Hope Logan thought she had closed the door on Thomas Forrester for good. After all, she turned down his repeated proposals. She told him she needed time—time to heal from her divorce with Liam, time to rediscover herself, time to breathe. And then, seemingly overnight, she said “yes” to Carter Walton. But love in the world of the Forrester family is rarely that simple—and it never stays buried.

Thousands of miles away in Europe, Thomas sees the announcement of Hope’s engagement. It’s not just a headline—it’s a dagger to the heart. But rather than react with bitterness or theatrics, Thomas quietly books a flight. When he lands in LA, he doesn’t check into a hotel or go to the office. He goes straight to Brooke’s home. He walks in without a word, calm and composed, ready to face the woman he’s never truly let go of.

Hope is stunned. Thomas doesn’t shout. He doesn’t plead. He just looks her in the eye and says, “You told me you weren’t ready. But it wasn’t about marriage. It was about me.” That single line shatters the illusion Hope has tried to maintain—that her engagement to Carter is about stability, not fear. Her silence confirms everything.

Thomas’s return forces Hope to confront emotions she thought she buried. And just as she begins to respond, Carter arrives—uninvited but perfectly timed. The sight of his fiancée caught in an intimate, emotionally charged moment with Thomas stops him cold. He doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t beg. He simply tells her the truth: he won’t be second choice. If her heart belongs to someone else, he won’t fight for what isn’t real.

Hope is left holding the ring—but it’s heavier now, weighted with guilt and confusion. Meanwhile, the ripple effects of Thomas’s return spread quickly. Brooke sees his actions as manipulative and confronts him. Steffy fears her brother is slipping back into obsession. But Ridge offers a rare voice of balance, suggesting maybe what Thomas and Hope have isn’t toxic—it’s unfinished.

Hope takes time to reflect alone. She cancels the engagement party. She shuts off her phone. In the quiet of Big Bear, she finally listens to herself. And when she returns, it’s not to jump into another relationship—it’s to tell Thomas she’s ready to stop pretending. Their story isn’t over. It was simply waiting for the right moment to begin again.