cane lily phyllis mashup yr
Credit: CBS screenshot

Young & Restless just dropped a shocker on fans with framing that immediately opened the door for a mega-twist that could send Cane Ashby back to the dark side.

Our fear that Lily’s devastating secret involved the return of her cancer, bore fruit when Lily tearfully confided in Nate that her routine scans had turned up an enlarged pelvic lymph node.

Although her cousin agreed it was best to keep the frightening news a secret until they had a better idea what Lily was dealing with, we’re not so sure. Keeping of secrets never ends well on soaps, and Young & Restless is no exception to the rule. However, that’s exactly what Lily did when she met up with Cane after speaking to Nate, lying that she’d been to Chicago on business and keeping the truth about her medical condition to herself.
lily cane yr

If you’re new to Young & Restless, you may not recall that Cane (then Daniel Goddard) did everything but leap tall buildings in a single bound to get Lily through her first cancer battle. When the mass was found in her ovary, Ashby was facing deportation, but hid out and supported his love through every twist and turn, and there were plenty.

Lily was able to harvest her eggs, and Billy’s girlfriend, Mackenzie, carried “Lane’s” twins as a surrogate. Throughout, Lily fought her cancer, undergoing chemotherapy and suffering side effects. She even shaved her hair off in an empowering move and Cane was there by her side. Lily also lost her best friend, Colleen (Traci’s daughter) during this terrible time, and couldn’t attend her service because she was immunocomprimised.
Lily cancer storyline Y&R

That’s not to say Cane was perfect. Far from it. Lily wrote a will that left joint custody of the twins to both Cane and Mac if she died of cancer. This prompted Ashby to lose his head and initiate a custody battle that only ended when he saw the toll it was taking on Lily’s health and agreed to drop it.
cane lily cancer yr

So, you see, Cane tends to revisit his dark side when his nose gets out of joint. He could already tell Lily was “off” when he saw her at Society, and if you think he won’t realize she’s keeping a huge secret from him, you’d be mistaken. Lily, as stubborn and determined as her mother ever was, isn’t likely to crack. Which means there could be trouble ahead for the reunited couple once again. Will it feel like enough of a betrayal to Cane that he acts out and goes dark? That, SOAPS readers, remains to be seen… but we wouldn’t bet against it.
Cane drink Y&R

More: New Y&R cast photos!

As we contemplate the implications of secret-keeping, distract yourself with the all-new burning questions from the past week in soaps in the gallery below.