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Bo and Hope confront Stefano about the safe deposit box he shares with Alice. He tries to deny it at first, but realizes they’ve caught him and agrees to open the box. Hope admits she’s nervous about what they’ll learn. When Stefano returns, he and Hope prepare to unlock the box, then he stops and asks her to consider the fact that Alice had a reason for keeping the contents a secret. Is she really sure uncovering the truth is what’s best? Hope hesitates and Stefano withdraws his key. He tells her to let him know when she has made a decision.

Jennifer is stunned to learn Daniel is leaving town right away. Daniel explains he’s going to travel the world for a bit to gain some perspective on his life and figure out what he’s going to do now that he can’t be a surgeon. They make peace over their failed relationship. Later, Daniel shares emotional goodbyes with Victor, Maggie and Melanie. As he’s about to leave for the airport, Jennifer gives him one last kiss goodbye and breaks down once he goes.

Madison hires Abigail as an intern at Mad World – though she hints she has much bigger plans for her. Madison later runs into Brady and she confesses that Sami is still working for her and she’s sabotaging Kate. Brady is furious that Madison lied to him. Madison lets it slip that her rivalry against Kate is personal; they share a history. Brady questions but Madison brushes it off and says it was just business. She bets Kate doesn’t even remember. Madison is more concerned about Brady forgiving her. Brady admits he needs more time and warns her plan could blow up in her face. Brady bonds with Quinn, realizing that he is a changed man. Quinn later runs into Abigail and they strike up a friendly conversation. Madison and Brady see them. Madison confides to Brady that she’s going to ask Abigail to be a model for Mad World. She says she also has plans for Quinn.

Chad learns Kate wants to hire him and Gabi as models for Countess Wilhelmina. He balks and accuses his stepmother of trying to bring him back into the DiMera fold. Kate denies this and says he can turn down the job if he wants, but he’ll be turning down the job for Gabi as well. Kate will only hire them as a pair. Gabi urges Chad to change his mind, and he does after he sees how much she needs this to boost her confidence after what happened with Will. Kate is delighted.

Sami again defends her actions to Rafe about acting as a mole for Madison. They remain at an impasse. Later, Rafe joins Carrie at the office where she reveals she’s uncovered a break in the case of the boy accused of arson. Sami calls to talk to Rafe, but he’s too busy with the case. Rafe and Carrie learn the DA is dropping the arson case based on their new evidence, and they end up in a spontaneous hug, their growing feelings for each other just below the surface. Austin and Carrie seem very disconnected even though they have settled on a date night. Austin and Abigail share brunch, enjoying each other’s company.

Sami joins Kate to oversee Countess Wilhelmina’s fashion shoot with Gabi and Chad, which is an incredible success. Gabi enjoys spending time with Chad and it shows in the photos, which are much better than even Sami anticipated. She shares this information with Madison, who instructs her to sabotage them somehow. Kate nearly catches them talking, but Sami covers. Sami tries to delete the best photos from the shoot, but Kate interrupts.

Madison meets with Victor, Brady and Maggie and turns down the job to run Titan. Everyone is surprised and questions if this is the right decision. Madison almost slips up when she claims she was advised to make this decision, but then covers. Victor suspects something more is going on. Maggie justifies maybe Madison has simply fallen in love with Brady and wants more time for a personal life. Madison tells Brady she appreciates him standing by her, even though he doesn’t agree with some of her recent decisions. Madison calls the mystery person and tells them she turned down the job, but she’s clearly not happy about it. Marlena shares a meal with Will and tries yet again to let him know she’s here for him if he wants to talk about his sexuality. Sonny interrupts them and invites Will to spend some time with his gay friends. Uncomfortable, Will says he’s not interested. Once Sonny leaves, Marlena encourages her grandson to spend more time with these friends if he likes them, but Will claims he’s not interested. Marlena continues to try drawing him out, but Will isn’t ready to come out and retreats from her. Marlena convinces Jack to attend a group therapy session she runs for military vets. Jack is resistant at first, feeling he’ll be trespassing since he wasn’t in the service, but Marlena finally persuades him. Jack and the other group members share their life-changing experiences and feelings. A couple of stories lead Jack to tell his and he’s clearly haunted by his terrible ordeal. Jack and the others bond in their shared experience and emotions.

John and Brady work together on the re-launch of Basic Black. Though they’ve agreed they’ll return to their fashion roots, they disagree about strategy and what kind of design to launch with. They both have valid points and are passionate about their sides of the argument. It looks as if their newly-forged partnership might not work out after all but they end up laughing at themselves and finally reach a compromise that works for both of them. It’s clear their relationship is even stronger than it was before.

Bo and Hope meet with Stefano to discuss his safe deposit box with Alice. Hope pushes Stefano’s buttons until he blurts that she has no idea the trouble she’s stirring up: the two secrets in the box could destroy many lives! Hope jumps on this and Stefano finally gives her and Bo the whole story. Stefano told Alice he knew a damaging secret about her loved ones; she in turn claimed she had a secret about him. Without revealing their respective Intel, they agreed to put their evidence in a shared safe deposit box so both secrets would remain neutralized. Now that Bo and Hope have the full story, Stefano asks again: do they really want to open the box? Will is stunned when EJ requests that he bring Sydney to the mansion for a birthday party since he was not invited to the one Sami is throwing. EJ pressures him to follow his orders, and Will finally realizes he might enjoy watching his mother flip out. He brings Sydney to the mansion, where EJ and Nicole fawn over her. Abe, Lexie and Jennifer arrive with Theo. Though Lexie was reluctant to attend, Abe and Jennifer have persuaded her to come, partly so they can secretly pull off their scheme of replacing EJ’s debate questions with fake ones. Jennifer spies on Nicole as the questions are hand-delivered. Nicole hides the envelope in a drawer in the foyer. During Sydney’s gift opening, Abe gets the chance to make the switch. Before he can put the envelope back, however, EJ enters and wonders what Abe is doing.

Rafe is out of his element as he tries to make last minute party favors for Sydney’s birthday. Carrie comes to his rescue and they bond. When they finish, Rafe receives an upsetting phone call. The people they hired to portray Sydney’s favorite TV characters – a prince and princess – have cancelled. They don’t want to disappoint Sydney, so Rafe and Carrie dress up as the prince and princess – much to Kayla’s amusement. Kayla informs them that the characters always do a ballroom dance, so they must perform the dance for the kids! Under Kayla’s instruction, Rafe and Carrie quickly learn the moves. When Kayla leaves to tend to an ailing Joey, Rafe and Carrie find themselves caught up in the romantic dance. Rafe pulls Carrie in close and the proximity affects them.

Abigail fantasizes about confessing her feelings to Austin and having him respond with a kiss. In reality, however, Abigail only informs him of her potential new modeling gig. Austin innocently asks if she’s gotten permission from her parents and she balks – she’s an adult! Austin apologizes and says he still sees her as a little girl. Abigail does her best to seem like a mature young woman. Later, Austin assures Abigail she’ll be successful no matter what she does. Rafe and Carrie have unexpectedly found themselves in a close moment and they break apart awkwardly. It’s too late: both Sami and Austin witnessed it. The tension is high as Rafe and Carrie rush to explain away the moment. They were rehearsing a dance for Sydney’s party. Neither Sami nor Austin is satisfied, but then Sami realizes Sydney hasn’t arrived yet for her own party. When she learns Will took her to the DiMera mansion, she goes ballistic and is finally able to unleash the anger and frustration she’s felt since coming upon Rafe and Carrie. She goes to EJ’s and makes a scene … which Sydney unfortunately witnesses. To make it up to her daughter, Sami must invite EJ and Nicole to join them at the party. Austin and Carrie have stayed behind at the pub, where he voices his frustration over how busy she’s been. When she finally has a minute free, she spends it not with him, but with Rafe. The hurt and frustration everyone has been feeling has to be put aside when Sydney returns for her party.

EJ has nearly caught Abe switching the real debate questions with a false set he and Jennifer have cooked up. Abe manages to cover in the nick of time. Lexie talks him up to Theo, saying the citizens of Salem will get a good look at the kind of man Abe truly is during the debate. Abe shares a look with Jennifer and stuffs his guilt. Later, with Jennifer, he owns what he has done. He must keep EJ out of the mayor’s office. Meanwhile, EJ and Nicole are ready for the debate, confident they will win now that they’ve gotten the questions in advance. They don’t realize Abe has set them up.

Stefano has laid a very clear choice out in front of Hope and Bo: he’ll open up the safe deposit box he shared with Alice, but only if they understand their choice is between letting a sleeping dog lie or “awakening the beast.” Bo and Hope realize he’s playing games with them and they exert some pressure of their own, making him admit there’s something he wants in all this. He wants the envelope that Alice sealed that contains some unknown secret about him. Bo challenges Stefano the same way he challenged them: is he prepared for what he’ll find inside that envelope? It’s a frustrating, high stakes game of cat-and-mouse for all of them, each trying to get a bead on the other’s motivations. Finally, Stefano walks away, telling them the ball is in their court.