1989 (#25) - Derek's suicide and the marriage between Scott and Lauren

The happiness and tranquility at home of the reunited Grainger and Blair family, unfortunately, lasts only a short time. Jessica, Jim, Scott and Christine, not having a house where everyone can live, their respective apartments being inadequate, decide to move temporarily to the Genoa City Hotel, waiting for final accommodation. Just when Christine finally seems to have found the smile and the joy of living, thanks also to Danny's love, however, here is the threatening Derek again, who just to better keep Christine under observation is hired at the hotel where he lives. For days and days Derek studies the habits of the family and waits for Christine to be alone in the room; and using the second key used by the hotel staff, Derek manages to enter the room. Faced with a terrified Christine, Derek does not break down and orders the woman to withdraw her charges so that the trial against her will be dropped. While a frightened Christine begs Derek not to hurt her, Jim and Scott return to the room, finding Derek shocked to put a gun to Christine's head. While Jim tries to talk some sense into Derek, Scott takes the initiative, kicking the gun and dropping it on the floor, triggering a violent collusion with the man. Derek is in time to pick up the gun and shoot Scott, but in the end he gets the upper hand and points the gun at Derek, while Jim calls the police. Derek, however, not at all intent on ending up in the hands of the authorities, surprisingly throws himself from the hotel, killing himself. Fortunately, the blow suffered by Scott was light and the wound is only marginal. However, very upset by what happened, Scott, having realized that life is too short to postpone his dreams, instinctively asks Lauren, in a rush of love, to become his wife, wanting to plan a future with her from this moment on. The woman, who also finds the closeness of her mother Joanna, who returned to Genoa City specifically to meet Scott, is very happy to marry the man. A few days later, the two celebrate their union before God and the whole family, still upset by Derek's events but determined to put this period behind them. After moving into Lauren's luxurious home, Scott and the woman began to build their life together.

1988 (#24) - The departure of Joanna and the feelings between John and Jessica

The relationship between John and Joanna, which has been going on for a few months now, begins to encounter the first obstacles when Joanna refuses to live with the man, who cannot understand his partner's doubts. John seeks advice from Lauren, but doesn't get much from Joanna's daughter, who reveals to the man that she never understood the decisions of her mother, who apparently often runs away from problems. Joanna, on the other hand, doesn't deny herself this time either, surprisingly telling a bewildered John that she wants to leave Genoa City; news that certainly doesn't surprise Lauren, who, on the other hand, is not at all sorry not to have to deal with her mother with whom she has always had a non- idyllic relationship. Joanna's departure also allows Lauren to concentrate even more on her work, having to run the entire Fenmore company on her own, which allows her to distract herself from the unfortunate sentimental events. As time goes by, the relationship between Jessica and Christine gets better and better, and Katherine is overjoyed that a connection has finally been established between them after so many years; a connection that is strengthened when Christine is struck by an influence, which gives Jessica the opportunity to show Christine that she is still capable of giving her the attention she deserves. Although Katherine believes that Christine should know the truth about her mother's condition, Jessica begs the woman not to reveal anything to her, not wanting Christine's forgiveness to be dictated by her compassion for her condition. In the meantime, since John regularly visits the home of his old friend Katherine, Jessica and John have the opportunity to meet several times and a friendship is born between them that soon turns into a feeling of sincere love. After a few months, John decides to declare his love for Jessica and proposes to her to get married; the woman, after a long fight with her conscience because of her health condition, finally decides on Katherine's advice to accept the proposal, also to give Christine finally that father figure she never had.

1987 (#26) - The end of the relationship with Ellen and John's interest in Joanna

It's been a year now since John met Ellen and started dating her. There is great harmony and esteem between the two; however, it is clear that love has never really blossomed. John and Ellen come from two completely different worlds and they seem to be only two very good friends. It is natural, therefore, that in the end the two decide to break off their relationship. But if a love that has never truly blossomed, a new one immediately appears for John. After Neil's death, in fact, John reconnected with Joanna, his old schoolmate, as well as Neil. The two spend a lot of time together and pleasantly remember the past and the times of youth. Each time, however, Joanna ends up feeling sorry for Neil, whom she feels guilty about being absent from him for so many years. To hearten her, as well as Lauren, is then John, who suddenly feels feelings for the woman and kisses her. It doesn't take long before the two of them start dating. When Joanna informs her daughter that she is seeing John, Lauren does not hide her doubts about the relationship, although in the end it is Brad himself who convinces her about the goodness of John's intentions, a reliable and respectable man. Lauren then informs her mother to willingly accept the fact that she is seeing John, only wanting her mother's happiness at the end of the day.

1987 (#23) - Joanna's decision and Lauren's control of Fenmore Warehouses

Left completely alone after Neil's death, their only real touchstone, Joanna and Lauren do not let themselves fall into despair. After a natural and physiological period of pain and reflection, in fact, they show themselves especially in this circumstance so difficult for what they are, women with great character and strength of spirit. Together, in fact, they decide to continue Neil's work and not to frustrate what the man had dedicated his whole life to, his activity. Starting from scratch, over the years Neil had created and set up a real commercial empire in large-scale distribution, the Fenmore Warehouses, the result of his commitment and sacrifices. He decided to carry on the business he had built, also to honour his memory, Joanna and Lauren threw themselves headlong into this adventure, beginning to work hard to reassure their many customers about the continuation of their company and to restore its financial situation as quickly as possible. In particular, Joanna decides that it is time for Lauren to enter the business world and carry on her father's great work by becoming the president of Fenmore's warehouses. Lauren, proud of this decision, thus begins to gain experience in the world of work, promising herself that she will be able to best honour Neil's memory. It was during this period that Lauren made the acquaintance of Marjorie Burns, with whom she established a great friendship and who would soon become her personal secretary for many years to come.

1987 (#19) - Neil's sudden death from stroke and the grief of Joanna and Lauren

Quite unexpectedly, a tragedy soon struck Genoa City and the Fenmore family. Everything happens when, at the end of an intense day of work at the Fenmore warehouses, Neil returns home to Joanna and, just before dinner, he feels a strong pain in his head. Joanna is shocked when she sees Neil unconscious in the armchair; panicked, and with dinner spilling on the floor, the woman desperately calls the emergency room, where Neil is immediately admitted and urgently operated by Dr. Roy Namaguchi. Lauren soon arrives at the hospital, but finds Joanna in tears, speechless after the tragedy that took place: Neil is dead. Lauren despairs with her mother over the loss of their first touchstone, and together, full of grief, they remember Neil and Joanna's plan to reunite the family with a new marriage; a marriage that, unfortunately, will no longer exist. Joanna and Lauren, completely overwhelmed by grief over this huge loss, are consoled at the funeral by all their acquaintances; in particular, it is Brad who stands beside his current partner to give her strength, under the petrified gaze of Paul, shocked to see his ex-wife already next to another man.

1987 (#12) - Mary's pressure and Paul's wedding vows

Reconciled after the disturbing story of Shawn following the news of Lauren's abortion. The two, despite having been married in the past, have never talked about marriage or imminent marriage despite the fact that their respective families and parents, especially his mother, Mary, push for the two young people to take this step, finding it not unethical the decision of the two to live together without being married. Paul and Lauren, however, still feel unprepared and quite immature, despite their not very young age, for such a step; and both are guided by characters mainly free and independent. In the end, however, Neil and Joanna persuade the couple to get married. Particularly happy about the news is Amy, just back in town and hired as secretary at Fenmore, who decides to celebrate the news with a very special and spicy surprise towards the future couple. Passionate about the magazine "Contemporary woman", Amy decides without Lauren and Paul's knowledge to send nude photos of Paul, in poses that Lauren showed her in confidence, to get him to participate in the scandal magazine's erotic photo contest.

1986 (#11) - Tamra's recovery, Shawn's insane plan and Turk's redemption

In Genoa City, meanwhile, Dr. Steve Walters is happily surprised to discover that Tamra has finally come out of her coma; evidently, the treatments are working. Upon awakening, the woman's first words are "Lauren" and "danger"; words that prompted Steve to warn Lauren's ex-husband, Paul. They, meanwhile, at the urging of Neil and Joanna, who are not resigned to the idea that Lauren may have abandoned her marriage and family of her own free will, discover things that are not honorable about Shawn and convince themselves to go and find out for themselves what's going on; with him, the inevitable Jazz and a fit Andy, who is convinced of Shawn's hand in her wound. The three of them fly to San Francisco, coordinated by Lieutenant Phil Parker, determined to bring Lauren home. In San Francisco, meanwhile, Lauren is struggling with Shawn's fury and madness, determined to end the woman's life just like he did with hs mother in the past. Lauren finds herself tied up in Shawn's country house, which he has sprinkled with gasoline; however, when Shawn orders his trusty Turk to set the fire, he refuses to commit such a cruel murder and rebels against Shawn, putting him on the run and saving Lauren. Brought to safety by Turk, Lauren soon realizes that Shawn's homicidal mania has certainly not subsided and that he is in pursuit of them; frightened, Turk, while reassuring Lauren that he will do everything possible to save her, asks Shawn for forgiveness for disobeying him and finally manages to convince Shawn not to kill him.

1986 (#4) - Lauren's captivity, Shawn's aggression, and Andy's injury

The start of the forced move into Shawn's house, for Lauren, was only the first episode of what would soon turn into a nightmare. As time went by, Shawn became more and more possessive and violent towards Lauren, turning his house into a real prison for the woman, who was soon prevented from going out and even meeting her parents, who were increasingly worried about her daughter's strange behaviour. All this, for the fear that the woman might meet up with Paul. Shawn's aggressiveness soon begins to scare the hell out of poor Lauren, who realizes that the man is suffering from a real psychosis and is therefore dealing with a crazy person. Meanwhile, Paul's belief that Shawn is hiding something vanishes more and more, partly because Shawn himself is doing everything he can to make Paul believe that the decision to abandon him was made voluntarily by the woman. Meanwhile, she realizes with great desperation that she is pregnant with Paul, an event that could put both her life and her husband's at risk. Lauren tries every way to get in touch with Paul, but Shawn prevents her from doing so; and convinced that the time has come to eliminate the man, Shawn calls Turk and warns him to take action. Meanwhile, Andy introduces Farren to his old friend Paul, not suspecting that Turk is secretly ready to collude. A first shot from Turk misses the target, but just enough to scare Farren and alert both Andy and Paul, who responds to the fire. A second bullet from Turk aimed at Paul does not end in vain this time, but it mistakenly hits Andy, who, wounded, falls to the ground in a pool of blood. Farren and Paul, thus, run to the hospital, where Andy is admitted to intensive care halfway between life and death under the care of Dr. Hank Steele.

1985 (#20) - Gina's past in jail and the missing wedding with Neil

Despite all of Lauren, Joanna and Shawn's attempts to come between Gina and Neil and hinder their love, the couple seems more determined than ever to follow their feelings and announce to everyone that they want to get married. Upon hearing the news, Lauren and Joanna are upset and try in vain to reason with an inflexible Neil. Lauren then decides to take the initiative on her own and, taking advantage of the private investigator skills she learned from her husband Paul, manages to obtain Gina's criminal record. What Lauren discovers confirms her suspicions, since she learns that she has been in prison several times, especially in New York. Lauren then decides to immediately go to the Big Apple to find out more, and here she manages to contact Frances Leighton, a former cellmate of Gina. When Lauren shows up in front of a grumpy Frances with some money she intends to give him in case he decides to go to Genoa City with her to tell everyone about Gina's past and interrupt her wedding. Frances, a woman with few scruples, immediately accepts the proposal. A very happy Lauren, in the company of Framces, immediately flies in the direction of Genoa City, where the next day the wedding between Gina and her father is scheduled, with the clear intention of doing everything possible to prevent this from happening. The following day, therefore, Lauren anticipates to Joanna and Paul that there will be great news; Lauren thus introduces the strange Frances to all the guests at the pre-wedding brunch, indicating her as an old friend of Gina's; but it is on the altar that Lauren's plan is put into action, with Frances taking the floor and revealing to everyone that she shared a cell in the New York penitentiary with Gina. Neil is shocked to hear these words and immediately asks Gina why she is not being honest. Bitterly disappointed, and unwilling to hear the woman's excuses, Neil says goodbye to all the guests and announces that there will be no wedding, which makes both Lauren and Joanna happy. Since the wedding day, Gina and Neil have not met. Only a few weeks later, Gina finds the strength to confront Neil and appear before him for the first time after the breakup. Gina, with her heart in her hands, admits that she made many mistakes in the past and that she didn't tell him about them because she didn't want Neil to judge her for what she was and not for what she is, a different person. Unfortunately, Gina says, she would like to change the past, but she can't. So she leaves the choice whether or not to continue their relationship with Neil, taking off her engagement ring and leaving it on the table. The man, however, doesn't say or do anything, suggesting that he has no intention of forgiving the woman, nor of getting back with her. It is at this point that Shawn takes action again to drive Paul and Lauren away: Shawn sends a letter to Gina, making her believe it is from Frances, where he tells her to come to New York immediately. Gina flies immediately, with the clear intention of meeting the person who ruined his life, and here Frances, astonished by the woman's arrival, confesses everything about her deal with Lauren. Back in Genoa City, Gina then hurls herself against Lauren, promising that she would make him pay for it, under Paul's somewhat astonished eyes, who didn't think his wife was capable of doing such a thing, disappointed, moreover, for having kept him completely out of it.

1985 (#18) - The flirt between Gina and Neil, Joanna's hopes and psychic Tamra

The reconciliation between Joanna and Lauren finds their common disapproval of her father's love life, Neil, as a glue. Lauren, in fact, has never hidden her hope of reconciliation between her parents, and Joanna herself makes it clear that she would not mind reuniting the whole family. Neil, however, won't listen to reason, let alone now that he's dating Danny's sister Gina. Lauren, in all these years spent singing in her club with Danny, has learned to know the woman well, and needless to say, he doesn't trust her at all; even though he knows that Danny is a good guy, he can't say the same about his sister, of whom he doesn't know anything and he suspects she may be hiding a dark past. Shawn himself is the one who supports this thesis, immediately ready to sneak into Lauren's life and guide her choices, trying to make her understand that they have much more in common than she thinks, just like the desire to break the relationship between Neil and Gina. Danny, fed up with these suspicions, urges Gina to open up to Neil and be honest with him, telling him about her past in prison, then suggests that Gina herself visit her father in prison to inform him of the joyful turn her life was taking. However, Gina is firmly opposed to this, suggesting that the last thing she wants is for Neil to know about his past and his family background. Shawn, meanwhile, goes ahead with his plan first by interviewing Joanna and Neil as a spokesperson for his daughter's fanclub in order to get close to them, and then suggesting that Lauren contact Tamra Logan, a psychic, to learn more about Gina. Tamra confirms to Lauren, we don't know if she paid Shawn to tell this truth to the woman, or not, that Gina is hiding a disgusting secret in her past. Lauren thus warns Neil to be careful with Gina since she doesn't trust the woman; Neil, however, is skeptical and tired of being constantly judged on his personal life. Neil admits, however, that in recent times he's become very close to Joanna, awakening new feelings in him that he hasn't felt in many years; Joanna and Lauren are very happy with these words of Neil's, and especially thank Shawn for the help he offers them, while Paul, put a little aside by Lauren, wonders why the woman seems to neglect him to spend much more time with Shawn than with him.

1985 (#14) - Neil's concern for Lauren and Joanna's return from Milan

With her marriage to Paul and the resume of her singing career, things seem to be going better for Lauren than ever before; she is happy, in love and gets a great response from the audience. However, Paul worries about Lauren's constant mood swings, and she seems to be very stressed and irritated all the time. Concerned about the woman's health, Paul talks to the woman's father, Neil, who has always been her point of reference, and they are convinced that they have to do something for her. Meanwhile, Neil, who owns a chain of department stores, Fenmore's, contacts Carl to stop the constant shoplifting he endures. With Jazz's help, Carl installs hidden cameras and is shocked to recognize Lauren herself as the person responsible for the shoplifting. Carl immediately talks about it with Paul who can't believe his father even though, watching the videos, he is forced to admit Lauren's identity. Paul then shows Lauren's videos to Neil, who understands that his daughter's psychological situation is severely disturbed. Neil soon becomes convinced that all of Lauren's insecurities and torments are caused by the lack of a mother figure throughout her adolescence. Neil thus informs Paul of their past, revealing that his ex-wife and Lauren's mother, Joanna Manning, left after their divorce. In fact, Lauren has a deep resentment towards Joanna, having heard her say things that deeply hurt her; during a violent argument with Neil, in fact, Lauren secretly heard from her mother that she regretted giving birth to her and regretted not having an abortion, being the cause of all their problems. Paul and Neil understand then that Lauren's rebellious character was caused by this very episode, which evidently shook her deeply. Neil, then, understands that the only way to unblock the situation and solve the root of the problem is to convince Joanna, who lives in Milan, to return to Genoa City to confront her daughter. After some resistance, then, Neil manages to reluctantly get Joanna back to the city, informing her of Lauren's problems and problematic behavior. When Lauren notices Joanna's presence in the audience during one of her concerts, she is literally shocked. Enraged and annoyed by the woman's presence, Lauren takes it out on Neil and refuses to meet her mother despite her father's prayers. It's Paul, then, who persuades her to talk to Joanna, since this is the only way they could overcome and put aside their problems that are putting their marriage in crisis. Lauren thus agrees to listen to her mother, who apologizes to Lauren for hurting her, confessing that she missed her all these years they have been separated and that she wants to start their relationship all over again. In the end, Lauren and Joanna make up, overcoming all their problems, to the point that Joanna decides to stay in town for the joy of Paul and Neil.