1999
Episodes #49 - 138

Diane gave birth to a daughter, Samantha. Tim began to soften towards her and hoped to establish at least a civil relationship for the good of their child. At the custody hearing, Tim and Claire were awarded primary custody, but Diane received visitation rights.

She remained determined to break up the couple and win Tim for herself. When they planned a romantic getaway, Diane fouled up their plans by making each think that the other had backed out. However, Tim and Claire figured her out and emerged unscathed. They nearly uncovered Brian's role in Diane's schemes but Diane covered for Brian.

Sarah convinced Brent to accept the private investigator jobs. They headed to New York to investigate a jewel theft. The victim, Andrea Yang, did not agree with her fiance, Steve Parker, that the culprit could have been Matt Gray. Sarah was immediately suspicious of this, because Matt was Andrea's ex-fiance and they remained friends. However, the evidence continued to stack up against Matt, and Brent and Sarah argued heavily over the case.

In the meantime, Molly's relationship with Brian grew more serious. The two had a strong basis in friendship but were kept at a distance by their own worries: Molly was still battling feelings for Brent, and Brian feared that his involvement in Diane's plans would be discovered. Eventually, Molly did overhear Brian and Diane discussing what they had done. She and Brian broke it off. Around the same time, Diane took a job offer in Los Angeles after accepting that she would not be with Tim. She and Brian moved to L.A. to start anew, their friendship stronger than ever.

Much to Sarah's annoyance, Brent turned over the evidence incriminating Matt to the police. Their job done, the couple returned to King's Bay, but there remained a rift between them. Sarah was immediately jealous of the happy reunion between Brent and Molly. When Matt called her asking for more help, she returned to New York. She struggled to figure out a way to clear his name, especially after he was tossed in jail for the crime.

Molly and Brent continued to bond. He helped her recover from the trauma of what had happened with Craig and Brian, while she offered him a listening ear for his marital woes. The two continued to observe the limits of their relationship, though. Molly confided in Jason about her feelings for Brent and he convinced her not to hold out hope that they could ever be together.

When Sarah discovered a check from Steve made out to a neighbor who had given testimony against Matt, she put the pieces together and realized that Steve was framing Matt. After a confrontation, she got Steve to admit the truth. Matt was freed. He and Sarah bid farewell to New York and he accompanied her back to King's Bay, hoping to start a fresh life.

When they got there, Sarah was horrified to observe a close moment between Molly and Brent. She misinterpreted the situation to mean that Brent was choosing Molly over her and ran straight back to Matt. Their attraction combusted and Matt gave in to her advances. After their night together, Sarah returned to Brent and realized she had misunderstood. She resolved to repair their marriage and Matt agreed to keep quiet about what had happened.

Soon afterward, Courtney's father, Don, was pushed off a ladder. While he was hospitalized, a mysterious woman read about his accident in the paper and came to King's Bay. She was Sally Marshall, his long-ago ex-wife. Sally became determined to rekindle their love, even though the marriage had dissolved decades before when she had another man's child. She tried to keep her presence a secret from Don's wife, Helen, as well as from Courtney.

The Chases' tires were slashed and Courtney received threatening messages. Lauren became convinced that Dr. Smith had something to do with the incidents but the girls were surprised to find that he was involved with Courtney and Jason's coach, Sandy. It turned out that Dr. Smith was behind the threats, however. When he cut Courtney's brakes in an attempt to kill her, he was horrified to see Sandy getting in the car with her!

He chased the woman and managed to force them into stopping safely, but he was gravely injured. He confessed that Shannon had blackmailed him into doing her bidding -- she was the one really terrorizing Courtney from inside the institution. He begged for forgiveness and then died in Sandy's arms. Courtney and Jason declared their love for each other and grew closer in the wake of the horror.

Don's behavior had grown very erratic following his fall from the ladder. In a manic state one day, he agreed to accompany Sally to Europe. Once there, he realized what he had done -- left his wife and daughter without word -- but Sally prevented him from contacting his family. The duo got caught up in a caper when Don thought he'd stolen a famous painting, but it turned out to be a result of his mood swings. Meanwhile, in King's Bay, a young man showed up at the Chase home -- Sally's son, Alex Marshall! At first Helen thought he might be Don's son, but Alex proved otherwise. His appearance did alert Helen and Courtney to the fact that Don had run off with Sally.

He returned to King's Bay to find that Helen had filed for divorce. Courtney tried to talk her mother out of it, but Helen was devastated by Don's betrayal. Don's attempts to restore trust were unsuccessful at first and Sally thought she would win him over, but eventually he and Helen reconnected and cancelled the divorce. Sally was finally convinced to give up on Don.

Alex became friends with Courtney, Lauren, and Jason. Lauren was quite interested in him and Courtney tried to play matchmaker. He seemed to be oblivious to Lauren's interest at first. One night, after a party, Jason and Alex were too drunk to go home, so the girls left them in a guest bed. Jason was stunned to awaken to Alex making a move on him. He scrambled out of the room but later the boys chalked the event up to the alcohol. However, the incident continued to haunt Jason. He kept quiet about it, though, and was surprised to see Alex finally picking up on Lauren's interest in him.

Andy was floored when a drunken Roberta slipped up and he realized that Katherine had set up the recording contract to keep him and Danielle apart. He denounced his mother and got engaged to Danielle. Meanwhile, Danielle confronted Roberta about her role in the plot and was able to end the tour early but hang onto her contract. She and Andy focused on planning their wedding, but Katherine was not through with them yet.

Claire was scared when she suspected a mysterious man was following her around town. She confided in Paula that she was worried it was her father, James -- after all, no body had been found. However, it turned out to be Ryan Moriani, the ex-boyfriend who had raped her. His reappearance rattled Claire substantially. Ryan begged for forgiveness and tried to convince her that he had changed. After he saved Travis and Samantha from a fire, she began to believe that it could be true and introduced him to Tim as an old friend.

Tim was horrified to put together the pieces and realize who Ryan really was. He urged Claire to stay away from Ryan, but she resented Tim's attempts to control her and did not turn Ryan away. Unbeknownst to her, Ryan was actually still doing business with his father, Nick, who had been an old associate and friend of James Robbins. Nick met Katherine Fitch and was immediately taken with the widow, and they began dating. He opposed Ryan's continued pursuit of Claire and bonded with Katherine over their troubles with their sons.

On Thanksgiving, Tim was shocked when he found a set of adoption papers in Paula's possession. He didn't have the chance to examine them further but wanted to figure out what they meant for the family. This year's New Year's Eve celebration was less dramatic than the previous year's, but tensions ran high when Molly brought Matt as a date -- much to Sarah's chagrin -- and Alex shared a first kiss with Lauren, which confused Jason.

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