2006: Annie Novak McDermott thought she had the perfect life. She had a loving husband, Terry McDermott, and beautiful little girl, Emma McDermott. That world came crashing down when she learned Terry was child pedophile. Afraid of loosing her daughter to a man she no longer even knew, she went into hiding through an underground network for women in abusive relationships. They brought her to Pine Valley where she posed as an old college friend of Erin Lavery.
Annie made herself at home at Erin’s brother, Ryan Lavery’s, Penthouse. She even began working at Cambias Industries as Ryan’s executive assistant. Annie reconnected with old friend, Di Henry. But Pine Valley was not far enough from New York. Terry found his way to the small town. Jonathan Lavery shot Terry after he tried to molest Lily Montgomery.
Dixie Cooney kidnapped Emma thinking she was her long lost daughter, Kate Martin. Years ago, Annie had gone to Dr. Greg Madden to conceive a child. Greg had also stolen Dixie’s daughter. Dr. David Hayward falsified a report stating Emma was Kate. The courts demanded a DNA test. Only, Emma’s DNA did not match Annie’s, but Annie remembered giving birth to her. The judge took Emma away and placed her in foster care.
Ryan and Annie discovered Annie had a rare genetic disorder called chimera, which gave her two independent strands of DNA. Annie was able to prove Emma was her daughter, and she came home right before the holidays.
Erin was found murdered. Annie helped Ryan grieve the loss of his beloved sister.

2007: Annie cared for Emma and Ryan’s son Spike Lavery as he went on the hunt for his sister’s killer. Spike’s mother, Kendall Slater, learned Emma was actually Ryan’s daughter. Annie had gone to sperm bank to conceive her and by chance, picked Ryan’s sample. When Ryan found out, he asked Annie to marry him. Annie was not sure if Ryan really loved her, or was doing so to give Emma a happy family. She decided to move into Wildwind with friends Julia Keefer and Di. Emma had a friend her own age at Wildwind in Kathy Keefer, Julia’s adopted daughter.
Ryan continued his pursuit of Annie. Annie finally gave in and they married at Wildwind. But just as the ceremony ended, Ryan was arrested for bigamy: he had never divorced his last wife Greenlee duPres, and she was back in town. Ryan quickly cleared up the confusion, and Annie and Ryan remarried.
Greenlee and Annie began working together at FUSION. Greenlee’s history with Kendall and Ryan made the workplace very tense for Annie. When Annie learned how Spike was conceived, she felt for Greenlee. But Greenlee did not care about Annie. She did not hide her intentions of winning Ryan back.
Greenlee tried to run away with Spike and got in a car accident. Spike was left hearing impaired. Annie was forced to face a demon in her past. Her brother, Richie Novak, was responsible for an accident that left her father, Walter Novak, deaf. Walter was quick to forgive Richie, and passed his aggression on to Annie. Annie was afraid of what Richie was capable of. She perjured herself to get Richie sent to prison for a string of robberies in her town. In the aftermath, Annie’s mother, Emma Novak, committed suicide. Walter disowned Annie.
Now with Spike going through the same issues, Annie felt compelled to turn to Walter and ask for the name of the counselor that had helped her family with his disability. All the while, Richie had infiltrated Pine Valley as the Comeback’s new bartended, Wes. Babe Carey had taken Emma and her son Adam Chandler on a picnic with Wes. Annie revealed her past to Ryan, and begged him to fin their daughter.
Annie had a hard time convincing the town about Richie’s true nature, especially Babe. Richie revealed he was dying of leukemia. Realizing he had nothing to loose, Annie was afraid of how far he would go to hurt her and the ones she loved.

2008: Ryan was shot in the head by Hannah Nichols. Though Ryan made it through recovery, their was a surprising side affect. Ryan suffered memory loss that made him believe he was living at the time when he was still engaged to Kendall. With no memories of his children or wife, Annie feared her marriage was crumbling. Richie fueled Annie’s insecurities. When Ryan did regain his memories, they were of his life with Greenlee. Annie also learned that after much trying, she was pregnant with Ryan’s child again. She had learned of his botched vasectomy and kept it a secret.
Richie was taken into custody after Babe found out he had drugged and stolen JR Chandler’s bone marrow. In court, Richie called out his sister as having perjured herself in his prior offense. Annie admitted to lying. Richie was realesed on bail. Richie blackmailed his sister into helping him by promising to get Greenlee out of town. Instead Richie kidnapped Babe. After the FUSION girls were able to rescue her, Annie stayed behind. Afraid of what Richie would do next, Annie took a crowbar and struck down her brother. She left his dead body in the middle of the road.
Richie’s death began Annie’s slow descent into madness. She tried to implicate anyone she could in Richie’s murder. Zach Slater offered to help Annie and sent her to a doctor. They had grown close while Ryan thought he was love with Kendall again. In reality, the doctor was on his payroll. Zach promised to keep Annie’s secret.
Annie decided to move out of the Penthouse and in with Babe at Chandler Mansion. Annie tried to keep Ryan away from Emma as a bargaining chip in their marriage. Annie was continually haunted by visions of her brother. Annie decided the only way to save her marriage was to get rid of Greenlee. The night she planned to shoot Greenlee, she went into labor pain. The last few months compromised her health, and she miscarried. When Ryan found Annie’s gun, he used it as leverage to gain custody of Emma.
The night a tornado crashed through Pine Valley, Emma went missing. Everyone thought she had been kidnapped. In reality, it was all a ruse put together by Annie in a last ditch effort to save her marriage. Greenlee’s husband, Aidan Devane, agreed to help her in the seemingly harmless plot. She also had an unknowing accomplice in Di, who had taken Emma on vacation in the Pine Keys. When Di realized what Annie had done, she confronted her old friend with a gun. In the sturggle, Di was shot. Annie had killed her best friend.
Annie’s finally snapped. She arrived at ConFUSION to confront Ryan, wearing her wedding dress and covered in blood. She stabbed Erica Kane. When the authorities arrived, Annie was sent to Oak Haven Sanitariun. She regressed to the mind set of a child, wrongfully thinking she was in fact Emma. Aidan went undercover to determine whether Annie’s insanity was a ruse as well.
Annie somehow escaped Oak Haven. When she went back to the Penthouse, she caught Greenlee and Ryan together.