While Salem is still buzzing with the tense opening ceremony, Sami continues to stir up a storm with a seemingly harmless move: holding a shower party for Johnny and Chanel.

It sounds fun, but everyone in Salem knows — anything Sami touches turns into drama.

The party takes place in the Hortons’ ballroom. Balloons, cake, gifts — everything is perfect.

Johnny and Chanel are happy, holding hands. Chanel hugs Sami and says, “Thank you, I’m really surprised.” Sami smiles, but her eyes are on the door — where EJ just walked in.

EJ appears in a perfect black suit, holding a glass of champagne, smiling politely. But just looking at him, you can see he’s not relaxed at all. Sami walks over right away, linking arms with EJ: “You’re here. Good! Because there’s something else you should hear.”

Johnny stood watching his parents, sensing something was off. Chanel was unaware that she was in the middle of a power struggle. While the room was taking pictures, Sami delicately turned everything so that EJ was in the center — right in front of the projection screen with… the Clinic video.

When the slide automatically moved to the “Major Sponsors of the Clinic” panel, a line appeared: “Unverified Fund – under EJ DiMera.”
The room turned to EJ. Johnny frowned: “Dad, what is this?” Chanel gently tugged on Johnny’s hand: “What’s going on?”
EJ forced a smile: “A technical error.”
Sami stood next to him, feigning surprise: “Oh, what a coincidence.”

The cheerful atmosphere instantly turned tense. Nicole (who had always been suspicious of EJ) watched quietly, her eyes full of intent. Abe took a step back, remembering his private conversation about ethics and responsibility.

The party continued, but everyone could see EJ was nervous. While everyone was eating cake, Sami pulled Johnny and Chanel into a private room. She looked at Chanel and said, “Protect yourself. The DiMera family doesn’t always play fair.”
Johnny responded, “Don’t start again.”
But Sami replied in a low voice, “Son, you don’t know what EJ is hiding.”

The drama increased when EJ accidentally heard the last sentence. He opened the door, his eyes darkened: “Sami, are you really trying to turn a party into a battlefield?”
Sami replied, not avoiding: “I’m protecting my son from you.”

The atmosphere was tense, Chanel stood between the two without understanding the whole situation but clearly felt… this battle was far from over.

Final scene: EJ looked at the family photo hanging on the wall. His face reflected in the glass door, his cold eyes as if declaring war: “Okay. The game starts again.”