1984 (#27) - Victor's bet and the attraction between Douglas and Boobsie

Douglas and Victor, despite the Victor's marriage, still continue to hang out and cultivate their friendship in luxury clubs and nightclubs. During one of their evenings, the conversation between them shifts to Victor's ability to get everything he wants because of his success, his money and his name. Victor reminds Douglas that he has become the person who started from nothing, but Douglas thinks that Victor was also very lucky and that he would hardly succeed and regain a good position by starting from nothing. Victor then, convinced in his own means and abilities, bet with Douglas that he would be able to get an ordinary job without using and spending his name. Meanwhile the Bayou, the nightclub owned by Victor, changes management when Leroy, still shaken by the tragic events linked to the mafia, decides to leave Genoa City and let his sister Marian Cooper drive it. Taking advantage of the fact that Marian does not know him personally, Victor decides to put his bet into action. Using a different name, Victor gets a job with Marian. And when the woman admits that she feels lucky to have an employee like him, who quickly suggests ideas for increasing her clientele, Douglas admits that he lost the bet. Fired from the restaurant, Victor then sends a large sum of money anonymously to the woman to help her with her business, but the woman, having discovered the man's identity and feeling used and entangled in a simple, petty wager, reluctantly rejects the money, before accepting the offer convinced that the gesture was genuine. During an evening offered by Douglas for losing the bet, meanwhile, the man sees the beautiful Boobsie, the woman who appeared in the pornographic film instead of Nikki, dancing. It's Douglas, then, who wins his bet when he gets to know and be appreciated by the woman. He is strongly impressed by the woman and soon Douglas falls in love with the much younger Boobsie. Fascinated also by Douglas' wealth and life, a feeling soon develops between the two of them that turns into a complicated and passionate love story.

1983 (#23) - Nikki's findings on the Hot Hips video and contact with Boobsie

Allison's surprise at getting custody of Victoria, and the sudden departure with Kevin to San Francisco, without giving Nikki a chance to see Victoria one last time, upset her. Desperate and inconsolable, Nikki rejects Rick's attempts to comfort her, feeling that without Victoria her life no longer makes sense. Soon, however, the thought of what happened leads Nikki to want to see the whole film Hot Hips in which she would be present. The woman, in fact, if she understands that Leroy could have filmed her during her shows, she doesn't understand how it could result in a porn film, having never shot one in her life. Nikki doesn't take long to discover the truth, which is that with the exception of a few clips where you see her dancing, a stunt double is used throughout the rest of the film and is never framed in the face. Convinced that there is still a chance of regaining Victoria's custody, Nikki goes to the Bayou to ask Leroy for information about the video. After repeatedly apologizing to Nikki in defense of having been forced to record her shows, he refuses to say who produced the film for the safety of both of them. However, Leroy admits to knowing the girl who shot the scenes in her place. She is Boobsie Caswell, a prostitute who, after being tracked down by Nikki, admits her identity in the video. Convinced by Nikki that she too wants to start her own career as a porn actress and prostitute, Boobsie introduces Nikki to Tony, who appears visibly happy to meet the woman. Nikki's intentions are clear: to seduce Tony in order to get back the copy of the tape and all the rights to the film, so that he can withdraw it from sales and destroy it; naturally after proving that she is not the protagonist of the film.

1983 (#21) - Kevin and Nikki's divorce and the temporary custody to Allison

Victor's reappearance after his presumed death did not lead to a reunion with Nikki, as she most likely would have hoped. Having overcome this parenthesis of confusion in Nikki's heart, she is once again determined to maintain her relationship with Kevin, especially for the sake of little Victoria on whom she intends to concentrate all her energy. So she decides to stop definitively her work at the Bayou and even to break up with Rick, who, however, is more and more insistent and starts to seriously regret tearing up Katherine's letter. But the problems for Nikki are certainly not over, and a new dramatic development is waiting to unfold. It all begins when the fugitive Tony Di Salvo returns to Genoa City, who after a period in which he disappeared in order to calm the waters, decides to return to the business as usual, with the firm intention, now, to become the boss, after Pete's death. Tony's move to immediately return to make money with the criminals is to exploit the video in his possession created with the hidden recordings obtained by Leroy from Nikki's services at the Bayou. Tony thus puts the porn film Hot Hips, in which Nikki's face is clearly visible, on the market; a film that immediately receives a resounding sales success. Allison, meanwhile, is increasingly bitter and disappointed that not even her attempt with Rick destroyed her son Kevin's marriage to Nikki. But just when she appears resigned, Allison receives a shocking news from her manicurist, Ruby Collins, confessing to this the success of the red light movie in which Nikki is the main character. Upon hearing the news, an incredulous Allison runs to buy the film and, on seeing it, is pleased to have in her hands the weapon that will decree the divorce between Kevin and Nikki. Allison threatens Nikki with telling Kevin the truth, forcing her to sign a document of temporary custody of Victoria by Allison. Nikki initially refuses to declare herself unfit to be Victoria's mother, but when Allison calls Ruby to ask her to spread the word, Nikki is forced to sign. Even so, the news of Nikki's porn film doesn't take long to reach Kevin. Kevin is incredulous and angry with his wife, calling this the straw that broke the camel's back in their marriage. Nikki can't believe that the woman in the video is her, defending herself that she did nothing of the sort and was simply discredited by Allison, but she is forced to admit that she is her when the evidence shows her face while dancing at the Bayou. Rick, meanwhile, defends Nikki and clashes with Kevin, angry at yet another disappointment of his wife, with whom he has a fight. After many of Kevin's divorce requests, all rejected by Nikki, in the end it is Rick who convinces Nikki herself that it is impossible to continue a loveless marriage with Kevin. So they fly to Haiti to speed up the divorce process.When she returns to Genoa City, however, Nikki discovers with dismay that Allison has arranged for Victoria's temporary custody, convincing Earl, Kevin and who she believes to be her granddaughter to leave for San Francisco.

1983 (#9) - Nikki's relationship with Rick and the problems with Kevin

Kevin's forgiveness of Nikki, if on the one hand strengthens the marriage between the two, on the other causes a deep split between Kevin and Allison. The man's mother, in fact, cannot understand how Kevin could have forgiven the woman, which Kevin defends fiercely, convinced, after the explanations and the sincere request for forgiveness, his wife will no longer disappoint him. Allison, meanwhile, promises herself that she will end Kevin and Nikki's marriage at any cost, even if it is the last thing she does. With this in mind, Allison contacts through Leroy the young and handsome Rick Daros, a loyal client of the Bayou and an admirer of Nikki's performance, with the sole purpose of driving Nikki away from Kevin. In fact, Allison's plan, in agreement with Leroy, is to get the man to convince Nikki to return to his job and, at the same time, to get Nikki and Rick to get emotionally involved. Just as Allison had planned, Nikki soon gave in to Leroy and Rick's new pressures and secretly resumed working at the strip club. More and more frequent are the fleeting but passionate encounters between Nikki and Rick, who always finds himself enthusiastic about the woman's performances and whom he meets frequently after the shows in the dressing room. This is how Rick and Nikki's relationship soon begins. Rick's feelings for the woman, however, are so sincere that Rick defends Nikki by not confessing anything to Allison about his relationship with Nikki and their romantic outings from time to time. It is, however, increasingly clear to Nikki's eyes that her marriage to Kevin is destined to be short-lived; the woman wishes she could love Kevin, but is forced to admit that she doesn't love him at all, despite the fact that she considers her marriage fundamental to give little Victoria a future, her one and only priority.

1983 (#4) - Leroy's debts, Pete's threats and Nikki's shows

After Cash's death, The Bayou went broke. The nightclub accumulated numerous debts, most of which were left by Cash, and the customers had decreased considerably. Full of optimism and a desire for success, Leroy Cooper decided to buy the club to bring it back to its former glory; Leroy, however, did not think he would find such a critical financial situation. Determined not to lose his temper, the man immediately gets busy and with hard work tries to put the strip club's coffers back on track. But when the man realizes that the activity of the club is under the eyes of the mafia, he begins to be afraid and discouraged. Pete Walker, in fact, threatens Leroy several times since most of the Bayou's debts were contracted by Cash precisely to him. Put on the back burner by the cruel collection methods of Pete's men, Leroy is convinced that the only way to increase revenue and save the night club, and not end up like Cash, is to bring the Bayou back to the glories of the past. That's why Leroy asks Nikki to come back to work at the strip club. Nikki initially refuses, claiming she's out of that world and certainly doesn't want to go back there now that she's married and with a little girl to look after. But to the pressing demands of the man, who shows himself to be desperate several times, Nikki finally accepts on the condition that her collaboration is only temporary and above all that Kevin is kept secret. The meeting between Nikki and Leroy, however, naturally remains a secret in Allison's eyes, who wants nothing more than to cut the woman out of her family. When she realizes that Nikki has restarted working at the Bayou, she realizes that she has the right opportunity to end her marriage to Kevin. In the meantime, Pete is satisfied with Leroy's decision to call Nikki back to work, and in fact the positive results are immediately apparent, as the place becomes full again every night. However, Pete is interested in profiting even more from the club, so he threatens to kill both Leroy and Nikki if they don't produce a red light film for resale at the porn market. Leroy is forced to accept, but knowing he can't ask Nikki about it either, he decides to do some shooting without warning her. Allison, meanwhile, makes Kevin believe that he has a date with Nikki at a bar across the Bayou. Showing up with Victoria in his arms, Kevin can't believe his eyes when he sees Nikki stripping. Nikki, while on the platform, immediately realizes how much she saw Kevin and bursts into tears in front of the audience running after him. The woman confronts a Kevin completely in shock and angry about what she saw, even though Nikki finally manages to explain the whole situation and, promising him that this will never happen again, to get Kevin's forgiveness. This is all because of Allison's anger, disappointed that she has not succeeded in her intention to separate the couple.