The Young and the Restless writers have given Lauren a surprising new storyline by having her work for Phyllis at Newman Enterprises -- or rather, Summers Conglomerate now. When will Nikki find out that her friend, Lauren, is working for Victor's stolen company? And when will Victor learn that Michael is supporting Lauren in her new career move?
Lauren's new job on The Young and the Restless

When The Young and the Restless' Lauren (Tracey Bregman) told Michael (Christian LeBlanc) about Phyllis' (Michelle Stafford) job offer, he warned her that Victor (Eric Braeden) surely has a major plan to reclaim Newman Enterprises. And when he does eventually reclaim it, Lauren will be in trouble if she's working for Phyllis. Lauren said it was a challenging new opportunity for her. In the end, Michael agreed to support her -- but with reluctance.
So, what's going to happen when Victor and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) find out that Lauren is now working for the person who stole the Newman empire? Nikki is friends with Lauren, and Michael used to work for Victor, and he views him as a friend. We can only imagine how furious Victor and Nikki will be.
Nikki will view Lauren's decision as a betrayal

Nikki and Lauren are friends who have supported each other through difficult times. Lauren was there for Nikki after Jordan (Colleen Zenk) got her hooked on alcohol again in 2023. Nikki already has enough on her plate after being thrown out of her own home by Victor. She is furious at Phyllis for stealing Victor's company. How will she react when she learns that one of her own friends has accepted a job offer from Phyllis?
While Lauren happens to be friends with Phyllis as well, it's still so hard to believe that she would do this to Nikki. Even though she isn't a fan of Victor's, she normally wouldn't do anything to hurt Nikki or her family. Besides, Phyllis hasn't even told her what role she wants her to fill at the company. What will Lauren's title be? Is Phyllis going to offer her a co-CEO position like Sally (Courtney Hope) did to Audra (Zuleyka Silver) at Spectra-Charles Media?
Victor will be furious that Michael is supporting Lauren

When Lauren accepted the job offer, the look on Michael's face said it all. He is not happy that his wife has agreed to work for a company that Phyllis stole from the man he's worked for and considered a friend. We can imagine how angry Victor is going to be at him. The Mustache will consider it a huge betrayal. He will probably ask Michael, "After everything I've done for you, how could you allow your wife to do this? Why didn't you have enough control over her to stop her?" In Victor's world, everything is about control. He doesn't realize that wives have a right to make up their own minds.
He already has some trust issues regarding Michael, ever since Michael quit working for him last year. Even though Michael has resumed doing some occasional work for him, there are times when Victor doesn't give him full disclosure about one of his plans. He simply tells him, "None of your business." We suspect that Lauren's new career path at the former NE will cause Victor to lose whatever trust he has left in Michael. He might not be able to forgive him, and he will likely view Michael as his enemy going forward.
So, it will be interesting to see when The Young and the Restless writers plan to drop this bomb on Victor and Nikki. How will Lauren explain the reason for her new career move to Nikki? Will the two ladies be able to work things out and keep their friendship intact? As for Michael, we fear that Victor is going to be even angrier at him than Nikki will be at Lauren. Even if he does eventually forgive Michael for supporting Lauren's new job, he will most likely never forget. That's just how the Mustache rolls.
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