La Valle dei Pini - Trama anno 1981
When Tom Cudahy's annulment from Erica went through, he was finally free to marry Brooke. Erica enjoyed her exciting new life in New York. Palmer relished the opportunity to transform his new wife, Donna into a woman of the world.
For others, 1981 would be a year filled with anguish and sorrow. Paul Martin and the Tylers grieved when their beloved Ann was killed by a bomb that had been planted in Paul's car. Brooke made the horrifying discovery that the woman she believed to be her mother, Peg English, was actually code-named Cobra, the leader of an international drug cartel. And over at Cortlandt Manor, Nina was painfully estranged from her beloved Cliff. Nina masked her pain with anger. At times, she refused to even acknowledge Cliff's presence. But Nina's trusted friend, Monique Jonvil, knew that she cared for Cliff because Nina told her so. Nina, persuaded by her argument, agreed to give Cliff another chance.
Sean Cudahy, working as right hand man to Palmer Cortlandt, discovered the truth that Daisy was alive -- but was not aware that she was masquerading as Monique Jonville. Cliff delivered Sybil's baby -- Bobby -- in Cliff and Nina's living room. Sybil took her newborn son home to her dreary boarding house where motherhood proved somewhat difficult. Taking money from Palmer, Sybil tried to use the baby as a pawn in another scheme to break up Cliff and Nina. "If you don't divorce Cliff, I'll give Bobby away to strangers. I swear it. Cliff will never see his son again!," she taunted Nina. Nina felt she had no choice. Going to Cliff, Nina announced that she wanted out of their marriage. This time, Cliff refused to believe her. Nina had no choice but to admit that Sybil was the culprit. That was all Cliff needed to hear. Promising to "kill her", Cliff headed to Sybil's apartment. And that's exactly where he found her -- -- dying from a gunshot wound. Within days, Cliff Warner was arrested for the murder of Sybil Thorne. At his trial, Monique Jonvil came forward to confess on the stand that she knew who the murderer was -- Sean Cudahy.
In the process, Monique had to admit the startling truth -- she was Nina Cortlandt's mother! Nina stood up in total, disbelieving shock, slowly approaching the witness stand and collapsed. Sean was sent to jail. Palmer's new wife, Donna, left him and, with his world collapsing around him, he went on a drinking binge that landed him in nearby Center City. Hit over the head, Palmer suffered a complete loss of memory. Needing a job, Palmer Cortlandt, one of the world's wealthiest men, went to work as a busboy at Foxy's, a Center City bar! This was a sad chapter in the great man's life. It would take months before he recovered. Before long, Palmer was back at Cortlandt Manor -- determined to win back his first love, Daisy.
At the Martins, Ruth had still not gotten over the death of her son Phil. This time it was real. While on a government mission, Phil's plane exploded and he was killed, leaving Tara a widow with a young child, Charlie. Tara soon married another man, school psychologist Jim Jefferson and moved to Portland.
The Martins' problems were complicated by the behavior of their teenage son Tad, whose pot smoking habit had turned him into bitter young man and a thief. When the pressure of life at home proved too much, he ran away. Soon after he left, his mother, Opal Gardner, an outrageously wacky woman, turned up on the Martin doorstep with her sweet and innocent teenage daughter, Jenny. Jenny met Jesse Hubbard, a streetwise black kid, who was the nephew of Dr. Frank Grant and his wife, Nancy. Jenny and Jesse struck up an instant friendship. They leaned on each other. Especially after Jesse nearly burned down his Uncle Frank's house when he carelessly left a burning cigarette in an ashtray.
The son of one of Pine Valley's leading families, the Nelsons, Greg Nelson was instantly captivated by Jenny, the girl from the "wrong side of the tracks." Greg's fascination with Jenny upset Liza Colby, a purebred, snooty girl whom Greg had known his entire life.
Erica was on top of the world. Life couldn't be sweeter for Pine Valley's princess until she discovered that her lover, Brandon Kingsley, had a secret wife! Brandon had no intention of divorcing his wife. Instead he privately decided to string Erica along for as long as he could. But Brandon soon discovered that he had competition for Erica -- a young millionaire, Kent Bogard.