1983 (#17) - Nikki's grief over Victor's death and Katherine's letter

During a romantic encounter with Rick in the dressing room at the end of her show, Nikki learns with deep sadness from the radio of Victor's death. The news upsets the woman, who grieves infinitely and becomes inconsolable despite Rick's efforts to comfort her. Meanwhile, the news of the man's death also reaches Katherine, who is aware of the secret story between Rick and Nikki and who has tried several times to restrain her by worrying about the negative repercussions that could be caused to Nikki if the relationship between the two became public. Katherine also begins to seriously question, now that Victor is dead, whether or not to tell Nikki the truth about Victoria's paternity. Initially Katherine decides to respect Victor's will to keep the secret, but soon, however, even observing Nikki's unhappiness in feeling oppressed in a marriage with a man she loves, useless sacrifice not being Kevin the father, she decides to reveal the whole truth after Victor's funeral. Katherine, however, fails to meet Nikki, who, deeply marked by grief, decides to leave Genoa City for some time. Katherine, then, decides to send a letter to the woman confessing the whole truth. The letter, however, is intercepted by Rick, who thus learns the whole truth about Victoria. Initially, he wants to run straight to Nikki to tell her the truth, which would certainly induce Nikki to end an unhappy marriage, and at this point, useless, to be with him. When Rick, however, comes to Katherine for clarification, sees the woman talking to Victor himself, who updates him on all the events that have happened and his plan to pretend to be dead, Rick does not take long to realize that he cannot tell Nikki the truth. Nikki's reactions to Victor's death, in fact, have revealed the true feelings of the woman, who evidently still loves Victor. Frightened more by Victor than by Kevin, therefore, Rick prefers the woman to remain bound to Kevin rather than hand her over to Victor, seen as the only true rival in Nikki's heart. So Rick hides the letter and decides to keep Nikki in the dark about Victoria's fatherhood. But if Rick keeps the truth from getting out, he can't stop real feelings from getting out. When Nikki finds herself crying at Victor's grave, it is he who appears before the woman's incredulous eyes; Victor explains all the events that concern him, and there is an immediate spark between the two of them. Despite the passionate kisses between the two, however, Victor also decides to keep Victoria's fatherhood a secret, wanting to give his story with Julia a new chance.