Steffy and Liam face a major marital crisis when he tries to explain the circumstances behind that kiss he shared with Sally during the Spectra building implosion. “Steffy is absolutely heartbroken,” sighs Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy). “She implicitly trusts Liam. He has always been her rock. She’s always been able to lean on him and feel secure that he’s there for her to confide in and protect her. They’ve gone through a lot over the years but Steffy never expected anything like this.”
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The fact that Sally is involved adds insult to injury for Steffy. “This is her worst enemy, her rival, her archnemesis, someone she has huge issues with, and Liam knows that and he still kisses her!” points out Wood. “It’s such a low blow. Even though they’re not sleeping together, this is an absolute betrayal. She begged him for months to avoid spending time with Sally, and Liam just ignored her wishes. Now, Steffy is left feeling hurt and empty and disgusted.”
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Steffy seeks solitude at the Forrester guesthouse, where she ignores Liam’s repeated calls and texts. However, when Bill discovers how upset she is, he arrives to comfort his daughter-in-law. “As we well know, Bill is all about being loyal,” notes his portrayer, Don Diamont. “Brooke left him high and dry in his hour of need, and here is Liam with this incredible, dynamic woman he’s lucky enough to be married to and he treats her that disrespectfully? In what he believed were his final minutes, he was at death’s doorstep and kissing another woman. He should have been thinking about his wife instead of making out with her archenemy. That’s just terrible!”
After they share a tender embrace, Bill tries to build Steffy up by reminding her of how wonderful she is, and they both end up affected by his words. “Steffy feels that her husband has turned her back on her and here’s Bill coming to her emotional rescue,” says Wood. “They’ve grown a lot closer in the past few weeks as she tried to heal Bill’s relationship with his son. Despite him being gruff and tough, Steffy has seen his vulnerable side, and now he’s seeing hers, as well. It’s a very intimate exchange.”
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Perhaps a little too intimate, as Steffy and Bill wind up face to face and staring into each other’s eyes. “They both know there’s something between them, and Steffy just can’t ignore it,” Wood continues. “She’s so raw right now, and she has this intense need to feel loved. We know Steffy has her issues but yearns to be loved. She needs love to live, and with Bill it’s a very emotional, powerful moment — and the floodgates just open. They seize it. It’s a high and no one is thinking about repercussions. It’s very unexpected.”
“Bill had locked away those feelings that he had for Steffy back in the day,” picks up Diamont. “But I guess you could say it’s always been just below the surface. When Steffy and Liam got together, that automatically made the possibility of anything between them off-limits. But in the past few weeks, Steffy has been there for Bill in his time of need, and there has been more than one awkward moment of connectedness between the two of them. So, it took Liam compromising their marriage, and her trust in him, to unlock Pandora’s box and free up Bill and Steffy to succumb to their desire.”
Which will make for an uncomfortable future in the Spencer clan. “Don is exactly right,” says Wood. “When you open Pandora’s box, there is no closing it. Liam kissing Sally just pushes Steffy over the edge, and what comes next between her and Bill is pretty wild and animalistic in terms of exploring the need, the want and the desire. The ‘Still’ fans are going to love it. The ‘Steam’ fans might get a little heated but the way things unfold, it’s going to be exciting.”
