Heart-Wrenching Twist: Sam Ashby Found in Nice — Cane Collapses in Tears Believing His Son Is Dead in “The Young and the Restless”

This week on The Young and the Restless, tragedy strikes with devastating emotional force as Cane Ashby faces the nightmare no parent ever wants to imagine. What begins as a desperate search for his missing son ends in a gut-wrenching discovery overseas — one that leaves Cane shattered and fans speechless. When news breaks that Sam Ashby has been spotted in Nice, France, it sets off a chain of events that expose heartbreak, guilt, and redemption in one of the most emotional storylines Y&R has delivered in years.

The episode opens with Cane (Daniel Goddard) pacing through his hotel room in London, exhausted and desperate. For weeks, he’s been chasing vague leads about Sam’s disappearance after an overseas trip went wrong. The authorities have found no trace of the young man, and whispers of foul play have begun circulating. Lily (Christel Khalil), despite her fractured relationship with Cane, can’t ignore the pain of a mother watching from afar. Her calls go unanswered, her messages left on read — Cane has shut out the world except for his singular mission: finding his son.

Then, in the middle of a sleepless night, everything changes. Cane receives a call from a French investigator. A young man matching Sam’s description has been seen in Nice — but the report is grim. There’s been an accident near the cliffs along the coast. The witness claims the boy fell into the water after being chased. No body has been recovered, but blood and personal items were found at the scene — including a necklace engraved with the initials S.A.

The words hit Cane like a knife. His knees buckle as he clutches the phone, whispering Sam’s name as if saying it could change reality. “No… no, that can’t be right. He can’t be gone.” His voice breaks into a raw, anguished cry that echoes through the empty hotel room.

By the time Lily arrives in France — having defied Devon’s pleas to stay in Genoa City — Cane is a ghost of himself. His eyes are bloodshot, his hands shaking. He’s been to the cliffs, spoken to the police, and stood on the spot where his son may have fallen. “He was right here,” he tells her through tears. “Right here, and I wasn’t.”

The scenes that follow are almost unbearable in their emotional intensity. Lily tries to hold him, but Cane pulls away, guilt consuming him. “This is my fault,” he whispers. “He called me that night — I didn’t answer. I thought he just wanted money again. If I had just picked up…” His voice trails off into sobs. Lily, torn between heartbreak and anger, reminds him that blaming himself won’t bring their son back. But her own grief bleeds through every word.

As the investigation deepens, shocking new details emerge. A local witness tells police that Sam wasn’t alone that night — he was being followed. A black car was seen near the scene, and it wasn’t an accident that he ended up by the cliffs. The implication sends shivers through both Cane and Lily. Was Sam running from someone? Or was he targeted because of Cane’s past dealings?

Meanwhile, back in Genoa City, word of the tragedy spreads quickly. Jill (Jess Walton) receives the call from Cane, and her voice trembles as she tells Billy and Devon. The Chancellor family rallies in support, but even Devon can’t hide his concern that Cane’s guilt might drive him to do something reckless. “He’s not thinking straight,” Devon says gravely. “If he believes someone did this to Sam, he won’t stop until he finds them.”

The next act of the episode is set in Nice, where Cane visits the morgue to identify a body recovered from the sea. The atmosphere is cold, sterile, heavy with dread. The attendant pulls back the sheet, and Cane’s entire world shatters. He falls to his knees, unable to breathe, whispering, “That’s my boy… my little boy…” Lily rushes to him, her own tears falling silently as she holds him. The moment is raw, tragic, and deeply human — two parents united in grief, despite everything that has torn them apart.

But just as viewers begin to accept the unbearable, Y&R delivers a shocking twist worthy of soap history. Later that night, as Cane sits alone on the promenade, clutching Sam’s photo, his phone buzzes with an unknown number. He almost ignores it — until he hears a faint, broken voice on the other end.

“Dad… it’s me.”

Cane freezes. His heart stops. “Sam? Sam, where are you?!” he shouts into the phone, tears flooding his eyes. But the line goes dead before Sam can answer. The call trace shows it originated somewhere near the Italian border.

Suddenly, Cane’s despair transforms into determination. He tells Lily, “He’s alive. I don’t care what they say — he’s alive.” Lily hesitates, torn between hope and fear. “Cane, what if it wasn’t him?” But Cane refuses to listen. “A father knows his son’s voice,” he insists. “I’m not leaving Europe until I find him.”

The rest of the week’s episodes follow Cane’s desperate search. He retraces every step, visits hospitals, shelters, and ports. He finds a fisherman who claims to have seen a young man pulled from the water and taken away in a van — but the license plate was covered. The mystery deepens as Cane starts to suspect that Sam may have been kidnapped, possibly connected to one of Cane’s old enemies.

Back home, Lily tries to keep the family together while battling her own guilt. Devon offers to fly out and help, but Lily hesitates. “This isn’t just about Sam,” she says quietly. “This is about Cane’s past coming back to destroy him — and us.”

By Friday’s episode, the tension reaches its peak. Cane receives an anonymous message with a single photo attachment: Sam, alive, but looking frightened, seated in a dimly lit room. The message reads, “You want your son back? Stop digging.”

The image leaves Cane trembling. The camera zooms in on his face — a mix of rage, terror, and hope. “I’m coming for you, Sam,” he vows. “I’ll bring you home, no matter what it takes.”

In the teaser for next week, viewers catch glimpses of what’s to come: Lily begging Cane to stay calm, Jill confronting someone who might have answers, and a mysterious woman in Nice watching Cane from a distance, whispering into a phone, “He knows too much already.”

This storyline marks one of The Young and the Restless’ most emotional and suspenseful arcs in years — a perfect blend of family tragedy, high-stakes mystery, and redemption. Cane’s tears, his guilt, and his desperate hope for his son’s survival have already captured fans’ hearts.

But the bigger question remains: Who wanted Sam dead — and why?