Olivia worried that Nathan was falling for Dru's charms. To hide her real feelings, Dru pretended to be involved with Neil Winters, an executive trainee at Jabot Cosmetics. But to Dru's surprise, Neil admitted that he was attracted to Olivia. When Olivia and Nathan announced their plans to marry, Dru reluctantly agreed to serve as maid of honor because she knew this would please her father. After Olivia married Nathan, Dru shifted her interest from ballet to modeling. She also found herself attracted to Neil, who was still intrigued by Olivia.

David Kimble realized that the only way he could get his hands on Nina's fortune was to adopt her son, Phillip. David tried to pressure Nina into agreeing to the adoption, but she resisted because of conflicting information from her pals, Danny and Chris. They were worried that Kimble would kill both Nina and Phillip once the adoption became legal.

Digging into Kimble's background, Chris came across a photo of Rebecca, wearing a broach that looked exactly like the one that David had recently given Nina. In the photo, Kimble was identified as Rebecca's husband, Tom. Chris arranged to meet with Nina to break the news about David, but Nina had already learned of her husband's secret from his lover, Diane. Nina also discovered that David was plotting to murder both her and Phillip.

Infuriated, a crazed Nina fired five gun shots at her husband. Kimble survived his wounds, but pretended to be paralyzed. Nina was arrested for trying to kill him. Terrified that she would be forced to serve a lengthy prison term, Nina fled Genoa City with her son and hid out with her mom, Florence Webster, in Detroit. Chris tracked Nina down and convinced her to return to Genoa City. But Nina skipped town again and her trial began without her. Eventually, Nina returned and attended her court hearing, she was accompanied by her mom, who came to Genoa City to give her daughter emotional support. While on the witness stand, Nina testified that she shot David out of self-defense because she was convinced that he wanted to kill her and Phillip. Her emotional testimony moved the jury and they found her not guilty.

Soon after, David faked his own death in a hospital fire. But a plastic surgeon, who David had pressured into altering his features, outwitted Kimball by carving the word "KILLER" on his forehead. With the help of a make-up artist, Kimball covered the incriminating word with make-up and created a new disguise for himself. Posing as "Jim Adams," Kimble began dating Flo, which ensured that he would be able to keep a constant eye on Nina. David even married Flo and manipulated Nina into changing her will so that he and Flo would be co-beneficiaries in the event of Nina's death. At a masquerade ball, where Nina, Danny and Chris were also guests, David attended with the intent of killing them. But David's former mistress, Diane, learned of his plan and replaced the bullets in his gun with fake ones. While David was being pursued by the police, he met his untimely death in a trash compactor.