Realizing that the baby must be Thomas', she tells Ridge about their night together, but defends him, refusing to believe he had taken advantage of her. Ridge, angry at what Thomas has done, including a fight over an affair Thomas had with an intern which led to a fight where Thomas punched him, forces Thomas to return to Paris, leaving Forrester employees baffled. He tells Caroline the baby is his and they decide to raise it together as theirs. He later returns after Caroline convinces Ridge to stop acting angry to keep Thomas from being suspicious about the baby. He does question the baby's lineage, but accepts Caroline's claim of Ridge. Afterwards, Ridge continues to make Thomas suspicious. Thomas turns his attentions to fighting the Spencers and pursues Ivy believing her to be someone his dad can't disapprove of. Her resolve slowly breaks following an incident at Pam's Halloween party where Thomas saves her from a falling light. During a thunder storm where only the two of them are in the Forrester Mansion, they begin an affair while Wyatt, her boyfriend at the time, is out of town on business. Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) returns to Los Angeles with his son Douglas in 2019, following the sudden death of Caroline. He sets his sights on Hope as a potential replacement mother for Douglas, noting the rapport they share with each other. He eventually finds out that Hope's daughter, Beth, is still alive and threatens everyone with knowledge of this to secrecy to prevent her from going back to Liam, resulting in him killing Emma Barber (Nia Sioux) by running her off the road when she flees to confess the truth to Hope. Thomas is able to persuade Hope to get married, all the while keeping the secret that her infant daughter Beth is still alive. When the truth finally comes out, Thomas goes into hiding and Hope pursues an annulment of their marriage. After learning that Hope has gone to the beach house, Thomas surprises her there and tries to apologize for what he has done. As Hope is trying to get away from Thomas, Brooke arrives and sees Hope struggling to break free from Thomas. Brooke comes between the two and pushes Thomas away, causing him to fall over the cliff. He is rushed to the hospital in a coma, but eventually regains consciousness. When Ridge confronts him about all that he has done, Thomas tearfully confesses and begs for forgiveness.