Ridge’s sudden desire to leave his post as co-CEO of Forrester Creations to focus on the couture line has opened up a can ‘o’ worms on Bold & Beautiful, and the situation is going to get worse for Steffy before it gets better… but maybe not as bad as it could have been. Confused? Let us explain…

Ridge took his daughter by surprise when he announced out-of-the-blue that he needed to focus on designing for couture if the company were to continue to be successful. Part and parcel of this decision involved stepping down immediately as Steffy’s co-CEO, which threw her for a bit of a loop.

Steffy’s a dynamo, but running a global fashion empire all by her lonesome whilst raising two young children, carving out time to agonize over the ‘return of Sheila’, and her husband’s increasing fascination with not only his Birth Mother™, but also her nemesis, definitely amounts to a plate too full. Who can blame her for balking at taking it on without help?

Ridge’s answer, of course, was to find her help… and who better than a woman Steffy has butted heads with repeatedly over the course of their lives? Brooke was able to see the flawed thinking in this plan and turned him down, which means it will have to be someone else. But who? Well, we have an idea, and it was foreshadowed in a line from last week.

During the hot debate as to whether or not to save Hope’s line, Ridge declared at one point that Steffy, Hope, and Thomas were the future of the company (sorry, R.J.!). It was a passing line meant to explain to Steffy why he thought it important to give Hope For the Future time to rebound before cutting it, but it also gave us a hint at what’s coming.

With Brooke turning down the position of co-CEO, Ridge is almost certainly going to offer it to Thomas.

Despite having just moved overseas with his son Douglas, Thomas is unlikely to turn down an opportunity to advance in the family business even if it means having to face the woman who turned down his marriage proposal not once, but twice.

Now, one would think this would make Steffy happy, given she’ll have dodged the bullet of having to work with Brooke and would be running the company alongside the brother she loves… but instead, we think it may be the final straw for her.

Why? Well, Steffy was the one who encouraged Thomas to leave in the first place, so desperate was she to keep him away from Hope, who she accused of using him as a sex toy. Furthermore, Thomas is unlikely to be on board with her plan to cut Hope For the Future given it’s close proximity to his heart. In fact, he might help save it… which is bound to make Steffy’s head explode.

Do you think Thomas should return and become co-CEO of Forrester Creations? Let us know in the comments