1998: Con-man Ryan Lavery was willing to do anything for a dollar. His first scam in Pine Valley came about when he saw a bus crash on New Years. Ryan went to the hospital at pretended to be a victim in the crash so as to cash in on the settlement. Nurse Gloria Marick, a former opportunist herself, recognized his deception. She threatened to turn Ryan in to the authorities unless Ryan donated his blood to save her husband, Dimitri Marick.
Ryan pulled odd jobs and even donated sperm to make ends meet. Ryan found a stable job at WRCW. When station manager Liza Colby learned that he was receiving private cuts from their advertisement sponsors, she threatened to fire him. That is of course until Ryan agreed to Liza’s plot to protect her nephew, Scott Chandler. Hungarian princess, Gillian Andrassy, was seducing Scott. Ryan was to use his charms to lure Gillian away. Ryan led Gillian to believe that he, like Scott, was an heir to a fortune.
Kelsey Jefferson compromised Ryan’s plans when she reported Gillian to immigration. Gillian was desperate to stay in the states. Scott volunteered to marry Gillian so that she could get a green card. But, on the day of the wedding, Ryan made a plea of his own. Instead of marrying Scott, Gillian married Ryan.
Ryan learned that Gillian was just as penniless as he. Dimitri, Gillian’s cousin, allowed the couple to move into Wildwind. After a year, when Gillian’s immigration status was confirmed, Ryan was free to go with a dowry from his own account. At Wildwind, he became good friends with Hayley Vaughan. Gillian grew jealous of Ryan and Gillian’s relationship. Ryan did not want to admit it, but he was beginning to like being married to Gillian.
Ryan was accused of the rape of Kit Fisher Montgomery. Derek Frye arrived at the Crystal Ball to arrest Ryan. Hayley helped Ryan elude the authorities. He was surprised when Gillian decided to go on the run with him.

1999: Ryan found out that Gillian had slept with David Hayward to finance them while they were on the run. Ryan told Gillian their marriage was over. He was going to go on the run on his own. While they fought, the authorities caught up to them. Ryan was taken into custody.
A DNA test linked Ryan to Kit. Secretly, Ryan knew exactly who had raped Kit. His brother, Braden Lavery, had made his way to Pine Valley. As a child, Braden defended Ryan and his siblings from their father, Patrick Curry. Ryan always felt indebted to Braden. Braden arrived at the court to exonerate Ryan. He admitted to sleeping with Kit, but claimed the sex was consensual. Braden revealed his violent side in front of Dixie Cooney. Ryan stepped in front of her and took Braden’s blows. He forced Braden to admit to the rape. He gave Braden a chance to get out of town before the authorities could catch up with him.
Hayley and Ryan’s continued relationship compromised her chances at reuniting with Mateo. Mateo wrongfully accused them of having an affair. Mateo fired Ryan from SOS, and bought Hayley’s shares. Hayley made Ryan her partner on her new syndicated talk show, the Wave.

2000: Ryan attended the Crystal Ball with Greenlee Smythe. After their one night together, Greenlee became infatuated with Ryan though he could care less. With Jake out of town, Gillian turned to Ryan again. They admitted they still had feelings for each other. But Gillian wanted to remain faithful to Jake.
Ryan launched his own company, IncredibleDreams.com, and Greenlee’s grandfather, Woodfruff Greenlee, was one of the primary backers. Ryan used $1 million from the company to stage a rescue mission in Chechnya to recover Jake. Ryan and Adrian Sword went on their rescue mission. Little did they know Gillian had stowed away on their cargo ship. Gillian got in harms way, and Jake took a bullet for his wife.
Upon returning to Pine Valley, Gillian broke things off with Ryan to help Jake recover. Ryan went ahead with the launch party for IncredibleDreams.com amid the bad press he got for taking the money out of the company. Adam Chandler offered Ryan use of his yacht, Fidelity. At the party, David spiked the punch with Libidizone, causing the partygoers to fall into a drug-induced haze. In the aftermath, Ryan lost everything. He was forced to sell majority shares to Adam Chandler.
Down and out, Gillian professed her feelings for Ryan. She broke up with Jake so that they could be together.

2001: Ryan learned that Gillian was pregnant with Jake’s child. Ryan promised to love the child like his own. After a car accident, Gillian miscarried. Ryan hoped their upcoming wedding would raise her spirits. Only, since IncredibleDreams.com failed, Ryan was running low on cash flow. Dimitri surprised them with a lavish wedding at Wildwind.
Alas, their happiness was not to be. An assassin mistaking her for Anna Devane shot Gillian in the head. Ryan begged Gillian to hold on, but her injuries were too severe. Leo duPres begged Ryan to allow Gillian’s heart to go to his wife, Laura duPres. Gillian’s death sent Ryan into a downward spiral of alcoholism and depression.
Ryan had a one-night stand Liza while she was on the outs with Adam. The night resulted in her pregnancy. Marian then approached Ryan with a secret she needed to keep from Liza. Marian was being blackmailed by Mia Saunders, the sister Liza never knew she had. Little did Ryan know, Adam hired Mia to keep Ryan occupied and away from Liza. They began a loveless affair. Adam backed off after Liza miscarried their child.
Ryan found out his mother, Gail Lavery, died of lung cancer. He met another face from Gail’s past in Federal Agent Christ Stamp. Chris was responsible for Patrick’s death. Chris became very protective of Ryan and he did not know why. For the last few months, Ryan struggled to make contact with Gillian’s spirit. In a fire on Fidelity, Gillian’s ghost finally made contact. She gave Ryan the hope the live. Then, she revealed Chris, and not Patrick, was his father.

2002: Ryan and Chris began to forge a familiar bond. Through Chris he met Kendall Hart, Erica Kanes’s daughter. Ryan and Kendall’s relationship began as one of convenient sex, but it became something more. It was not long before they were engaged.
Kendall was the prime suspect in the Linden House fire. She was sure Erica was trying to frame her. She went to bug her new penthouse. To get into the construction site, Kendall had to seduce the contractor, Aidan Devane. Ryan caught Kendall in the middle of the seduction. Kendall tried to explain, but Ryan could not be consoled. He packed his things on his motorcycle and rode out of Pine Valley alone.

2003: Ryan spent most of the year traveling the country on his motorcycle. A chance encounter with Alexander Cambias in Las Vegas would change his life forever. He rescued Alexander after he had a heart attack. Alexander’s health had diminished because of his son, Michael Cambias’, troubles with the law. Ryan found out Michael was accused of raping Bianca Montgomery back in Pine Valley. When Alexander died, he surprised Ryan by naming him the heir of the Cambias fortune. Ryan was forced to return to Pine Valley to put the Cambias affairs in order.
Upon returning home, Ryan found out Michael was dead. The prime suspect was none other than Kendall, supposedly Michael’s new wife. Ryan recognized that things were not as they appeared. He thought Kendall had faked the marriage to get her hands on the Cambias fortune. The fortune would go to Kendall if Michael died before Alexander. Cambias Industries had just acquired her company, FUSION. In reality, she was trying to protect Bianca, who was secretly carrying Michael’s child. Ryan agreed to go along with the ruse.

2004: Ryan and Kendall’s plan went bust when Greenlee revealed Kendall was faking her pregnancy at trial. Luckily, Bianca admitted she had killed Michael in self-defense. Just when they though the worst was behind them, Kendall and Ryan learned Bianca’s daughter, Miranda Montgomery, had died in a helicopter rescue crash. Without another Cambias heir, Ryan inherited the Estate.
Ryan turned to Greenlee with a business proposition. Combining their shares of FUSION would give them majority ownership again. The only way they could do this was to marry. But Kendall still had feelings for Ryan. On the day he was to marry Greenlee, Kendall crashed the wedding with her declaration of love. Still, Ryan chose Greenlee. Kendall made it her mission to break up the young marriage.
Ethan Ramsey came to Pine Valley being the true Cambias heir. With no living relatives, his claim was left unsubstantiated. When Ryan was shot at The Seasons East Casino, Ethan was the prime suspect. But, Kendall maintained Ethan’s innocence. Ryan was actually part of murder game involving all the suspects of the Michael Cambias murder trial. Zach Slater had actually staged the evening. He was revealed to be the late Alexander Cambias, II.
Ryan caught his little brother, Jonathan Lavery, in bed with Kendall. Jonathan was worried that Ryan was going to push him away; but, he knew it was all part of one of Kendall’s schemes to break up his marriage. Ryan was finally thought his life was turning around with his little brother by his side, and a wife that he was actually falling in love with. Greenlee did not want to admit it, but she was falling in love with Ryan too.
Greenlee had been acting erratically. When it was revealed she had been drugged, Ryan suspected Kendall. But, Kendall had actually rescued Greenlee when she almost fell off the FUSION rooftops.
Miranda was revealed to be alive. After witnessing the reunion with Bianca, Greenlee told Ryan she wanted to have a child with him.

2005: After Miranda Montgomery was discovered to be alive, Ryan signed over the Cambias Estate to its true heir. Ryan did not know what effect this would have on Jonathan. Jonathan became violent. In a rage, he hit his girlfriend, Maggie Stone. Ryan sequestered himself with Jonathan, straining his marriage.
Greenlee thought Jonathan was responsible for her poisoning. Jonathan became the prime suspect in a brash of other crimes in Pine Valley, including the murder of Edmund Grey. Jonathan claimed the true culprit was Braden. Ryan was quick to believe Jonathan after finding letter from his older brother with instructions to Jonathan. That would all change when Jonathan kidnapped Lily Montgomery, the only witness of Edmund’s murder, and Greenlee.
In his cave hideaway, a distraught Jonathan admitted to his crimes. He was going to explode the cave with all the women and Jonathan inside if not for Ryan’s intervention. Ryan discovered Braden’s dead body. Jonathan had a psychotic break from reality after killing him. Ryan knew he had to be stopped, so he shot his brother. At the same time, the cave exploded. Ryan and Jonathan were presumed dead.
Somehow, Ryan made his way out of the cave, but he was not the same. Ryan, who had just learned Chris was not his real father and that Patrick was, was fearful that he had a genetic predisposition for violence. Not wanting to pass the gene on, he had a vasectomy. He also began taking pills David gave him to calm his rage.
Greenlee revealed she was pregnant with his child. She had stolen the sperm donation he had intended to give Liza years before. He began to take his pills when Greenlee revealed David had only given him a placebo. He was about to hit his wife for her manipulations. But, she was able to hold on for one moment. Ryan got on his motorcycle, and drove it off a cliff.
To the world, Ryan was dead. In reality, Ryan needed time to deal with his inner demons. He made his way to Nova Scotia to find his sister, Erin Lavery. He began to follow her around. He was shocked to see someone unaffected by the Lavery disposition for violence. When Ryan finally reached out to Erin, she revealed she knew exactly who she was: the man who wanted to kill her brother.
Erin was hiding a very much alive Jonathan. But something was wrong. Jonathan was experiencing severe seizures. Ryan convinced Erin to take Jonathan to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a behavioral altering brain tumor. After a successful surgery, Jonathan regressed to a child like state of mind. Doctors determined he was not a coherent state of mind when he committed his crimes. Ryan wanted to exonerate his brother, but that meant going back to Pine Valley and confronting all those he had left behind.
A lot had changed since he had left. Greenlee miscarried and Kendall was not carrying their child as a surrogate. Greenlee was not as wiling to accept Ryan’s renewed faith in Jonathan. The breaking point for their marriage came when she learned Kendall was not pregnant with her child, but her own. Greenlee, tired of being lied to, stormed out of town leaving Kendall and Ryan to deal with the prospects of sharing a child.

2006: As Ryan supported Kendall through the pregnancy, he began to question if he had fallen in love with her again. Ryan asked Ethan to help him look into Zach’s past so as to protect his son. Ryan discovered Zach was responsible for the blackout that forced Kendall to impregnate herself. When Kendall found out, she left Zach.
Kendall was admitted to the hospital after JR pushed scaffolding down on her aiming for Babe. Kendall and his son were on the brink of death. Zach refused to let the doctors operate on Kendall if they could not assure the safety of her child. He barricaded himself in her room until the baby was safe. Spike Lavery was safely delivered via emergency c-section. Ryan offered Zach a place in Spike’s life for all he did to protect his son.
Erin was part of an underground network that helped women escape their abusive husbands. Erin invited Annie McDermott to live at Ryan’s penthouse. Ryan became very close to Annie and her daughter, Emma McDermott. Annie’s husband, Terry McDermott, was a pedophile. Jonathan found Terry trying to molest Lily. In a struggle, he shot Terry dead.
Dixie kidnapped Emma claiming she was Kate. David had falsified medical records to lead Dixie on. But the ordeal forced Annie to take a DNA test that showed Annie was not Emma’s mother. Annie remembered giving birth to Emma. It turned out she was a chimera, someone with two types of DNA. In close quarters, Ryan and Annie’s friendship became romance.
Erin was found dead in the FUSION offices. She was the second victim of the Satin Slayer. Ryan and Jonathan mourned the loss of their little sister.

2007: Ryan and Zach teamed up to find the Satin Slayer after he made the connection that the killer had a vendetta against Zach. Annie cared for Spike and Emma while Ryan searched the killer. He was revealed to be Alexander, back from the dead. When Alexander learned Zach was alive, he faked his death. He has used Ryan all those years ago. Alexander kidnapped Kendall as his final victim. Ryan was able to confront his one time benefactor and take him into custody.
Ryan learned Emma was in fact his child. Annie had gone to a sperm bank to conceive her. As Ryan grew closer to Annie, she pushed him away. Annie was afraid Ryan wanted to be with her just to be Emma’s father. But Ryan proved otherwise. He asked Annie to marry him at Wildwind.
On the day he was to marry Annie, Greenlee had him arrested for bigamy. Greenlee was back in Pine Valley and wanted to reclaim her old life, including Ryan. Greenlee has never filed their divorce papers. Ryan was able to convince Greenlee to let him marry Annie, but she refused to drop her custody battle for Spike.
Greenlee got in a car accident while trying to flea town with Spike. He and Kendall watched vigil over their son as he recovered in the hospital. The doctors revealed Spike had lost his hearing.
As Ryan struggled to cope with Greenlee, Annie hid her own demons. Her brother, Richie had come to Pine Valley hatch his own plot for revenge. Annie had lied on the stand to send Richie to prison after he was responsible for an accident that left her father deaf. Richie was mentally unstable and unpredictable. Ryan got a taste for his manipulative ways when he hung himself and made it look like he and Aidan had done it.
When Greenlee and Zach went missing, Ryan and Kendall learned Zach’s condition was preexisting. When they were recovered, Ryan decided to give Greenlee a second chance.

2008: Ryan was shot in the head by Hannah Nichols, Ethan's mother. Hannah was aiming at Kendall and missed. In the aftermath, Ryan suffered from retrograde amnesia. He flashed back to the time when he was first engaged to marry Kendall. The ordeal estranged him with Annie and Zach. Annie was pregnant with Ryan’s child again. She had learned about his botched vesoctomy, but kept it a secret. Ryan was oblivious to Annie’s struggles with Richie. She was slowly descending into madness because of her brother’s antics. Richie turned up dead. Annie was the culprit, but she maintained her innocence.
When Ryan did regain his memory, he began to have feelings for Greenlee again. He saved Greenlee from drowning after a boating accident. It looked like Greenlee had moved on and married Aidan. Annie moved into Chandler Mansion with Emma. Ryan struggled to come to a custody agreement. He found a gun in Annie’s room within Emma’s reach. Ryan did not know Annie had gone to confront Greenlee with it. The stress of the last few months caused Annie to miscarry.
Ryan and Greenlee were trapped together when a tornado crashed through Pine Valley. Ryan made a move on Greenlee. Unknown to him, Aidan had spotted them. In the aftermath, Annie told Ryan Emma was kidnapped.
The kidnapping was all Annie’s plot to keep Ryan. She had teamed up with Aidan and an unsuspecting Di Henry. Emma was actually safe in the Pine Keys. Annie’s plot came to light when she accidentally killed Di while arguing with her. Annie’s final break from reality had her showing up at ConFUSION, wearing her wedding dress covered in blood. She had stabbed and almost killed Erica. Ryan had to admit his wife to Oak Haven Sanitarium.
Ryan turned to Greenlee to help him with Emma during the holidays. That Christmas, they made love again.