It was 1985 when Nikki Newman first began to lose Victor Newman to Ashley Abbott. Victor couldn't get Ashley out of his mind. The great man knew Ashley was a strong-willed, capable, beautiful woman and he had fallen in love with her. At the end of 1985, Ashley had just found out that Brent Davis was her father. The news had traumatized her. In the rain, Ashley walked through the streets of Genoa City and into a park where her purse was stolen by a thief. She staggered onto a nearby highway and was picked up by two men in a truck. One of the men, Vince, planned to drop Ashley off in the next town but the truck developed mechanical problems so they all stopped at a truck stop for repairs. The three spent the night at a motel in separate rooms. In the morning, the truckers had gone leaving Ashley stranded.

A hooker Ashley ran into gave her a ride to the next town and dropped her at a diner owned by some dude named Tom who felt sorry for the stranger. Ashley told Tom her name was Annie. Tom gave her a job and a place to stay.

Meantime, Victor had found out too that Brent Davis was Ashley's father and began searching for her. The trucker driver Vince too had decided to go back and find out what happened to Ashley. Vince arrived at the diner first, got Ashley alone and forced her into a back room where he planned to rape her. Just as he was about to do the dirty deed the sound of screeching tires was heard. Vince tied Ashley up, zipped into the diner wearing a chef's hat and waited on Victor. Vince told Victor that Ashley had been at the diner but left with two men.

Victor looked up at the menu and saw the words 'Annie's Apple Pies", At first he didn't think much of it by as he drove off Victor realized that the A in Annie matched the A's in Ashley Abbott. Victor raced back to the diner, rescued Ashley and took her back to the Newman ranch where he notified John Abbott that Ashley was safe but that she had lost her memory and needed to be with somebody she could trust.

In time, Ashley got her memory back and stayed with Victor. Jack Abbott figured out Ashley was his half-sister. Dina Mergeron, Jack's mother, was Ashley's mother too.

While this was going on, Katherine Chancellor and Brent Davis had gone on a cruise because Brent was distraught for having told Ashley the truth. When the returned, Dina confronted Brent for telling the truth. Dina pulled out a gun intending to kill Brent but Katherine stepped in the way and took the slug. Brent ripped the gun from Dina's hands leaving his fingerprints all over the weapon. Katherine saved Brent's butt by telling the authorities he didn't shoot her but didn't say who did and the cops dropped the matter.

Later that year Brent died from liver problems.

Meantime, Nikki Newman had grown restless. While Victor had bonded with Ashley, Nikki turned her attention to Jack Abbott and asked Victor for a divorce. Upon hearing the news, Victor ran to Ashley and asked her to marry him. Likewise, Nikki had hoped Jack would marry her but Jack made it clear. He only wanted her for the sex.

A short time later, Nikki's sister, Dr. Casey Reed, discovered that Nikki had a fatal disease and told Victor who ordered Casey not to tell Nikki. In an attempt to help Nikki live out her final days in happiness, Victor tried to repair the damage.

Ashley was in Paris at the time where she had just found out she was pregnant with Victor's baby. She raced home to spread the good news only to learn about Nikki's illness. Not wanting to ruin Nikki's final days, Ashley didn't tell Victor and had an abortion.

Complicating matter, Matt Newman, Victor's brother, was hot for both Ashley and Nikki. He didn't want to see either one of the ladies hurt. Matt even offered to be the father to Ashley's baby but Ashley declined. Victor found out too late about the abortion. He sped to a cabin where Ashley was staying. The two had a terrible argument and Ashley ran out into a driving rain storm. Ashley was found later wandering the streets of New York. The sound of a baby crying rang in her ears, she was committed to a nut house.

Lauren Fenmore, like most people in Genoa City, has so many former husbands and lovers it's had to keep track of them all. In the early years, Lauren wanted to be a singer. Her biggest fan, Shawn Garrett, was president of Lauren's fan club and didn't like the fact she was married to Paul Williams. Shawn had to know what Laruen was doing every minute of every day. He had her apartment bugged in order to know what she and Paul were up to. He especially like to listen in on their love sessions.