Rick returned, however, determined to get revenge against Blade. Mari Jo tried to keep the two brothers apart. However, Blade while rushing home to protect Ashley from Rick, was killed in a car wreck. At the funeral, Rick introduced himself to Ashley. Mari Jo confided to Jill Abbott that Rick had posed as Blade for several months, and Jill broke this news to Ashley. Devastated, a grieving Ashley relocated to Paris.

Frustrated by Victor's remote behavior, a pregnant Hope returned to her farm in Kansas after she received word that Cliff had been injured in an accident. While Cliff recuperated, Hope extended her stay. Victor's friend, Douglas, arrived at the farm and pressured Hope to return to Victor. During their argument, Hope accidentally tripped over a chair and had to be rushed to the hospital. Victor arrived to make sure Hope was okay and then he returned home. The next day, Hope gave birth to a baby boy, whom she named Victor Adam Newman. To Victor Sr.'s disappointment, Hope decided to stay in Kansas and raise their son on her farm.

Brad began romancing Nikki. Their relationship escalated and Brad proposed marriage. Nikki told Brad that while she was interested, the timing wasn't right. She promise to reconsider his proposal at a later date. When Brad told Lauren that he loved Nikki, Lauren packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles, where she entered into a business venture with Eric Forrester.

Ex-wife and husband, Chris and Danny shared a tender kiss on the day before Chris's wedding to Paul. Phyllis saw them together. Determined to keep Chris away from Danny, Phyllis rented a car the next day and sped towards Chris. In order to save Chris, Paul jumped in front of the car and they were both struck down. Chris' and Paul's friends and family waited patiently for their arrival at the church. It was Lauren who received the call and had to tell everyone that there had been an accident. Chris survived the accident with minor injuries, but Paul was devastated when the doctor announced that the accident had left him sexually dysfunctional. Feeling incomplete as a man, Paul canceled their wedding without any explanation, which left Chris devastated. She tried to take her mind off their break-up by gathering dirt on Phyllis so that Danny could get a divorce and custody of his son. But Phyllis caught on. To keep Chris off her case, Phyllis altered her son, Daniel's, blood tests so that it looked as if Danny really was his dad. Paul finally recovered from his impotency and made love to Chris.

Danny agreed to live with Phyllis for four months, since he believed her promise that she would then agree to divorce him. But when the four months were up, Phyllis had had a change of heart. When Danny tried to see his son, Phyllis called the police and got a restraining order against him. Phyllis eventually calmed down and made peace with Danny.

Malcolm apologized to Dru for sleeping with her when she was drugged on cold medication. Soon after, Malcolm landed a photography assignment with Dru as the model. And a few months later, Dru gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Lily, and who might be Malcolm's child, or Neil's. Meanwhile, Malcolm attempted to have a relationship with an attractive doctor named Stephanie, but her medical practice kept her too busy for a personal life.

Victoria became jealous of the time that Cole spent with Jeri on a writing project. But Jeri became a non-issue when Cole made it clear that he loved Victoria. Jeri accepted this and returned to her life in New York.

After a fallout with Neil Winters at Jabot, Ryan accepted a job to work for Jill Abbott.

Following Jill's orders, John Silva revealed in court that John Abbott had had a vasectomy without Jill's knowledge after their son, Billy, had been born. Meanwhile, John acknowledged his romantic feelings for Mamie and promised that they would be together after his divorce and custody battle were resolved. On the day before the verdict was announced, John suffered a stroke that resulted in a loss of memory. Jill used John's stroke to her advantage and convinced him that they had decided to stay together.

Eventually, John recovered and regained his memory, which prompted him to reactivate the divorce and custody battle. Of course, Mamie was thrilled that John was once again interested in pursuing their relationship. However, just before a ruling was about to be made, John and Jill decided to stay married for Billy's sake, which left Mamie heartbroken. In order to keep Mamie away from John, Jill offered her a million dollars and Mamie accepted. By the time John realized what Jill had done, Mamie had met Trent Jones, a business executive, and immediately found herself attracted to him. They left town for an extended cruise.

Olivia Hastings grew concerned about Nathan's health when he lost his desire to make love to her. Soon after, Paul discovered that Nathan was having an affair with a sexy woman named Keesha Monroe. When Neil found out about this, he confronted Nathan. Nathan promised to break off with Keesha, but Neil suspected that he was lying. So Neil told tells Dru about Nathan's infidelity to her sister. Olivia was thrilled when Nathan agreed that they should have another baby. And Keesha began dating Malcolm, which troubled both Neil and Dru.