The story begins sometime after the L.A. drama. Ethan and Theresa got married and had little Ethan, but eventually split. Ethan heads up his own practice on the other side of town.Chad and Whitney were engaged, and found out they were expecting a child, but the revelation of Chad's secret marriage to Latoya and that he was the product of Alistair Crane and Liz Sanbourne led to her losing her child and the end of their relationship.
Charity and Miguel were together and happy, but the revelation of Kay's pregnancy caused a deep rift between the two. They eventually reconciled, but Charity wasn't ready to commit fully to a life with Miguel and left town to attend the Fashion Institute in New York. Kay eventually gave birth, but little Maria died shortly after her birth. Simone, who's currently dating John Hastings, isjuggling her new relationship with being the shoulder her best friend Kay needs in this her most desperate hour.TC's neice, Hailey Chambers (the daughter of his older sister Ruby Russell and her husband) has decided to attend Harmony U. and will be staying with her favorite cousin Simone and her family.
Whitney Russell couldn't believe it. Her life had seemed so perfect just a few short months ago. She was engaged to the man she loved, Chad Harris, and had found out that they were going to have a child together as well. She had had a brief affair with Fox in LA, but her heart had lead her back to Chad, as always. That was all shattered just a few short days earlier. When, it was revealed, that the love of her life Chad Harris was in actuality the son of her beloved Aunt Liz and none other than Alistair Crane. Alistair had raped Liz years earlier (a fact that Liz kept hidden until now) and Chad was the result. Liz had gone into seclusion and put her baby up for adoption, fearing she couldn't take care of him the way he deserved to be.
Not only had she had to deal with the fact that the man she thought was the love of her life was her own cousin, but that the child she carried within her was a child of incest. The shock of all this hit Whitney hard. She suffered severe cramps and bleeding as a result, and wound up miscarrying her child. They decided to name their child, a son, Miles Davis Harris, after Chad's favorite musician growing up.
"This is unbelievable." Whit mumbled to herself as she walked down the streets of downtown Harmony's busy business district.
"How could the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with, be my own cousin?" "My life is such a mess." she said as she wiped the tears that began to form in her eyes.
Suddenly Whit heard a strangely familiar voice from her past behind her.
"Well look who finally decided to leave tennis practice and re-join the general population."
Whitney turned around and saw a familiar face. "Frank?" she said with a mixture of surprise and joy. Whitney had had a crush on Private Investigator Frank Lomax years earlier when he was working for Ethan Crane in Harmony, but had never told him of her feelings for fear that they weren't returned.
"Is it really you?"
"Yup, in the flesh." Frank responded as he flashed a smile.
"Oh my God." Whitney exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him in a huge embrace.
"What are you doing here? where have u been all this time?"
"Well," Frank responded,
"After finding out who Ethan's stalker was, my dept. was shuffled and I was transferred to Miami."
"Wow." Whit exclaimed. The beautiful scenery of South Beach would be a welcome change from Harmony, especially now she thought to herself.
"After a while, I decided to open up my own private practice."
"And what better place to re-locate than here."
"Well, I'm so glad you're back." Whitney said as she threw her arms around him again.
"Me too." Frank said softly as he embraced her. He then heard the sound of Whitney quietly sobbing in his ear.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"Nothing." she replied.
"Really." he said sarcastically, as he wiped her slight tears away.
"Well, a lot has gone down since you left, Frank. A whole lot."
"I know." he responded, looking into her beautiful eyes for a brief moment.
"Let's go somewhere and get a cup of coffee and catch-up." he suggested.
"I'd really like that." she responded softly. "I know the perfect place where we can go."
"This is great, just great." Chad mumbled to himself sarcastically as he stood on the wharf looking out onto the crystal blue waters of Harmony Bay.
"Of all the people in the world, I've got to have the devil himself as a father." With that, Chad angrily knocked his coffee off the wharf's railing. At that moment, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald approached her friend.
"Hey Chad, how are you doing?" she said softly.
"As well as can be expected, I guess." he responded sarcastically.
"How would you feel if you found out that the most evil, sadistic bastard on the planet turned out to be your father?" he said as he looked out blankly into the sea.
"I would've taken a nose-dive off the wharf by now." she said chuckling. The comment caused a slight smile to come across Chad's face.
"I've always known I was adopted, and since I didn't know who my birth parents were, I decided to forge my own identity." "Now it feels like I've lost even that."
"Well I know who u are Chad."
"You're a good person, who's heart is pure."
"That's why you're surrounded by people who love you." she said softly as she put an arm around her friend.
"And in times like this, you need to be around those you love."
"Thanks T." he responded, as he hugged her.
"I know when push comes to shove, you and my boy Ethan will always have my back."
"So, why don't you spend tonight with some of your dear friends, and take your mind off of what's going on, for a little while at least." she suggested.
"Ok, you're on. But I'm not buying." he said jokingly.
"Maybe we can con Ethan into paying." she whispered, as they walked arm-in-arm down the wharf
"Is that all?" the clerk asked.
"Yea that's it." the student responded
"That'll be 250.25" she said in a monotone voice.
"Thank God for student aid." Miguel whispered to himself.
As he turned around to leave, he bumped into a beautiful young girl, spilling his books all over the floor.
"Oh excuse me." Miguel said. With a mixture of embarrassment and interest. "I didn't see you."
"No, excuse me." the girl replied. "It was my fault."
"Wow, you've got some book load there." "You must really love school." she remarked with a laugh
"Nah, not exactly. Just trying to get the tough stuff over with early." he responded.
"I'm kind of a new student here." the girl said innocently.
"I really don't know the campus real well."
"I'd be happy to show u around happy little Harmony U." Miguel said with a slight smile. "I'm Miguel by the way."
"Hi, Miguel, I'm Hailey." she responded with a smile shaking his outstretched hand.
After dropping his books off in his room, the two headed out to explore the campus.
"So you're new here." Miguel asked.
"Yeah." she responded. "I've got family here, but my immediate family and I are from California."
"You've got family here? Who are they, maybe I know them" he exclaimed.
"Well my cousins Whitney and Simone Russell are here, as is my uncle TC and my aunt Eve."
"Oh really? Me and Simone grew up together." "Doctor Russell is the best doctor here; she's saved the lives of many of the people I love." "And I used to play basketball for Coach Russell in high school."
The two spent the rest of the day getting to know each other. They could spend hours just talking to each other, each feeling they had never met someone that they had more in common with.
"Hello, Simone?" Hailey said anxiously into her cell phone.
"Yes, this is Simone. Who is this?"
"It's me Simone, Hailey."
"Hey cuz, I didn't know you got into town today. Why didn't u let me know?" Simone said.
"Sorry about that. I was registering for class and I met the most unbelievable guy. We spent the whole day together." she said excitedly.
"Who?" Simone anxiously asked.
"Well, his name is Miguel. He said he knows you. And the two of you grew up together."
"Miguel. Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald." Simone said ominously.
"Oh boy cuz, we've got to talk."