Claire is not in a very good place right now on Young and Restless, having just said good-bye to Cole, the father she only recently got to know. “It’s an incredibly difficult time for her, considering she only just found him and completed this dream family, and now it’s been ripped away from her so suddenly,” Hayley Erin (Claire) shares with Soap Opera Digest. But now, on top of that, Claire has been growing suspicious about exactly what happened to Kyle in France, which is going to open a whole new can of worms.

The Blame Game

Ever since Kyle, Audra, and everyone else returned from Cane’s estate in France, it’s been clear to Claire that secrets were being kept. “One of my favorite things about her is how smart she is and how well she can read people, and the fact that she knows Kyle so well,” Erin explains of her character’s astuteness. “I think she knows from the beginning that there’s more to it, but she’s so eager to believe him that she lets it lie.”

But when Kyle finally revealed that Audra attempted to seduce him in an effort to break them up as part of a twisted deal she’d made with Victor, Claire is understandably horrified to learn that her grandfather would actually go that far to get Kyle out of her life. Still, she’s reserving her strongest anger for Audra herself.

“I think the wishful thinking of having the family that she’s always wanted, she’s willing to look past certain things and forgive Victor and accept him and accept his apology,” Erin previews. “She does not have the same grace for Audra. Definitely holds Audra more responsible for allowing herself to be used in that way and physically be the one to perpetrate the act. So Victor somehow gets away relatively easily, considering it’s his brainchild, but she doesn’t let it go too quickly.”

Forgive or Forget?

Though it might seem surprising that Claire would forgive Victor for setting up this manipulation to try and split her and Kyle up, the actress says she understands where her alter ego is coming from. “The more I thought about it, I realized that actually, it makes sense, especially having just lost her father, that she doesn’t want to lose Victor, too,” Erin allows. “So even though she’s hurt and upset by it, she is going to let it go for the sake of the family.”

But while Claire may be willing to let bygones be bygones with her grandfather, it’s a whole other story with Audra, who continues to refuse to admit defeat. “Well, Audra continues to be quite rude,” Erin teases with a chuckle. “At least Victor turns around and apologizes, and Audra just keeps digging holes. So yeah, Claire isn’t biting her tongue anymore, and I love that.

“I think it’s time that we see that kind of tougher side of her,” she adds, “and I’m so happy to get to watch her stick up for herself and not let anyone walk all over her. She’s definitely going to give Audra a taste of her own medicine.”