1997: Stanford graduate Dr. David Hayward made his way to Pine Valley to reunite with his former lover, Dr. Allie Doyle. Only, Allie wanted nothing to do with David. But Allie knew a secret that would keep Allie in her place. Allie had lied about her bachelor’s degree when she was admitted to Stanford. David promised to keep this career ruining secret if Allie agreed to marry him.

1998: David accused Jake of trying to kill Adam Chandler while he was treated for a stroke at Pine Valley Hospital. Liza Colby and Allie teamed up to force David into confessing. They sedated Stuart Chandler to pass off as Adam. David unknowingly confessed to his plot. David was forced out of Pine Valley, but not before revealing the truth about Allie’s medical degree.
Surprisingly, Liza invited David back to Pine Valley. She was fearful of having a difficult pregnancy and learned David was a specialist in the field. David found out that Allie had switched Jake’s donor sample for Adam’s, so Liza was in fact pregnant with David’s child. Allie left town to protect her secret.
Gillian Andrassy carried on an affair with David. Gillian broke it off after marrying Ryan Lavery. When Ryan was arrested for the rape of Kit Fisher Montgomery, Gillian turned to David for some quick cash. David agreed to finance their getaway for one more night with the princess.

1999: David’s mother, Vanessa Bennett, came to Pine Valley to profit off of David’s new position in Pine Valley. David nurtured the scars of his childhood. He witnessed his mother coax his father, Dr. Charles Hayward, into committing suicide. David wanted Vanessa out of town. Instead, she became friends and confidant to David’s friend, Erica Kane.
David wanted to reveal the truth about Colby Chandler’s paternity at Adam and Liza’s wedding. Erica caught up with David in New York and asked for a ride back to Pine Valley. On the way there, the car was caught in a blizzard. David lost control of the vehicle, and crashed. David regained consciousness only to find Erica with a metal rod in her chest and her face cut open. David performed emergency surgery. He saved Erica’s life, but not her face.
David was guilt ridden with the botched surgery he did on Erica’s face. David told Erica’s friends to hide the fact that Erica was scarred. It was Vanessa, who was using Erica’s trauma to profit from a tell-all book, who revealed David’s deceptions. David whisked Erica away to Brazil for another surgery. Erica forgave David’s prior indiscretions, and thanked him for saving her life, and career.
David met his baby brother, Leo duPres, for the first time. The brothers bonded over their mutual embarrassment of their mother.
Erica voted for David when the hospital was looking for an administrator for the new Andrassy Foundation in honor of the late Dimitri Marick. Dimitri’s wife, Dr. Alex Marick, voted against David because of his treatment of Gillian. David also accused Alex of murdering his friend. Alex had no recollection of them meeting in the past. Dr. Joe Martin named David and Alex as co-administrators of the foundation.
David accompanied Erica to the Crystal Ball. At midnight, he found Alex in a dizzy spell. When he tried to help Alex, she pushed him down the Wildwind stairs.

2000: Though David and Erica shared a romantic date at the Crystal Ball, she needed more attention than David could give her. Erica became fixated on David’s past with Alex. She began seeing a gigolo Paolo to make David jealous. Paolo turned up dead and Leo was the main suspect. David found out that Paolo was in debt to hid drug dealer. He was blackmailing many people in Pine Valley. The most noticeable of which was his lover, Vanessa. She admitted she accidentally killed Paolo for threatening to reveal their affair to Palmer.
David discovered Dimitri was alive. He convinced Dimitri to let him treat his condition. In the meantime, he was forced to lie to both Erica, Dimitri’s ex-wife, and Alex. Dixie Martin was now working as his executive assistant. She was the only person to privy to Dimitri’s treatment. She began working late hours at the Andrassy Foundation to help David cure him.
David became fixated on Dixie. They shared a passionate kiss. Dixie was very much married and thought it was best if she quit. David enlisted Leslie Coulson to seduce Dixie’s husband Tad Martin. David had been working with a libido-enhancing drug named Libidizone. He accidentally tested it on Erica causing her to become a sex driven maniac. He hoped that by giving it to Tad, he would cheat on Dixie with Leslie. Only, David ended up drugging all the guests at Ryan’s IncredibleDreams.com launch party.

2001: Dixie turned to David when she found out of Leslie and Tad’s affair. Dixie and David began their own affair. Leslie threatened to tell Dixie everything if David did not produce more Libidizone. But David did not want to risk being caught. Leslie took matters into her own hands and kidnapped Dixie. She threatened to push Dixie off a ledge at the Chandler towers. David was able to save Dixie, and pushed Leslie off the ledge instead. Leslie somehow survived. She skipped town before David could hurt her again.
Leo gave David a video that caught him drugging the punch. Erica found out that David tested the drugs on her. She broke up with David and turned him in to the authorities. David got a reprieve when Leo’s wife, Laura duPres, was diagnosed with a heart condition. Laura’s mother, Brooke English, wanted David to perform the risky surgery to save her life. Erica agreed to drop her charges if David’s bail could be renegotiated.
David went to trial on drug charges. David found Dixie’s son, JR Chandler, raiding his room for drugs. He blackmailed Adam into pulling strings to exonerate him, less JR go to prison on drugs charges as well.
Tad found Leslie and brought her back to Pine Valley to tell Dixie the truth about what David had did. Dixie left David for lying, and Tad for brining Leslie back.
David became a prime suspect in the Proteus drug ring when WSB agent Anna Devane spotted him in a secret meeting with Proteus’ drug runner, Roger Smythe.

2002: David revealed to Anna his experimental treatment on Roger. He was hoping to find a cure for Dixie’s condition. Anna knew she would have to report David. She suggested they get married so that she could protect him. Proteus turned out to be none other than Vanessa. David and Leo rescued Maggie Stone, their cousin, after she revealed Vanessa to be her twin, Frankie Stone’s, killer. Vanessa and Leo died in an altercation at Miller Falls. David became protective of Maggie, even offering to pay for her college tuition if she decided to remain in Pine Valley. All the while, David and Anna had fallen in love.
Dixie approached David for help. She was having a high-risk pregnancy and was afraid Tad would ask her to abort the child. David sent Dixie to a clinic in Switzerland. A few months later, David got word Dixie had died in a car accident on the Swiss Alps.
A demon from David’s past threatened his freedom. David had secretly recovered and treated Dr. Maria Grey after the crash of Flight 149. The drug caused Maria to suffer from amnesia. David gave Maria a new identity as Maureen Gorman and sent her to Nevada. He told her that she had killed Maria Grey and that she would be found if she ever returned to Pine Valley. The lie had worked for five years. When Anna found out about David’s role in Maria’s disappearance, she filed for divorce. Anna later learned she was pregnant with David’s child.
David tried to make the Hospital Board vote Joe out as Chief of Staff because of his health condition. Joe retaliated by naming Joe his successor. David’s medical license was compromised for what he did to Maria. He was forced to work at the Front Street Clinic.

2003: Reggie Porter took Anna at knifepoint at the Clinic. David wanted to do whatever he could to protect Anna and his unborn child. But he responded sympathetically to Reggie. He offered Trey’s legal guidance to help him have a new start.
Anna needed emergency surgery to save the baby who was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease. David was on probation from performing surgeries, so Anna went to Switzerland to be treated. But mid-way through the surgery, the doctor had a mini-stroke. David was flown in to complete the surgery. He saved Anna and the child. Soon, the couple welcomed Leora Hayward, named in Leo’s honor.
Joe told Anna that Leora needed another surgery but David was convinced that Leora would recover on her own. Anna consented to the surgery. It was marred by complications and in the end; Leora did not make it through.
David accused Joe of botching the surgery as an act of revenge against David’s past indiscretions. David concocted a plan to give the Martin’s amnesia like he did Maria. Anna stopped him. She forced him to come to grips with the loss of their child.
Bianca Montgomery turned to David after being raped by Michael Cambias. David began treating Bianca under Frankie’s name to prevent Erica from finding out. Bianca was now pregnant with her rapist’s child and did not want an abortion. When Michael got of for his crime, David took matters into his own hands. Erica and David plotted to castrate him with a chemical that he had concocted. Michael was found murdered. Anna found evidence that implicated David in the murder. Tired of always having to protect him, Anna left the evidence as David’s cabin with a note. She was leaving Pine Valley and did not want David to follow her.

2004: David found out that Krystal Carey had tampered with a DNA test run on JR and Babe Chandler’s baby. The daughter they were raising was actually Bianca’s baby, Miranda Montgomery, who supposedly died in a helicopter rescue mission. David went to confront Krystal. Krystal tried to buy time by telling David he was Babe’s father. David and Krystal had shared a one-night stand when he was a medical student at Stanford. Though the claim was outlandish, David ran a DNA test anyways. He was was shocked to learn the truth: Babe was his daughter.
The revelation would change David’s world forever. Having just lost Leora, David did not want to loose another daughter. He promised to keep Krystal’s secret, betraying Bianca.
David and Maria’s sordid pasts came to light again when Zach Slater came to Pine Valley. Zach was Maureen’s lover. David had Maria leave Zach after telling her that the authorities were closing in on her. Maria believed she was wanted for murder, and went into hiding in Reno.
Babe revealed she had found her baby alive in Llanview. After kidnapping her baby boy, Ace Buchanan, from Kevin Buchanan, Babe decided to go on the run. Jamie Martin promised to take of her. David, Krystal and Tad were forced to work together insure the safety of their children.
David breathed a sign of relief when Bianca was finally reunited with Miranda on Christmas Eve. When Erica found out David’s role in the baby switch, she lashed out. She demanded he and Krystal be arrested as accessories to kidnapping.

2005: Krystal took the fall for Little Adam’s kidnapping. In the process, David lost his medical license. He became a janitor in the same hospital where he used to save lives. Before he could make amends with Bianca, she moved to Paris with Maggie and Miranda.
While visiting Krystal in prison, David met Di Kirby, another convict. She bore a striking resemblance to Dixie. David concocted a plan to help Babe gain custody of Little Adam. He would hire Di to pretend to be Dixie. After working her way into JR’s confidence, she would try to convince JR to share custody of his son with Babe. Di, fresh out of prison, took David up on his offer. David began to question Di’s identity himself when she was diagnosed with a heart condition, and was missing a kidney. David was shocked to learn that Di was Dixie’s sister.

2006: David and Palmer were trapped together after the explosion at the Mardi Gras Ball. David found Palmer’s heart medication. When Palmer began having problem breathing, David withheld the medication until Palmer promised to use his influence on the Board of Pine Valley Hospital to reinstate his medical license.
David was running late for Babe and JR’s second wedding. When David arrived at the Chandler gardens, he was shocked to discover Dixie, alive. Dixie made David promise not to tell anyone she was back in town. Dixie was determined to find her daughter, Kate. Dr. Greg Madden had taken the child from her after convincing Dixie she was going to die. David did his best to help his former lover.
When Tad and Dixie reunited, David became enraged with jealously. To hurt Dixie, he falsified medical documents to make it appear as if Emma McDermott was Kate. He even told her that Krystal was pregnant with Tad’s daughter.
David had one last warning for Babe about JR’s rage. But Babe pushed him away. David left for a clinic in Indonesia.

2008: After learning Babe was engaged to marry JR again, David made his way back to Pine Valley. He kept himself hidden in the Chandler Mansion tunnels. That all changed the night a tornado came crashing through Pine Valley. David arrived at Pine Valley Hospital just as Babe died in JR’s arms from injuries sustained in the disaster. David promised to make everyone who hurt Babe, namely JR’s family, pay for her death.
David decided to rejoin the Pine Valley Hospital staff. He prooved an invaluable assett the night of the tornado. His main priority was to be named Chief0of-Staff. He caught Jake lying to authorites about a patient’s wherabouts. David used this information to blackmail Joe into stepping down and naming him the new Chief-of-Staff.
David enlisted Babe’s best friend Amanda Dillon’s help to sabotage JR. In exchange for getting JR to fall off the wagon, David would pay her five million dollars. David wanted to suite JR for custody of Little Adam. Though David was sleeping with Amanda, David also seduced Krystal. Krystal was now married to Tad. He sent Tad to the Congo after paying his friends to say Jamie and Jeff Martin were missing. Het began to drug Krystal secretly with tranquilizers. Even after Krystal caught David, she continued their afffair having become addicted to David's treatments.