Johnny and Chanel meet in the bookstore, waiting for Paulina. Sweet Bits is going to supply the pastries for the bookstore! (Can you

imagine if Julie went with someone else, since the bakery and bookstore are right next door to each other?) But they’re distracted by the whole Sophia mess.

They’ve been trying to get hold of her to confess, but she’s gone underground. That’s when Paulina shows up saying she spoke to child protective services to investigate what’s going on. She points out that Sophia’s obviously disturbed, then after she leaves, Chanel and Johnny decide to pay a visit to their tormentor’s home.

Abe’s checking in with tutee and son’s former bully, Liam, when Theo walks in to make his displeasure known. Abe throws Theo’s decision to join DiMera back at him, then gets even more upset when he learns his son will be CEO!

“By taking this job, you become the face of a company that has done some very questionable things.” That’s bad enough, but then Theo tosses Paulina under the bus, saying she encouraged him to trust himself in deciding what to do. It does not go over well.

And it gets worse when Paulina shows up… Abe calls her out for telling Theo to take the job, but even Paulina’s surprised about him being CEO! Pleasantly surprised! “Congratulations, baby!” Abe just glares at them.

Who Is Tesoro’s Real Father?
Holly surprises Ari in their room and tells her all about Tate’s super romantic airport encounter. (Um, romantic, or problematic?) Luckily, Nicole understands that her daughter chose a boy over her. They get into how horrible a person Sophia is, and Holly fills Ari in on her “friend’s” scheming and lies.

They ponder who could be the real father, but Holly just wants to make Sophia pay. Speaking of which…

Aaron visits Tate at work, and gets the full rundown of Sophia’s lies. But when he gets to the part about not being Tesoro’s father, poor Aaron just freezes. He runs through it again with Tate, then sighs. Aaron’s probably the father. (Knew it!)

He didn’t tell Tate because Sophia promised him that it was impossible he could be the dad! Tate is NOT happy, but as Aaron points out, he had a whole lot going on with his family back then.

It takes a bit to convince Tate this isn’t all about him, but he eventually relents and accepts his friend’s apology. This is all on Sophia. And when Holly drops in, Aaron breaks the babydaddy news.

Can Melinda Help Sophia?
Sophia rushes into Melinda’s office for help. It’s all falling apart. “Remember when you asked me not to do anything stupid?” she asks. Well, she did. Sophia lays out what she did to get revenge on everyone and, well, she messed up. Melinda, who’s no angel herself, is horrified.

She promises she’s not mad, just disappointed. Still Sophia seems to get increasingly sociopathic as she talks, which Melinda CLEARLY clues in on. “Sophia, you don’t actually wish that Holly had gotten hurt, do you?”

No, no, of course not! Things just keep getting worse, though. Everyone she tried sabotaging is after her — they figured it out. And she found out that Tate’s not the father of her baby. Melinda’s getting a bit fed up with all this (though she insists she isn’t), but Sophia plays the “poor me, everyone hates me” card and Melinda finally tells Sophia, as gently as she can, that she can’t help anymore.

The best legal advice she has for Sophia is to come clean before anyone else exposes her. Sophia flips out, accuses Melinda of turning on her and leaves. Walk away, Melinda. Just walk away. Sophia has lost it.

In the Show’s Final Moments
Theo thinks he should live somewhere else since his dad’s so mad, but the thought of him staying at the DiMera mansion just makes Abe even more riled up. He asks for a moment alone with Paulina, then lays into her once Theo’s gone. But Paulina is not having his tone, and Abe apologizes. But he insists she doesn’t know the DiMeras like he does.

Johnny and Chanel come up empty with Sophia. They can’t find her, but she gets home just after they checked. Melinda calls and leaves a message promising she’s there if Sophia needs anything. “I’ve done everything I can to protect you, so I hope you protect me, too.” Oh, OK. So it’s not entirely altruistic.

Sophia stuffs clothes in a bag as, out in the square, Ari catches up with Johnny and Sophia. In the Pub, Holly’s disgusted at Aaron’s news and starts sharpening the metaphorical knives and getting ready to lead the mob to Sophia’s doorstep. Sophia then grabs her stuffed bear and leaves.