The battle lines between Eric and Ridge Forrester are sharper than ever, and what begins as a disagreement over Eric’s return to the company slowly escalates into a war that could destroy their family forever. For months, Ridge has shut down every attempt Eric makes to rejoin the business, insisting he’s protecting his father after last year’s terrifying health crisis. But Eric has reached his breaking point—and this time, he’s done playing gentle.

Ridge believes he’s doing the right thing. He watched Eric nearly die, watched the light fade from his father’s eyes, and he refuses to let that happen again. To him, removing Eric from the pressure of the fashion world is an act of love. But what Ridge cannot face is the truth: Eric is suffocating. Retirement feels like a coffin, not a comfort. The company is his life’s work—his identity, his pride, and the legacy he intends to leave behind.

Every time Ridge makes a decision without him, Eric feels another piece of his legacy slipping through his fingers. He sees designs chosen that he didn’t approve, creative directions he never would have taken, strategic moves that feel like Ridge rewriting Forrester Creations in his own image. Eric doesn’t see protection—he sees erasure.

The more Ridge tries to “help,” the more determined Eric becomes to reclaim control.

Quietly, Eric begins talking to those closest to him. Donna, Katie, even some of the longtime employees at Forrester—all of them agree that Eric is still sharp, still talented, and still very much the heart of the company. Their support reignites something fierce inside him.

Then comes the moment that changes everything.

Feeling cornered, Eric begins digging through Forrester’s founding agreements, dusty legal documents, and old structural blueprints of the corporation. And that’s when he remembers something Ridge has always tried to avoid confronting: Ridge is not Eric’s biological son.

Their connection has always been based on love, loyalty, and decades of shared history. But legally… genetically… Eric does not owe Ridge the destiny Ridge believes he deserves.

That detail—buried but never forgotten—suddenly becomes Eric’s most powerful weapon.

Ridge, completely unaware of his father’s quiet investigation, only senses a shift. Eric is no longer pleading or explaining—he is planning. He is strategizing. His voice is firmer, his gaze sharper. And while Ridge mistakes this for stubbornness, Eric is already meeting with lawyers behind closed doors, reviewing stock percentages, and discreetly assessing which family members would stand by him if a leadership battle ignites.

Eric doesn’t want to destroy his son’s spirit. But he is more than willing to remind Ridge—and the world—who built Forrester Creations, and who still holds the authority to shake its foundation.

Meanwhile, Ridge is convinced the conflict will pass, just another father-son disagreement that will calm with time. He has no idea that Eric is preparing to pull the ultimate card… the one sentence that could change their relationship forever:

“You’re not my son.”

When Ridge finally learns that Eric is considering using his non-biological status to strip him of power, the shock threatens to break the Forrester family apart in a way no rivalry ever has.

The only question now is:
If Eric actually goes through with it, will Ridge bow out—or will he fight with everything he has to keep the throne he thought was rightfully his?