Like so many things AI can be a good servant but a bad master. So much fakery is already out there and people seem eager to believe.
Anyway I asked for a story concerning Chance's death on Y&R.
Chance’s “death” in Nice can be reframed as a covert operation in which he deliberately fakes his own murder to flush out and dismantle a larger criminal network connected to Carter, Colin, and the money behind Aristotle’s empire, with only a tiny handful of people in on the ruse. This preserves him as a legacy character, respects his heroism, and turns a flat death beat into the spine of a long-game thriller.
Core Retcon Premise
Chance learns before the trip to Nice that Carter is not just a rogue assistant but a contract killer tied to Colin’s old criminal associates and an international laundering ring using Aristotle’s shell companies.
The FBI/Interpol have been trying to crack this network but need someone on the inside who can convincingly “die” in a high‑profile incident to shake loose hidden players and dormant accounts.
Chance agrees to let his “death” in France become the linchpin of a joint operation; the shooting at Aristotle’s party is staged with live rounds and a vest, but only Chance, a handler, and one accomplice in Nice know the truth.
Reframing the Nice Shooting
The party at Aristotle’s estate is already a powder keg: Cane’s unmasking as Aristotle, Victor’s presence, Adam’s arrival with damaging intel, and the revelation that Carter is the killer who stabbed Damian.
In the original story, Carter grabs Lily and Chance intervenes and is shot, apparently dying at the climax of the face‑off.
In the retcon, Chance and his handler have intel that Carter has orders to eliminate Cane and possibly Victor; they arrange for Chance to “step in the line of fire” in a way that both convinces Carter he has succeeded and gives Interpol cause to “take jurisdiction” and move key suspects and evidence off the canvas.
Who Knew, Who Didn’t
To keep the emotional fallout intact, most characters remain genuinely grief‑stricken.
In on the faked death:
A single Interpol contact who takes over the crime scene and insists Chance’s body goes directly to a French government facility “for diplomatic reasons”.
Possibly Victor, brought in late in the game: Interpol offers him a deal—he quietly cooperates against the network targeting Newman and Chancellor in exchange for limited exposure and he keeps Chance’s secret to protect the op.
Kept in the dark:
Lily, Cane, Abby, the Chancellor family, everyone in Genoa City; their grief provides genuine cover that even the sharpest enemies believe.
Cane is deliberately excluded because his own murky dealings and Aristotle shell corporations are under investigation; Chance cannot trust which side he is on yet.
Why the Death Had to Be “Real”
This addresses the sense that Chance died for no real dramatic effect by giving the death a retroactive mission.
Operational logic: The network needed proof that the detective on their trail was definitively eliminated; a public, highly reported shooting at a billionaire’s party in Nice, with photos, witness accounts, and official death certificates, provides that proof.
Character logic:
Chance has a track record as a protector who jumps in front of danger; agreeing to a plan that uses his “death” to save Cane, Lily, and the Chancellor legacy is a natural extension of that.
He cannot ask his loved ones to lie convincingly; their genuine grief is the only thing that will convince ruthless players who watch every reaction and memorial.
How a Return Story Could Unspool
You can seed a multi‑phase comeback that pays off both the Nice arc and the legacy aspect.
Phase 1: Glitches in the narrative
Abby or Lily notices sealed French records, odd phrasing in reports, or a photo that suggests Chance was moved, not left at the scene.
Adam, digging into Aristotle‑related shell companies to protect himself from Victor, finds payments tied to Chance’s old undercover aliases and “consultancy fees” from a European task force.
Phase 2: The ghost in the system
A burner phone text or secure email reaches Cane: “You’re not the only one with a second life. Walk away from Chancellor, or you’ll expose me—and everyone you care about.” Signed with an in‑joke only Cane and Chance shared when Chance was “protecting and serving” around Cane’s messes.
Victor’s behavior around any attempt to exhumation or autopsy is suspiciously obstructive, hinting he has something to lose if Chance’s body is actually examined.
Phase 3: Reveal and fallout
Chance finally returns in the middle of another crisis—perhaps when the last surviving boss from Colin’s circle comes after Jill, Cane, or the twins, and “dead” evidence is the only way to flip a vital witness.
Emotional beats:
Lily’s fury: the retcon depends on her being allowed to be furious that her grief was weaponised, even if she eventually understands the stakes.
Cane’s guilt: his Aristotle games, and his need for protection, made Chance the perfect candidate for a martyrdom he had to perform alive; this complicates any attempt to redeem Cane as a wounded schemer rather than an irredeemable grifter.
Thematic Payoff
The twist turns a seemingly pointless death into a commentary on identity and reinvention, mirroring Cane’s double life as Aristotle and Chance’s new ghost‑cop existence.
It restores the Chancellor line’s importance: the only grandchild did not die; he chose to put the name on the line in a different way, protecting its future from the shadows.
It gives the Nice arc lasting consequences in Genoa City instead of letting it remain an isolated “France detour” that swallowed a legacy character for shock value.
If you want, the next step can be to script a specific return episode: first scene in Genoa City where someone realises the body in Chance’s French grave is not his, or the confrontation where Lily finally learns Victor helped hide Chance’s survival.
By
Paul Raven ·
