Shortly after Julian and Alexis reunited, Julian learned that Olivia Falconeri was pregnant and he wondered if the child was a product of the one night he and Olivia had spent together. Olivia vehemently denied any possibility that Julian had fathered her child but Julian remained suspicious even after Ned claimed that he was unborn child's father. When Olivia gave birth prematurely, Julian discovered that the child was his. Julian's elation over his new son was short-lived when he was informed that the child did not survive.

In October 2015, Julian discovered that Olivia had lied. The truth was revealed when Olivia returned to town with an "adopted" child the same age as the son that she and Julian had lost. Everyone easily saw through the ruse, and Olivia admitted that her son Leonardo Falconeri was indeed Julian's son. With some help from Ned and Alexis, Olivia and Julian settled into an uneasy truce for their son's sake, and they worked out a visitation schedule.

By the spring of 2016, Julian found himself pulled back into the mob to protect Ava from a new threat. When Carlos Rivera was arrested, Alexis insisted on representing him because she feared that he might implicate Julian in Duke Lavery's murder. When a witness who had seen Carlos shoot Duke stepped forward, Julian arranged for Hale Garrett to be found dead from a drug overdose.

In May, Carlos escaped from jail then reached out to for Julian for help. Julian realized that Carlos would always remain a threat, so he grabbed a dagger that Helena Cassadine had bequeathed to Alexis then raced to the rendezvous point. On the piers, Julian stabbed Carlos then tossed the body into the harbor. Later, Carlos' body was recovered from the harbor, but he died within hours at the hospital, and the police showed up at Alexis' house looking for evidence to charge Julian for murder. Alexis was horrified when she learned that Carlos had been stabbed because she realized that Julian had used Helena's dagger -- the one that Helena had used when she had murdered Alexis' mother.

The betrayal strained Julian's relationship with Alexis, but Alexis was at Julian's side when Lucas slipped into a mysterious coma. After Lucas recovered, he married his longtime love, Brad Cooper. Things took a turn for Julian when the police showed up searching for the dagger, and they found it. Alexis was charged with the crime but released on bail. She revealed that she was pregnant, and she implored Julian to confess, but he insisted that she would not be found guilty.

Around this time, Julian began to have disturbing visions of Carlos urging Julian to kill Alexis. As Julian spiraled, his relationship with Alexis unraveled. On the Fourth of July, Julian made a shocking discovery during an argument with Alexis when she once again tried to get him to confess. Alexis had been wearing a wire! Things quickly escalated when he abducted Alexis then fled before the police could converge on the lake house to save Alexis.

When Julian and Alexis reached the piers, Julian held a knife to Alexis' throat, but Sonny had been hot on their heels. Sonny intervened, and a fight broke out between the two men. Alexis grabbed the dagger then stabbed Julian in the back. After the police arrived, Julian was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery. It was touch-and-go, but Julian survived the injury, and he had learned that Alexis had lied about the pregnancy. Julian was taken into custody for his crimes, and he took drastic measures to keep from being sent to jail to await his arraignment, including faking a cardiac episode with the help of a medication.

Nina Reeves caught onto Julian's scheme, and she withheld the medication that he needed until he had signed over complete autonomy of Crimson to her. Disgusted by Julian's actions, both Sam and Lucas disowned him. Olivia also took steps to cut Julian out of Leo's life. The one person who continued to stand by Julian was his sister, Ava. Ava found incriminating evidence against District Attorney Paul Hornsby, and she used that as leverage to secure Julian's release.

During the trial, Paul arranged for the search warrant to have been issued for 2813 Belleforest Drive rather than 2183 Belleforest Drive, which meant that the search at Alexis' house had been illegal. Paul made a show of claiming that he could proceed with the case, but he had also made certain to drug Alexis' drink, and she fell apart on the stand. As the trial progressed, the case against Julian fell apart when one of the star witnesses failed to appear. Later, it would be revealed that she had been murdered by Paul Hornsby when she had stumbled across his secret -- Paul was the serial killer who had been stalking the hallways of General Hospital.

Ultimately, Julian was acquitted and set free. Alexis filed a restraining order against him, but he ignored it because he had grown concerned about Alexis' drinking. Further complicating Julian's life was the shocking death of Morgan Corinthos. Ava had switched out Morgan's bipolar medication to drive him away from her daughter Kiki, but it had also sent Morgan spiraling. One night in mid-October, Morgan stole Julian's car unaware that someone had planted a bomb inside. Minutes later, Morgan pulled over, but the vehicle exploded as he opened the door. Julian tried to broker a truce with Sonny, but Sonny was not receptive.

Julian hired Curtis Ashford to find out who had planted the bomb in Julian's car. A few weeks later, Julian had an encounter with Alexis at Gene's Roadhouse. Alexis reminded him that she had a restraining order, but Julian refused to leave because he knew that Alexis had been drinking heavily. Alexis bristled when Julian threatened to call Sam, so she waited until Julian's back was turned then slipped out of the bar. Alexis jumped into her car just as Julian followed her out of the bar. Seconds later, Alexis threw the car into gear, but instead of going in reverse, the car lunged forward and struck Julian. Horrified, Alexis jumped out of the car to check on Julian then called 9-1-1.

Fearing that she might be arrested, Alexis climbed back into the car then fled the scene before the police arrived. Julian was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery. He faced a long road to recovery, but he refused to identify the driver. Instead, Julian blackmailed Alexis into letting him recuperate under her roof. However, Julian had an ulterior motive. He wanted to help Alexis stop drinking.

Unfortunately, Julian had a secret that would drive him and Alexis apart for good. Julian's sister, Olivia Jerome, was revealed to be alive, and she had been blackmailing Julian for months into doing her nefarious bidding. It was Olivia who had ordered her henchman Winston Rudge to plant a bomb in Julian's car as payback for nearly killing her decades earlier. Olivia pretended to be an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor to befriend Alexis, and she threatened the lives of each of Julian's family members if he failed to do as she had ordered.

In February 2017, everything reached a head when Ava was arrested for Morgan's murder for tampering with his bipolar medication, and Olivia warned Julian not to help their sister. Julian realized that Olivia needed to be stopped, so he put his affairs in order and prepared to confront his sister. Olivia had other plans. She lured a very pregnant Sam away with the intention of using her as bait for Julian, but Sam realized that something was wrong. Sam confronted her aunt, but Olivia managed to shove Sam down a snowy ravine and flee. Sam went into labor and nearly succumbed to hypothermia until Jason found her in time to avert disaster.

Meanwhile, Olivia abducted Julian and stashed him in the trunk of her car. Julian was rescued when Anna Devane tracked down Olivia's hideout, but Olivia continued to remain a step ahead until early March when Olivia abducted Alexis to lure Julian to a bridge for a final showdown. Olivia held a gun to Julian as she ordered him to shoot Alexis, but Julian refused to kill the woman that he loved. He shot off Alexis' handcuffs then ordered her to flee. Furious, Olivia shot her brother, and Julian tumbled over the bridge and into the frigid churning waters below. Later, Olivia was arrested.

Julian was presumed dead, so Alexis retrieved a letter from a safe deposit box that he had written in the event of his demise. Grief-stricken, Alexis had a brief relapse, but a vision of Julian had set her back on track. Alexis started to believe that perhaps Julian had survived the fall and gunshot. In April, her suspicions were confirmed when she looked at a picture of her, Sam, and the kids in the park that Dillon Quartermaine had taken, and she was Julian lurking in the background.

On April 17, Julian and Alexis were reunited. They shared a night of passion, but it was to say goodbye. Unfortunately, Jason and Sam had other plans when they received confirmation that Julian had reached out to a boat captain to ferry Julian out of the country. Just as Julian was about to leave his motel room, the police kicked in the door and arrested Julian. Julian turned to Ava for help.

In May, Julian was offered a deal; help take down Sonny in exchange for Julian's freedom. Julian declined, and he was granted bail. Tragedy struck when Ava was trapped in a fire at her gallery. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The fire left her face horribly disfigured, and she fell into a deep depression. Julian tried to be there for his sister, but he was also had legal troubles to deal with. Despite Olivia Falconeri's threats, she reluctantly agreed that Julian could spend time with their son Leo.

In August, Julian was found guilty of his crimes as Olivia Jerome's henchman, and he was sentenced to Pentonville. Life was difficult at the federal prison. In November Alexis paid Julian a visit, and it was clear that he'd been physically assaulted. Determined to find a way to help Julian, Alexis reached out to Olivia Jerome's attorney, Nora Buchanan. To everyone's surprise, Olivia issued a statement exonerating her brother of the crimes that he had been convicted for. A judge granted Julian bail pending a new trial.

Alexis had moved on with a new man, but Olivia Falconeri remained open to Julian spending time with Leo. In December, after the charges against him were dropped, Julian decided to buy a bar called Charlie's Pub in the Charles Street District. Determined to prove that he had changed his ways, Julian focused on building a business, repairing his relationship with his children, and staying out of trouble. He also sold Derek Wells Media to Jason and Sam, who renamed the empire Aurora Media.

Julian's private life also took a turn when he met Dr. Kim Nero, a single mother who had taken to calling him "Charlie" because she had assumed that was his name when she had first met him. Kim had a teenage son with a man she had known briefly but had loved deeply. Kim made it clear that she wasn't interested in more than a fling, which suited Julian just fine because he was still in love with Alexis. Things started out slow, but in time Kim and Julian grew close. By this time, Ava had undergone plastic surgery to repair the damage to her face, and she was dating Dr. Griffin Munro, an ex-priest and Duke Lavery's son.

Julian had also managed to reach an uneasy truce with Molly, who had moved into an apartment with T.J. Ashford across the street from Julian's bar. Julian assured Alexis that he would keep an eye on her daughter. Around this time, a building developer named Jim Harvey expressed an interest in redeveloping the Charles Street district. Renters and property owners who refused Jim's offers of a buyout soon had trouble with random power outages, failed inspections, and other signs that Jim was up to no good. Charlie's Pub became the hub of the resistance as the neighborhood banded together to fight the project.

On March 5, 2018, an earthquake rocked the Charles Street District. It would later be determined to be a result of illegal fracking. Jim Harvey escaped justice when he was killed during a confrontation with Franco Baldwin and Drew Cain. Drew was the man who had fathered Kim's son, Oscar, and in a shocking twist Drew was the identical twin of Jason Morgan. For a time, Drew -- and everyone else -- had believed that he was Jason, but the return of the real Jason Morgan had changed everything and upended Sam's life. Sam had tried to make her marriage to Drew work, but her love for Jason remained as strong as ever.

After the dust settled, Julian decided to rebuild. In July, Julian met Brad and Lucas' adopted son, Wiley. Julian was delighted by the addition to the family, but his happiness would not last. Shortly after arriving home, Wiley passed away from SIDS. Brad had been home alone with the baby, and he raced the child to the hospital.

Overcome with emotion, Brad pulled to the side of the road and wept because he feared that the loss of the child also meant the end of his marriage to Lucas. As fate would have it, Brad's friend Nelle Benson stumbled out of the woods with a newborn baby boy. Nelle and Brad decided to switch babies because Nelle was headed to jail if she were caught, and she didn't want the baby to go to his father -- Michael Corinthos.

Brad confessed the secret to Julian, but he claimed the woman had been a homeless stranger desperate to give her child a better life. Julian believed the lie, and he agreed to help Brad make certain that the birth mother didn't change her mind about the adoption. The birth mother turned out to be Willow Tait, the new elementary school teacher. The minute Willow saw Julian with Brad, Lucas, and Wiley, she knew that she had stumbled across her son. Julian warned Willow to keep her distance from his family, but Brad got wind of who Willow was.

Brad began to panic because he knew that the truth about Wiley would be exposed if Willow changed her mind about the adoption, but Willow was more certain than ever that she had made the right decision when she discovered that her son's birth father had made his way to Port Charles. Willow assured Brad and Lucas that she had no plans to claim Wiley, and she announced her plans to leave town because she wanted to make certain cult leader David Henry "Shiloh" Archer never learned that he had fathered Wiley.

Unfortunately, Willow's plans were in vain because Shiloh was able to uncover the truth, and he decided to take Willow to court to unseal the private adoption records. Julian and Sam joined forces to alter Wiley's birth records then made certain that the altered records would be found at the courthouse if the judge ruled in Shiloh's favor. Fate had other plans; Shiloh was charged with sexual assault and other crimes then later killed during a bold escape from police custody.

Brad remained uneasy that someone would learn his secret, and he was right. Liesl Obrecht had delivered Nelle's newborn in the woods, so Liesl knew that the baby that Brad passed off as his adopted son was in fact Nelle Benson and Michael Corinthos' son. Brad implored Julian to kill Liesl to keep the secret safe. Julian was stunned when Brad revealed the truth about who Wiley was then threatened to tell Sonny Corinthos that Julian had known the truth about Michael's son from the beginning. Brad refused to take the fall alone.

Despite the threats, Julian did not go through with murdering Liesl. Instead, he advised Brad to find a way to work things out with Liesl. However, Julian realized that Brad was cracking under the pressure of keeping the truth from Lucas. Julian decided to protect his son by driving Brad out of town. Julian sent flowers to Brad from an anonymous sender hoping to spark Lucas' jealously. The ploy worked, so Julian manipulated Brad into changing the password on Brad's phone to hide the text messages from Liesl. When Lucas went to use Brad's phone to take a picture of Julian and Wiley, Lucas grew suspicious because he'd been locked out of the phone. Next, Julian hired someone to text message Brad a nude photograph.

Brad ran to Julian for help, and he was shocked when Julian revealed that he'd been working to drive Brad and Lucas apart. Julian ordered Brad to leave town and never look back, but Brad had other ideas. He told Lucas about Julian's mission, and claimed that Julian had found out about Brad helping Liesl to alter a DNA test. Lucas was livid, and he washed his hands of Julian.

Julian's love life had also soured. Kim Nero's son Oscar had died of a brain tumor, and Kim had begun to spiral. The relationship became strained, and when a mad science experiment resulted in Franco Baldwin receiving Drew Cain's memories, Kim believed that she had been given a second chance with the love of her life. Julian worried about Kim's state of mind because he knew her secrets, including her efforts to drug the real Drew Cain with the intention of having sex and getting pregnant with another child. Julian shared the secret with Scott Baldwin, who along with Franco's wife, were due to face a judge to determine if Franco was of sound mind.

Feeling betrayed, Kim Nero confronted Julian and made it clear that she was through with him for good. A few days later, Kim left town.