Young & Restless’ next twist for Phyllis may prove to be the only way of convincing her to give Victor his company back… and if it’s as awful as we think it is, the only silver lining to the horror may be Daniel and Summer deciding take her back into their lives.

When Phyllis showed up at the Cane train on Wednesday’s episode, she saw right through Ashby’s plan to seduce her into doing his bidding.

Unlike Sharon, who was actually getting into Red’s head before Snarly Nick upset the apple cart, Cane’s clumsy attempt at coercing the conniver was dead in the water.

Dropping the facade and asking Phyllis straight out to help him free Lily from her kidnapping “vacation,” as she called it, was a no-go as well.

That left Ashby with no choice but to strong-arm her… with the help of a gargantuan bodyguard type, who blocked her from leaving.

So, what’s his plan? Cane knows Phyllis well at this point. He has to be aware that being treated like a “lab rat” when she and Sharon were locked up by Martin Laurent, is definitely a sore spot for her.

An Achilles heel, one might say if they were an enemy looking for a way to break her.

We hate to even think it possible, but if Cane were to lock her up Laurent-style and force her to revisit her trauma, he just might be able to terrorize her into giving Newman Enterprises back to Victor. In fact, it may be the only way she’d ever agree to relinquish it.

There’s always a built in way to redeem a core character, which brings us to this: Given that Phyllis buried her feelings after being rescued from captivity in favor of acting out, her role in this whole crazy AI story could, arguably, be seen as a trauma response.

If Ashby forces her to face that terror again, things could get ugly… to the point that people she’s alienated might even feel bad for her.

If this terrifying new twist proves to be the culmiation of Phyllis’ trauma and she has a total breakdown, it may be the one thing that could bring Daniel and Summer back to her side.

Sure, Victor would win again, but that was always going to happen. At least there would be a silver lining for Red, who could win her way back into the hearts of the few people who love her, and maybe some fans who have written her off as well.