For Erica's Beginnings

1995: Kendall left Pine Valley after the death of her adoptive father, Bill Hart. Mother and daughter came to an understanding about their estranged relationship.
Erica found a new fame with her talk show, “The Cutting Edge.” That all came to a crashing halt when Erica suffered a debilitating fall during an on-air fashion show. As Erica recovered at the hospital, her partner in crime Tad Martin took over he hosting duties. The changed proved so successful, Erica was asked not to come back.
The pain for the injury proved to be too much for Erica to handler. She became addicted to painkillers. Realizing she was running out of the drugs, Erica tried to steal prescription notes from Edmund’s wife, Dr. Maria Grey. Maria recognized that Erica had the classic signs of addiction. Erica lashed out against her. Dimitri wanted to reduce the tension, so he suggested they move to the Linden house.
Erica turned to her longtime agent, Olga Swenson, in her search for painkillers. She referred her to a new age doctor named Dr. Jonathan Kinder. Jonathan’s treatment did nothing but fuel her addiction. Dimitri did not trust Jonathan. When Erica refused to stop her treatment, Dimitri moved into the Hunting Lodge.
Dimitri’s suspicions about Jonathan were warranted. While under the influence, Erica became susceptible to his seduction. Erica slept with Jonathan. Realizing her mistake, she tried to get away from him. She crashed her car into Maria’s, leaving her unconscious at the wheel. Jonathan promised to take care of everything as long as Erica did not leave him.
Dimitri tried to reconcile with Erica. Erica wanted to be honest so she admitted her infidelity and crashing into Maria. Dimitri lashed out at her. One New Year’s Eve, he served her with divorce papers.

1996: Erica’s addiction hit rock bottom when she was honored as the Media Woman of the Year. At the televised awards ceremony, Erica made a fool of herself while under the influence of the drugs. She turned to Myrtle. Myrtle helped her check into rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic.
Upon returning to Pine Valley, Erica was welcomed by Dimitri’s divorce papers. Erica thought her marriage could be saved. But, Jonathan had other plans. He drugged Erica and crawled into bed with her again. When Dimitri caught them together, he finalized their divorce.
Erica was hell-bent on revenge. She teamed up with Janet Green and Skye Chandler to entrap Jonathan. Each woman had a piece of knowledge about Jonathan’s greater abuse of addictive drugs on patients. But before the women could act, Jonathan attempted to kidnap Bianca. In a struggle, Jonathan fell down the Linden House steps to his death. The women buried Jonathan in a shallow grave and promised to say nothing to anyone to protect Bianca.
Erica was shocked to find Jonathan’s grave all dug up. The women learned that Marian Colby had assisted Jonathan in his escape to the Caribbean. But, Jonathan betrayed Marian and emptied her bank account. This time, the authorities were tipped off about Jonathan’s whereabouts, and he was taken into custody.

1997: Erica learned she was pregnant with Dimitri’s child. She made her way back into her lover’s arms. But, on their proposed wedding day, Erica collapsed at the altar. She had miscarried their child.
Erica was suspicious of Dimitri and Maria’s new closeness. When Maria admitted she had an affair with Dimitri, Erica suspected that Maria’s unborn child was Dimitri’s. Erica cornered Maria in a cabin in the woods in a middle of a storm. The stress caused Maria to go into early labor. Erica helped Maria in her labor. She tried to rush the baby girl to the hospital. But, on the way, Erica’s car skidded off into a river. Erica searched for the baby to no avail.
Everyone thought Maria’s child was dead. But Erica knew better. She tracked down the baby to a trailer park where a woman name Esther Glynn had found her. Erica arranged to make it look like she had adopted a baby from Russia, naming her Sonya Kane. In truth, it was the Grey’s missing child.
Seeing Maria grieve for her daughter caused Erica to admit to her deception. Her lie was the final draw for Dimitri. Erica was sent to prison for kidnapping. Again, it was Jack who helped her piece together her life. Jack did his best to get the charges dropped to no avail.
Bianca ran away to Pine Valley. Travis had written Erica a letter warning Erica to never make contact with her daughter. Erica realized something else was wrong with Bianca. Secretly, Bianca was anorexic. After she was hospitalized, Travis and Barbara made their way back to Pine Valley to retrieve Bianca. Erica blamed Barbara’s favoritism to her biological children as the culprit behind Bianca’s disorder. Travis blamed Erica’s antics as putting pressure on their daughter. But as much as Erica wanted to help her, she could do nothing from prison.
Maria died in a plane accident coming back from New York. Edmund could not bear to see another child loose their mother. He dropped all charges against Erica. Erica and the Montgomerys staged an intervention. Bianca admitted to her disease and agreed to go to a clinic in New England to recover.

1998: Erica was convinced Linden was haunted. Jackson tried to assuage her fear. One night, she confronted the ghost she saw. To her surprise it was Mike Roy, back from the dead. Mike had in fact never died. He had become a secret agent, and the death was his cover. Jackson worried that Erica was going to leave him for Mike. Erica was now in love with Jackson. She begged Mike to leave her alone. He promised to leave Pine Valley, if Erica spent one last night with him. She gave him his wish, and Mike left. When Jackson found out, he ended their engagement.

1999: Erica became friends with Dr. David Hayward. David’s mother, Vanessa Bennett, became her houseguest. Little did she know, Vanessa was using her position to profit from a tell-all book about Erica.
Erica caught up with David in New York. David was rushing back to Pine Valley, and Erica needed a ride. But their car got in a blizzard and David swerved off the road. Erica was impaled by metal rod and her face was cut open. David performed emergency surgery. At the hospital, David encouraged everyone to not tell Erica bout her scarred face. Erica fell in love with her hero, not knowing that David was lying to her everyday about the condition of her face. It was Vanessa who would reveal to Erica her disfigurement.
David tried to make it up to Erica by arranging for a special surgery in Brazil. Erica was relieved to see her face back to its immaculate condition. Erica warmed up to David again. Dimitri mysteriously died of a brain aneurism on a plane flight back to Pine Valley. He left in his will a foundation at the hospital. Erica voted for David to lead the foundation. But Dr. Alex Marick, Dimitri’s ew-wife and Erica’s new rival, was supposed to take the helm. Erica did not trust Alex and wrongfully accused her of killing Dimitri.

2000: Erica thought David’s attention was elsewhere. To make him jealous, she began seeing a gigolo named Paolo. Paolo had his own intentions for Erica that was less than honorable. David saved her before he could blackmail her.
Erica welcomed Bianca back to Pine Valley. Bianca was acting differently. Bianca’s visit became a permanent arrangement when Jack got shocking news from Seattle. Travis had died of a sudden stroke. Erica already worried about Bianca’s depressed mood. She asked David’s brother, Leo duPres, to keep an eye out on her. Her own relationship with David was waning.
Erica and Bianca were supposed to launch a new Enchantment campaign together. Bianca stayed at home, depressed because over a recent visit from a friend named Sarah. Erica finally confronted Bianca on what was bothering her. Bianca revealed she had loved Sarah. Bianca was a lesbian. Erica did not hide her shock from the news well. Bianca left the Linden House to be with Jack. She took a room at Myrtle’s hoping Erica would learn to accept her sexual orientation.

2001: Erica found Bianca at the hospital after Sarah came back to Pine Valley for her. Sarah was not eating again. Erica watched Bianca bravely confront Sarah over her eating disorder. Erica then confronted Sarah’s mother for abandoning her in her time of need. Bianca realized Erica still loved her. They began to make strides to repair their relationship.
Erica found out David had tested Libidizone on her. She was a recovering addict and could not believe David had put her in harms way. She put aside her anger when Brooke needed someone to perform a life saving heart surgery on her daughter. Erica knew David was the only one who could save Laura. Erica dropped the drug charges so that David could be awarded bail for his larger drug possession charge.
Erica was suspicious of her new janitor Chris Stamp. Erica believed that Chris was a spy from a rival cosmetics company. No matter what Erica did, Chris never broke his cover. Finally, he revealed that a crime lord named Proteus was using Enchantment as a front for a drug ring. The evidence of this was a drug shipment that had been slipped among Enchantment’s latest parcel.
Erica met Frankie Stone after she tried to con her with a staged car accident. Erica became infuriated when Frankie insinuated herself in Bianca’s life. Soon, they were dating. Erica enlisted Opal’s help in her plot to break them up. Opal was to offer Frankie a place to stay at Cortlandt Manor. Then, Erica tried to plant drugs in her room.
Bianca came to Erica after she found Frankie in bed with JR Chandler. Erica said she was going to kill Frankie. The next day, Frankie was found dead in her room. Erica feared that Bianca had killed Frankie and turned herself in for the murder. Jack was forced to prosecute the case. Chris stepped up to defend Erica. But, when it looked like Chris was going to get Erica off, Erica fired him. She needed to protect her daughter.
Erica was saddened to miss the Crystal Ball. Chris surprised her by throwing an intimate party for just them at Linden House. Erica realized she was falling for him.

2002: Kendall came crashing back into Pine Valley with the sole purpose of incriminating Erica on the stand. She concocted a story about how Erica contact her about a getaway incase she was convicted. Bianca began to have flashes of memory to the night of Frankie’s murder. With the help of Frankie’s twin, Maggie Stone, they realized Vanessa had murder Frankie. Frankie knew Vanessa was Proteus, the drug lord that had been terrorizing Pine Valley. Erica was happy to reunite with Bianca, but she kept Kendall at arms length.
The Linden House caught fire, and an investigation suggested it was arson. Erica was sure it was Kendall’s doing. Chris helped Erica move past the loss of her childhood home. Erica planned to build a penthouse on top of her office at Enchantment. Bianca surprised Erica by announcing her interest to work with her mother at Enchantment after graduation.
Vanessa had paralyzed Chris in a shootout. Erica was frustrated that Chris had given up on his recovery. She threatened to leave him. He surprised her by taking his first steps. He proposed to Erica, and she accepted.

2003: Erica felt smothered by Chris. She threw herself into her work. Erica found Jack distraught after visiting his autistic daughter, Lily Montgomery. Erica wanted to spend the night to help Jack cope with Lily’s illness. But the close quarters pulled them together. Erica and Jack slept with each other. When Chris found out, he left Erica. Erica was devastated when the news came that Chris had died protecting Maddie from an assassin at Wildwind.
Erica found herself in a corporate battle against Kendall’s new company, FUSION, and Michael Cambias’ Cambias Industries. Michael’s father, Alexander Cambias, had attempted a take over before and failed. Erica was sitting on a revolutionary anti-aging cream formula. She knew Michael was going to try and steal the formula. She planted a fake formula so that his mole, Lena Kundera, could find it. She also had him confess on tape that he planned to ditch Kendall as soon as the takeover was complete. Armed with both pieces of evidence, Erica forced Alexander to give her a seat on the Board of Directors of Cambias Industries.
Michael plotted his own sadistic form of revenge. Erica caught Michael attempting to rape Kendall. After successfully warding him off, Erica began flashing back to the night of her own rape. Kendall stood by her as she relived her rape in her mind. Kendall’s presence helped Erica cope with the trauma. After recovering, Erica decided she wanted Kendall to be a part of her life.
Jack and Erica’s relationship was back on track. Jack was admitted to the hospital after his body went into shock while recovering from a gunshot wound. Erica was put off by the presence of Mary Smythe, Greenlee’s mother. Mary had long been harboring a secret: Jack was Greenlee’s father. Erica hired Tad to investigate Mary. Tad found out Mary was on the run from France after she had an affair with a teenager. Erica used the news to blackmail Mary to keep quiet about Greenlee. She knew Mary would make moves to win over Jack if not. When Jack awoke, he proposed to Erica. Erica though the secret was safe. Little did she know, it was Greenlee’s transfusion that would save Jack’s life.
On the day Erica and Jack were to marry, Greenlee stormed the Valley Inn. Mary had just broken her silence. As proof, Greenlee revealed that it was her blood that saved Jack. She also revealed Erica’s blackmail. Jack left Erica at the altar.
Bianca revealed Michael had raped her in retaliation for what Erica and Kendall did. Erica did her best to help her daughter cope, but she was still dealing with the demons of her own rape. Bianca had destroyed any evidence of the rape. Jack was unable to indict Michael. So, Erica enlisted David’s help to make Michael pay. David created a drug to castrate Michael. But before they could execute their plans, Michael was already dead.
Kendall revealed she had married Michael and was pregnant with his child. Erica saw Kendall’s actions as her final betrayal. Erica felt no sympathy for her daughter when Kendall was charged with Michael’s murder.

2004: Erica worried that she may have killed Michael after realizing she could not remember the night he had died. She asked Tad to investigate into the matter as a favor. The true killer turned out to be Bianca. Bianca also revealed that she was still pregnant with Mihael’s son. She had all intentions of giving birth. Erica could not bear the thought of another child in her family being a result of rape.
Bianca gave birth in the middle of one of Pine Valley’s worst storm. Bianca and her daughter, Miranda Montgomery, were rushed to the hospital. Their rescue helicopter crashed. Miranda did not make it. Bianca lashed out at her mother and blamed her for Miranda’s death.
Erica got word that Eric was dying. She made her way to Las Vegas only to learn her father was already dead. Erica began to be haunted by visions of Eric’s shadow. Bobby Warner, Palmer’s grandson, found Erica and offered her a place to stay at The Season’s Casino. Bobby was feeding off her vulnerabilities to make a profit. Hotel owner Zach Grayson also paid close attention to Erica. He promised her anonymity and the alias of dancer Desiree Duboise. But Zach, also let Erica sink deeper into alcoholism. When Erica realized she was being played, she called Ryan Lavery to rescue her.
Returning to Pine Valley, Erica’s alcoholism worsened. She went to Jack’s apartment to one night to confront him about leaving her at the altar. There, she ran into Lily Montgomery, Jack’s autistic daughter. Lily went into a panicked state after Erica confronted her. It was the last draw for Jack. He knew Erica needed help.
All of Erica’s family and friends participated in Jack’s staged intervention. But Erica was not going to have any of it. Even emotional pleas from her own daughters went unanswered. It would be Mark’s surprise appearance that would finally break through to her. Mark forced Erica to admit to her drinking problem. He needed to know what was causing it. Erica finally revealed that she had been haunted by memories of her own rape over the last year. Eric’s death only brought all of her memories back to the surface. Erica revealed Eric had exchanged to Fields so that he would promise to be in his next movie. The father she had loved and idolized had betrayed her. With the truth of her rape out, Erica finally began to cope with her trauma. She could finally help Bianca deal with her own rape, and build a relationship with Kendall.
With Jack and Tom’s help, she entered alcohol rehabilitation. Tom volunteered to be her sponsor.
Jack and Erica began to make strides to reunite. Jack proposed to Erica again. That same night, the couple got word that Bianca had fallen into a coma after falling off a terrace while arguing with JR Chandler. JR and Babe Chandler’s daughter, Bess Chandler, was actually Miranda. Bianca had just learned the truth and was struggling with JR for her child. Erica went to confront Adam. She told him no grandchild of hers was going to be raised in the Chandler Mansion. Erica, Adam, Jack and Tad confronted JR with DNA evidence that Bess was Miranda. Erica rushed to the hospital with Miranda in her arms. She lay the child in Bianca’s arms hoping her daughter would awake. On Christmas Eve, she got the miracle she needed. Bianca awoke with her daughter in her arms.
After the bittersweet reunion, Erica learned Babe’s mother Krystal Carey and David had known about the baby switch and helped cover it up. After personally warning David that what he did was a declaration of war, she had them arrested for kidnapping.

2005: Erica’s reunion with Miranda was bittersweet. Bianca announced she was leaving Pine Valley to start a new life in Paris. Bianca promised to return for her wedding to Jack. But, family drama compromised the wedding from ever happening.
Erica never liked Greenlee. She and Jack to opposite sides when it came to her marriage with Ryan Lavery, one of Erica’s closest friends. Kendall was also planning a business deal with Zach. Erica wanted her family to finally be rid of the Cambias curse. Jack wanted Erica to not intervene in their children’s lives. After a night of arguments, Erica called the wedding off.
But, Jack was not going to take “no” for an answer this time. He arranged for all their children to meet them in Boca Raton, Florida. He kidnapped Erica in a yacht. Isolated, Erica and Jack resolved their issues. They married in front of their combined families. Even Bianca and Miranda came out to witness the union.
Erica launched her newest business venture, a talk show called “New Beginnings.” Kendall convinced Erica to hire upstart Josh Madden as her production assistant. Erica was at first hesitant, but quickly impressed by his work. But, Erica was uneasy around Josh’s father, Dr. Greg Madden. Something about him made Erica stand on guard.

2006: Erica asked Tad to help her learn more about Greg. She learned he was the doctor that performed her abortion. During the procedure, he saved fetus and implanted it in his own wife. Erica’s new assistant Josh, was also her son.
Josh had his own machinations in mind. He was secretly drugging her in an attempt to take over as host of New Beginnings. They were trapped together after the explosion at the Mardi Gras Ball. Josh realized the wrongs of his ways. When Erica stopped breathing, it was Josh’s medical intervention that would save her.
When the truth about Josh came out, it further contributed to the tension in Erica’s marriage. Jeff returned to Pine Valley to get to know his son. Erica moved into the Valley Inn, across the hall from her ex-husband. One night, she found him in a daze. He had contracted malaria while living in Africa. Jeff flashed back to when they were happily married. In a moment of weakness, Erica slept with Jeff.
Kendall was admitted to the hospital after an accident at FUSION. The surgery necessary to save Kendall’s life compromised that of her child. Zach refused to let the doctors treat Kendall until he was sure her son was safe. Erica tried to be reinstated as her next of kin. She was not ready to loose her daughter. Kendall made it through the ordeal. Erica welcomed her second grandchild, Spike Lavery.
Bianca returned to Pine Valley after she caught Maggie with another woman. Bianca found out about Erica’s own affair. She demanded Erica to tell Jack.

2007: With her marriage in shambles, Erica focused on her children, specifically Bianca and Josh. Bianca was growing close to a transgender rockstar named Zoe Luper, and Josh refused to relent in his pursuit of Babe. In reality, Erica had turned her back on Jack until Barbara came back to town. Erica walked in on Barbara and Jack in bed together. Erica and Jack formally separated and began the process of divorce.
Erica was offered an exclusive television contract to produce a reality show around her divorce. But as Jack and Erica spent time together onscreen, they realized they very much still had feelings for each other. Not wanting to loose out on the money, Erica made Jack promise to pretend they were still getting a divorce. Barbara caught on to their charade. She worked to reveal Erica’s show as a fraud.
Erica came to terms with Bianca and Zoe’s friendship. As a peace offering, she featured Zoe on an episode of New Beginnings. After the show, Bianca and Miranda left for Paris once again.
On the day Erica and Jack’s divorce was to be finalized, Kendall went into labor and Spike got in a terrible car accident with Greenlee. Kendall gave birth to a very premature son, Ian Slater. The accident left Spike deaf. Erica worried about her grandchildren’s welfare. She made Joe promise to save them.
Greenlee’s role in Spike’s accident further pushed Jack and Erica apart. Because of the accident, they were unable to withdraw the declaration of divorce. Jack blamed Erica for the divorce citing that she never forgave him for testifying against her at Bianca’s custody hearing.
Bianca returned to Pine Valley for Christmas. Bianca was disappointed to see Jack and Erica’s broken marriage. She reminded her mother that even though they were no longer married, they were still a family.

2008: Erica was blindsided when she arrested for insider trading at the FUSION "Go Red" fashion show. She had acted on a stock tip given to her by Adam. US Attorney Samuel Woods used her public arrest as a political power play. He was running for the open Senate seat and wanted to appear hard on celebrity criminals. Erica refused to be a pawn in his games. She went to prison before trial and admitted to her act.
After a hard start, Erica found her bearings in prison. She befriended cell mate Carmen Morales. When their prison transport got in a crash, Carmen went on the run with Erica handcuffed to her. Carmen was determined to proove her own innocence. Her boyrfriend Armando had framed her for a robbery that he actually comitted. They confronted Armando. Jack and Zach arrived on the scene to rescue Erica. Erica asked Jack to represent Carmen. He succesfully got her paroled. Erica arranged for Carmen to work as Adam’s maid.
Erica also grew closer to Sam. Sam and Erica were trapped together during a lockdown. Sam opened up about his struggles to be a single father after his wife’s death in the September 11 attacks. When Erica was realesed, she began to see Sam openly. Jackson reacted by dating Carmen. Sam left Pine Valley to continue his Senate Run. He asked Erica to travel with him, but Erica felt like she had been away from her home and family for too long already.
Kendall turned to Erica when she learned Adam had a growing interest in FUSION. Erica was supposed to determine what Adam’s interest exactly was. Erica openly flirted with Adam in an attempt to make him vulnerable. The nigth a tornado crashed through Pine Valley, Erica and Adam were trapped together in the Chandler tunnels. Thinking they were going to die. Adam admitted he tainted FUSION’s Bella fragrance so as to put the company under.
That night, Kendall fell into a coma after the roof of her beach house collapsed on her. Bianca was also found in the rubble. She gave birth to a baby girl, Gabrielle Montgomery. Bianca revealed Zach had agreed to be a donor so that she could have another child closely related to Miranda. Bianca was now engaged to architect Resse Williams. Erica threw herself into preparing for their upcoming wedding, as well as her new job at FUSION, having taken over Kendall’s proxy.
At a benefit for tornado relief at ConFUSION, a crazed Annie Lavery stabbed Erica. After her recovery, Adam had Erica move into Chandler Mansion. His blood had saved her during surgery. Adam admitted her had feelings for Erica again. Erica maintained that Adam still made her sick.
Erica was devestated when Myrtle died peacefully in her sleep. Erica had the hard task of telling everyone in Pine Valley what had happened. Zach opened a special room in Myrtle’s honor at The Season’s East Casino.