

He moved again. It wasn't Summer's voice. Why had she come back here? He had told her the worst possible thing he could say. He'd driven her away the best way he knew how and yet she was back here again. What the hell was the matter with her? Was it possible she truly was as masochistic as he was? He stood and shuffled towards the door, the liquid breakfast he'd had this morning now beginning to take its toll. Her face was streaked with fresh tears as he let his eyes study her. "What are you doing back here?"

"I'm looking for Summer," she spat. "She's not at the penthouse. She's not at Jabot. She's not at Crimson Lights. And since the two of you are …." She swallowed hard, the words catching in her throat. "Is she here?"

"No," he said quickly before pushing the door. He felt the resistance and stopped short as her hand pushed back. "What are you doing?"

"Please tell me you're lying. Please tell me you just said all that to hurt me. Please, Billy."

This moment was something he'd played out in his head during the week he'd spent at the facility. He'd imagined how good it would feel to look her in the eyes and tell her he'd gotten the ultimate revenge. The shame and humiliation he'd felt after hearing about her night with Nick in front of everyone at the wedding would now pale in comparison to her pain she'd feel, but when it had happened, when he'd actually said it, the feeling wasn't as fulfilling as he'd expected. He'd gotten back at her, gotten the revenge he'd been so hellbent on getting, but he'd also done the one thing he'd sworn to her he'd never do again. He'd hurt her … in a way he didn't think he was capable of.

That was the look her saw in her eyes now. It wasn't anger. It wasn't even pain in this moment. It was shock, total disbelief. She'd trusted him … maybe even more than he knew. She'd truly believed he wouldn't hurt her … at least not in this way. And now he had and there was no going back.

"I'm not lying to you," he said, his voice only slightly softer now. "I've got no reason to. Summer and I slept together." He stopped as he saw the overwhelming pain flash over her face again. "Once," he added. "I wanted to hurt you and Nick and Summer … well, this is what she wanted. You know that. She started all this. And now I ended it. Now it's all over and now you know. You know the kind of person I am."

"No," she breathed, her hands trembling as gripped the frame of the door. "I don't know this person at all. The person I knew, the Billy Abbott I knew would never ever do this. I don't know who the hell this is. I don't know what you …" She fought for breath, the sobs so deep and guttural they felt as if they might tear her chest into. "I can't even …" She could hear the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she tried to think of something, anything she could say to him and yet there was nothing …

"Just go," he managed. He couldn't look at her anymore. The pain that should have felt so vindicating just felt like condemnation and he hated himself more than enough already. "Just get out of here."

Disgust. That's what the last look was. It was one he'd seen on many faces in his life. On his brother's, on his mother's, but never on hers … and yet there it was, staring him in the face. "Gladly," she spat. And then she was gone.

"You can't be serious." Jack looked up from the desk. "You don't honestly think there's a place for you here right now."

"I have every right to be here, Jack. I've still got a seat on the board and unless I'm mistaken, there's a pretty big board vote happening today."

Jack sneered. "You haven't even been in town, Billy. You don't know what's been going on. It would be irresponsible at best for you to vote on something when you haven't been privy to the situation." He shook his head as he reflected on his own words their irony occurring to him in the midst of his own utterance. "Of course I don't suppose that's anything new is it?"

"That's me," Billy retorted, "the poster child for irresponsibility. You really should make that one of Jabot's new slogans. Start printing it on the cosmetic boxes or have printed on mousepads and coffee cups for the holidays. It'll make a hell of a swag shop gift item."

"Don't be a smart ass," Jack snapped. "This is serious."

"You don't think I know that. That's why I came back here, Jack. I didn't just check myself out of rehab to come play games. I read the papers. I saw the news. I know what Ashley's been trying to pull and believe it or not, I actually came here to try and help you."

"You want to help me?" Jack looked at him incredulously. "You're right, I do find that hard to believe."

"Listen, I know I haven't been the best brother to you, but I still believe that you want what's best for Jabot and I know that you don't want to see our father's legacy being splashed around the papers like this. What Ashley's doing, it's just wrong … no matter how you look at it and what she did to you, switching the DNA results and making you think that you weren't John's son, it's unforgivable." He paused for a moment. It was probably not for him to be passing judgment on other people's actions, but that was neither here nor there. Thankfully Jack wasn't privy to he and Summer's indiscretion yet.

"At any rate," Jack said, "I still don't know that it's the best idea for you to be here for the meeting. While I appreciate the support, maybe you better just proxy vote and take off. We don't want this turning into a circus and I know that Phyllis is planning on being here too and you two aren't exactly …" He saw the look flash across Billy's face. "What?" he said quickly. "What happened? Did something else go on between you two?"

"I don't really want to get into it, Jack. It's not the place."

"I know you're angry with her, Billy, but I think you should know that the entire time you've been away, the only thing she's been talking about is how much she wants to make this up to you. She really does feel horrible about what she did and she takes full responsibility for the mistake she made. I know it sounds crazy, me sticking up for her in this kind of situation, but …"

"It's not even about that anymore, Jack. At least not really …"

"Well then what's it about?"

Billy paused.

"Everyone is gathered in the board room," Lauren said as she stuck her head into the room. "Billy," she leaned back in surprise. "I didn't know you were going to be joining us."

"It was kind of a surprise to all of us," Jack said calmly, "but he's going to be staying for the vote."

"Alright," Lauren nodded, not wanting to make a bigger deal of the situation than time allowed. "Everyone's here except Phyllis. Have you heard from her?"

Jack looked down at his watch. "No. I haven't. Not since this morning, but I know she's planning on being here and she knows the time. She's probably just running a few minutes late. We'll be in in just a minute." He waited until Lauren disappeared into the hallway before turning back towards Billy. "You really sure you want to go to this thing?"

"I'm not one to hide in the shadows Jack," he said calmly, "You know that."