On the Thursday, October 29, 2026 episode of ‘Beyond the Gates’, Kat (Colby Nixon) misread a pastry, Smitty (Mike Manning) stood up for himself, and Father’s Day came early for Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett).
What’s Tea?
Hayley (Marquita Goings) made an appearance at the hospital, asking Shanice (Ernestine Johnson) and Ashley (Jen Jacob) to make her an appointment with an OB/GYN. Leslie (Trisha Mann-Grant) overheard and fussed over Hayley’s pregnancy, which annoyed her. Ashley pointed out that the reason for Hayley’s visit was confidential as far as Garland Memorial was concerned, but that she and Shanice couldn’t stop Leslie from blabbing Hayley’s pregnancy news to whomever Leslie wanted.
Tomas (Alex Alegria) toasted to Kat and ChelseaKat’s newest purse – and that he would soon make full partner at Bill’s firm. Kat was ready to leave when she saw Leslie entering, but her jaw dropped over the “diaper cake” Leslie had brought in with her. Assuming that Eva was pregnant, Kat texted Izaiah, who was floored by the suggestion and denied he was about to become a father. Tomas suggested that Kat go directly to Leslie for the answers to her questions.
I’m Coming Out
Nicole (Daphnée Duplaix), who had decked out her house in ChelseaKat swag ahead of the party she was throwing for Kat and Chelsea, was getting frisky with Kial (Greg Vaughan) when Dani (Karla Mosley) walked in. After Kial went to work, Dani and Nicole marveled over how far they’d come in the past year, and the arriving Anita (Tamara Tunie) wanted her daughters to look toward the future. At the brownstone, Smitty noted that Samantha (Najah Jackson) was expected at the party, but Samantha wanted to stay home with him.
Smitty announced that he had decided to attend Martin’s “fireside chat” with Vernon – he was innocent of the charges against him, and therefore had nothing to hide. The Richardson-Smiths encouraged Samantha to go to the party, where she admitted to Anita that she could barely sleep worrying about Smitty. Martin, Smitty, and Vernon (Clifton Davis) went to the country club, where Anastasia (Timeca Seretti) gave Smitty dirty looks.
Shark In The Water
Martin opened his speech, then introduced Vernon, who entertained attendees. Anastasia walked out in a huff and complained to wait staff about all the “riff-raff” who spent time at the club, including the congressman’s “murderous husband.” Smitty stepped in and reminded Anastasia that he hadn’t even been tried yet, while she was closed-minded enough to have already convicted him. Going further, Smitty told Anastasia she could stay – or she could, as his platinum deb daughter might say, “dip out.”
Vanessa (Lauren Buglioli) stopped in to see Joey (Jon Lindstrom) on her way to the ChelseaKat party but flamed Randy (Maurice P. Kerry) as soon as she saw him, not believing his claims that he knew nothing about Hayley poisoning Bill. She stalked out, and Joey tasked Randy with looking into the status of Martin’s campaign. After Randy learned that Martin’s chances of losing his re-election had grown, Joey decided that wasn’t good for him and directed Randy to “make sure everything [was] in place.”
‘Cuz You Said You Got My Baby And I Know It Ain’t True
Naomi (Arielle Prepetit) vented her frustration to Bill about the state’s attorney dragging their heels in regard to giving her access to the video that supposedly showed Smitty picking up the drugs which had killed Lia. Bill offered to pull some strings for Naomi, but she railed against being seen as a “nepo baby”; she did eventually agree to accept Bill’s help. Later, Hayley smugly arrived at Bill’s office – she grinned that she couldn’t disappear off the face of the Earth like Bill wanted her to, because she was carrying his baby.
Bill didn’t believe Hayley, bringing up how she had faked a pregnancy before, only to trick him into setting up a trust fund so she could siphon it off. Hayley said that she wanted his baby to have a mother and father, since she hadn’t; “People in hell hope for ice water,” Bill retorted. Hayley slapped her appointment card down on Bill’s desk and dared him to accompany her to her ultrasound. Bill allowed that Hayley might actually be pregnant, but that the child probably wasn’t even his.
Gossip Folks
At Uptown, Kat confronted Leslie, who stayed mum about who the baby cake was for. Still, Kat grabbed its card and exclaimed, “You have got to be kidding!” Across town at Nicole’s house, Chelsea (RhonniRose Mantilla) arrived with Madison (Kenjah), with Vanessa, Samantha, and Ashley not far behind. As Kat was running late, Chelsea began a speech about the new purse in the ChelseaKat line…which Kat interrupted by bursting in and announcing that Hayley was pregnant.
Vanessa wondered if Hayley expecting his child had been the reason he had dropped the attempted murder charges against her – then speculated as to whether or not the poison Bill had ingested might affect the baby. Madison reported that the type of toxin Hayley had used would have little-to-no effect on a fetus. Anita caught Dani about to put in a call to Bill; Anita counseled Dani that the situation was only for Bill and Hayley to deal with. Dani refused to believe the universe would be so cruel as to dole out another strike against him.
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