See also: Christine 'Bug' Blair was runaway at early age

The George Rawlins story

It was 1988 when Cassandra Hall met detective Paul Williams at an art exhibit of all places. Learning Hall was an interior decorator, Williams hired her to redecorate his office. When the job was complete Williams asked Hall to redecorate his apartment. It didn't take long for the two to become romantically involved. Over the objections of his mother and former wife, Williams proposed marriage.

At the time, Williams had a friend named George Rawlins. Rawlins invited Williams to dinner where he introduced his wife to Williams. The woman turned out to be Hall. Concerned his friend didn't have a woman in his life, Rawlins took on the task of finding female companionship for Williams. Rawlins had a niece named Brittany who just happened to be interested in Williams. Hall was opposed to the match and Jack Abbott popped into the picture to say he was interested in Brittany who just happened to work for the IRS auditing the Jabot Cosmetics books.

As time went on, Rawlins told Williams he feared his wife had plans to leave him for a younger man. He felt perhaps a baby might change her mind and asked Williams if he would like to be a sperm donor. Williams refused.

Brittany suspected Cassandra only wanted George for his money and Mary Williams concluded Cassandra would be good for her son until she found out Cassandra was married. When Cassandra asked George for a divorce he collapsed with a heart attack. Had he heard what she said? Cassandra wasn't sure so she waited for another opportunity to tell him.

Rawlins recovered but his doctor had discovered poor George was dying from a terminal illness and didn't have long to live.

As 1989 rolled around, George had rented an office across the street from the Williams Detective Agency. While peering through the windows one day George was stunned to see his wife and Williams in an embrace. George began plotting. He filed down the safety on his gun and asked Williams to take it to a gunsmith for repair. Then George wrote a letter stating that Williams had committed fraud. George even created false invoices showing Williams had overcharged him for some security work he'd done and replaced the real invoices in William's office with fakes. Next, George staged an argument with Paul when he knew Victor Newman would overhear.

After Paul returned the gun Brittany later found her uncle dead.

Williams knew that if the cops found out he and Cassandra were having an affair he'd be convicted. What Paul didn't know was that Cassandra was also seeing a man named Adrian.

Victor Newman knew Paul was being set up and offered to help his father, Carl Williams, who at the time was working on the case on his own time. Word got out that someone matching Paul's description was seen burying a gun which turned out to be the murder weapon and Paul was arrested.

Cassandra bailed Paul of of jail and warned they couldn't be seen together. Later, when the gunsmith said the gun had been tampered with, Paul got a clue. Meantime, Victor, Carl and Brittany were becoming suspicious of Cassandra grieving widow act. All along Cassandra was having secret meetings with Adrian who wanted to leave town with her but Cassandra wanted to stay until Paul was convicted.

Phone records let Paul to Adrian and later to files in Adrian's home linking him to George.

Cassandra took the witness stand at Paul's trial. She admitted she was having an affair with the defendant. Desperate, Paul faked his own death and went undercover to find the real killer.

The court took the suicide as an admission of guilt and closed the case. Thinking she was in the clear, Cassandra went to Bermuda with Adrian. Paul told Mary he was alive and to keep her mouth shut about it. He and Carl headed for Bermuda.

As the year came to an end, Carl tried to get the murder case reopened. He showed the cops a photo of Cassandra wearing the same earrings she said had been stolen the night of George's murder. The case was not reopened. Paul knew they only way out was to get Cassandra to confess. He dreamed up schemes to break her, including speaking from the grave!

In 1990, Paul had managed to 'spook' Cassandra by having her find him dead in her bed in Bermuda. Carl moved in for the kill and placed her under house arrest as Paul discovered that Adrian was a hired gun.

Cassandra was indicted and accepted Adrian's marriage proposal certain he would try to kill her. As soon as they were hitched Adrian made plans. He hired a Cassandra look-alike, cut the phone lines and gave Cassandra drugs that paralyzed her but left her mentally alert. Adrian propped her up in a chair with a loaded gun mounted on a block of dry ice aimed at her head. When the ice melted, Cassandra would be dead. An apparent suicide?

Meantime, Victor had raced to Cassandra's home when he figured out something was wrong and saved the day. When Adrian returned he found a blood-soaked body but noticed the body seemed to be moving. Adrian emptied his gun into the body before realizing the bullets were blanks and the blood was fake. Victor and Carl popped out of the shadows and Adrian was arrested.

Despite all the grief, Paul couldn't get over Cassandra but she had fallen for Victor! When Victor announced he was taking daughter Victoria to the Swiss Alps Cassandra wanted to tag along. Unfortunately for Cassandra, Victor told her he wasn't interested.

Cassandra turned her sights on Brad Carlton and offered him a full-time position at a company named, Ra-Tech. As 1990 came to an end, Cassandra had convinced Brad to go on a trip to Aspen. Along the way she drugged Brad and flew him to Vegas where they were married.

In 1991, Brad and Cassandra returned to Genoa City as man and wife. Brad became CEO of Ra-Tech but later ended the marriage when he learned what Cassandra had done. Paul stepped back into Cassandra's life. On the day Cassandra was rushing to see him after signing divorce papers she was hit by a truck and died.

Katherine Chancellor & Rex Sterling

Just as Katherine Chancellor and Rex Sterling had exchanged wedding vows, their wedding was pooped on by Nina Webster who was pregnant with Phillip Chancellor the third's baby. Like Rex, Nina was about to marry into the Chancellor money when she began having labor pains.

Instead of going on their honeymoon, Rex and Katherine spent the night at the Center 4 Disease and waited for what Nina described as their "wedding present." Nina's baby was name Phillip Chancellor the fourth.

It didn't take Rex and Katherine long to break up. After a minor disagreement with his bride, Rex turned to Jill Foster Abbott for comfort. Jill was so hot for Rex she got him to a Justice of the Peace and they were married.

Katherine managed to have the marriage declared invalid and Rex eventually returned to Katherine and were married again! With no friends, Rex asked John Abbott to be his best man and Jill would be the matron of honor.

As the wedding date inched closer, Jill was frantically trying to trick John into signing a marriage license, had no trouble obtaining a blood sample from the old geezer and convinced Katherine to participate in a double-marriage.

As the ceremony got underway, Katherine's favorite song (I'm Going To Live 'Til I Die) began to play and in an instant John caught on. "I would rather die than marry Jill", he sputtered and the double ceremony went bust.

After days of uncertainty, Jabot Cosmetics savior Brad Carlton survived a no confidence vote on Friday, August 11, 2000. The Jabot board of directors 3-2 decision to retain Carlton was expected to force Newman Enterprises big wig Victor Newman to move forward with a law suit against both Carlton and Jabot for allegedly violating a non-complete clause in Carlton's contract with Newman Enterprises.

Voting in favor were Ashley and John Abbott and co-savior Nikki Newman,  "Voting to keep Bradley is the least I could do. I mean, he did help save the company I built with my own hands," said Jabot founder John 'Yawn' Abbott.

A former Abbott pool boy and hedge clipper, Carlton proved worthy of Abbott's faith in his abilities when years ago, under great stress, Carlton was able to sell the Jabot line of products in the most difficult territories. In 1986, Abbott appointed Carlton director of Jabot sales.

"He's nothing but a fortune hunter. Always has been, always will be," said Jabot COO Jack Abbott. "I hired Detective Williams in 1988 to dig up some dirt on the pool boy and wasn't at all surprised to find out he had worked as the Mansfield gardener and married their daughter Lisa when she was only sixteen."

Carlton's marriage to Mansfield was later annulled and Carlton was told to take a hike by Mr. Mansfield. When Jabot sales began dropping in 1988, John Abbott replaced Carlton with Chase Benson and reinstated his son Jack as CEO. Carlton immediately went to work for Lauren Fenmore and by 1990 was working for Newman Enterprises.

Later that year, interior decorator Cassandra Hall found a place for Carlton at Ra-Tech as CEO. Hall also drugged Carlton on a trip to Las Vegas and arranged for a quickie marriage. As 1991 rolled around, the two obtained a divorce. Hall was later hit and killed by a truck. Carlton was named sole heir to her fortune, merged Ra-Tech with Newman Enterprises and resigned from NE.

But in 1992, Carlton joined forces with Jack Abbott to overthrow Victor Newman. During this time Newman had a heart attack. Thanks to Abbott, Newman survived and handed over the Jabot reins to him.

The weird events were still unfolding in 1993 when Newman decided again he wanted to replace Jack Abbott with Brad Carlton. Unfortunately, Lauren Fenmore would not let Carlton out of his contract with her. How Carlton could have been working at Newman Enterprises in 1990 but unable to return in 1993 is unclear.

In 1996, Victor Newman fired Carlton on the day Carlton was to marry Newman's former wife, Nikki Newman. The marriage never happened because Nikki was too distraught to recite her vows when she learned Victor had been shot.

Carlton moved to Italy to get his head together and only recently returned to Genoa City to help Jack Abbott once again plot against Victor Newman. When Newman began buying up Jabot outstanding loans the company found itself in desperate need of $70-million in order to survive. Nikki Newman and Brad Carlton each put up $35-million. When Victor Newman found out he threatened a law suit unless Jabot dump Carlton. However, the Jabot board of directors voted 3-2 to keep him.

Traci Abbott became concerned about her marriage to Brad Carlton and returned to Genoa City to learn that Brad was seeing Lauren Fenmore. Brad put his affair on hold and Traci told him she had fallen for Tim Sullivan, her mentor and school professor. Still, she wanted to give her marriage another chance. By this time, Traci was on the brink of becoming a writer. She also wanted a baby. Brad was opposed but gave in when he feared Sullivan might be a threat. It wasn't long before Traci became pregnant. At the same time, Lisa Mansfield decided she wanted Brad back in her life. Lisa asked Brad to straighten out some paperwork regarding her father's estate promising to leave Brad alone if he'd help.

Somewhere along the line, Lisa drugged Brad, put him in bed and took incriminating photos of herself in the bed with Brad. When Brad came around, she told him he had made love to her. Brad told Lisa to stay away from him and Traci but Lisa told him he'd be sorry for rejecting her.

Lisa purchased a remote cabin in Colorado, had a cage installed in the living room, hired Rich Little to tape an impersonation of Brad explaining why he quit the job Lauren had given him at Fenmore's and left town to be with his true love. Lisa had a copy of the tape delivered to Traci and Lauren. Later, Lisa showed the photos to Traci and told her Brad didn't want her anymore. Lisa then hired some goons to knock Brad out, took him to the cabin and locked him in the cage.

Pregnant at the time, Traci was so distraught she had a miscarriage and later filed for divorce. Tim Sullivan heard the good news and planned to ask Traci for her hand in marriage.

Lisa cooked for Brad, talked to him, told him how much she loved him and even recreated their wedding night. When Lisa tried moving Brad to the bedroom he made a break for it but was caught by Lisa's goons outside the cabin. Soon, Brad became ill. Lisa called 911, had a prescription filled for him! At the drugstore, Lauren just happened to be in town with Jack Abbott on a ski trip and spotted Lisa. Alone, Lauren followed Lisa to the cabin and wound up in the cage with Brad. Lisa turned on the gas and left the two to die. But, on her way out the door, Lisa ran into Jack. She pulled a gun but Jack got it away from her, broke down the cabin door and rescued Brad and Lauren. Meantime, Lisa had made a clean getaway.

Brad tried to tell Traci what really happened but in the end they were divorced.

Bug Was Runaway at Early Age

Woe is the Bug. She grew up without a mother too, but was lucky to have met Jessica Blair later in life. As with most everything the Bug says it wasn't exactly the truth. The Bug had been estranged from her mother ever since Jessica had shipped her off to live with her grandmother. When Granny died the Bug was returned to Jessica but after less than a year with her ran away at the age of thirteen to live with cousin, Joe Blair.

In 1988 when Jessica returned to Genoa City the Bug wasn't pleased. Time was running out for Jessica. She wanted to make her peace with the Bug before she died from AIDS so she told the Bug that her father had died in Vietnam before she was hatched, um, born. Even then the Bug was snarly. She didn't believe her own mother so she enlisted private investigator Paul Williams who reported back that Jessica was lying. Confronted with the truth, Jessica fessed up that she had a one night stand with a boy she didn't even know and that's how the Bug came to be.

Always a sucker for new arrivals old man John 'Yawn' Abbott was smitten with Jessica who tried to keep her distance from the geezer because she didn't want him - or anyone - to know she was near death.

When the Bug came down with the flu, Jessica nursed her back to health. As a result mother and child grew closer and so did Yawn who wanted to marry Jessica. She accepted but later left Yawn a note along with his engagement ring saying she was going back to Kansas. Before the flight Jessica collapsed and was admitted to the hospital where she begged Dr. Scott Grainger not to tell Yawn or the Bug the truth although she later admitted to the Bug that she was dying from AIDS.

The Bug in turn told Yawn who again proposed so that Jessica could die in peace. The wedding took place.

The following year the Bug was looking through Dr. Grainger's photo album when she noticed a man she thought looked like her Pa. Odd, considering the Bug never knew her Pa. The man turned out to be Scott's Pa so Scott arranged for the Bug to meet the man given that he and the Bug were in love.

When Jim Grainger arrived the Bug's suspicions were correct. Jim admitted to Jessica that he was the boy she'd had sex with all those years ago. Yes, Jim wanted to marry her but she had rejected all his letters and told him to forget about her.

Jessica was confused. What letters? Jim showed her one. Right away Jessica recognized her mother's handwriting! Seems Ma Blair had never wanted Jim anywhere near her daughter. So Jim was really the Bug's Pa which meant that Scott was the Bug's brother which meant that they could never marry. Yawn and Jessica agreed to dissolve their marriage so that she, Jim and the Bug could live together as a family. It didn't last long. Jessica died soon afterwards.

As for Jim, Jack Abbott hooked him up with Nikki Newman who was tickled pink as she needed someone to make Victor Newman jealous. That was odd too, considering just a few weeks later Jack became interested in Nikki himself. When Nikki announced she wanted to marry Jim, neither Victor nor Jack would approve. In the end Jack got her. Victor was so upset her offered Jack control of Jabot if he'd let Nikki go. When Nikki found out she was nothing but a pawn in their silly games she kicked both men to the curb.

Jim eventually left town and by 1990 the Bug had moved on to develop a relationship with Danny Romalotti which would live in infamy.

And Scott? He took up with Lauren Fenmore. What man hasn't?