Victor takes a blow to the head during a plan to capture the thugs who beat up Raul. Victor takes some pain pills and kisses Sharon when she needs comfort. Nick sees Sharon and Victor kissing through the window. Victor takes the blame for the kiss in hopes of saving his son’s marriage, claiming drugs and alcohol were involved. Angrily Nick confronts Sharon about the situation. Unable to cope, Sharon sends Nick a letter explaining that she has left town and is uncertain when she will return.
Despondent over Sharon’s departure, Cassie falls into an icy pond. Cassie is rescued but Dr. Walker diagnosis her catatonic condition as permanent. Nikki returns from business and rushes to the hospital where Nick tells her about Sharon and Victor’s kiss. Victor to confesses to Nikki it was Sharon who initiated the kiss which Nikki later reveals to Nick. Eventually, Cassie awakens from her coma. When Sharon returns, a hurt and angry Cassie claims to hate her mother and vows to never forgive her for leaving. Sharon makes headway with Nick when she proclaims her love for him and the children. Victoria breaks up with Diego who decides to continue his life as a drifter.
Brad tells Nikki everything about Ashley and the artificial insemination, causing Nikki much distress. Brad seeks comfort from Olivia and they sleep together. Ashley collapses and is rushed to the hospital. Olivia tells Ashley she is pregnant and Brad and Ashley reconcile over the news. Olivia apologizes to Ashley for her transgression with Brad and asks for her friendship back. Dr. Reese warns a pregnant Ashley to avoid stress because her blood pressure is too high.
Ashley is angry at Victor for not telling her about his plan to over-bid for Satine, the cosmetics company Jabot was also interested in acquiring. Dru uses her own dirty tricks by stealing ex-Satine chemist, Damon Porter’s business card from Neil’s office. Jabot hires Porter before Newman Enterprise’s gets the chance. Still angry with his father, Nick meets with Jack and offers his services to Jabot. “Satine” is changed to “Safra” to boost potential sales. Victor, on the sly, employs Michael Baldwin to bribe retailers into giving Safra prime retail space. Safra beats Tuvia in the launch and Jack is certain Victor manipulated sales and Nick believes Michael had something to do with it. Michael reveals to Phyllis he was in on Victor’s bribery scheme.
With the help of Paul and Andy, Phyllis and Jack are able to get the evidence they need to indict Diane and obtain custody of Kyle. Diane decides to give up custody of Kyle to avoid arson charges. Jack and Phyllis’ marriage endures many hurdles, including acclimating to having a small child in the home. When Diane learns of Jabot’s extreme financial problems, she offers Jack a loan. After Phyllis refuses to quit Newman Enterprises, Jack takes Diane up on her offer. Diane rubs the loan in Phyllis’ face as well as the new office Jack gave her. Phyllis accuses Jack of trying to punish her for not quitting Newman Enterprises by hiring Diane.
Meanwhile, a pregnant Ashley had left town to rest. When she discovered Tuvia’s poor sales she realized Victor must be behind it and she sped home to get answers. Ashley then had a terrible car accident and paramedics rushed her to the hospital where Brad and Jack blamed Victor for her accident. Olivia informed Brad that their baby boy, nearly full term, did not survive the crash. A bereaved Brad had to tell Ashley their baby died and Ashley grieved terribly. Olivia later tells Ashley she will be unable to have any more children. Unbeknownst to Brad, a delusional Ashley continued to believe baby, Robert, was alive.
Nikki and Brad agree to keep Abby’s paternity a secret from Victor and don’t realize Sharon’s overheard their conversation. Sharon is excited to host the Genoa City Arts Gala and warns Nikki to be on her best behavior for the gala or else. Nikki worries Sharon might reveal the truth about Abby to Victor. On the night of the Gala, Ashley arrives in her pajamas carrying the blanket she made for Robert and tries to show Victor “her baby.” Brad gently confronts Ashley, telling her there is no baby after which she has a mental breakdown. Ashley begins to have romantic fantasies about Victor while under psychiatric care and lapses into a catatonic state roused only by the word, “Victor.”
Nick uncovers evidence linking his father and Michael Baldwin in the bribery scheme and turns the information over to the D.A. Meanwhile, Victor discovers his estranged father, Albert Miller is still alive. Tortured by memories of a painful childhood spent in an orphanage, Victor agrees to see Albert on the coaxing of his family. Nick reluctantly accompanies him on his journey. Victor says his piece to an embittered and unrepentant Albert, and the two part ways forever. Nick tells Nikki and Jack that he turned Michael and Victor in to the authorities. A furious Nikki confronts Victor about his unethical business ways. Victor renounces Nick as his son. Although deeply moved, Victoria refuses her father’s offer to run the company, saying she is heartbroken about what has happened to her family. Victoria leaves town soon after. A deal with the D.A.’s office keeps Michael from going to jail but Victor is arrested. Victor agrees to accept bail and returns home to his overjoyed family on Christmas Eve.
Christine poses as Kelly Simmons, an employee of the Wisconsin parole board. She questions Isabella. Paul confesses to Isabella that he had sex with Christine and Isabella is furious. Michael figures out that Paul forced himself on Christine. Christine and Paul apologize for hurting one another and decide to part ways. Paul recommits himself to Isabella and to their son, Ricky. Michael proposes to Chris. She accepts but Michael’s conscience forces him to reveal his and Isabella’s entire scheme. Christine walks out on him and finds Paul on a beach in California where they make love. Isabella vows to fight for Paul who demands a divorce. Mary, unable to cope with all the drama begins drinking. Isabella calls Michael claiming someone is breaking into her home. When he arrives, he finds a pool of blood on the floor and no Isabella. At Lake Michigan, Christine wakes up in her car disoriented with scratch marks on her arms and bloodstains on her hands. When she returns home and can’t remember anything Paul insists she go to the doctor. Chris meets with Wesley who suggests she may have suffered a “Fugue State.” Michael confesses that he disposed of blood in the woods where she woke up. Detective Weber gathers enough evidence against Chris and is about to arrest her but she asks for one night to get her affairs in order. Chris drinks some wine, gets into a warm bath and is terrified to find Isabella holding a butcher knife over her head. Isabella boasts about how she framed Chris for her murder as Chris starts to drift into unconsciousness from the sedative Isabella slipped into her wine. Isabella pushes Chris’s head underwater — drowning her. Paul and Michael arrive just in time to intervene. Chris is revived and a hysterical Isabella is taken away, vowing revenge.
Paul calls his brother Todd, a priest, and confesses he worries he raped Christine. Although Christine insists it wasn’t rape, she agrees there are many things about their relationship that need to be worked out. Christine rejects Paul’s wedding proposal, but does accept the new Assistant District Attorney position. Lauren re-enters Paul’s romantic life when she cheers him up with a steamy kiss. Danny returns to Genoa City and shows up at Christine’s door. Phyllis discovers Danny is in town and wants to know all she can about their son, Daniel, who’s been at boarding school in Switzerland for many years. Danny is circumspect, leaving Phyllis depressed and frustrated.
Billy decides to attend Genoa City University. Billy, Raul, Brittany and Mac move in together after Lauren offers them jobs at Fenmore’s Boutique. Brittany emails Raul stating she needs time alone and is leaving town. Later, Brittany instant messages Raul claiming she might be pregnant. Several weeks pass, Brittany returns, and it’s revealed she isn’t pregnant. Raul is disappointed at the news. Billy and Mac decide to get married with Katherine’s support.
Jill finds out from her ailing mother, Liz Foster, that she was adopted. Jill is set on finding her birth mother and is happily surprised when Snapper and Greg arrive to offer support. Greg and Skipper breath a sigh of relief after Liz’s surgery is a success. Frederick assists Jill in finding her birth mother and arranges a meeting between the two. Jill is surprised to learn that her mother, Charlotte, is an alcoholic. John discovers, through conversations with Kay, that Charlotte can’t be Jill’s birth mother because she is sterile from an a botched abortion years ago. John tells an unbelieving Jill that Charlotte is a fraud. Charlotte goes to Katherine and they discuss how Charlotte had helped Katherine so many years ago when Katherine gave birth to a child she didn’t want. Slowly, Charlotte reveals that the baby she gave away was not her own, but was Kay’sBnd that baby was Jill. Kay suffers a massive stroke. Liz and John tell Jill that Kay is her birth mother but Jill refuses to believe it. They realize that Mac and Billy are first cousins and the wedding must be stopped but they are too late to stop the ceremony. Just before the marriage is consummated, Jill tells Billy he and Mac are first cousins. The truth is too much for a heart broken Billy and Mac to bear and so they each leave town. Jill is reluctant to take care of an ailing Kay. Michael advises her to have Kay declared mentally incompetent. Kay doubts Jill’s devoted daughter charade. Jill decides to put Kay in a nursing home and is stunned when Kay reveals she can speak and begs her not to send her away. Kay hopes they can forge a mother-daughter relationship. To demonstrate Katherine’s commitment, she agrees to let Jill renovate the mansion. Kay isn’t happy with Jill’s decorating ideas or her Jill’s drinking habits. Kay accuses Jill of have a drinking problem, but Jill is in denial.
While working at Fenmore’s, Brittany meets Bobby Marsino. She sings for him and he asks her to come to his club for a possible job opportunity. Brittany is shocked to find it is a strip joint. She convinces Bobby to give her a job as a singer, not a stripper, but soon, when she sees how much money the other dancers are making, she decides to begin stripping. One night, Raul catches Brittany’s act and is dismayed. Brittany refuses to quite her job and she and Raul break up. Frederick takes some out of town business associates to Marsino’s to unwind. Brittany is later mortified to learn her father has also seen her strip. Raul, determined to get Brittany to stop stripping agrees to help the Hodges in their plan to shut down Marsino’s. Bobby is furious when he discovers Raul and J.T. are the under-age drinkers responsible for closing down his club. After saving Raul during a diabetic attack, Brittany tells Bobby she is quitting for Raul’s sake. But Raul tells her not to quit for fear she will end up resenting him. Bobby and Brittany attend the Gala together.
Colleen believes she is ready to have sex with J.T. and tries to seduce him but J.T. feels they should wait. Frederick, busy helping Jill find her birth mother, has been ignoring Anita. Anita goes to J.T. for help in locating Brittany. After assuming Jill and Frederick have slept together J.T. comforts Anita and they sleep together. Colleen learns that Anita and J.T. were intimate and her heart is broken. Unable to trust him, she breaks things off. Sierra and Lily want to cheer her up so they all get tattoos and piercings. One night, Colleen overhears J.T. singing a song he wrote for her about how much he loves her and they decide to get back together.
Dru and Neil move in together for the sake of their daughter despite Wesley’s reservations. A romantic evening turns into a sexual encounter, and Dru and Neil are reunited. Wes turns to Olivia for comfort and she eventually accepts his marriage proposal. Drucilla is hired by Jabot to be their new African-American spokes model.
Lily encounters Kevin (a.k.a. “Fisherman”) in an online chat room and decides to meet him. Not only a college student, Kevin is also Bobby Marsino’s bookkeeper. Things quickly heat up between the new couple and Kevin won’t let her slow things down. Dru and Neil aren’t happy with their daughter dating someone so much older. Colleen and J.T. barge in on Lily and Kevin’s next date. Kevin, in an act of revenge, trashes J.T.’s loft and confronts Colleen menacingly in the park. Kevin seduces Lily and she sleeps with him. Lily reveals to her mother that she had sex with Kevin and Neil files a restraining order. Enraged with Colleen, Kevin tricks her into going to Gina’s alone after business hours and locks her in a walk-in refrigerator. Then he sets the restaurant ablaze. Unable to find his daughter, Brad becomes worried. At the site, firemen do their best to arrest the fire but Gina’s is a total loss. J.T., figuring out Colleen might have been at the restaurant, doesn’t give up the search, and pulls her from the cindered wreckage. Lily discovers Kevin gave her a sexually transmitted disease and decides to press charges. Kevin approaches the one guy he thinks can help him: his brother, who turns out to be none other than Michael Baldwin but he refuses to help. Kevin is forced to take a blood test but it comes up negative for the STD. (He had taken an antibiotic to rid it from his system.) J.T. is convinced Kevin is guilty as sin. Paul, after discussing J.T.’s theories, offers J.T. a job working as his apprentice.
A friendship between Damon and Phyllis begins to get hot when Damon happily fills in for Jack when he stands Phyllis up for dinner. Brad can see Damon is starting to have feelings for this redhead even though his mission was to get info from her that Jabot could use against the competition. Meanwhile, Damon and Victoria begin seeing each other much to Victor’s dismay. Vanessa Lerner, an old colleague of Damon, comes to town and shares her breakthrough discovery that will revolutionize the cosmetic industry. Damon and Dru tell Jack about Vanessa’s findings and Damon plans a trip to the Ryukyu Islands, off the coast of Japan, to find the rare Neofinitia orchid from which this product will be made. Dru wants in on the action: she moves her wedding to Neil to Japan. Damon, Vanessa, Phyllis and Jack attend the wedding Jack is still angry with Phyllis for keeping her knowledge of the bribery a secret. Damon and Vanessa set off to find the orchid. Lily struggles to find the perfect wedding present for her parents on their special day and decides to make Dru a bouquet. Damon and Vanessa react when they see the prized orchid in Dru’s bridal bouquet. Phyllis catches the bouquet after the ceremony and realizes she might have something very special in her possession. When Phyllis agrees to give Jack the orchid to save their marriage, they reconcile on New Years Eve.
Sharon and Cassie come face to face with Cassie’s biological father, Frank. Cassie is very curious about Frank’s relationship with her mother, but Sharon deflects. Sharon’s problems continue when she sees Cameron Kirsten, a man with whom she had a drunken, one-night stand when she had left Nick earlier this year. Cameron had beaten her terribly after the encounter. Cameron threatens to tell Nick all about their one-night stand unless Sharon lets him have his way with her again. Michael advises Sharon to go to the police, but she refuses fearing Nick will leave her after discovering her infidelity. In a vein attempt to get Cameron to leave her alone, once and for all, she agrees to meet him in his hotel room on New Year’s Eve where he attacks her.