Gabi Hernandez has never been one to back down from a challenge—but even she was unprepared for the nightmare that hit when her daughter Ari was kidnapped. The fear was visceral, the silence unbearable, and with each passing hour, the walls around her sanity closed in. Yet amidst the chaos, a most unlikely force emerged: Xander Kiriakis.

Once seen as nothing more than a brooding bad boy with questionable morals, Xander steps into Gabi’s life at the exact moment her world collapses. His presence, steady and surprisingly tender, becomes her anchor. Gabi—typically fiery and headstrong—finds herself crumbling into his arms, seeking the one thing she can’t find anywhere else: peace. What begins as comfort swiftly shifts into connection, and just like that, the boundaries between ally and lover begin to blur.

But Salem never allows love to blossom without cost.

As Gabi spirals over Ari’s disappearance, Xander wages a war of his own—a fierce custody battle with Sarah Horton over their daughter, Victoria. The courtroom becomes his battleground, but it’s in the quiet spaces—those late-night conversations with Gabi, the shared moments of vulnerability—that something unexpected takes root. Could Gabi become Victoria’s new mother?

It’s not just hypothetical. With Sarah preparing to leave Salem, Xander stands to gain full custody. And who’s been by his side through it all? Gabi. The idea is both poetic and perilous. Imagine Gabi brushing Victoria’s hair, whispering lullabies to soothe the child to sleep—not to replace Sarah, but to redefine what family means to both of them.

Yet nothing in this town is that simple.

Just when the audience begins to breathe in this fragile new reality, the writers detonate another emotional bombshell: Gabi and Xander share a kiss. It’s not staged, it’s not planned. It happens in a moment where grief, longing, and unspoken truths erupt. Their lips meet—and in that moment, everything changes. It’s passion. It’s confusion. It’s vulnerability personified.

But the kiss isn’t the end. It’s the ignition.

Gabi begins to dream of a new life—with Ari, with Victoria, with Xander. But beneath that hope simmers suspicion. Is this connection real? Or is Gabi manipulating the situation for her own gain? Worse—could Xander be using his charm to bait her into a trap of his own?

Fueling this fire is the sudden reemergence of Tony DiMera. He and Gabi, already partners in more than one shady scheme, appear to be hatching something bigger. A plot that could upend alliances across the DiMera dynasty. If Tony’s involved, everything is a game of chess—and the people Gabi claims to care about might just be pawns.

The heartbreak comes when fans consider that Xander, despite his flaws, may have been the one person genuinely trying to do right—for Victoria, for Gabi. If he finds out she’s been lying? That the comfort, the kiss, the tears were all tactics? The betrayal could ruin him. Or—it could force him to become the ruthless Kiriakis once more.

Through all of this, Ari remains missing. Gabi’s grief is still the foundation of everything. No matter the plotting, no matter the kiss or custody war, one fact remains unshaken: a mother is still searching for her daughter. Every choice she makes, even the most questionable ones, is shaped by the emptiness in her arms.

Meanwhile, Xander’s desire to become a better man clashes against his past like tectonic plates. He wants to protect Victoria, maybe even build something real with Gabi—but he’s haunted by every lie he’s ever told, every life he’s shattered.

The emotional weight is immense. It’s not just drama—it’s identity, it’s redemption, it’s the agonizing collision between the past and a future no one expected.

And Sarah? Her departure isn’t just an exit. It’s a catalyst. Her absence clears the field for Gabi and Xander to become something new—but it also sets the stage for retaliation. Because Salem has a memory like no other, and no betrayal goes unanswered forever.

So now we ask: is this a love story in the making… or the prelude to war?

Can Gabi and Xander build a future on the ruins of their past—or are they simply destined to destroy each other?