1981 (#10) - Katherine and Derek's divorce, Judy's chairmanship and Victor's power

Katherine returns to Genoa City completely different. Perhaps for the first time in her life she was in control of herself and her emotions. She owes a great debt of gratitude to Felipe, who has shown her that it is not necessary to rely on Derek, Douglas or any other man who does not really love her, but is only interested in her heritage, to be happy. And so, when Derek and everyone else realize that they are not hallucinating when they see Katherine, and they get over the amazement and bewilderment of knowing that she is still alive, joy soon gives way to the knowledge that they are dealing with a deeply changed woman. In fact, Katherine is more inflexible and determined than ever to change her life and to leave behind people she does not consider worthy of her support. The victim of Katherine's renewal is obviously Derek, indeed Katherine confirms her willingness to remove him from the company and, above all, asks for and obtains a divorce in a short time. After thanking Mitchell for the excellent work done in her absence and having dismissed Douglas and all his ambition to bind himself to the woman, Katherine decides to symbolically leave the presidency to Judy, as a new face able to show Katherine's desire for change, the decision to remove Derek, which makes the whole board happy, above of all George. In fact, however, all power and control of the company is entrusted to Victor, who is therefore confirmed as general manager of Chancellor Industries. Judy still finds herself secretly in love with Victor and hopes that their closeness in the management of the company will bring them closer together, despite the fact that Victor is currently busy solving his serious family issues.

1980 (#29) - Victor's night of love with Eve and Cole's Conception

As the months went by, Victor's financial situation improved day by day. Katherine's company, in fact, from the moment of his arrival, also with the help of the disappearance of the woman, an event that inevitably increased advertising, has achieved extraordinary results, all to the delight of George, who is happy to no longer have Derek around. In fact, Katherine's widower has in fact been excluded from the shares of his deceased wife and this prevents him from seeing Judy with precedent frequency, with whom he soon interrupted what could have been the beginning of a love story. By now, it is only Victor who dominates the company, and it is no coincidence that he constantly receives Judy's attention. As is often the case, however, Victor's fortunes at work receive a negative counterpart in family life. In fact, while Victor is unaware of the strange friendship between Julia and Brock, an old acquaintance of Victor's, Eve Howard, arrives in Genoa City. The girl, once his secretary, was Victor's mistress. The feelings between the two have never disappeared and to testify it is the night of love that they spend as soon as Victor manages to find an excuse for Julia. What Victor does not expect, however, is what he sees the next morning at Eve's house, the woman with a child in her arms. Eve thus informs Victor that Cole is her son, having been conceived six years earlier during a business trip to Acapulco. Victor thus realizes that the woman could put his marriage with Julia in great danger, being then engaged to Julia and close to marriage. However, Victor refuses to recognize his son and to tell the truth to Julia, and even gives a certain amount of money to the woman to get out of town and keep quiet.

1980 (#16) - Victor and the management at Chancellor Industries of Katherine

As time goes by, the first data regarding the company's performance begin to give reason to George's doubts and perplexities. Since Derek's leadership of Chancellor Industries, in fact, there have been sharp declines in the company's performance. These results lead Katherine to reflect on the validity of her decision, and George's pressure for a change in management persuades her to listen more and more to an experienced businessman like Douglas. He and his partner Everett Thornton then suggested that Katherine should contact Victor Newman, a great friend of theirs and a valued manager who could resurrect the fortunes of any business. However, not wanting to cause her husband great displeasure, Katherine decided to make a decision that would solve both her main problems, financial and emotional. So she decides to give a new boost to her marriage by taking a break from work together with Derek to make a new honeymoon away from Genoa City. At the same time, she decides to contact Victor to ask him to run the company during their absence. Victor responds positively to the call, happy to move to his luxury ranch in Genoa City with his friend Douglas. Simultaneously with Victor's arrival and the handover between him and Derek, therefore, Katherine and the man leave for their second honeymoon, a fact that causes a certain displeasure to Judy, who hoped to be able to get closer and closer to the man she realizes every day more and more she loves, namely Derek.

1980 (#5) - Katherine's trust and Derek's nomination as Managing Director

Despite Brock's constant warnings, Katherine continues to follow her heart and trust Derek with her life. After all, Katherine's desire to focus body and soul on her marriage is paying off as Derek and Jill have less and less time to see each other. Moreover, when Katherine surprisingly decides to appoint Derek as the new CEO of Chancellor Industries, the man can't help but get involved in the work, ending up neglecting Jill who is getting more and more tired of chasing and waiting for the man and in the end she decides to leave him. The nomination of Derek as CEO naturally does not make happy George Packard, president of Chancellor Industries after the death of Phillip, who complains with Katherine because of Derek's inexperience, convinced that he does not have the necessary skills to fill that role. Katherine, however, is intransigent and puts her full trust in her husband, who repays her by promising her every effort. But George, tired of Derek bossing him around, decides to design a plan to make Katherine regret her choice. So he hires his secretary, Judy Wilson, as Derek's secretary, convinced that in this way Judy can gather the evidence to prove to Katherine Derek's incapacity.