So This Is Why Mariah Kidnapped Dominic — And Why Her Confession Changes Everything

The halls of the Chancellor mansion have always echoed with life — the footsteps of family members coming and going, the soft sounds of a child growing up surrounded by love and privilege. But now, that familiar warmth has been replaced by something far more unsettling. Silence. The kind that presses in on every room, heavy with fear and unanswered questions.

Dominic Newman-Abbott is missing.

And the truth behind his disappearance has left The Young and the Restless viewers stunned: the person responsible is not a faceless enemy from the past, nor a scheming rival seeking revenge. It’s Mariah Copeland — the woman who once carried Dominic as a surrogate, the woman his family trusted with their lives.

As Devon Winters paces endlessly, refusing to rest until his son is found, and Abby Newman struggles to breathe under the weight of guilt and terror, it becomes increasingly clear that this is not a straightforward crime. This is a psychological tragedy years in the making — one that has finally reached its breaking point.

At the center of it all is Mariah’s fractured state of mind, a condition that has quietly deteriorated since the return of Ian Ward. Though physically absent, Ian’s influence has proven devastatingly present. Sources indicate that Mariah has begun hearing his voice — not as memory, but as command. Encouragement. Justification. A chilling echo of the manipulation that once controlled her life.

For longtime viewers, the parallels are impossible to ignore. Sharon Newman once endured a similar psychological descent, hallucinating the voice of Cameron Kirsten during her own mental collapse. But where Sharon eventually found her way back to reality through treatment and support, Mariah made a very different choice.

She walked away.

Instead of turning to Sharon — the one person who would have recognized the warning signs instantly — Mariah checked herself out of psychiatric care and deliberately isolated herself from everyone who loved her. In her mind, distance wasn’t abandonment. It was preparation.

Preparation for what she believes is the truth.

Mariah has become convinced that Dominic is her biological child — that the surrogacy was never meant to end, that he was taken from her, and that destiny demands she reclaim him. This delusion has hardened into certainty, fueled by Ian’s voice and reinforced by her own unresolved trauma.

In a haunting conversation at the Chancellor mansion, Nate Hastings offers Devon a sobering perspective. He believes Mariah isn’t trying to heal — she’s trying to reset. Not through therapy, not through accountability, but through obsession.

In Mariah’s fractured logic, focusing entirely on Dominic is a way to erase the pain of everything else she’s lost. Her failed mental health treatment. Her marriage. Her sense of identity. By redefining herself as Dominic’s mother, she believes she can rewrite her own story.

But as Nate warns, this is the most dangerous kind of reset.

Because it doesn’t heal wounds — it deepens them.

The damage Mariah has done is already rippling outward, leaving devastation in its wake. Perhaps the most heartbreaking consequence is the collapse of her marriage to Tessa Porter. The woman who once stood by Mariah through addiction, manipulation, and emotional turmoil has finally reached her limit.

Tessa recognizes what Mariah cannot accept: the woman she married no longer exists.

Faced with a partner who has abandoned reality and chosen delusion over responsibility, Tessa makes the agonizing decision to file for divorce. It is not an act of betrayal, but of survival. Loving Mariah now means enabling her — and Tessa refuses to participate in a fantasy that could destroy a child.

Even more disturbing is the collateral damage Mariah has left behind.

In her fixation on Dominic, she has completely abandoned Arya — the child she is raising. In her mind, Arya has faded into irrelevance, eclipsed by the belief that Dominic is the key to her happiness and redemption. This selective blindness only reinforces how deep her psychological break has become.

Meanwhile, Abby’s fear has reached critical mass.

Realizing that the situation has spiraled beyond her control, Abby sends a desperate SOS to the one man who understands how to handle a crisis of this magnitude: Victor Newman. With Victor stepping in, the stakes instantly skyrocket. This is no longer a private family emergency — it is a battle for a child’s safety, and Victor does not lose.

As Victor mobilizes his resources, Sharon and Tessa are left grappling with a truth neither is prepared to accept. Mariah’s condition isn’t temporary. It isn’t something that can be fixed with reassurance or logic. She has crossed a line that cannot easily be undone.

And spoilers suggest the worst may still be ahead.

Sources hint that Mariah is preparing to “tell Dominic the truth.” What that truth entails remains unclear — whether it’s a fabricated narrative of motherhood, a confession of love, or something far more dangerous. What is clear is that Mariah believes she is acting in Dominic’s best interest.

That belief makes her unpredictable.

With a divorce imminent, a kidnapping unfolding, and the voices of her past guiding her every move, Mariah Copeland is standing at the edge of a future she may never be able to return from. The idea of a “mental reset” has proven to be an illusion — one that has already shattered lives and threatened the safety of an innocent child.

For Devon and Abby, the nightmare is ongoing. For Tessa and Sharon, the grief is layered with guilt. And for Mariah, the consequences of her choices are closing in fast.

This is no longer a story about redemption.

It’s a story about how far someone can fall when trauma goes untreated, support is rejected, and delusion is mistaken for destiny. And as The Young and the Restless hurtles toward its next devastating chapter, one question looms larger than all the rest:

Is it already too late to save Mariah — or has the damage she’s done become permanent?