Sarah and Xander cross paths outside the Pub where she gives him some encouragement and a good luck kiss for the Kiriakis/DiMera

meeting. Inside, Sophia tries to hang out with Tate after work, but, shockingly, he’s got no interest. Gee maybe it’s because he was just

yelling at her and got the “news” that Holly and Johnny are hooking up.

 

 

Sarah brushes past Tate as she comes in and calls Sophia out on being a lying liar. Sarah puts her foot down hard and forces Sophia to meet her in the park “the minute you are done.”

The two meet in the dark of night, where Sarah demands the truth — she doesn’t have to stay silent if she thinks something happened to the baby. Tesoro isn’t hers. But Sophia’s genuinely confused — and a bit shocked! And disgusted.

 

 

She accuses Sarah of lying, so they finally get to the bottom of things. “Oh,” Sophia mutters after learning of the DNA test. Tesoro must not be Tate’s. She seems genuinely horrified to realize this other “guy” is the baby’s father. Sophia won’t tell Sarah who the father is and insists telling Tate the truth won’t help. But as Sarah says, “The truth, it always comes out in the end.” (Keep that in mind with Xander, Sarah…)

Maggie and Philip go over their plans before the meeting. She thinks the united family will be enough to beat Tony! Stronger together and all that. They and Xander then converge at the DiMera mansion to inform Tony that while DiMera is his, Titan is theirs.

Tony warns them they’ll just be left with a husk of a company (What did they do to Titan when they took over??), but the Kiriakises are fine with that. He appeals to Xander’s sense of vengeance against the father who never acknowledged him, but this Xander is evolved and doesn’t take the bait. They leave with Tony saying he’ll just wait them out and buy up what’s left of Titan when it collapses.

Xander and Philip get back to their office, still stinging over the fight. But the deal is done, the companies are being untangled and time to move on. But Xander’s become a regular Pollyanna and insists the company will be fine so long as they stick together. Xander’s so grateful for Philip protecting him after the whole beating thing. “That’s what family does,” Philip says. Is it? Covering up severe abuse?

Chanel and Johnny work through the clues to figure out who’s setting them all up. Johnny knows exactly who to turn to: Rafe! He’s going to use cell tower triangulation or something magical to find out where the phone was when the photos were sent. But if not Holly… who?

Chanel can only think of one person who wants to destroy their chances of having a family. Yes! She’s got it! “Your father.” Sigh. Nevermind.

Rafe calls back with the news that the photo was sent near the town square while Holly was in the hospital. They were set up! But again, who? They narrow things down to someone on campus with an axe to grind, and now Johnny has it! It’s Sophia! Oh, thank God, he really does.

Is This the End of Holly?
Holly packs up her dorm room and tells Ari she’s dropping out of Salem U, then tells her what happened with Johnny. Holly pulls the “this is the universe telling me something” cliche, and that something is moving to Paris.

Holly won’t have any of Ari’s protests, even when she starts to cry. Her flight’s tomorrow, but Ari needs to keep this secret from Tate until she’s gone. They hug, both share that they love each other and part ways.

Holly gets home, thinking back to all the good times with Tate. Well, one good time. Tate, meanwhile, drops by the dorms looking for Holly. Since she’s not there, he asks if Ari heard the rumor about Holly and Johnny. “Did Uncle Brady and Aunt Theresa drop you on the head as a baby?” Good question. Ari tells him Holly just messed up and everyone got the wrong idea. Then they get into how much Tate’s blown it and Ari kicks him out.

In the Show’s Final Moments
Maggie arrives home to find Holly, who throws herself into her grandma’s arms, crying, and tells her what happened. Maggie tries comparing Holly’s mistake to Xander’s (but she doesn’t mention him by name or nearly killing Philip), but Holly just wants to break free of the Tate cycle, so she’s got to start over somewhere else. (Does this mean Holly’s really leaving?)

Johnny and Chanel eventually decide that Sophia being Tesoro’s mother is the only thing that makes sense. Wait, Chanel realizes, Tesoro was supposed to be their baby the first time, too!