1984 (#23) - Nikki's role, the reconciliation with Victor and Cora's death

Not long after her fairytale marriage to Victor, Nikki has the idea of doing something special for the man she loves, to express her gratitude for making her the happiest woman in the world. After all, Nikki feels she owes him, having literally done crazy things for her in planning the wedding, showing him all her love. Thinking about what Victor really needs, Nikki observes that his wealth and fortune are already filling all his material needs. However, Nikki understands that it is family affection that Victor needs more than anything else, having lived as an orphan since childhood and therefore without a family. Nikki thus becomes convinced that the only thing she can do for Victor is to reunite him with his family, the family he has never known. Soon the woman, knowing that Victor was left in an orphanage in Buffalo about thirty years before, decides to hire Paul and Andy to investigate the man's past and thus find his real family. And so, digging into Victor's previous life among legal documents and old newspapers, the two men soon learn that Victor's father, Albert Miller, died several years earlier but his mother, Cora, still lives in Buffalo in relative poverty. So Nikki decides to go immediately to Buffalo to convince Cora to come to Genoa City to see her son again after so many years. After much insistence, Nikki manages to convince the woman, already suffering from the recent death of Reinette, the only daughter who has always been close to her and looked after her; however, as soon as she is confronted with Victor, she is abruptly rejected by the man. Victor, in fact, is not at all happy to find himself in front of the woman, guilty, according to him, of having abandoned him and who does not even consider his mother. Nikki is so sorry that she was unable to make the man happy, even though he thanks her for the thought and the attempt to do something special for him. The situation, however, changes radically when Cora is admitted to the hospital, where he receives the news that she has only a few weeks to live, having found a cancer with metastases already in an advanced state during the tests. Victor, having learned of his mother's condition, is thus persuaded by Nikki to put aside all the years of resentment he carries with him to live out his last days with his mother. Victor thus takes Cora to his home at the ranch, where he spends his last days surrounded by love and affection. And when Cora finally dies, Nikki and Victor, already grieved by the news of Reinette's death that she will never know, desperately mourn for the loss. From this bittersweet experience Victor learned an important lesson: love does not die with the person, but lives on as long as the memory remains in the loved ones. From this story, Nikki and Victor come out more united and in love than ever before.