BEST SECRET I CHRISTIAN’S PATERNITY, Y&R
It took three years — an eternity in soap years — for the truth of Christian’s parentage to be exposed on Y&R, but the fireworks were worth the wait. Sage (the boy’s mama), Adam, Chelsea and Victor all knew that Nick was not Christian’s bio dad (that honor was Adam’s), but for various reasons, they sat on the info. After both Sage and Adam died, it seemed like the secret might die right along with them, but when Phyllis discovered Chelsea’s money-skimming side biz, Chelsea played dirty to save her own skin: She spilled the truth about Christian’s paternity to Phyllis and threatened to break Nick’s heart by telling him, too. Phyllis kept mum — until she didn’t, and confided in Sharon, who blabbed to Nick (and Joshua Morrow played the wrenching arc for all it was worth). Nick was devastated, but determined to continue raising Christian as his own. When he restricted Victor’s access to Christian, though, a spiteful Victor took great glee in outing the truth about Adam ... only to have Nick steal his thunder by announcing that he already knew. In the end, this ticking time bomb blew up in multiple faces in multiple ways, proving to be a secret with major mileage.