John "Jack" Abbott, Jr.

Actor History

Terry Lester

1980 to 1989

Brett Porter

December 5, 1986 to December 11, 1986

November 22, 1989 to Present; contract

Samuel Engelen [Jack as a child in flashbacks]

May 22, 2017 and June 8, 2017

Lifeline

Other Names

Occupation

Residence

Marital Status

Past Marriages

Relatives

Children

Flings & Affairs

Health and Vitals

Crimes Committed

Brief Character History

We first met playboy Jack Abbott when he came home from Harvard with an MBA. He began pursuing Jill Foster who had just gone to work for his father John’s company, Jabot Cosmetics. To get close to her and impress his father, Jack went to work there too. But Jill had set her sights on John, who was so impressed with her, he promoted her quickly. John became attracted to Jill and arranged a get-away trip to New Orleans, but at the last minute, John canceled the trip saying he wasn't ready to become involved with another woman. Soon after, a despondent Jill made love with Jack. The next day, Jill's roommate Eve Howard, gave her a letter from John that said that he loved Jill and wanted to be with her. Unfortunately, the night before, John had walked past Jack's room and had seen Jill in Jack's bed. When Jill discovered that John knew about her indiscretion and had left town and Jabot, she quit her job there too. When John returned to Genoa City and Jabot two years later, Jill tried to explain about the night with Jack, but John had difficulty accepting it. Eventually, John gave in to Jill's charms and they began dating. Although Jack tried to destroy that relationship by revealing that Jill had a young son, Phillip, John and Jill were married.

During his early Jabot career, Jack was known to have flings with nearly all the Jabot Models. Initially, Diane Jenkins allowed herself to be pursued by Jack because she believed it would increase her chances of becoming Jabot's top model. A night in bed together was always followed by a morning pressuring Jack for the top model job. But Diane fell hopelessly in love with Jack, and began to delude herself that she would end up Mrs. Jack Abbott. But Jack decided to marry young and innocent Patty Williams in an effort to show his father he'd finally "grown up." When Jack was late for their wedding, he was found in bed with Diane by his sister Ashley. Diane and Jack continued their affair even after his marriage, and Diane threatened to tell Patty about it, if she didn't get the top model job at Jabot. So Jack gave her the job for the summer, but by fall, Julia Newman was instead appointed spokesperson for Jabot's new line of products.

When a pregnant Patty was prompted by the scheming Jill to visit Jack at his office, she found him making love to Diane. She was so traumatized that she tripped over a plant in the lobby, and later miscarried. After her recovery, Patty told Jack that she wanted another baby, and to move out of the Abbott Mansion into their own house. Later after overhearing Jack making plans for a vasectomy, and telling Jill that he only married Patty so that John would make him president of Jabot, Patty showed up at Jack's office ready to kill herself in front of him. Jack admitted how cruel he had been to her, and begged her to shoot him instead. So she shot Jack three times. One of the bullets left Jack paralyzed, but he eventually recovered after surgery. Patty's father Carl was the detective working the case, and was convinced that Jill had been the shooter. Patty had lost any memory of the shooting or what had led to it until Jack and her psychiatrist forced her to remember by re-enacting the shooting. Once she remembered, she left town and divorced Jack.

Soon after, Jack's lover Diane accepted a marriage proposal from Andy Richards, so Jack turned to his young step-mother, Jill for comfort. After Andy and Jill had a fight, Jack followed her to a remote cabin where they were stranded during a heavy snowstorm. Jack and Jill's lovemaking at the cabin was captured on film by Lindsay Wells, a former lover of Jack's, and Lindsay used it to blackmail them. When Jill later discovered that she was pregnant, her dilemma over who was the father led to a miscarriage when she mysteriously "fell" from a ladder. John eventually found out about the liaison thanks to Katherine Chancellor. John went home and confronted Jill with a photo of her and Jack, and John suffered a stroke. Once John recovered, he filed for divorce, and threw Jack out of the house and Jabot.

Jack Abbott and Victor Newman have always been bitter rivals in love and business. Jack married Victor's ex-wife Nikki, but their marriage was doomed because she could never get over Victor. After two prior miscarriages, another child was born too early due to an argument between Victor and Nikki when she fell down the stairs, and the baby died soon afterward. They named him John Abbott III, and his heart was given to a baby named Jack Cook.

For years, Victor and Jack vied for control of Jack's father's company, Jabot Cosmetics. Jack was instrumental in the company's "going public," thereby allowing Victor's takeover. A deal was struck to return control of Jabot to the Abbotts, if Jack would abandon Nikki. But Victor tricked Jack, and the deal fell through. For revenge, Jack planned, with the help of Brad Carlton, to take over Newman Enterprises during Victor's absence, but was caught by Victor. Victor collapsed as he was accusing Jack of this mutiny. Jack left Victor to die, but later returned to save him. Victor survived and the battle between Jack and Victor continued.

While serving in Viet Nam, Jack Abbott had met and fallen in love with a young Vietnamese woman he had known only as Mai Yun. When Jack's military service ended he returned to her village, but not knowing her real name, it was impossible to find her. Unknown to Jack, Mai Yun being pregnant with his son, had moved to a safer place. She later married a Vietnamese man with the last name Volien, and together they had a daughter they named Mai. When the war ended the women had been separated from the men. Mai Yun later found out that her husband had died, but that her and Jack's son, remained among the missing.

In 1994, Christine Blair became friends with the owner of her favorite restaurant, The Saigon Shack, which was run by a Vietnamese woman named Luan. When Luan was shot in a robbery at the restaurant, she pleaded with Christine to find her son, Keemo, before she might die. Christine and Paul Williams traveled to Viet Nam, where they found handsome 20 year old Keemo who was belligerent and resentful, assuming that his mother had abandoned him in Viet Nam as a child. But they convinced Keemo to return with them to Genoa City. After a tearful reunion, Luan recovered from her wounds. Keemo moved in with Luan and her teenaged daughter Mai. From the stories Luan told her, Christine deduced that Jack had been Luan's lover while he was a soldier in Viet Nam, and that Jack had fathered Keemo. Christine made sure that Jack and Luan were reunited. Luan told Keemo that Jack was his father, which angered Keemo because he had always believed that his American father had deserted them. When Keemo learned how Jack and Luan had been separated, he accepted Jack as his father.

Luan brought out a softer side seldom seen in Jack. They were married in a beautiful wedding. The bride wore Vietnamese traditional red, and Keemo as best man wore white. Luan had been ill, but she did not tell Jack. They became a very close family, including Luan's teenage daughter, Mai. Ironically, Jack inadvertently discovered that Luan had a terminal illness. He resolved to keep his knowledge a secret so that her remaining months with him would be happy.

Jack was devastated when Luan died. When Keemo discovered that Jack had known that Luan had been seriously ill, he accused his father of stealing precious time that he and his sister Mai could have spent with their mother. But, eventually, Keemo forgave his father. To Jack's disappointment, Keemo announced that he was returning to Viet Nam. Jack has only mentioned Keemo a few times in passing since, regretful that he was no longer in his life, and saying that they are still in touch.

Mari Jo Mason helped Jack to get over the death of Luan, but became obsessed with him. She was institutionalized for the attempted murder of Victor and kidnapping of Christine.

Several years after the last attempt, Jack plotted again with Brad Carlton to take over Newman Enterprises while Victor was being held captive in New Mexico. This time he succeeded in his takeover, by changing numbers in a spreadsheet and seeding the Board of Directors to get the votes needed. When Victor returned, Jack made him a deal to return Jabot to the Abbotts in exchange for Newman. Unfortunately for Jack, Victor saw what he really wanted, and upped the ante --Jabot must be purchased to close the deal, and Brash & Sassy would stay with Newman. The Abbotts scraped up the cash for the deal, but fell short at deadline time. Jack had to knuckle under to Victor, and accepted a loan for the remainder.

Victor bought up all the Abbott loans and was about to turn the tables and control Jabot once again. But Victor's renewed involvement with Jack's sister Ashley made him back down on calling in all the loans -- for the moment. Meanwhile Jabot was pitting Glo by Jabot against Newman's Brash & Sassy, and Victor still plotted revenge against Jack and Brad.

Ten years since she had left, Diane returned to Genoa City a well-respected architect, admitting that her marriage to Andy had ended in divorce. Jack was excited to see Diane again, but Diane's memories made her mistrust Jack. To see Diane on a regular basis, Jack hired her to design a lake home for him. Jack's sister, Ashley, was livid that Jack and Diane were seeing each other again. She tried to pressure Diane into staying away from Jack, but thanks to Jack's continual persuasion and romantic overtures, Diane admitted to Jack that she still had strong feelings for him. They rekindled their romance and eventually became engaged. Then Victor Newman decided to begin romancing Diane, originally to get back at Jack, but he ended up falling for her. Victor offered Diane a secret assignment to design the new Newman Towers, and mesmerized her with lavish gifts. Victor stole Diane away on a business trip, proposed on the jet, they were married in Nevada, and they honeymooned in the Greek Islands.

Jack began romancing Newman employee Phyllis Summers to spy on Newman but ended up falling head over heels in love with her. Phyllis also loved Jack, but when the subject of marriage came up, she backed off. Phyllis had great reservations, knowing how much Jack wanted children. Since her child Daniel had been legally taken away from her as an unfit mother, she had come to believe the charges were true. Jack's love helped her realize that she was a changed woman, and any child conceived by them would be born under totally different circumstances than those of Daniel. Not long afterward, Phyllis was rushed to the hospital with an ectopic pregnancy. The news was not good. Not only had she lost the baby, but the chances of her having another were slim due to the damage to her fallopian tubes. Again she backed away from Jack, because she had become unable to give him children at all. After some deep soul-searching, Jack decided that he'd rather have Phyllis, and he wooed her back to him once again. They became engaged and Phyllis secretly researched in-vitro fertilization. The chemistry between the two was so electric that even Ashley and the rest of the Abbotts had come around and welcomed Phyllis as Jack's new wife by Christmas Eve 2001. Phyllis underwent hormone therapy prior to in-vitro fertilization, but her body couldn't handle it, and she nearly died.

The discovery that Diane Jenkins' baby, Kyle, had been fathered by Jack's stored sperm was the turning point for this happy couple. Nikki finally disclosed to Jack that he already had the baby he'd always wanted to raise in Kyle. Phyllis was torn between supporting Jack as he sued for sole custody of his son, and wanting the scheming Diane out of their lives. Phyllis went to friend and former lover, attorney Michael Baldwin, for help, but refused his suggestion to throw the case with her testimony. Diane also went to Michael to represent her on the case. Torn between two friends, Michael decided to bow out and let female lawyer Sydney Gorman handle the case. Once Phyllis was on the witness stand, though, Michael knew he had to take over the questioning and save both of his friends. He badgered Phyllis about her former life and being declared an unfit mother, causing her own child, Daniel, to be taken from her, until she broke down and blew the case. Phyllis was furious with Michael when Jack lost custody of Kyle, but Phyllis became free from Diane -- or so she thought.

Diane, who was plotting to get Jack by using Kyle, moved into the Abbott pool house. Phyllis and Diane began playing tricks on each other; Phyllis made sure the pipes broke and flooded the guest room when Diane threatened to move inside the house, and Diane assured her stay in the pool house with a broken leg by jumping behind Phyllis' SUV as she was backing up. Phyllis walked out when Jack refused to take her side, but she returned with a new plan. Jack agreed to Phyllis' ground rules concerning Diane: Diane must not enter the main house, and Jack and Phyllis would spend time with Kyle together, not including Diane.

Then, the evening of the Newman wedding, the Abbott pool house burned down and the police declared it arson. Diane claimed that she had been asleep by sleeping pills and barely managed to escape. Phyllis had left Jack and Kyle at the wedding after she received a call that she was needed at Newman. She was later seen by Diane's friend Isabella stopping at the Abbott mansion about the time of the fire. Phyllis said that she had to change her gown after she sat on an ink pen. Evidence was gathered against Phyllis, and she was indicted for arson and attempted murder. But Phyllis finally was able to convince Jack that Diane had set her up so that she could have him, and they entrapped Diane, going to such lengths that Jack took Diane to bed. Phyllis was acquitted, then found the note that Diane had written to pay a bum to call Phyllis away from the wedding. Jack and Phyllis used it as blackmail to get Diane to turn over custody of Kyle. But later Jack allowed Diane to take Kyle when she moved away.

Several months later, the cosmetic war began, and tensions were high as nearly everyone's mate became the enemy. Victor was Newman and wife Nikki worked for Jabot. Jack was Jabot and wife Phyllis worked for Newman. Neil worked for Newman and his fiancée Dru worked for Jabot. Also affected were Victoria and Nick, whose parents were on opposite sides. Plus Victoria was resentful that Victor passed her over and mentored Nick to take over Newman one day, while Nick was unable to forgive Victor for being too close with his wife Sharon. Newman Enterprises outbid Jabot to buy out Satine Cosmetics for Women of Color due to inside information that Dru let slip to Neil. Jabot decided to resurrect a similar shelved project of Ashley's called Tuvia to compete. Payback was given when Dru found out that Newman was trying to woo Satine creator, Damon Porter, as their chemist for their newly named Safra line. Dru stole him away to work for Jabot during Ashley's maternity leave. Jabot was still hurting financially, but saw Tuvia as their savior, depending on their reputation and fine product to return them to profitability. But Victor could not let Jabot win the war, so he blackmailed Michael Baldwin into paying off large retailers to give them the prime shelf space normally held by Jabot.

The next day Safra was selling like hotcakes and finished a close second to Tuvia. The Abbotts were shocked, the Newmans jubilant. But Nick smelled a rat. Ashley knew that Victor had pulled a fast one. Once Jack found out about the Newman dirty tricks, he confronted Phyllis about how much she knew. Unable to convince him of her innocence, she moved to a hotel to give him some space, and Jack gave his son Kyle back to Diane.

Even after Diane invested heavily and bailed them out, Jabot really needed a miracle. Enter Damon's old flame and co-worker, Vanessa, who came looking for him with the discovery of a rare orchid whose extract could straighten hair. If an orchid could be found, and a way to synthesize it, Jabot would have their miracle. Damon decided to go to Ryukyu Islands, Japan, to secretly hunt for the orchid. But nosey Dru found out, so relocated her wedding to Japan. Damon and Vanessa found themselves in the midst of the enemy as they joined Dru and Neil on the Newman jet for Japan when Neil brought along Phyllis, and then Jack insisted on going too. While the others prepared for the wedding, Damon and Vanessa went orchid hunting, to no avail. But when they attended the lavish wedding, they discovered one in Drucilla's wedding bouquet. Unable to get it away from Phyllis who caught the bouquet, they interrogated Dru's daughter Lily as to where she found it, and they managed to find another. Once home in Genoa City, in an effort to make up with Jack, Phyllis gave him her orchid. When Phyllis found out that Jack already had one, yet had accepted hers, she stole them both from the Jabot lab, quit her job at Newman, and left town. Phyllis later returned, intending to give the orchids to Newman, but Diane stole them. Diane kept one orchid for herself, and made a deal with Phyllis that she could have the other only if she gave it back to Jack, which Phyllis did. Jabot stopped work on the project, as their financial situation worsened.

Nick found out about Victor's dirty tricks, and turned him in to the Feds. Victor was arrested and refused bail. Although Michael offered to take the rap, Victor insisted he make a deal with the DA's office to hopefully save Michael's legal career. Nikki gave an impassioned speech at Victor's commercial bribery trial and Phyllis dealt the final blow to her marriage by also testifying on Victor's behalf. Several arguments later, Jack filed for divorce. Victor was found guilty and in a last ditch attempt to keep from going to prison, offered Jack $75 million to settle. Jack laughed in his face, as it was nowhere near what they had lost. Victor was sentenced to do some major community service. After sentencing, John and Ashley raked Jack over the coals for not consulting them about the settlement offer. They then attempted to accept the settlement, but Victor pronounced the offer was now $20 million, so they declined. Further prodded by Nikki for a reasonable settlement, Victor came up with his final offer-the original $75 million, with the stipulation that Jack could never work for Jabot again. Reluctantly, John and Ashley were about to accept, when Jack offered to resign if it would save Jabot. He did, Jabot got the $75 million, and Jack reverted to his past, being the happy-go-lucky unemployed playboy, and occasionally sleeping with Jill.

Once Jabot went through the $75 million and was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Ashley took Victor up on his offer to come aboard as a consultant. When John realized that Victor was making drastic cuts in the company, which he could not abide, he removed Ashley as CEO, came out of retirement, and took the position again himself. Katherine made Jack Abbott CEO of Chancellor Industries, and Jack wrangled a deal to rescue Jabot by making it a subsidiary of Chancellor. After a failed attempt to convince Victoria Newman to return to Genoa City and become Jabot's new CEO, Jill Abbott was given the position after she and Katherine finally made amends. Brad, who was expecting to get the CEO position himself, quit his job with Jabot, and considered going into business with Victoria Newman. Jack offered Victoria the position of Jill's right hand at Jabot, but Victor won her back as CEO at Newman while Nick took a leave of absence. Victoria's first move as CEO was to hire Brad. Despite their animosity, Victor approved.

Jack resumed his relationship with Phyllis, giving her and Daniel a place to live at the Abbott Mansion, then standing by her during her travails with Daniel running away from vehicular manslaughter charges in the death of Cassie Newman and his subsequent trial. Deciding Daniel needed more stability in his life, Phyllis rented an apartment, and she and Daniel moved out of the Abbott mansion. Expecting to walk into a bare apartment and sleep on air mattresses for a while, they were shocked to find it fully furnished and decorated courtesy of Jack. Daniel went out, and Phyllis and Jack christened the place by making love on the living room couch. Jack and Phyllis seemed to be making their way back to each other, but as much as they still loved each other, business and Jack's vendetta against Victor always got in the way. After Nick fired Phyllis from Newman, Jack gave her a job at Jabot, and it looked promising once they were back on the same side, but Jack blew it by using her once again against Victor.

Phyllis came up with an idea to create wellness spas under the Jabot umbrella. She asked Nikki to join her with her anti-aging product, and took it to Jack who promptly shot it down as not feasible considering Jabot's instability. Phyllis and Jack had it out, and she quit her new job as Jabot executive of internet affairs. So Nikki and Phyllis presented the idea to Victor instead, and he agreed to fund the project. Victor joined the partnership, gave them an office in Newman Towers, and they called it NVP after Nikki, Victor and Phyllis. So Jack filed a lawsuit against them, which became the final split in his on-again off-again relationship with Phyllis. Sharon signed on as Spokesperson for NVP. Not long afterward Victor became afflicted with temporal lobe epilepsy and was duped by Jack into selling him NVP, with a stipulation that Victor would have final say on all decisions, and Nikki was made CEO.

With John in prison for killing the wife of his new wife Gloria, and not at the mansion to protect her, Gloria grew tired of the way Jack and Ashley treated her and vowed to get even. She managed to get hold of the new product Ashley was developing in the lab and compromised it with cleaning solution to make trouble for them. Gloria even asked for a sample, then used it on herself, getting major facial burns to show everyone that Ashley's cream was a hazard. Unfortunately samples had already been distributed to select people, and a woman ended up dying after using the cream. The cause of death was a bit suspicious, but the husband was paid off by Jabot to avoid a lawsuit. Jabot's reputation was further ruined, and Katherine fired Jack as a result. Gloria then invited Kevin to live at the Abbott estate, ingratiated herself to Katherine and Jill, and landed a job at Jabot as fashion consultant, then managed to get Kevin hired on as director of internet affairs to replace Phyllis. She let both Kevin and Michael in on her schemes and they reluctantly helped to keep her secrets.

Meanwhile, Nick and Phyllis became attracted to each other, and began a steamy affair. Then Phyllis turned up pregnant, and broke it to Nick that the father could also be Jack. So Nick took a paternity test. When he received the test results, he disappeared to think about his options. He returned a few days later and informed Phyllis that he was the father, but that he intended to stay with his wife Sharon and their family. Phyllis was disappointed, but insisted that she could raise their child alone. Jack was disappointed since he'd hoped a baby would lead to reconciliation with Phyllis. Jack began an affair with Carmen Mesta.

While in prison, John started getting into fights with inmates and having spells where he believed his first wife Dina had just left him. Jack, Ashley, and Gloria were made aware, and Jack got permission for John's doctor to look at him, and it was discovered that John was being over-medicated. Before that was corrected, Jack took this opportunity to get John to hand-write a new will cutting out "his evil wife," whom John assumed was Dina. Six months after his incarceration, John was about to be released early due to ill heath when he had a stroke and was rushed to Genoa City Memorial in grave condition. The doctors made the family aware that John would never come out of his vegetative state and had signed a DNR. After much bickering between Gloria and Jack, Gloria decided to use her authority in the DNR to allow John to die. Billy and Traci returned to say farewell to their father, as did old friend Katherine, and former-wife Jill before he died. Jack and Ashley, who wanted a small family-only memorial service for John, overruled Gloria, who wanted a huge lavish funeral. As the feud between them heightened, Jack made sure that Gloria was given the wrong time so that she missed the memorial service where each of John's children, Katherine, and Jill, had given a heartfelt eulogy. Gloria, Michael, Lauren, and Kevin arrived to find the service was over, so held their own for John, including Gloria's eulogy.

The Fishers were jubilant and the Abbotts were appalled to discover John's will left Gloria 50% of his billion dollar estate, and the rest, including the Abbott mansion was to be divided among his children. But when everyone arrived in probate court, the prison chaplain turned over the hand-written will he had been given for safe-keeping by John, which divided the estate among only his children. It was also exposed that John's attorney had never gotten around to making the marriage between John and Gloria legal. After court, Gloria arrived at the Abbott Mansion to find her belongings in trash bags on the front porch and the locks changed, with Jack gloating behind the glass door. The next day, as John looked on in the guise of Jack's guilty conscience, the judge decided in the end that the hand-written will would stand, so Gloria was cut out. Assuming that Jack was somehow behind it, Gloria was livid. She and Kevin moved in with Michael and Lauren. Jill and Katherine promoted Gloria to Vice President of Creative Affairs for Jabot, which further infuriated the Abbotts. Gloria was asked to appear as a judge on the reality show Extreme Catwalk, but Jack found a way to keep her off the show and from further sullying the Abbott reputation.

Jack was legally unable to own Jabot, so he made an offer through a company called House of Kim, which Katherine accepted. To make matters worse, Jack financed it using a loan from Victor Newman. Ji Min Kim appeared in Genoa City as the figurehead owner of Jabot. Thanks to Abby, Victor figured out that Jack owned Jabot, and was bent on Jack's destruction once again. Ashley was so upset by the collusion that she accepted a position with House of Kim in Hong Kong, taking her young daughter Abby with her. They later moved to Los Angeles where Ashley took a job with Forrester Originals.

As a winter ice storm took out the power, Phyllis and Jack became trapped in the Newman elevator. Phyllis had been on her way to the hospital for a caesarean because her baby was in the breech position, but went into labor in the elevator instead. Fearful that the baby would not deliver normally and might die, Phyllis implored Jack to cut the baby out of her using a nail scissors. But Jack ended up turning and delivering the baby, who was later named Summer Ann. Meanwhile, Nick was out in the storm rescuing Phyllis' son Daniel from a car wreck. Lily had to do CPR on Daniel while Nick sped them to the hospital. All were united later, Phyllis and baby Summer were fine, and Daniel recovered with only broken ribs. Jack developed a close bond with Summer, and later set up a nursery for her at Newman. As like-injured parties by Phyllis and Nick's affair and marriage, Jack and Sharon began an affair and were later married. An April remarriage in Genoa City that was planned for Nick and Phyllis to make them legal was postponed due to Dru's disappearance and presumed death.

The controversial NVP spa project known as Clear Springs had everyone at Newman taking sides. Jack, Victor, Phyllis and Nick felt a large development would revitalize a dying town, and Nikki, Brad, and Victoria were opposed because it would wipe out historic structures in the town. Nikki and Neil ran for the vacant Newman board seat to boost the votes for their side, and thanks to Phyllis's blackmail of Brad over his affair with Sharon, Victor's yes-man Neil won, so they appeared to have the upper hand on Clear Springs. But Brad got Phyllis arrested for extortion, she was found guilty, and later went to prison.

As part of a plot to bring down Jack, Victor convinced Jack to run for the Wisconsin State Senate. Nikki was in on it, but in her anger at being passed over as a board member of Newman in favor of Neil, she decided to run against Jack. Victor was livid and reminded Nikki where she came from and where she would be if not for him. Meanwhile Jack continued to be visited by his conscience in the form of his dead father John, and appeared to be having second thoughts about the things he had done to control Victor when he was vulnerable during his epilepsy. Jack's campaign manager David Chow pulled a dirty trick by exposing Nikki's porn film 'Hot Hips' on the Internet to discredit her, so Jack fired him. Then Nikki hired him to pull the same sort of tricks on Jack. In what appeared to be a political move at the time, Jack and Sharon were married at the ranch with Noah as best man.

Victor and Sharon were scheduled to fly to Clear Springs, then Jack was going in Victor's place, but had to cancel. So Sharon and Nick ended up taking the trip instead. On the return trip, the Newman jet went down in Lake Michigan with no survivors. Sharon surprised everyone when she walked in on the Newmans and Jack just after they'd gotten the news. She was just as shocked to hear that her taking another flight had saved her life, and that Nick was missing and presumed dead. Noah and Nikki were devastated, but Nikki carried on with her State Senatorial campaign with the help of her campaign manager, David Chow. Victor abandoned them in their grief after Hope called, by taking off for Sri Lanka to search for their missing son Victor Jr. (He would later be known as Adam.) While Victor was away, David fell for Nikki, they got caught kissing by Phyllis and Sharon, and were exposed on videotape. Gloria got Kevin to monitor the security cameras at Jabot, which proved that Jack owned Jabot. So Jack quickly sold Jabot at a loss to Katherine Chancellor. In the end, Jack won the election and became State Senator, but later left in disgrace when his former stepmother Gloria exposed him for falsifying his father's will that had cut her out. Nick turned up lost in the woods, was found by internist Logan Anderson, and was brought back to Genoa City and his family. But Nick had lost his memory of the previous two years of his life, including his marriage to Phyllis and their baby Summer. Remembering only his love for Sharon, Nick tried to win her back even though she was married to Jack, but Sharon, though tempted, wasn't interested. Nick began seeing Phyllis, curious as to why he had ever hooked up with this person he remembered not even liking very much.

Victor returned as arrogant and controlling as ever, still intent on somehow bringing Jack down. It wasn't until weeks later, and after he'd agreed to sell NVP to Nikki, that Victor discovered Jack had sold Jabot to Katherine, which meant that he had lost his leverage over Jack. Livid with Jack, Katherine, and Ji Min for outwitting him, Victor lit into Nikki for not warning him. Victor told Nikki that he had only sold her NVP so she would have to sell her Jabot stock, then he could go after Jack; it had not beento please her. Meanwhile Ji Min Kim turned up dead in his room at the Athletic Club, with Victor and Jack as prime suspects

One day everyone in Genoa City seemed to be at Clear Springs when its underground parking structure and casino collapsed, trapping several of them inside. Sharon, Jack, and Nick were there to scout for a photo shoot. Nick was knocked out, and Jack pinned by debris, but Nick awoke and freed Jack. Sharon's leg was sprained. They managed to find an opening in the rubble. Jack levered it open so that Nick and Sharon could escape, leaving Jack still trapped. While waiting for rescue, Jack wrote a note to Sharon confessing how much he loved her. Meanwhile Amber crawled out of her crushed car and made her way to an elevator, finding Katherine bruised and dirty inside, having been left there while her grandson Cane and J.T. crawled up the shaft for help. Also trapped were Adrian Korbel with a very pregnant Victoria, and Lauren and Noah trapped with Paul. Nikki and others stood vigil on the outside, waiting while rescuers cleared rubble attempting to get to the victims. Phyllis, still in prison, heard about it on TV, got no answer on Nick's cell phone, and got the news when she called Victor. Sharon and Nick walked out of the rubble, asking rescuers to go back for Jack. The rescuers said it was too dangerous, that methane was escaping and about to blow up, so Victor went in and rescued his worst enemy, Jack. Cane and J.T. made it out, but Cane fooled them into believing he'd had rescue training in Australia, and went back to rescue Katherine and Amber. Sharon and Nick were relieved when Noah was carried out on a stretcher. Noah later had his spleen removed as a result of his injuries. Then the dead body of the construction foreman was removed. The reason Cane and Katherine were there was to investigate the foreman for shoddy work and kickbacks. Finally, Korbel and Victoria emerged, just as the methane blast occurred. Victoria was hit on the head with a rock, knocked out, and rolled down the pile of debris.

The investigation into the Clear Springs disaster disclosed that the cause had been Victor Newman's mining the methane underneath it. It didn't take long for Victor to alienate everyone around him, including Nikki. Victor called in her loans for NVP, fired and bankrupted her, giving him full control of NVP. He also fired Nick as Co-CEO of Newman and replaced him with Neil Winters.

After jack lost his senate seat and Nick was fired from Newman, they got together and decided to start a new Internet and print magazine. They asked Phyllis to join them, and Sharon requested to work with them later. They named it Restless Style. Nick bought a dilapidated warehouse, which turned into a money pit, and financed it and his share of the venture on money borrowed against his trust fund, which he could not receive until he was 40. They hired Daniel as a photographer assistant and general go-for, and Amber begged to be hired as receptionist. Victor labeled it foolhardy, and declared it sure to fail.

Due to Jack's falsifying his father's will, the judge reversed his decision on Gloria's inheritance from John, and she was awarded half of Abbott Manor. Since Gloria and Jeffrey moved in and Jack and Sharon refused to move out, they began time-sharing by area. Both couples were doing everything they could to make the other leave. Gloria redecorated in outlandish style, and Sharon and Jack, with Jeff's help, hired an actor, Alistair Wallingford, to play John's ghost to scare Gloria into selling Jack her share of the mansion and leaving. Gloria figured it out and threatened lawsuit, but Jack, influenced by his conscience in the form of his dead father John, gave up and gave her the house, and he and Sharon moved out. Then Gloria, influenced by Jana and her beliefs in karma, decided to turn her life around and gave the mansion back to Jack. Gloria tried to offset her karma and legally donated half her assets to charity. Then Jeff received the other half in their divorce settlement, and Gloria was left penniless. Influenced by his conscience in the form of John again, Jack relented and allowed Gloria to live in the Abbott pool house. After trying and failing as a waitress at Crimson Lights, thanks to the torment of Jill and Jeff, Gloria began working as a sales clerk for Lauren at the Glo by Jabot Boutique.

As Victor predicted, the first edition of his son Nick's Restless Style magazine/webzine did not do as well as expected, so the second had a hipper cover featuring hot singer Katy Perry. Then Adrian Korbel was hired to do an article on Victor's wife Sabrina and the Newman Gallery for the 3rd issue, to which she and Victor approved. Victoria stepped up as a last minute replacement for the cover which was done in a Hollywood retro style. Though Adrian stumbled upon a rumor that Sabrina had wrangled an exhibition for her former lover Phillipe when she was Art Curator at the Pompidou Museum in Paris which could shed new light on the latest Mrs. Victor Newman, he decided not to include it. But Jack did some further research and turned Adrian’s article into a scandalous one that upset everyone, but the magazine sold into a fourth printing. Jack had sent Adrian off to Australia to do another article, so he was furious when he returned and discovered what Jack had done to his article. Assuming Nick was in on the scandalous article and for Victoria’s turning against Sabrina for marrying her father, Victor cut them both out of his will as he added his long-lost son Adam and wife Sabrina.

Jeffrey and Gloria Bardwell's latest plot was to buy up shares in Jabot to get controlling interest. They opened an account in the Caymens called "Agreeing Lovers" which was an anagram for "Gloria’s Revenge". They included Jack in the plan, promising him to become head of Jabot again. Jack was hesitant to trust them as they didn't even fully trust each other. But he convinced Ashley, Billy, and Traci to let him proxy their stocks to help put Jabot back under Abbott control.

Jack's success-by-any-means business style with Sharon's undying support was making it impossible for the two couples to co-exist at Restless Style, so they let a coin flip decide who would buy the other out. Jack and Sharon won, giving Nick and Phyllis a price to buy them out or take the same price to leave. Knowing Nick didn't have the funds, Sharon visited Victor and asked him to give Nick his job back at Newman. But Victor surprised them all by giving Nick a line of credit for the buyout instead. Knowing they needed someone with contacts in fashion, and with Nikki now out of a job and full of great ideas, Nick and Phyllis took her on as interim editor in chief. Nikki got Ruby Aldridge for the cover of their first magazine on their own and Phyllis was in charge of the farewell Letter from the editor. She avoided the urge to trash Jack and Sharon and wrote something nice. But after Nick spent a little too much time with Sharon resolving a problem with Noah, Phyllis changed it to trash them. It only took a little loving for Nick forgave Phyllis. But neither Phyllis nor Jack was pleased when Nick's first act as advisor to Newman was to rehire Sharon as their Beauty of Nature spokesperson.

Adam Newman approached Cane for a job at Jabot, but was turned down. Even his contacts back in New York City suddenly wanted nothing to do with him. When all else failed, he hooked up with Jack to take on Victor, who Jack felt had screwed him over again by helping Nick buy them out. Together they went to Bucerias, Mexico, looking for information on what had really happened to Victor there, and returned knowing that the dead man from the boat who was presumed to have been Victor was named Tony Amato. Adam showed Heather the photo of the dead man in Mexico, and she recognized him as Walter Palin a.k.a. Tony Amato, the man responsible for Sabrina and David Chow’s deaths. After Adam filled her in on what they had found out in Mexico, Heather contacted the Mexican authorities and agreed to work with them to find Victor. Adam and Jack found a publisher for a tell-all book about Victor from the point of view of his long-lost son Adam, but he wanted Victor's diary which they had told him about. The diary they found in Mexico actually contained only a few comments written by Victor, so Jack hired a counterfeiter from Chicago to complete it, in Jack's own dictated words, admitting to Palin’s murder in graphic detail. Adam realized Jack had set him up to do all the dirty work with the counterfeiter so he was going to use the dictation to keep Jack involved, but Jack outsmarted him, found the tape and erased it. The police found out that Sophisticate Magazine had published excerpts from the upcoming book and their handwriting analysis on the diary confirmed that it had been written by Victor. Adam admitted to Heather that he was the one who found the diary and was publishing the book to get money to ask her to marry him. He did, and Heather accepted.

Victor returned to Genoa City on the arm of Ashley to attend Katherine Chancellor's funeral. (She was not really dead, it was her doppelganger, Marge.) They sat in the front row and shunned everyone, then afterward left quickly in a waiting limo. Once Heather found out, Victor was arrested for the murder of Walter Palin, and he was confronted with the diary he supposedly wrote about the murder.

A Jabot shareholders meeting was called, and to Jill’s shock, Gloria and Jeff Bardwell and Billy Abbott, with the majority of Jabot shares and proxies from Traci and Ashley, announced their takeover of Jabot. Jack was present, and Jill reminded them that he was still legally banned from having anything to do with Jabot. Total confusion about who was now in charge was calmed when Ashley Abbott arrived and announced that she was once again the rightful CEO of Jabot.

Jack was questioned by the FBI about his involvement with the diary, but only admitted that he hooked Adam up with the publisher. The forger, Frank Ellis, was arrested for something else, and cut a deal to turn over Jack and Adam. Once Heather started piecing together his story, and with Paul’s corroboration that he had seen Adam at the same dive hotel where Jack had a rented room, she confronted Adam with lying to her about his involvement. Adam tried to get her to marry and flee the country with him, but with a broken heart, Heather had Adam arrested instead. Once the truth came out about the forged diary, Victor was released from jail, following a stern diatribe telling Adam he would not help him, to take his punishment like a man, and to learn not to ever turn on his father again. Victor returned to the ranch to find that Ashley had moved in. Viewers saw Victor have a memory of the storm on the ship, which gave the impression that he had told Walter who he was, then abandoned him on the ship and made it ashore on his own.

Jack and Sharon began having marital problems, the same ones that broke up Jack and Phyllis, as Jack was always more interested in "getting Victor" than in his wife. Sharon caught him in so many lies that he was on his final chance at saving their marriage before the truth about the diary came out. That was the last straw, and she and Noah moved out and into the Athletic Club. Nick and Phyllis celebrated New Years Eve 2008 there, and seeing Sharon alone, Phyllis called Brad to come be with her. Jack saw them going into her room together, and went home to bed alone, his world fallen apart thanks to his own lies. Jack was served with divorce papers the next morning.

Because Gloria went against Jeffrey forbidding her to testify for River at his trial, Jeffrey retaliated by burning his own face with the tainted cream so that Gloria would be discovered as the culprit. Gloria was arrested and jailed for tainting the face cream, and the Abbotts tossed Jeffrey out of the pool house and sued him for the Jabot shares and damages. Jeffrey and Jill each wooed Gloria to sell her Jabot shares, and Jack also offered to drop the charges if she would sell to him, but she sold them to Victor instead for money deposited in an offshore account. Ever plotting against Jack, Victor offered Jabot to Jill if she would seat Billy as CEO, and in exchange all of the Abbotts, including Jack, could stay on board. Jill accepted the offer and justified Billy's appointment to Cane because Billy was an Abbott. As part of his manipulating Ashley away from Jabot, Victor talked her into taking the deceased Brad Carlton's position on the Newman board, but Colleen showed up at the board meeting vote citing Newman by-laws that would allow her to assume her father's board seat. Victor called in J.T. to try to talk her out of it, but he failed. Victor suspected Jack was behind it, and he was, although Colleen wanted to do it to honor her dead father Brad as well.

Meanwhile Jack was being advisor and confidant to Billy who was supposed to be playing the doting father living with Chloe and their daughter Cordelia to help her maintain custody. But Billy was secretly having an affair with Jack's not-yet-divorced-wife Sharon. After Chloe realized that Billy was with another woman when she needed him, she moved back into the Chancellor estate with her mother, Esther. Phyllis caught Sharon and Billy together and threatened to tell Jack and Nick about their affair. Sharon broke down, phoned Billy, and called things off. Jack arrived and she fell into his arms, ashamed and troubled. Jack asked her to come back to him, and he would forgive her anything. Sharon asked him to just keep her safe from the rest of the world, and Jack promised he would. They made love, and Sharon moved back in with Jack. Meanwhile, Billy showed up with flowers for Chloe and smooth-talked her into giving him another chance. But Nick and Noah were both perplexed with her flakiness when only days later Sharon inexplicably decided to move back to the club.

Jill informed Billy that she was replacing him with Cane as Jabot CEO due to his lack of maturity, although Billy could still be in charge of Jabot's international sales division, but Billy quit on the spot, and told Jill that she would never see her granddaughter Delia again. Cane was thrilled when Jill told him she was reappointing him to the CEO position at Jabot. Later, Jill fired Jack and Ashley, telling them that they were living in the past and unable to embrace new ideas. Jack told Ashley not to worry, that once Katherine was proven alive she would reinstate them, and with the help of Jack's new PR person Mary Jane, Katherine did make Jack CEO of Jabot again. Billy was at odds with Jack, went looking for a position at Newman but found none, then Jack asked him to be Co-CEO of Jabot, and he accepted.

First seen in Victor Newman’s office without exposing her face, Mary Jane Benson accepted his proposition to have plastic surgery to infiltrate Jabot Cosmetics as part of Victor’s plot for revenge against Jack. Mary Jane apparently knew Jack years before and had reasons of her own to get close to Jack without being recognized. She presented a good case to Jack for why he should hire her to restore his tarnished image, and was hired. But once Jill regained control of Jabot, she fired the Abbotts and Mary Jane, but then she lost Jabot when Katherine was declared alive. With Mary Jane's help and the information supplied to her by Victor, Jack convinced Katherine to rehire Jack as CEO of Jabot, hire Mary Jane as head of PR, and to restore Ashley and Billy to their Jabot positions. Mary Jane seduced Jack, and Jack began falling for her. While attending Katherine and Murphy's wedding with Jack, Mary Jane met Paul Williams who found something familiar about her.

Sharon told Doris that she was pregnant and there were three possible fathers. Later her dead daughter Cassie appeared to Sharon in a dream saying that the baby girl she had foreseen on her deathbed was Summer. Sharon tried to tell Nick that she was pregnant but was interrupted, then told Jack, who confided in Billy, not realizing that Billy was the third potential father. Jack told Sharon he wanted her back and the baby, whoever the father was, so they reconciled. Jack had to dump Mary Jane, but she connived to get him back by getting Sharon involved with Nick again.

Sharon finally admitted to Nick that she was pregnant and it may be his, which was overheard by Phyllis. Phyllis lambasted Jack for letting it happen, and asked Jack how he could forgive Billy being the third possible father. Jack was shocked and later attacked Billy for it. Sharon admitted to Jack that Billy was the third possibility of fathering her baby, while Nick admitted to Phyllis that Sharon was pregnant and it may be his. Jack was understanding and loving even though it ruined his relationship with his brother, but said he still wanted Sharon and the baby no matter whose baby it is. Phyllis reacted calmly and accepting, but gave Nick an ultimatum to choose between her and Sharon. Sharon made an appointment for a paternity test.

Mary Jane appeared to have some mental problems, confiding in her stuffed cat "Mr. Kitty". And Paul, after several evasive meetings, ordered a background check on her. After Mary Jane spotted Paul and Nikki talking with Paul's brother Father Todd, she panicked and ran to Victor for support. Victor paid her off and terminated her services.

Nick remembered the wonderful parts of his life with Phyllis, comparing them with memories with Sharon. Sharon walked in and they kissed passionately, with Nick saying he was leaving Phyllis, wanting to be with Sharon. But Sharon turned him down, telling him that she and Jack were back together and raising the child, and that Sharon could not break up Nick's new family. Despite this, Nick went home and told Phyllis that it was over. Later at the Athletic Club Nick came out of his room, caught Sharon coming down the hall, convinced her that they were meant to be, and they again made love. Meanwhile Phyllis was pouring her heart out to Jack, and they ended up making love as well, with Mary Jane scowling through the window. But after Jack left Phyllis's, he went to Mary Jane and they made love too. Mary Jane began working on getting Phyllis out of Jack's life so she could have Jack to herself. Sharon got the paternity test results back and was ecstatic that she and Nick are expecting the daughter Faith that Cassie predicted on her death bed and in Nick's dream. But after seeing Nick so distraught over his daughter Summer being in a coma, Sharon realized that he needed to be there for Summer and Phyllis, and not run off with her like he did over Cassie, so Sharon told everyone that her baby was Jack's.

After Victor ran her out of town, Mary Jane called Jack to meet her at Crimson Lights. He accused her of being the one who gave peanut butter to Summer which caused her brain damage, and all she could do was tell him how much she cared about him. Her gushing over him, and his spotting her stuffed cat in the carrier made Jack play along, but she disappeared when he turned his back. Jack called Heather to get her arrested, but when she refused for lack of evidence, Jack said then he would get it. Victor called a press conference and named Mary Jane as the person who hurt his granddaughter, so the entire city began looking for her. Mary Jane was discovered by Mac in an alley, and she befriended her thinking she was just a homeless person, giving her food, blankets and a place to stay in the back room at her bar. Meanwhile Jack and Paul banded together to find Mary Jane themselves.

Summer’s obsession with watching the video of their wedding made Nick realize how much he really loved Phyllis and wanted to stay together, even marry her all over again. Meanwhile Sharon admitted to Jack that Nick was really the father of her unborn baby, and Jack refused to forgive her for lying to him. Sharon watched from the bushes as Nick and Phyllis renewed their vows. Later Sharon walked out of the jewelers in a daze with a duplicate of Phyllis's new wedding ring, was arrested, and institutionalized for 30 days for mental observation. Her mother Doris visited her and questioned why Jack, the father of her baby, had not been by to see her, causing Sharon to admit that Nick was the real father. Later as Doris left, Sharon opened her door and cautioned Doris not to tell anyone, but Nick was outside and overheard. After Doris was out of sight, Nick returned and confronted Sharon with truth, and she admitted it. Meanwhile, Phyllis took Summer to Switzerland for expert help with her disability.

Meanwhile a mystery woman took confession with Paul's brother Father Todd, who told Paul he recognized her as their sister Patty. Paul spotted a woman at the athletic club in a blonde wig, recognized her as Mary Jane and followed her. When he confronted her, she pled with him not to turn her in, and confessed that she was Patty. Paul was shocked, but took her to the convent for sanctuary, and called his assistant DA daughter, Heather, hoping to get Patty some help and not jail. Meanwhile Gloria and Jeff found out where she was, and hoping to steal her away to blackmail Victor, Gloria got inside dressed as a nun. Jack saw the standoff at the convent on TV, he showed up there, and Paul let him inside. He too was shocked to discover that Mary Jane was Patty, and talked to her. Patty, with a kitten in her arms, had reverted to the young girl Paul knew and called "Pattycake", saying she knew that her big brother Paul and Jack would rescue her. Before she would surrender, she insisted Jack marry her, telling him she was pregnant by him. Another ADA was assigned to the standoff once Heather reported, and detective Chancellor was put in charge.

Suddenly the lights went out, and Patty was taken away by Gloria. Paul and Jack figured out that Victor was responsible for Patty’s new identity, all the havoc she caused, and her current mental state. Jack told Phyllis the truth about Mary Jane, and she confronted Victor, asking if he brought Patty in and set her up to get back at Jack, causing Patty/Mary Jane to hurt Summer. Victor avoided the question, claiming he would never intentionally hurt a member of his family. Jack offered a two million dollar reward for Patty, hoping to outbid Victor. Jeff and Gloria heard it on the radio as they were driving Patty to hide out at the Abbott cabin, and ended up making deals with both, but both had booby-trapped their briefcases with blue dye that blew up in their faces, and no money. Meanwhile, Paul charged into the ranch and demanded to know how his friend Victor could have done this to his sister, and to him, but Victor just denied it and sent him away. Jack and Billy were concerned about Ashley’s emotional condition and tried to talk her out of leaving Victor, but she refused. After they learned that Victor had brought back Patty Williams and turned her into Mary Jane Benson with plastic surgery and a new background to get back at Jack, Billy practically kidnapped Ashley, but she returned to Victor on her own.

Colleen lost a job prospect teaching at GCU when they saw the video of her dancing on a table topless online, so after confronting Victor about his part in setting it up to discredit her, she went out to the Abbott cabin to get over it. She arrived to find a woman unknown to her tied to a chair and set her free. It was Patty Williams who was being held there by Gloria and Jeff, awaiting the arrival of Victor and Jack for the ransom they had paid. Patty turned on Colleen and kidnapped her at gunpoint, taking her to Camp Cowabunga, and tying her to a tree. After Patty used Colleen's phone to call Jack, and Colleen hollered "cow.." (because the camp slogan was “Cowabunga”, and she and Jack had both gone there as kids) before she was disconnected. Jack, J.T., and Paul searched for Colleen, convincing even Victoria that Victor had set this all in motion by bringing Patty back to Genoa City to get back at Jack.

Meanwhile Patty was bitten by a spider and had a bad reaction, Colleen freed herself, and held the gun on Patty, unsure what to do as Patty begged her for help. When Colleen tried to help her, Patty grabbed the gun away, but Colleen was able to convince her that she would get help and return, and left in a canoe. Colleen fell out, and hit her head on the bottom of the boat when she surfaced, sending her sinking again. Colleen was clearly drowning in the same lake as her father had. With an eerie sequence of visions she was visited by the people who loved her, begging her to fight and come back to them, and even visited her best friend Lily giving her final advice. Colleen saw her dead father and grandfather, ready to take her to the beyond. Jack realized where Colleen was, raced to the camp, and pulled her out of the lake. But as he tried to administer CPR, Patty was there holding the gun on him. Victor arrived and tried to convince Patty to drop the gun and let Jack save Colleen. Patty shot Victor three times instead and ran into the woods with Paul following, and J.T. stayed to help Victor.

Colleen's mother Traci and step-father Steve, Billy, and Abby were at the hospital when Colleen was brought in, with Nick and Victoria there for Victor. Paul caught up with Patty and talked her into turning herself in, promising he would not abandon her, and she was to be taken to a psychiatric hospital.

Tests confirmed that Colleen was brain dead, and Traci finally made the heart-breaking decision to take her off life-support. Jack, Billy and her half sister Abby had a hard time comprehending it all. Then Traci and Steve were told that Colleen was an organ-donor, and Nikki had the nerve to intrude to request Colleen’s heart to save Victor. Jack and Billy protested, then Jack reconsidered and agreed since Victor had just saved his life. Victor and Colleen turned out to be a match, and Traci decided in favor of the transplant despite Billy ranting how Victor was responsible for “Cee Cee’s” death and certainly would not have approved.

Billy arranged a celebration of Colleen’s life instead of a funeral, with red balloons, and everyone wearing bright colors. Traci, Jack, Ashley, Abby, Neil, Katherine, Kevin, and J.T. gave eulogies about what they remembered most about her. At the end all released red balloons to “An Angel’s Lullaby” sang by Beth Maitland, who plays Traci. Colleen was buried next to her father Brad, her kidneys donated to a 16 year old girl and corneas to a father who had never seen his children.

After Katherine found out that Jill was jobless and penniless, she relented and made her equal partners with Jack at Jabot. Jack later found out that Katherine was taking Chancellor Industries public and she was aware that he was hoping to get enough shares to get Jabot back for his family.

Jack recommended Dr. Peterson for a psychologist position with the GCU Medical School and after a lot of resistance she accepted, so Patty continued to get therapy from her there. Jack began to be romantically drawn to Emily, and Emily's distain for Jack eased as he appeared to be genuinely regretful of the part he played in Patty's condition. New Year's Eve 2009, Jack surprised Emily with a ring and they became engaged. Meanwhile Patty appeared to be improving and enjoyed her visits from her brother Paul, but she believed that she was still married to Jack. Paul asked Emily to visit Patty because she was so out of control, not realizing that hearing of Jack and Emily's engagement had set her off. Patty knocked Emily out and drugged her, changed her hair color, and switched places with her. Patty married Jack as Emily, with Patty’s brother, Father Todd officiating. Later Paul discovered Emily unconscious, believing her to be Patty, in a coma and not expected to live. Comatose Emily became frantic, having put together what happened to her from things she heard from conversations between Patty’s brothers Paul and Father Todd.

Meanwhile Patty honeymooned with Jack, hoping to get pregnant. Patty convinced everyone that she was Emily, and even Jack only noticed that she was more exuberant and now willing to go along with his plans against Victor. To Patty’s surprise, Diane had been asked by Emily to return to Genoa City to bring Jack's son Kyle for a visit. Diane and Patty clashed immediately once Jack left them alone, with Patty having a hard time maintaining the Emily persona while Diane went on about what a nutcase Patty had been back when she knew her when she had been Jack's mistress, and his wife Patty a mere child. After a short confrontation with Phyllis, Diane and Kyle returned home to Toronto, Canada. Paul called “Emily” when “Patty” showed signs of coming out of her coma, then left them alone together. Emily awoke, and Patty threatened to kill her if she didn't keep her mouth shut. Emily tried to tell Paul who she really was, but Patty was always claiming to be Emily in her delusions, so he tossed the blood sample she gave him in the trash.

In time, Jack finally began noticing “Emily’s” unusually manic behavior, and began confiding in Phyllis, wondering if he had really known Emily well enough to marry her. Patty would follow them and get jealous, plotting to get rid of Phyllis.

Wealthy industrialist Tucker McCall ended up owning majority interest in Chancellor, which devastated Katherine. Tucker’s first steps were to hire Adam Newman, J.T. Hellstrom, and Kevin Fisher, dump Jill as a lover, and sell Jabot. Because Victor got Adam to disclose the sealed bids, Newman was able to outbid the Abbotts for Jabot. Victor announced that Victoria would be CEO, and Gloria Jabot Ambassadress, just to stick it to Jack. Jack was livid when Victor fired him, accusing Victor of dirty dealing.

“Emily” claimed to be pregnant by Jack to keep him, but Jack checked out her doctor and realized that she was faking. After “Emily” faked a miscarriage, Jack let her know that he was onto her lies, that he wanted out of their marriage, and arranged for Emily’s brother Jamie to come to see her. The real Emily managed to slip Heather a DNA sample and begged Heather to help her prove who she was. Patty visited Emily in the institution for information on Jamie, and was told that they were very close, he was an antique dealer, and owned his own business. But Emily was apparently estranged from her ne’er-do-well brother, and Patty’s resulting comments to him made him realize that something was amiss, so Patty paid him off to go away and never return.

Jack, with Ashley’s help, realized that “Emily” was actually Patty, but she was pretty convincing when he confronted her. After Jack left, Patty flipped out and hacked up Emily’s portrait over the mantel. Knowing Emily was allergic to cats, Jack adopted a cat and let it loose at the door so Patty, who loved cats, would take it in and prove who she was. Patty took the cat in and told Jack she named it "Cat". Jack did not tip off Patty, but she knew that Jack was going to see Emily in the hospital. One step ahead of him, Patty bleached her hair and took Emily’s place after Patty drugged her and put Emily in a morgue drawer with a "Jane Doe" toe tag. On the way, Jack broke the news to Paul who had just learned from Heather that the DNA test proved that Heather and “Patty” were not related. While Jack thought he was reuniting with the real Emily, Paul and Heather found a note left by Patty below the slashed painting of Emily at the Abbott mansion saying she was running away. Meanwhile, Emily, in the morgue drawer, was aware of what was going on but was unable to move or speak. Paul then discovered that Patty had signed in to the hospital as Emily an hour before they got there, so he began searching for her. Jack dogged Patty to “Emily” until she flipped out. Jack realized that she was Patty, and demanded to know where Emily was, saying, "If you love me, tell me where Emily is so he can help her." Patty’s answer, "She’s gone" sent Jack rushing to the morgue where he found Emily.

Sobbing over her body, Jack noticed a tear in her eye, and realized Emily that was still alive. He got a doctor to give her an adrenaline injection to her heart, and Emily began coming back. Ever the dedicated doctor, Emily accompanied Jack via wheelchair to help Paul talk Patty out of killing herself with a syringe. Patty was arrested and committed to a facility for criminally insane.

Once Jack and Emily were finally alone together, Jack was shocked when Emily decided not to pursue their relationship, saying that if Jack was unable to realize Patty was not Emily for four months, they did not know each other well enough to be married. Emily began feeling very paranoid, that someone was getting into her car and room while she was not there. Jack tried to reassure her, suggesting that maybe someone was trying to get back at her for something Patty did, and tried to convince her to return to live at the Abbott mansion. Then Emily received notice that a patient was suing for malpractice, and she admitted that her being involved with her patient Patty’s ex-husband was a breach of trust. Emily was given twelve month’s probation, then arrested for conspiracy to sell controlled substances later that same day. Paul did some investigating, and he and Emily realized that the prescriptions were being written by Emily’s brother Jamie from a pad that Patty had given him, so Emily was exonerated. Paul tracked down Jamie, and Emily convinced him that he needed help for his drug addiction, and to turn himself in to the police.

Paul later received a call from a red-headed, black cat-tattooed Patty in a bar in South America telling him that she was fine and would never return, as she twisted the rosary beads in her hand and necked with a guy she asked if she could call Jack. Meanwhile, try as they might to get back to the life they used to share, Emily told Jack she still loved him but left him and Genoa City.

The Abbotts and Newmans were served with a summons for a civil suit for holding Adam against his will back when they had trapped him in the cabin and made him confess to what he had done to Ashley. Michael met with Adam's attorney Vance Abrams and called it frivolous, but Vance would accept nothing less than twenty million dollars in damages. Victor arranged a settlement meeting with Adam and Vance. Victor persuaded them to drop the lawsuit against the Newmans when he presented Skye as his star witness saying that she was ready to testify that Adam planted the ring to fake Skye’s death and disclose that she knew all about Adam’s dirty dealings with Dr. Taylor, Sharon, and Ashley. As they left, Skye warned Adam that she was in control, and not to screw her over again. Unfortunately, the Abbotts had legally separated their lawsuit from the Newman’s, so theirs was not settled. (But the subject was never brought up again.)

Sofia Dupre arrived from Europe and revealed that she was Tucker’s “right hand.” Tucker wanted Sofia to remain in Genoa City and handle the deal he and Ashley were working on with Jack; whereby if he helped them acquire Newman’s Beauty of Nature Line, he could return to Jabot and run it with Ashley. Sofia decided to take Tucker up on his offer, and Jack talked Tucker into giving him the job right away.

Victor and Jack conspired to invest in Adam and Skye's hedge fund, the Newman Fund, as The N.A. Partnership along with some other friends of Jack’s, intending to pool their money and destabilize the fund, then shorting the shares when Skye and Adam would be forced to sell. Jack cavorted with Skye and they were caught in bed together by Adam. Meanwhile D.A. Heather Stevens had Skye investigated. Heather confronted Skye and Adam with the discovery that Skye had bribed San Paulo Judge Medeiros, who had headed the San Paulo mafia and had disappeared along with a lot of money. In fact the balance the judge took out when he closed his bank account was nearly same amount that Skye opened her account with in Genoa City.

Phyllis and Nick divorced, and she found herself back in Jack’s arms when he needed someone. In October 2010, just as Jack and Phyllis were celebrating their reuniting, the Abbott manor doorbell rang, and there stood Diane Jenkins. Diane claimed to want Jack to get to know his son Kyle, but Phyllis refused to let history repeat itself and warned her that she had better not try.

About a week later, a storm was brewing with a tornado right behind it. Phyllis and Jack took shelter from the storm with family including Summer, Kyle, Daniel, and Abby. When the power went out, they started a fire in the fireplace to roast wieners, popcorn, and marshmallows.

When Phyllis heard that Diane was staying in town and accepting a job with McCall Unlimited, Phyllis posted a story on the Restless Style website exposing all the dirt on Diane. Once Tucker saw the story, especially that Diane was not a partner as she had claimed in the company she worked for in Toronto, he rescinded his job offer. Diane threatened to expose their recent one night stand to Tucker's fiancée Ashley if she did not get the job, but Tucker told her to go ahead – no one would believe Diane. Later Diane attacked Phyllis for the article and Jack for apparently condoning it, and Diane told Jack that he would never see his son again. While Diane was away desperately looking for work, Kyle read the article and demanded to know if his mother had really done all those terrible things. Jack ended up breaking it off with Phyllis while he mended his relationship with his son and Diane, but Jack would still meet Phyllis at her place or for dinner. When Jack found a past-due notice for Diane’s room at the Athletic Club, he paid it for her through the end of the year.

Adam served Skye with divorce papers and gave her a contract which removed him from the Newman Fund and gave her all the money. Although Victor and Jack’s plan to ruin Adam was to sell all their shares from the hedge fund after the end of the year, Victor suddenly cashed out his share of their investment in November, causing the fund to collapse and costing millions of dollars in losses to Jack and the friends he had brought in as investors. Jack was livid that Victor had blindsided him once again, and warned Victor that he was in trouble with the F.C.C. over it. But having faith in Skye’s ability, Jack ordered his broker to buy up all the remaining shares of the Newman Fund while it was at rock bottom in an attempt to recoup, and he ended up paying back all of his investor friends.

The police were called to Skye’s room at the Athletic Club which had been trashed, and Skye’s blood was found, but she was missing. Victor told everyone he was leaving town to visit all his subsidiaries around the world. Victor boarded his jet, and Skye was there waiting to leave with him. Skye recalled how she had gone to Victor in desperation when the hedge fund had failed, and Adam had left her holding the bag facing prison. So Victor had made it appear that Skye was dead to set up Adam for her murder. Victor gave Skye a new identity and promised to take care of her financially for the rest of her life so long as she did not play high stakes poker or divulge who she was. With a veiled threat that he had bested her two times, and if she screwed him over the third time, she would be “out”, Victor delivered Sky to the middle of a Hawaiian jungle where a car and a makeover awaited her. Adam was questioned about Skye’s disappearance, but Sharon stood by him and hired Vance’s associate Leslie Michaelson to represent him. More incriminating evidence led to Adam’s arrest for suspicion of Skye's murder.

In their quest to prove that Skye was still alive, Adam and Sharon located the only supplier of Skye’s favorite Galibier perfume in Monaco, who had just shipped an order to a post office box in Hawaii. Sharon flew to Hawaii, but the proprietor of the general store where the box was located claimed no knowledge of Skye, even though he had just spoken to her. Knowing Skye’s craving for adventure, Sharon took a guided moonlight hike on an active volcano. Skye was there alone looking very plain with no makeup and braids, and they met when Sharon left her group. After Skye refused to return home with Sharon, Sharon took a photo as proof that Skye was alive. But Skye reached for Sharon’s camera, lost her footing and fell into the volcano. Sharon held on to Skye and promised she would not let her go, but Skye lost her footing and fell to her death with her final words, “I would not bet on that.” Victor watched unseen in the dark, doing nothing to help. Sharon was unable to convince the authorities that Skye had ever been there, and Victor made sure when he found her glove and tossed it into the volcano. Meanwhile, Victor set Skye’s shack on fire. Later, back in Genoa City, Adam and his attorney, Leslie, believed Sharon, but the police assumed she had made up the story as an attempt to free Adam.

Posing as a surfer, Jack went to Hawaii hoping to find evidence to prove that Victor was involved in Skye’s death. No one would admit to seeing Skye, but Jack found Skye’s burned shack, and in it the remains of a bottle of Galibier perfume. Later Jack saw someone turn in a set of keys found on the volcano with the mailbox key the perfume was delivered to, and the same key ring Skye had had been photographed holding in a Newman elevator security tape. The evidence got Adam released from jail and cleared of all charges in Skye’s death. But after Adam moved in with Sharon at her house on the Newman ranch, and Sharon was still awarded shared custody of Faith, Victor made sure that Sharon was arrested for Skye’s murder in Hawaii. Then Victor inexplicably posted her half-million dollar bail anonymously. Sharon realized she was in serious trouble after being confronted with a video taken by tourist at the volcano that night which included only the part of their conversation when she yelled at Sky and told her she would pay for setting up Adam for Skye’s supposed murder. Phyllis had second thoughts after she posted the video on the website, knowing that Sharon wouldn’t have killed Skye, and she and Jack offered to help her prove that she was innocent.

Because Adam knew Skye’s habits and the passwords she always used, he was able to locate her offshore bank accounts, and being her next of kin by marriage he had acquired all the money Victor had paid Skye to play dead. Adam approached Jack with a deal to resurrect the Newman Fund again. Jack had bought up most of the shares when they had become worthless, so he knew that he stood to make a lot of money. Jack called Adam a lowlife bastard, and Adam called Jack a sanctimonious jackass, and then they agreed to become partners. They agreed that Sharon and Phyllis were not to know. Jack discovered that a man named David Pelson had been getting monthly checks from the Newman Fund. Adam knew that Pelson had gone to Harvard with Skye and Adam, and must have been giving her inside information. Jack felt that he was savvy enough to work the fund himself, but Adam disagreed, so they decided that each would manage their own money they put into fund. After Jack left, he ran into Victor, and goaded him that he had discovered that the fund with his name on it had done some illegal insider trading which the S.E.C. might be interested in. Meanwhile Adam contacted Pelson.

Adam decided to make it appear that Skye was still alive. Using her old alias, Grace Harwood, Adam found more of her bank accounts online. He ordered some of her favorite Galibier perfume and an expensive pair of stiletto shoes to be delivered to a post office box she always kept in France. Meanwhile, Phyllis and Jack in Hawaii, discovered that the general store owner, Koa Aneko, had suddenly come into a lot of money and had left the island. Then they found a guy who sold them a video showing a quick glance of Victor lurking in the shadows as Skye fell to her death. Once back home, Phyllis showed Nick the video, and Nick confronted Victor, calling him a damn liar. When Jack returned to town and discovered that Diane was now living with Victor, he insisted that Kyle live with him. But when Victor and Diane married, Kyle went back to the ranch to live with his mother.

Victor held a press conference to announce that he was taking Newman public. The Abbotts and Newmans, plus Tucker and Katherine watched the television at Victoria's house in shock, knowing that Victor had always promised that would never happen. Tucker fired Jack for not bringing him Beauty of Nature, as promised, Victoria and Nick were arranging to buy up stock, as were Jack and Ashley. Tucker asked Katherine to buy stock with him to stop the kids from gaining control. Katherine called it a scheme, said she was not a fool, and would have no part of it. Then Katherine went to Victor offering to pool her funds with his so that none of them could seize control of Newman from him. Tucker offered to buy Abby's stock options but her resentment of Tucker made her sell them to Jack. Jack later offered them to Tucker in exchange for Jabot, but was turned down. Tucker then proposed to the Chancellor board that they buy Newman stock, resell it to Tucker at a loss and take a tax write-off. When Katherine found out, she met with Victor, ready to bring Tucker down.

After Tucker McCall was hit by a car driven by Ashley and he lay comatose in the hospital, it was discovered that Tucker had named Katherine to take over the company if he were to become incapacitated. After Ashley was arrested for the attempted murder of Tucker, Katherine got a restraining order to keep her away from him, and fired Ashley from Jabot to protect the company. Victor offered Katherine an irresistible sum of money for Jabot. As she was thinking it over, Jack presented Katherine with a new marketing plan, logo, and a new skin care product made from cactus pectin which had been developed by Ashley. Jack had lined up department stores and a home shopping network to sign on only if Jack were appointed CEO of Jabot. Jack promised Katherine that they could put Jabot back on top again, and reminded her that selling to Victor would lose all that.

Katherine was pleading with a comatose Tucker to help her decide what to do, when she was visited by the presence her deceased friend John Abbott who gave her counsel. Jack walked in, having just been counseled by John as well about his obsession to return Jabot to the Abbotts. Jack had admitted to John that his obsession with Jabot was caused by feeling that he had failed his father. John assured him that it had just been a mistake and that Jack should forgive himself, as John had. John reminded Jack that John's goal in life was not about Jabot, but "for his kids to be happy". Jack told Katherine to go ahead and take Victor's offer if she felt it was one she couldn't pass up, and that he knew that she would do what was best for Jabot, and that their friendship was more important.

Adam plotted with Diane to keep Victor busy on the day that Newman stock went public while Adam told the world that Victor was dead, so that he could buy shares when the prices fell. Then when Victor let them know he was alive, the stock would rise and Adam would sell and be rich. At the last minute, Diane let Jack in on the plan, so he was poised to do the same. Diane went to the ranch, told Victor that she was pregnant by him, and he demanded a paternity test. As she was about to leave, she faked severe pains, and begged him to accompany her to the hospital in the ambulance. They left after Diane disabled Victor's cell phone. As Victor held Diane's hand in the ambulance, Adam began to execute the plan. Michael heard the newsflash that Victor had had a stroke and was dead. He tried to phone Victor, but got no answer. Adam in his hotel room and Jack at Gloworm with his laptop each gave the order to buy as soon as the stock price began to fall. Genevieve Atkinson joined Jack, marveled at his stock market skills, and slyly accused him of having insider information. After the market closed, Adam, Jack, and Diane met for a champagne celebration of their profits. Victor showed up and told them they would never get away with it.

Later after reviewing the facts with Victor, Gus, who was a former Newman legal advisor before working with the F.C.C., determined that stock manipulation could not be proven against Adam, but possibly could be against Diane. After Adam paid Diane off in cash and revealed the trouble that she was in, Diane prepared to leave town, but was caught by Gus who told her that she would be arrested if she tried. Victor filed a lawsuit charging Jack, Adam, and Diane with stock fraud and personally handed each their grand jury summons. But Victor later made a deal with Diane to change her testimony to say that Ashley did not deliberately run down Tucker in exchange for the S.E.C. focusing on Jack and Adam. Diane carried out her part of the bargain, but Victor was unable to keep his. Furious with Adam and Victor for taking advantage of her again, Diane made deal with the D.A. to tell all she knew on Adam and Jack in exchange for immunity, then teamed up with Deacon to bring Adam down. Jack responded to the summons by informing Adam that he was shutting down the Newman Fund, so Adam just convinced their clients to move their investments to his new company, Oak Alley Partners.

Genevieve let Jack know she was interested in getting to know him better during what she considered their first date over coffee at Crimson Lights, and she displayed some surprising business acumen. Genevieve gave marketing ideas to Victoria and Abby for Beauty of Nature, then she offered advice to Jack to counter their marketing by Jabot. Victoria told Abby they couldn't legally use her ideas though unless they hired Genevieve.

Jabot's national launch of its new cactus pectin product line and new Jabot logo was held at Fenmore's, and hosted by Lauren, Jill and Michael. The Abbotts were represented by Jack and Abby, and McCall by Katherine. Ashley, who developed the product, was with Tucker who was being dismissed from the hospital and insisted on attending the launch party. Ashley objected, fearful that the reporters and paparazzi would ask him questions and figure out his mental limitations since his coma. But Tucker and Ashley arrived to everyone's applause in the middle of Jack's speech, and when Tucker was stymied by a question, he turned things over to Ashley. A reporter asked about their recent marriage, shocking the family and friends who had not yet been told. When asked, Abby covered by telling reporters that rehab had made her realize that her mom deserved to be happy. Later when Jack and Lauren promoted the new products on the talk show "The Talk", the hosts surprised them by including Tucker via satellite, and asking some probing questions about his marriage to the woman who had run him over.

In an attempt to foil Victor and escape her mounting number of enemies in Genoa City, Diane agreed to help Adam frame Victor for Diane's murder. As part of Adam's plot, Diane told Victor that she was turning state's evidence against Adam, so had to disappear and could not take Kyle. Then she convinced Victor to sign papers to become Kyle's legal guardian. Adam gave Diane cash and forged identity papers in the names of Jennifer and Timothy Bilton. Diane sent Kyle to boarding school in Switzerland as Timothy, telling him not to contact anyone, and that she would be joining him soon. Jack confronted Diane about secreting their son away. Diane bargained to hook up with him again to give Kyle a family, and removed her clothes while someone watched from the window. When Jack refused, Diane told him that he was not Kyle's father just an unknowing sperm donor, and that he would never see his son again.

Later Jack publicly threatened Diane, as did several others in town. After Diane received a message that the funds from Adam had been deposited in her Swiss bank account, she left a text message for Kyle that she was on her way. Then she sent a text message to everyone who had threatened her to meet her at the footbridge in the park. The next morning, viewers saw those same people looking suspiciously like they had just killed someone. Murphy went to the creek to fish, discovered the dead body, and called the police. The autopsy results were that Diane had been hit over the head ten times with a blunt object, an impression of a Harvard ring was found on Diane's arm, and a small key was found in Diane's mouth.

One by one, the suspects who had received Diane's text were questioned by newly rehired Detective Ronan Malloy. When questioned, Jack claimed he had never gone to the park, but recalled how he had met Diane on the footbridge and confronted her about Kyle's whereabouts, accusing her of not changing at bit, and using their son. Jack tipped Ronan to suspect Victor.

Kyle phoned Jack but hung up, so Victor, Michael, Paul, and the police cooperated to help locate him. He was finally identified by tracking any children who had traveled alone, and Jack went to Switzerland, told him of his mother's death, and brought him home. Jack was livid when immediately upon their arrival, Victor handed him the papers giving him guardianship of Kyle. Jack tore up the papers and vowed to fight it.

Since Adam's Harvard ring did not match the imprint on Diane's arm, Ronan got a search warrant to check out Jack's. But after Kyle overheard Ronan, Kyle stole Jack's ring so that Jack would not be implicated by it. Later Kyle admitted to Jack that he had hidden Jack's ring so the police wouldn't take Jack away from him.

Once Katherine was able to convince the Chancellor Board to buy Jabot back from Tucker Industries, she gave the contract to Tucker, inserted in among other things to be signed. Tucker made a strong showing at his next competency hearing and was declared competent to run his company again. Then Katherine divulged that Tucker had signed the contract selling her Jabot, Tucker was put on the spot having to admit that he knew what he was doing, or he would have lost his competency decision. Katherine put Jack back in charge of Jabot as CEO. Tucker sabotaged Jabot by getting suppliers to cancel contracts and by creating work stoppages. Jack gathered the suppliers, freight and dock workers together and appealed to their sense of fair play, offering them bonuses if Jabot did well, and they agreed. After Jack told Katherine that he had handled it, she blew up at him, so Jack agreed to Tucker's offer to help Tucker get Jabot, if Jack would have complete control as CEO.

Tucker sued Katherine to overturn the sale of Jabot, citing that he could have gotten a better price. Tucker made a deal with Jack that if Tucker won, he would sell Jabot to Jack. Torn by loyalty to Katherine, but bolstered by a visit from his dead father, John, Jack showed the judge a contract to buy Jabot for 50% more than Katherine had paid for it. Deciding that the sale to Katherine had been made under a cloud of secrecy, the judge found in favor of McCall. Although Tucker received an anonymous bid for three times what Jack had offered, he went through with his promise and sold Jabot back to Jack. The Abbotts were finally owners of the family company again.

Genevieve's housekeeper Myrna was revealed to be Patty Williams when Genevieve took her home from the hospital wearing a veil to hide the burns received in an explosion at Genevieve's house. Jack tried to console Myrna, but she fled from him without speaking so he would not recognize her. Jack asked Genevieve to help him convince Myrna to speak at the annual charity event fund raiser which Jabot and Beauty of Nature were co-sponsoring to benefit burn victims.

Patty continued to stalk Jack, now wearing winter hoods and scarves to cover her face, even letting herself into Abbott manor with her key. Adam caught her in the park one day and warned her to get out of town or end up back in the asylum. Patty countered. telling Adam to leave her alone or everyone would find out that he had been the one to help her escape the institution. Adam accused her of being Diane's murderer. Patty disclosed only that she was there and had evidence the police didn't have. After Victor was arrested for Diane's murder, Jack visited Victor in jail and told him that he deserved to grow old in prison for killing Diane and breaking Kyle's heart. Victor told Jack that while he regretted the affect on Kyle, he had a clear conscience.

Patty, posing as Myrna, cooked Thanksgiving dinner for Genevieve and Jack, including something that knocked them out. Patty shoved a limp Genevieve out of the way while she made out with the unconscious Jack. Genevieve and Jack awoke later, thinking they had both just fallen asleep after dinner.

A week later, Dr. Emily Peterson showed up in Genoa City for a visit saying that it was unsettling to be back, but long over-due. She ran into Paul and assured him that she was not Patty. Paul filled her in on Patty's escape, and that she had been tracked to South America, but there had been no sign of her since. Later Emily showed up at Jack's and they shared their regrets while Patty lurked outside watching. Just prior to Christmas 2011, Jack proposed to Genevieve and she accepted, while Patty listened and realized they had just made love on the couch in her absence. After they left to tell the Abbotts the news, Patty threw a fit on the couch.

After Christmas, Kyle left to attend school at Northwood in Lake Placid, NY, accepting a once-in-a-lifetime offer to join their hockey program.

Jack brought Adam champagne to celebrate his becoming CEO of Newman, and broached the subject of selling Beauty of Nature to him, to which Adam just chuckled. Later Adam decided to sell Beauty of Nature and proposed a deal to Tucker to help him outbid Jack in exchange for a job at McCall. Then Jack offered to top any offer, with the bonus of giving Adam the satisfaction of allowing both of them to get back at Victor.

On New Year's Eve, Jack and Genevieve celebrated at Gloworm while Patty lurked around watching. Patty spiked Genevieve's drink, but Jack drank it instead, knocking him out by the time Genevieve got him home. Patty, as Myrna, called Genevieve to come home due to a short in the alarm system. After Genevieve left, Patty sneaked in on Jack lying unconscious in his bed, Jack awoke at bit, looked at her, and called her Patty. Later Jack woke up from a dream with only 'Dave the Cat' in his bed. Meanwhile, Genevieve hired Ronan to investigate what had happened that night, suspecting Colin. Ronan assured Genevieve that Colin was still in a maximum security prison in Australia, but that he would look into it.

Patty rigged a step on the stairs so that Genevieve would fall, but Jack arrived just in time to catch Genevieve. Genevieve called in Ronan to investigate. When Ronan failed to acknowledge Nikki's suspicions against Deacon, she went to Paul for help. Paul and Ronan decided to team up to work on both investigations. Meanwhile Genevieve moved in with Jack for her own safety, and Myra stayed at Genevieve's muttering that Genevieve would never be Jack's wife.

As Victor's new wife and under his instruction, Sharon cast the deciding board vote to allow Beauty of Nature to be sold. It turned out that Tucker had made a deal with the S.E.C., to avenge the things that Adam had done to Ashley in the past. Tucker was helping Victor set up Adam to be caught calling Tucker with the amount of the high bid, for Tucker to outbid and win, which was insider trading. But Sharon discovered what was going on, and that Victor was only using her. Torn between her loyalty to both, she finally decided that she was sick of all the manipulation, and Sharon warned Adam that he was being set up. The next morning, Michael told Victor that Adam had escaped the setup, and that Victor had lost Beauty of Nature. When the bids were opened, Jack's fiancée, Genevieve under the name of FMN holding company, emerged as the new owner of Beauty of Nature.

Ronan subpoenaed all of the Diane Jenkins murder suspects, and he and the DA questioned them about the evidence that still did not add up. Deacon arrived in handcuffs saying that Diane had come to him when no one would help her, wanting to back out of framing Victor with Adam because of Kyle, so she asked him to videotape that night in the park. Deacon admitted that after he witnessed Nikki kill Diane in self-defense, he had hit her more times to make it look like someone bigger and stronger than Nikki had killed her, and he was the one who put Diane's body in the creek. Deacon said he had taken the syringe, Ashley's cell phone, and the security camera from the tree, and had hidden them in the alley behind Gloworm, but they had disappeared later. When no one would confess to taking Deacon's stash or the embroidered pillows, the DA arrested them all for obstruction of justice.

At Genevieve's invitation, Paul went to her mansion to interview Myrna about the strange goings-on there. But Patty heard him arrive and grabbed a bag and disappeared to her old hideout, the Newman potting shed. Paul searched Myrna's room for clues to why she had left, and took her computer. Later Paul found a photo from the park surveillance camera on it. When Paul wasn't looking, Ricky copied the hard drive to a memory stick. Paul started putting the clues together and realized that his sister Patty may have been posing as Myrna. Then Deacon identified Patty's photo as being the person who was there in the park helping him clean up after Diane's death.

Patty, posing as Emily, approached Jack and told him that she still loved him and couldn't let him marry Genevieve. When Jack told her no, that he had moved on, she feigned embarrassment, kissed him and left. On his wedding day morning, she showed up as Emily again at Abbott manor, and bared her feelings, requesting that they reconcile. When Jack turned her down, she left angry, leaving Jack amazed at how much Emily had changed.

While Jack continued to prepare for his wedding, with Billy as best man, Lily matron of honor, and Cane giving Genevieve away, Adam found Patty hiding in the Newman potting shed, and tried to stop her from going to the wedding to shoot Genevieve. Patty threw insecticide in Adams's face burning his eyes and blinding him again, then clubbed him over the head with a board. Sharon later found Adam, called the police and they got him to the hospital.

Meanwhile Cane confronted Genevieve, saying that he was ashamed of her that she had bought Beauty of Nature but had not told Jack before their marriage, and Cane told her he was no longer her son. Nikki found out that Genevieve was the buyer from Victor and congratulated Jack on his marriage and craftily getting Beauty of Nature through Genevieve. Nikki left Jack shocked and broken-hearted, but he went on to the church.

Patty sneaked in at Genevieve's and overheard her reading a note to Jack backing out of the wedding. Patty intercepted the note, and walked down the aisle in Genevieve's stolen wedding gown. Jack pulled the veil from her face, ready to confront Genevieve, and said, "Emily?" Patty replied, "It's Patty, you bastard," and shot Jack. Patty left as the horrified Abbotts rushed to Jack. Jack was taken away by ambulance in critical condition.

Eager reporter, Ricky Williams, found out what his aunt Patty had done and went to his uncle Father Todd's church, because Patty always went to Todd when she was on the run. Patty was already holed up in the church bell tower, and Ricky found her there, regressed to a childlike state. Ricky's probing made Patty mad, but not before she disclosed that Adam been the one who helped her escape the mental institution years before. Ronan and Paul arrived, and Paul and Todd talked Patty into giving herself up.

Meanwhile the doctors told the Abbotts that Jack had a lacerated kidney, and the bullet was lodged next to his lower spine as he was taken into surgery. Nikki stood vigil with the Abbotts during Jack's surgery, feeling bad for taking him for granted after all the years they had spent together, and remembering how he was there for her when they lost their child. Jack's heart stopped during surgery, and he found himself in a rowboat surrounded by mist and stars with his dead father John. Jack told him that he was tired of failure and was ready to join him. John told Jack that he had everything to live for, a future of love, achievements, and being the man Jack was capable of becoming. Jack decided to row back home and survived the surgery, but was left paralyzed, just as he had been when Patty had shot him before in 1983. Abby left to go to Kyle in Lake Placid to tell him about his father.

At the police station Patty admitted to making the pillows for each person who had been in the park, and Paul and Father Todd helped them get her into a cell. Emily arrived and Genevieve, but Patty didn't seem to recognize them. All charges were dropped against all the suspects, including Nikki, once Ronan was able to convince the DA that Nikki was not responsible. Deacon remained in jail. Patty was sent to a maximum security prison hospital.

The next day Genevieve went to see Jack in the hospital, tried to explain how she needed a chance to feel powerful and independent by owning Jabot, and apologized for deceiving him, but Jack rejected her and sent her away in tears. Victor later tried to buy Beauty of Nature back, but Genevieve refused.

Jack began his physical therapy, refusing to believe that he would never walk again. When he spotted a therapist everyone called "Sarge" who was ruthless with his patients, Jack publicly admonished him for being heartless. But when he saw the man get results, he hired him for himself. Jack wanted to go home, but Sarge would not allow it until Jack could lift himself from his wheelchair onto a chair. Channeling his anger into his therapy Jack managed to do it, and was allowed to leave.

After Genevieve hired Victoria as CEO of Beauty of Nature, she visited Jack to tell him she was sorry but still really love him. Jack bitterly asked why she had betrayed him. Genevieve said she wanted to never be just Mrs. Somebody again and wanted something she could control. Jack replied that he would have supported her, found her another company to run, but instead she had stolen the one company Jack wanted. Then she didn't trust his love enough to even tell him afterward. Genevieve begged for him to forgive her now. Jack retorted that he hoped Beauty of Nature would keep her warm at night and asked to leave. Later Jack hired Avery to file a lawsuit to get Beauty of Nature from Genevieve because she had prior knowledge of his bid which had assured her of the win.

Both Jabot and Beauty of Nature became focused on getting an exclusive deal with Mitsukoshi, the largest department store chain in Japan, so Jill traveled to Japan. So did Cane, Victor and Genevieve. During their meeting in Japan, Genevieve searched Victor's briefcase while he had stepped out, and she found a business card for Kaito Yoshida of Oshiro Holdings. Believing she had discovered Victor's contact in Japan, she called to meet him. Jill and Cane were there to meet with the same man, supposedly a Mitsukoshi major stockholder. But Jack called and tipped them that the man was actually the U.S. government agent who had investigated Newman and caught them making bribes. They did not show up for the meeting, but when Cane spotted Genevieve with the man, he interrupted them and got Genevieve out of there before she could be tricked into making a bribe. Nick and Sharon arrived, and Sharon met with Mr. Mitsukoshi himself and secured the exclusive rights for Newman because of their prior relationship when she had been the Beauty of Nature spokesperson. Eventually it became clear to Genevieve that Victor had set her up, and she thanked Cane for rescuing her. She gave up, telling Victor she was considering selling Beauty of Nature back to him. But she was later served with papers of Jack's lawsuit to invalidate the sale to her.

Meanwhile Jack was still struggling with Sarge and physical therapy, and Nikki was there supporting him all the way. Jack became frustrated and decided to have a dangerous operation to remove the bullet from his spine, then to regenerate the nerves with stem cells, but Nikki and Ashley tried to talk him out of it. Nikki and Jack began to get close again, and the more Nikki found out about Victor's schemes against his own family "for their own good", the more disenchanted she became with Victor.

Genevieve offered to sell Beauty of Nature to Jack if he would forgive her and marry her, and Jack agreed. She then got offers from Victor, Victoria, and Tucker and relished the thought that she and Jack were going to outfox them all. Knowing that Jack was only marrying her to get Beauty of Nature, Nikki pleaded with him to not be like Victor and to be like his father John. Jack said he would if Nikki would remarry him instead, but Nikki was still in love with Victor. So Jack arranged to meet Genevieve in Las Vegas.

Nikki overheard Victor admit to Chelsea that he had paid her to setup Billy in Myanmar. Later after Victor followed Genevieve to Las Vegas, offering her CEO of Beauty of Nature if she sold to him, Nikki ran into Victor and confronted him saying that although she still loved him, his choices of anger and self-righteousness over family were something she could not tolerate, and that they were through. Meanwhile Jack changed his mind about tricking Genevieve after seeing how much she genuinely loved him. Jack joined Nikki in her room, and they ended up making love. Genevieve put on her gold wedding dress and went to Victor's room with a bottle of champagne, she signed the agreement, and they ended up making love as well.

Jack and Nikki were invited to a family party at Victoria and Billy's to welcome Johnny home. Victor and Genevieve crashed the party and announced their Beauty of Nature deal and that they were now a couple. Nikki put her hand on Jack's shoulder and let him know that she had moved on as well.

When Jack's son Kyle returned to Genoa City, he became resentful when he discovered that his father was romantically involved with Nikki Newman, the woman who had killed Kyle's mother. Kyle moved into the Newman Ranch, and Victor gave him a job. Nikki called off her affair with Jack for Kyle's sake. Jack decided not have the risky surgery and returned to therapy with Sarge. Jack was elated when thought he felt his toe move, but when his neurologist seemed to feel it was psychosomatic, he was crushed and ready to give up. Billy convinced him to fight and prove them all wrong. But Sarge was encouraged by it. Later both were further encouraged when Jack's housekeeper accidentally stepped on his foot, and Jack felt it. Kyle apologized for being a jerk, telling Jack that he wanted him to be happy, and if Nikki made him happy, Kyle would have to get over it. So Jack declared his love to Nikki, and asked her to marry him again. Nikki responded that she needed time to think about it. Encouraged to reconcile with Nikki by Katherine, Victor overheard the proposal, but left assuming that she had said yes. Later Nikki went to see Victor, and caught him and Sharon enjoying a romantic evening, so she left. Nikki went to Abbott manor and accepted Jack's proposal.

The SEC investigated the sale by Adam of Beauty of Nature and determined that it was legal. Christine Williams, with the Justice Department, suspected that Genevieve had used Colin's mob money to buy it. Cane was threatened with deportation if he did not testify against his mother, so Genevieve cut a deal admitting it was true, and Genevieve's assets were confiscated, leaving her penniless. Jack had filed a lawsuit against Genevieve to regain the company, claiming she used insider information to outbid him for the sale. In a surprise decision, the judge decided to give the ownership of Beauty of Nature to Jack, even though Victor claimed that Genevieve had coerced her FMN employee, and a Newman board member, to become the deciding vote for the sale.

Ashley and Jack argued when Jack decided to keep Beauty of Nature separate from Jabot. Ashley threatened to convince the board to fire Jack as Co-CEO of Jabot for conflict of interest since BON was a competitor, but Jack wouldn't budge and convinced board members to side with him. Victor approached Ashley to sell her shares or proxies in Jabot and when she refused, he egged her on to take on Jack. Jack finally decided to merge Jabot and Beauty of Nature, and offered Ashley any position she wanted with him as CEO.

As Jack and Nikki made their wedding plans, Jack had breakthrough, and was able to start to walk again. He asked Sarge to help him keep it secret, hoping to be able to stand at the marriage ceremony.

As Nikki and Jack prepared for their wedding, Victor took Sharon to Las Vegas, and they were married on the jet. They showed up at Abbott Manor as Nikki was about to walk down the aisle, and told her of their wedding. Nikki said that they deserved each other and threw them out. With renewed assurance that she was doing the right thing, Nikki walked down the aisle on Nick's arm to the wedding guests waiting in their finery at the beautiful poolside setting. To Nikki's shock, Jack rose from his wheelchair to receive his bride. During their vows, Jack thanked Nikki for being his inspiration, and that when he was with her, he was the man he was meant to be. With Victoria as matron of honor and Billy best man, Nikki and Jack were married to the applause of friends and family. Afterward, Ashley left with Traci to move to New York City.

Jack arranged a honeymoon surprise, but Nikki declined due to Victor's sudden disappearance after his own wedding. Jack said that was unacceptable, so Nikki left Abbott manor, and she flew to Hope's farm in Kansas in search of Victor. Meanwhile Jack kept working on his rehab, and Kyle joined and helped his father now that Nikki was gone. Jack hoped to cash in as Sharon took over Newman and its stock prices dropped and began to buy shares beyond his means.

After Nikki failed to find Victor, she tried to return to Abbott Manor, but Jack threw her out. When she wouldn't leave Jack got out of his wheelchair and walked out on her. He later made arrangements for a divorce. Able to walk again, Jack gave his wheelchairs and transfer boards to Sarge to find a worthy donor, and he asked about donating his car with controls to Sarge's brother. To which Sarge finally admitted that his brother had died years ago in a car accident.

As news of Victor's death spread, Newman stock plummeted, and Jack's stockbroker called the margin on his Newman stock which Jack could not cover after leveraging everything he owned. Jack approached Tucker to buy Beauty of Nature to bail himself out, and Tucker bought it. The day after, Victor returned to Genoa City where he found Nikki weeping at his grave, and they reunited. Jack was shocked to see a press conference with Victor assuring the world that he was alive and back as CEO and chairman of the board of Newman, and that all stockholders who did not sell would be given bonuses to cover their losses. When Jack's plea to Tucker to sell him back Beauty of Nature was refused, Jack threatened to go to the SEC and expose Tucker for his dealings with Newman stock and manipulating Sharon. Genevieve overhead the conversation which ended with Tucker daring Jack to try, so she teamed up with Jack to help him expose Tucker.

Afterward they confronted Tucker, he told Jack and Genevieve to "give it their best shot", and Jack called the SEC and turned Tucker in. Tucker in turn, went to Victor and offered to give him Beauty of Nature in exchange for Sharon's freedom. After some thought, Victor accepted so long as Sharon would give him an immediate annulment and drop the abandonment lawsuit. After Sharon signed the contract, Victor discovered that, in his absence, Sharon had sold a number of his shares of Newman – enough that he was no longer the largest shareholder and at risk of takeover. After gaining Adam's share support and teaming up with Tucker, Jack took the opportunity for a hostile takeover of Newman, and was surprised that he got Beauty of Nature in the bargain. Jack fired Victor, Nick and Victoria. After everyone left, Victor collapsed. Nikki returned and got him to the hospital.

Jack offered Billy a job working with him at Newman, but Billy suggested giving him Jabot instead. Jack turned down Cane's request to be CEO of Jabot and offered the job to Neil. After discussing it with Katherine, and realizing that Katherine actually wanted to come out of retirement and run Chancellor again, Neil accepted. Jack also offered Phyllis a job as vice president of research and development at Newman. Jack began plans to merge Newman Cosmetics and Beauty of Nature into Jabot. Meanwhile Victor decided not to fight to get Newman back, but was leaving it up to his children to do. Abby offered Jack $500 million to return the company to the Newmans, but Jack turned it down, and Nick refused to fight for it. After Billy admitted that Restless Style was not doing well, and RSTV was tanking, Victoria encouraged Billy to agree to work with Jack at Newman, to work with her to get Newman back, so Billy accepted Jack's offer and became Victoria's spy. (Jack later discovered Billy's duplicity and fired him.) Victor visited Jack at his former office, and warned a smug Jack that his ambition would destroy him, that everyone he cares about had turned their backs on him, or shortly would.

After Victor left, Jack doubled over with pain in his lower spine. His father's presence came to him, and told him that his body was giving him payback for crossing the line. John made Jack confront his fear over getting the bullet removed from his back. After Jack collapsed in pain in Phyllis' presence, she took him to the hospital where they told him the bullet had moved dangerously close to his spine, and could cause paralysis or death. Phyllis convinced him to get the surgery, and Jack trusted Adam to take over at Newman until he recovered. The surgery was successful. Phyllis agreed to stay at the Abbott's so that Jack could be released. Although told to take it easy for a few days and in severe pain, Jack called Sarge to start physical therapy again. But Sarge told him to get into bed, call him in a few days, and left. Of course Jack would not slow down, doing business from his living room and popping pills to kill the pain. Jack and Phyllis began to bond again. Jack told Phyllis that although he felt guilty over firing Nick and Victoria, and putting Billy in an impossible position, he felt like the King of the World. Phyllis told Jack the reason he had the affair with Ronan was because she just wanted to know that someone cared. After Phyllis left the room, Jack took a handful of pills for his increasing pain. Jack began overdosing on pain killers to get through each day.

Jack held a meeting with Adam, Phyllis and Avery, and they were concerned when he acted irritable and unable to focus or think clearly. Out of his drug, Oxydycone, and his doctor refusing to give him more, he called a doctor friend and paid him for a prescription. Taking the drug in quantity and with alcohol, Jack woke up in his car after spending the night there. Phyllis had to handle an interview with Mason Wilder, Sarge's nephew, who was given the executive assistant to CEO position. Jack arrived just as Matt Merrick, the young CEO of the fastest growing green energy company in the U.S., was leaving an important meeting that Phyllis had to take for him. Later Matt met with Victor, who told Matt that the new owners of Newman were not to be trusted and would be short-lived.

Jack was determined to make Jabot a subsidiary of Newman. Neil objected, saying it was about power not consolidation savings. Adam agreed, reminding Jack that he would have nothing to fall back on if he lost Newman. Jack attacked Neil for the changes he was making at Jabot, including his hiring choices. Unable to handle it due to his pain and drug dependency, Jack sent Phyllis to Chicago to handle an important meeting. Reminding Jack that he had been promised autonomy, Neil quit. Adam again warned Jack that Victor was waiting to jump on any opportunity, and that Adam was the only Newman who could help him. Adam and Phyllis each confronted Jack about his increasing dependence on the pain meds. Deciding to quit cold turkey, Jack gave Adam the rest of his pills, and he made peace with Neil who came back to Jabot.

Victor was encouraged that Adam was cooperating when Jack's drug abuse was leaked to the tabloids. Tucker went to Jack about the article, warning him to get help, and not to screw him over. Kyle later admitted that he had leaked the interview to save the only parent he had left. Jack later found his pills back in his desk drawer and accused Adam of trying to undermine him. Adam claimed it was a test, and Jack stomped on them. But later after Phyllis had rebuffed him, and finding himself alone on Christmas Eve with only his power and success, Jack drank enough alcohol to pass out. Kyle found Jack Christmas morning and told him about friends who had thrown their futures away on drugs, naming one who had become a drug dealer. When Kyle left the room, Jack got his friend Kieran's phone number from Kyle's cell phone, and bought some pills from him. Kyle, Billy, Phyllis, Neil, attempted an intervention of Jack, who said they had insulted him, fired them all, and threw them out of his house.

Adam warned Jack that his mass firings were going to be used against him, the pills were making bad decisions, and suggested Jack take time off and Adam would handle the company in his absence. Jack accused Adam of taking Victor's side, and fired Adam too. Adam went to Victor ready to cut the deal, but Victor told him it was too late.

On New Year's Eve, Jack picked up a young woman named Stephanie at the Athletic Club bar, and woke up the next morning on his couch, with her dead on the floor. Jack panicked and called Adam for help. Adam found ecstasy in her purse, determined that she was a prostitute, and that Jack had been setup by Victor to have the press show up as she left the house. Adam had Jack stage a heart attack and the press followed him to the hospital, while Adam got rid of the body. Jack agreed to go to rehab in exchange and begged Phyllis for her support and for Billy to run Newman with Adam in his absence.

Admitting that Victor had hired her, Victor's investigator identified the woman as Stephanie Gayle Wheeler, the drug addicted daughter of a congressman. Her body was later found in an alley, confirmed dead of an ecstasy overdose. Sure that she had died with Jack and that Adam had helped with the cover up, Victor convinced Victoria that it was time for them to make their move to retake Newman by exposing them.

Phyllis went to the Abbott cabin with Jack, assuring him that she was not going to let him fail to detox. Dr. Lee was unable to get there to help, so Phyllis had to suffer Jack's withdrawal hallucinations and rage. Dr. Lee finally arrived with medication to make the detox easier for Jack. Jack caught Victor's investigator snooping around the Abbott cabin, and the guy confessed Victor's plans, agreed to help Jack, and told Jack that Stephanie was the daughter of Congressman Wheeler. Jack confessed to Phyllis about Stephanie. Back home again, Jack felt compelled to confess to Michael the D.A. Remorseful about taking over Newman, alienating friends and family, and firing people, Jack admitted that he was not a man John Abbott would have been proud of. Jack told Phyllis, Billy and Adam that he was walking away from Newman, leaving Billy and Adam in charge as Co-CEO's, and returning as CEO of Jabot. The D.A.'s office decided that Jack was not responsible for Stephanie's death, and after speaking with Congressman Wheeler that he wanted it kept out of the press as well.

Jack later thanked Phyllis for saving his life, and told her he felt they were ready to renew their past relationship. Phyllis declined, having just received her divorce papers from Nick to sign. After Jack's drug dealer showed up and left a pack of pills to tempt him, Jack asked Neil to be his sponsor, and let Phyllis get rid of the pills.

As Jack regained his perspective, he realized that his heart was with Jabot, not Newman, and he left Newman in Adam's hands. When putting together his team to run Jabot, Jack hired Billy and Kyle, and Neil was made head of the new fashion division with Cane and Lily under him. The spirit of John Abbott visited Jack and told him that he approved and was proud of him. Jack phoned Ashley and Abby offering apologies and asking them to return to Jabot and Genoa City. Abby returned to Genoa City five months after she had left. She visited Jack, and after assuring him that she had finally grown up, Abby asked to join him working at Jabot.

Nikki's car slipped off the road during a major winter snowstorm near Abbott Manor. Stuck there awaiting a tow, she confessed to Jack that she had multiple sclerosis. Jack urged her to stop keeping it from Victor. Help came for Nikki as Phyllis arrived to have a candlelight dinner with Jack. She eventually ended up in bed with Jack, still protesting that she was toxic, not good for him or anyone. Jack named the newest Jabot fragrance, Scarlet Mist, in honor of Phyllis. Jack admitted to Phyllis that he was falling in love with her again, and they planned a trip together to Istanbul. Ashley came to town to attend Victor and Nikki's wedding, which she missed while lecturing Jack about her disapproval of him getting involved with Phyllis again. Phyllis pointedly reminded Ashley that she was the one who stood by Jack and nursed him through his detox, not Ashley.

After a failed attempt to kill Victor at his wedding to Nikki, it became apparent that Congressman Wheeler was behind it. So Jack and Victor decided they needed to work together to control the situation, and confronted Wheeler about putting a hit on Victor and killing Belinda Rogan. Wheeler told them they could not prove it. Paul and Alex had been listening from the next room and collected the DNA sample from Wheeler's coffee cup DNA to test to sample found on Belinda Rogan's body. Victor and Jack had to admit they made a good team when the results were mutually beneficial. Thanks to their help the D.A. decided not to prosecute Jack or Victor for obstruction in Stephanie's death, and Adam had not been implicated. Wheeler's DNA matched the sample, and he was arrested for her murder. Marcus made bail but was later arrested for hiring the hitman.

Jack took Phyllis for a relaxing romantic trip to Istanbul, and finally talked her into moving in with him. Summer approved, hoping it would mean that she could live where Kyle lived, at Abbott Manor. Claiming to want to be close to Phyllis and put off by Avery's presence in Nick's life, Phyllis asked Jack if Summer could move in too, and he reluctantly agreed.

Upon hearing that Jack and Phyllis had reunited, and Phyllis had moved in with him, Traci returned for an extended stay at Abbott Manor. Traci tried to convince Jack that Phyllis was only going to break his heart again, but Jack warned her that if she was only there to break them up, she needed to leave. Overhearing them, Phyllis became determined to prove Traci wrong. But Phyllis later moved out, telling Jack that they were moving too fast. Then following a heart to heart with Phyllis about both of their commitment issues, Nick announced at a family gathering that he and Avery were going to be married, and Phyllis returned to Jack just as Traci was moving out to move in with Abby.

In a desperate attempt to keep Kyle and Summer apart, Phyllis Phyllis came on to Kyle, and after one kiss, Kyle called things off with Summer. The next day, Summer said goodbye to Faith, texted Kyle, and ran away to Chicago. Phyllis and Nick decided the time to tell her the truth had come, and Nick found Summer at a modeling agency in Chicago. Meanwhile Phyllis was confronted by Jack who had overheard Kyle and Abby discussing the kiss between Kyle and Phyllis. After the others had left, Phyllis explained that she was just trying to break them up, then went on to tell him why by breaking the news that Jack was Summer's father. She explained how Nick had kept the results of the paternity test secret all those years, and a recent test had confirmed that Nick was not her father. In Chicago, Nick was telling Summer the same. Jack was moved to tears, remembering how he had delivered Summer and watched her grow up from afar. Phyllis admitted that she had only known for a month, and had been waiting for the right time, afraid it would send him into a relapse. Although Phyllis begged to stay, Jack threw her out. In Chicago, Summer took it hard, then realized it meant that she and Kyle were half brother and sister. As Jack reached for a drink, the spirit of John Abbott kept Jack from relapsing into addiction. In Chicago, Summer refused to go home with Nick, so he left when Phyllis arrived.

Back in Genoa City, Nick admitted what he had done to Victor, who reacted thinking only of himself, lamenting that now that his granddaughter Summer was an Abbott, he had been bested by Jack again. Nick told Sharon, who said that she understood, and would always be there for him.

Meanwhile Kyle arranged to get Billy's club after hours, invited Summer, and gave her an armload of yellow roses, begging her to start over. Summer had to be the one to tearfully tell Kyle that they were brother and sister. Kyle walked out upset, unable to deal with it.

Nick went to see Jack who punched Nick after Nick said that he was sorry. Jack yelled at Nick that he not only stolen Jack's time with Summer, but he had stolen Summer's past, and he hoped that maybe there was hope for a future between Jack and Summer.

Next Summer went to Jack and they both tearfully exchanged their feelings of how much they had always cared for each other, and hope for a future as father and daughter.

After the shock wore off, Jack and Phyllis reconciled, and Jack bought a ring, intending to propose marriage at the MS gala. Phyllis had told him that she would meet him there, and he finally received a call from her as the gala crowd cheered, but he was unable to hear her. A while later Nick and Avery returned with the news that they had discovered Phyllis unconscious in the stairwell of the building. Later at the hospital, Phyllis was still unconscious when Dr. Costner informed Jack, Nick, and Avery that Phyllis had a blood clot pressing on her brain requiring surgery. The surgery was performed, and was successful. Phyllis regained consciousness with Jack at her bedside, but in attempting to tell him about Sharon's deception all she could say was "Nick" and "Summer", then, got so agitated, she had a convulsion, and lost consciousness again. The next time she awoke, Jack told her that she was the love of his life and proposed. Phyllis was unable to answer, then lost consciousness. Tests found a contrecoup injury, a bruising on the frontal lobe, and that Phyllis had lapsed into a coma, from which she may never regain consciousness. Daniel arrived too late. While Summer, Avery, and Jack were content to sit by her side and wait months or years for Phyllis to wake up, Daniel did some research and found a facility on an island off the coast of Georgia where the best neurologists were having some success reviving coma patients. All were adamantly against it until Daniel convinced Michael, Lauren, and Summer who convinced Jack and Nick, then Nick convinced Avery to allow Daniel to take her there to give her the best shot at recovery. Before they left for Georgia, Jack placed the engagement ring on Phyllis' finger, declared they were officially engaged, and promised to wait for her.

Jack returned from Georgia devastated and ready to go back on the pills, but the spirit of John Abbott interceded, suggesting that Phyllis would not approve, and that he should try to get close to his daughter Summer. Jack took the advice, and Summer allowed herself to cry on his shoulder, to kiss, and hug Jack, making him cry. They went to dinner together with Kyle where Victor interrupted them warning Jack to stay away from Summer. Nick intervened, telling Victor to do what was best for Summer. That Jack was not the enemy. The enemy is and has always been Victor.

After Victor and Adam had it out and broke up their partnership, Adam went straight to Jack where it was revealed that Jack was the investor who had helped Adam buy Newman from its shareholders. Victor followed Adam, and became suspicious that Jack was the investor.

Finding out from Billy that Fishhook was a poker term, Victor deduced that it meant a jack, and that Jack was the one who had financed the buyback of Newman. Confronting Jack, Jack admitted it, saying that all he had done was help a friend impress his father. Jack tried to convince Victor that Adam was just proving his worth by bringing Newman home to Victor. Victor yelled that he had been betrayed by Adam. Jack yelled back that Adam was a fool to think Victor could ever be the father he wanted, and Victor countered that he had always known that he could never trust Adam. Adam walked in on the fight and told Victor that Adam would be a better father to his son than Victor had ever been to him.

Later, Jack offered to get other financiers to buy him out if Victor would forgive Adam, but Victor just accused Jack of trying to pull more tricks. Jack's final rejected offer was "I walk away from Newman, you walk away from Summer." Confident that they had Victor where they wanted him, Adam and Jack agreed to meet with him. Expecting Victor to pull a fast one, they were shocked when he declared, "Newman Enterprises is yours." The next day Jack discovered that Newman clients and suppliers were opting out of contracts and had signed new ones with Chancellor, bringing Newman to a standstill. Jack and Adam accused Victor of destroying Newman to get even. Victor shocked them with the fact that he was the secret owner of Chancellor in Katherine's will, so he no longer gave a damn about Newman. Adam lashed out at Victor, then walked away from his father for the last time as Victor reminded Jack that he always wins.

The next day, Victor offered to buy Newman to save his reputation. After telling Victor they would get back to him, Jack urged Adam to take the offer and start over with something of his own to hand down to his son, because Newman would always be a constant reminder of Victor. Adam agreed, and Jack went to Victor to accept his offer. After the agreement, Victor snidely told Jack, "Go back to Jabot. And when you run it into the ground I will swoop in and take it too."

During a visit to Phyllis, when Jack mentioned Summer, Phyllis squeezed his hand. But the doctor told Jack not to be too encouraged by it. Still Jack flew to Savannah to visit Phyllis nearly every other weekend.

After Billy's daughter Delia was killed by a hit and run driver, Jack made sure that the family rallied around Billy, even Ashley arrived from New York City, beginning with a traditional Abbott family breakfast. After they persuaded a distraught Billy to attend Delia's funeral, John appeared to Jack, telling him that he was doing a fine job of pulling the family together, saying, "You did it Jackie boy. You are finally the head of the Abbott family."

It was not long before Jack and Jill were putting their heads together to come up with a way to get Chancellor-Newman away from Victor. Pulling in Devon, Kyle, Cane, Neil, and Jack's new assistant Hilary, they decided they needed a mole to work from the inside. Kyle volunteered for the job, but Jack turned him down, saying that unlike Victor, he would not use his kids to fight his battles for him. But while Hilary and Jack were going through a list of Chancellor-Newman employees for a possible candidate, Kyle was asking Victor for a job, telling him that he was tired of being Jack Abbott's son, wanted to be his own man, and to make a name for himself. Victor hired him but told him he had to cut his long hair. Kyle was given full security access, but Victor had someone watch his every move.

Jack and Summer went to see Phyllis on Thanksgiving, but returned disappointed, making it home in time for the Abbott Thanksgiving, and were joined by Ashley, Abby, and Tyler.

Jill told Jack about a cancer drug research company that Chancellor had acquired while she was working there called Bonaventure Industries, and her suspicions that they were cutting corners trying to stop their losses. Jill pointed out that if they could prove it was an unethical subsidiary, it would create bad publicity with the FDA for Newman-Chancellor. Jack agreed, but insisted that if this lead to that company's demise and they were doing good work, he would fund them. Kyle offered to get more information on it, but Noah caught Kyle in Victor's office after Kyle had just photographed the file. Victor arrived and caught them fighting, then assigned both of them to the Bonaventure company to find out more about it. Noah later came back to Victor and told him that he caught Kyle in his office and suspected he was spying on Victor.

When the rest of the family made other plans, Jack found himself alone on Christmas Eve. The spirit of John talked him into not sitting home alone with a ghost, so Jack called Phyllis. Daniel was there with her, and held the phone to her ear. Jack told Phyllis how much he missed her, but that she was there with him in his heart, and said merry Christmas and I love you before he hung up. He then joined Summer and his friends at a Christmas eve candlelight ceremony in Chancellor park which was led by Paul. Everyone lit a candle to honor Katherine, made a wish in love to a beautiful future, and sang The First Noel.

Adam came to Jack, telling him that he had decided to back out of the plot to get Victor, that it was time his family came first. Later Jack agreed to be Adam's son Conner's godfather, and to becoming Conner's legal guardian if anything ever happened to Adam, so that Victor could never get his hooks into Adam's son. Just prior to Conner's blessing, Adam and Chelsea signed the guardianship papers and paperwork officially changing his name to Conner Adam Newman. But when Victor showed up uninvited at the end of the blessing, everyone was astonished when Adam allowed Victor to hold Conner. The next day Jack asked Adam what Victor had on him, and Adam admitted that Victor was blackmailing him, but would not say what it was.

Jack was thrilled to receive a call telling him that Phyllis was reacting to music, that her favorite song "Wait" had cause a change in her brainwave pattern, which he took as very positive sign.

Thanks to some effective sleuthing by Hilary, they discovered that Bonaventure Industries had become profitable by selling diet drugs illegally online only after Victor took over Chancellor and control of Bonaventure. After Summer nearly died from taking Bonaventure's VivaSurge, Jack knew he had the means to get back at Victor.

Jack was shocked to be visited by Paul who was looking for Adam to arrest him for being the hit and run driver who had killed Billy's daughter Delia, and with the news that Billy was missing and thought to be going after Adam with a gun. Jack remembered the things that both Adam and Billy had told him, and that Victor was blackmailing Adam, and with Paul's proof, it all made sense. Jack felt sorry for Adam yet was kicking himself for not putting it together himself. Jack visited Victor at home and accused him in front of Nikki of blackmailing Adam with the knowledge that Adam had been the hit and run driver. Nikki was appalled that Victor would do such a thing, and Jack left them to argue it out. Later Jack was at the police station when Paul and Nick returned from finding Adam's SUV upside-down in a ravine where it had exploded. Someone had witnessed one man get out and disappear, but the other had been trapped inside. Jack was able to identify the watch of the victim as Adam's.

Jack arrived at the penthouse and told Chelsea that Billy and Adam had been in a car crash, that the car had exploded, and the police had found only Adam's watch. Victor joined them, and gave them the news that Billy had gotten out and was going to be fine, but that Adam was still missing and presumed dead. Jack was elated at the news about Billy, but admitted that he had loved Adam like a son, and gave Victor and Chelsea condolences. Chelsea refused to believe that Adam was dead. Victor again assured Chelsea that she and Conner were Newmans, and always would be and Victor urged her to live at the ranch, that he would even build her a house there. Jack and Sharon reminded her that was exactly what Adam would NOT have wanted.

Jack attended the Delia Project Valentine's Day benefit, calling Phyllis to say good night and wish that she were there with him. Hilary adjusted his tie and kissed him, backing away embarrassed. As Jack went to leave, he ran into Chelsea arriving and feeling like she did not belong, so he asked to be her escort. When Lily unveiled the antique snow queen doll which was to be auctioned, the case was empty. But Lily spotted a stranger, Richard Womack, heading for the door with it under his coat. When she grabbed for the doll, it broke, and diamonds showered onto the floor. Womack pulled a gun, and held everyone hostage. Devon triggered a silent alarm, and Paul and the police arrived outside the locked ballroom. Womack fired at the chandelier, which fell on Billy, injuring him. Then when Billy tried to jump Womack, he kicked Billy, breaking some ribs. Jack negotiated with Womack to make his private jet available if Chelsea, who had been cut, could be set free.

Paul shut off the ballroom lights and bargained with Womack to let Billy and Victoria go, and the lights would be turned on. Afterward, when Jack's plane was ready to help Womack escape, Womack let everyone go but Cane and Lily. Colin jumped out from where he had been hiding, his gun on Womack. Lily and Cane escaped, and Womack was killed as he and Colin struggled over the gun.

Jack was upset to discover that Victor had come to Chelsea's rescue after Chloe had kidnapped Conner and ran off to Paris with him. Taking Victor's private jet, they had found and brought them back, and Chloe had been arrested for kidnapping. Jack warned Chelsea, in Victor's presence, that trusting Victor would only lead to him having her declared unfit and taking Conner away, and reminding her that Adam got sucked in by Victor only to find a knife in his back.

Jack agreed to give Billy a place to stay after Victoria kicked him out for his one night stand with his grief support group member Kelly Andrews. Then Jack invited Kelly to dinner and tried to pay her off to leave town, but she tore up his big check. Realizing that Kelly was a better person than he had assumed, Jack tried to form a truce with her, and convince her to go to dinner again.

When Adam's body was found, Jack confronted Victor that it was all his fault for not exposing Adam's secret. But Victor asked Jack to think about what HE would have done had he found out that Adam (whom Jack thought of like a son) had accidentally killed Delia.

Jack confided in Jill that working with Kelly and running into her now and then, Jack was beginning to finally feel good again. Jill said she understood, and that maybe it was time to give up on Phyllis. Jack checked in on Phyllis again, with still no progress. Jack ran into Kelly again and he took her with him to a Vivaldi concert in the park, where they began quoting old movies, and had the same old favorite in "Vertigo", and Jack kissed her. He then asked her on a real date, during which they kissed again and decided to get a room at the athletic club. Kelly was waiting in some sexy lingerie, but when Jack arrived, fresh from an encounter with Summer, he called it off, feeling disrespectful of Phyllis. After Noah spoke to Summer, Summer told Jack that she really could not begrudge him a life other than waiting for Phyllis to wake up. Jack told Kelly he wanted to resume where they left off, but Kelly decided that she did not want to be hurt when Phyllis woke up one day.

As a favor for Chelsea, Jack showed up to meet a new tenant for a condo that Adam owned, and found it was Kelly. She accused him of stalking her, and Jack said he felt it was fate throwing them together. As she was about to leave, they heard a violin next door playing Vivaldi, and Jack asked her if she still did not believe in fate. Kelly took the apartment, and moved in to find vases of flowers and a picnic arranged on the floor. Jack arrived shortly afterward and got her to talk about herself. They began dating, and Jack was elated to find that he could be happy again. Summer became upset that Jack had given up on her mom, but she said she understood that he could not wait forever, and would try to accept Kelly. Jack and Kelly christened Kelly's new place by making love.

The next morning, Jack was notified that Summer had apparently run off with fugitive Austin Travers. Summer texted Nick and Jack who were together, "I'm all right. I know what I am doing. Love you both." They tried to track her cell, but she had turned off the GPS. They contacted the police, telling them that Summer was with Austin but not involved. Jack and Nick were sure that the fugitives must be heading for Canada. Later that day, Summer was found at a hotel near the border. As Summer was talking with Nick by phone, Austin was turning himself in, in Genoa City.

Jack saw Kelly and Ben share a hug, and saying that she would always love him. Later Jack confronted Kelly about her relationship with Ben, assuming they had once been lovers. But Kelly surprised him by admitting that Ben was actually her brother. Kelly explained that Ben had done something unforgivable, so she had cut him out of her life for years. Although Ben had reached out to her after her son Sam died, Kelly felt it was unfair that Ben was happily married while she had lost everything, so she told Jenna what Ben had done, and it broke up his marriage.

Summer asked Jack and Nick for Austin's bail money, and when both refused, she used money from her trust fund. When Jack found them together at the Abbott lake house, they shocked him by announcing that they were married. Jack accused Austin of being after her money or keeping Summer from testifying against him. Summer said she was the happiest she had ever been, and accused Jack of only wanting to spoil it. Jack spoke to D.A. Christine to arrange for Summer to be arrested for fraud, but Kelly talked Jack out of it.

Summer decided they should be officially married in a church. Sharon convinced Nick to walk Summer down the aisle, but Jack arrived, and they began again with both Jack and Nick walking her down the aisle, and Summer and Austin were married again. Detective Harding arrived to arrest Austin for fraud, but Jack talked him out of it with everyone swearing the couple loved each other and no fraud was being committed.

Jack finally got Kelly to tell him Stitch's secret, that her brother had murdered their father, and that he had served his time for it. She said that she had forgiven him, he was a doctor saving lives now, and felt that Stitch deserved a chance to start over. So Kelly hoped that Jack would not tell Billy. Jack did not, but Billy confronted Stitch with the truth in front of Victoria, Kelly, and Jack, and was shocked to discover that Jack and Kelly had known and not told him, so told them they could both go to hell. Later, trying to defend his not informing Billy, Jack admitted to Kelly that he was in love with her. Kelly rebuffed him, but later after realizing that Jack was the best thing to ever happen to her, she joined him in his bed and admitted that she loved him too. Jack realized that he was dreading Phyllis waking up, and having to break it off with Kelly, deciding that it was time to let go of the past. Jack visited Phyllis and reminisced about how much they had loved each other, then he said goodbye, telling her that he had fallen in love with someone else. Saying he would miss her, he hugged and kissed her goodbye. Avery helped Jack pack up Phyllis' things, and Kelly moved in with Jack. They broke the news to Summer, who accepted it, but said that she still would never give up on Phyllis.

Just before Sharon and Nick were pronounced man and wife again, everyone was shocked when Phyllis interrupted the wedding, walked down the aisle, was embraced by Summer, and collapsed. It turned out that Phyllis had woken up from her coma, stolen a nurse's scrubs, and hitchhiked home from the Georgia hospital. Kelly saw the writing on the wall, and when Jack arrived home he found her moving out. Jack convinced her to stay, but woke up the next morning to find a goodbye note instead. Later, visiting Phyllis at Genoa City Memorial, Phyllis told Jack that she had heard him propose while in her coma, and she accepted.

Jack took Phyllis home to Abbott Manor with instructions not to cause her undue stress which could send her back into a coma, so he did not tell her about Kelly. Summer introduced Austin as her friend, but Ashley managed to expose the fact that they were married. Phyllis was shocked and demanded an annulment, but Jack talked her into giving him a chance. Jack was livid after discovering that Victor had been responsible for Phyllis' recovery, putting her on an experimental drug by tricking Summer into signing consent forms. But Victor gloated that he had managed to do what Jack could not. Returning home, Phyllis walked in on Jack and Kelly who were looking emotional, and asked who she was. Jack said she was an event planner at the club, and a friend of Billy's. Later Kelly gave Jack an ultimatum, he had to choose between Phyllis and Kelly.

When Sharon went missing prior to her and Nick's appointment with the justice of the peace to legalize the wedding, Victor, Nick, and Jack went looking for her, finding her in the same stairwell where Phyllis had taken her fall. Phyllis was restraining Sharon by the arm demanding that she remember the secret that Phyllis had known. Jack and Nick were shocked as Sharon was forced to confess that she had tampered with the paternity test, that Nick was actually Summer's biological father, and that she had left Phyllis for dead at the bottom of the stairs. When Jack dismissed it, Victor backed it up with another DNA result. Nick refused to listen to Sharon's excuses and told her they were not getting married, and to just stay away from him. Jack was heartbroken, and he later accused Phyllis of showboating for revenge instead of telling him first. Phyllis defended herself, saying, "Sharon stole a year from my life, and that is who I am, the woman you fell in love with!" Jack left upset.

Jack tearfully broke it to Summer, that she was not his daughter after all, and that Sharon had tampered with the paternity test results. Summer would not believe it at first, then they hugged and cried together. Summer said that she could not have made it thru the year without him. Jack said his heart was breaking, that Summer had filled a corner of his heart he did not know was empty, and he would miss her. Summer assured Jack that they would still see each other all the time, and would be okay, that she had Austin. Jack headed for a bar, where Kelly found him.

Jack decided to tell Phyllis about his relationship with Kelly, but when he got home Phyllis was all over him with I love yous, and lets get married, suggesting a big party, that Kelly should plan. After giving it some thought, Jack made his decision and called Kelly but got voicemail. Jack told Phyllis that he was back to the place he was when he proposed, and ready to honestly and unconditionally offer his pledge forever. Jack proposed, and Phyllis tearfully accepted. Basking in the afterglow of lovemaking, Phyllis asked if there had been anyone else, he said there had, but that it is over. Phyllis replied, "Good, or I would have to kill the bitch."

Jack found Kelly who was in turmoil over her mother's heart attack. Jack decided not to tell her just then. But when he got home, Jack was flabbergasted to find the family gathered to announce their engagement. Jack made his excuses to leave, desperate to find Kelly before someone else told her. But Phyllis was hot on his heels. Jack attempted to tell Kelly that he had chosen Phyllis, but Kelly kept interrupting him. Phyllis arrived, broke the news that she and Jack were engaged, hoping Kelly could plan the perfect party for them. Kelly was heart-broken at the news, but Jack could do nothing to console her in front of Phyllis. Later Kelly went to see Jack, and told him that she hated him for what he had done, allowing her to fall in love with him, then breaking her heart. Jack agreed that she had every right to, but he felt he had to honor the commitment he had made to Phyllis.

After finding out that Jack had sold her penthouse, Phyllis was convinced that everyone had just moved on during her coma, and she confronted Kelly, accusing her of going after Jack when he was vulnerable, just looking to score another rich Abbott. Kelly set her straight, that they were in love and living together when Phyllis had returned. Phyllis insulted Kelly, Kelly slapped Phyllis and told her that Jack had gone to see her to say goodbye. Jack broke them up, and went to see if Kelly was all right and apologize, while Summer tried to get Phyllis to understand Jack's position. But Kelly let Jack know that Phyllis was a phycho, and that he was going to regret choosing Phyllis over her. When Jack arrived home, Phyllis cried that Jack should have told her. Jack said that he had intended to, but the doctor had warned him not to upset her. Phyllis accused him of cheating on her, but he convinced her how much he loved and wanted her still, and that Kelly was now in the past.

One day, Jack arrived home to find a stranger in his house who convinced him that he was Adam Newman, not dead after all, by reminding Jack that he had been the one to help him cover up the death of Stephanie Wheeler. Adam explained that he had reconstructive surgery after mistakenly being identified as Gabriel Bingham, the guy who had pulled him out of the wreck, but had died as a result. Jack was shocked, but felt that Adam needed to be turned over to the police to face the consequences for Delia’s death. Adam admitted that he was still riddled with guilt and dreamed of Delia every night. Then Adam showed Jack the gunshot wound in his side where Billy had shot him just before the car wreck, and promised that if Adam went to prison, so would Billy. Adam also requested that Jack hire him to work at Jabot.

Jack chatted with Kelly while awaiting Phyllis' arrival at the athletic club on New Year's Eve. Kelly was alarmingly confident that Jack still loved her and would choose her eventually over Phyllis. Phyllis walked in late and disheveled after running out of gas, wearing the same dress as Kelly. Jack rolled his eyes as Phyllis attacked Kelly, claiming that Kelly had arranged for both coincidences to get back at Phyllis. A few days later Jack heard Kelly and Phyllis arguing in his office and a slap. As he came in, Kelly claimed that Phyllis had slapped her, and Phyllis maintained that Kelly had slapped herself.

A couple of weeks later, Phyllis arranged a surprise for Jack. A note was passed to Jack by the bartender while at the athletic club which said, "The woman you love has a surprise for you. See the desk clerk for the key to room 702." Being wary, Jack confirmed with the bartender that Phyllis had given him the note, but he gave Jack the key to 802 instead. Jack found rose petals on the bed, the shower running, and another note telling him to take off his clothes, get in bed, and put on the blindfold. Jack realized it was Kelly in a negligee who had joined him and was kissing him. He jumped out of bed and confronted her, asking why should could not understand that he had chosen Phyllis. Kelly got angry, claiming that she had received a text from Jack inviting her there, and now he was breaking her heart all over again. Then Phyllis entered the room. Phyllis and Kelly accused each other of setting the other up. Jack finally believed Phyllis when the flower shop said that a blonde had ordered the flowers, until he discovered a blonde wig in Phyllis' tote bag. Phyllis denied knowing where the wig came from. Jack became convinced that Phyllis had been affected by the experimental drug that had brought her out of the coma, and consulted her doctor. Dr. Cutler admitted that a number of his patients had experienced some shift in their personality.

Phyllis asked Kelly to tea to form a truce. Kelly offered to be understanding if what had been happening was because of some reaction to her coma treatment. But following their tea, Kelly passed out with dizziness and abdominal pain. The hospital discovered that she had been poisoned with antifreeze. Kelly told the police and Jack that it had to have been by Phyllis. After getting upset and smashing a vase, Phyllis began to accept that she might have a problem.

After Paul spotted on the security footage a woman with red hair tampering with the security cameras before Kelly was poisoned, he arrested Phyllis. D.A. Christine let Phyllis know that she was going to make Phyllis finally pay. Police found anti-freeze in the trash at Abbott manor. Michael told Phyllis that it would be first degree homicide if Phyllis were tried, and she could get life in prison. So with Avery and Michael as her lawyers, Phyllis was sent to Fairview for psychiatric evaluation and help. Afterward, Jack finally set Kelly straight, that he was committed to Phyllis, and that he and Kelly were never getting back together. Phyllis was later released, after being found to be sane (and calculating), and fit to stand trial. Jack was shocked to find that she had gone to live at Victor and Nikki's. Jack tried to convince her to come home, apologizing that everything had been his fault, but she told him it had been a mistake for her to run from Georgia to him. She returned her engagement ring, telling him that she loved but could no longer trust him. Jack left convinced that Victor had paid the doctor off.

Jack and Ashley decided to set up Phyllis to prove that she was not the same as before the coma. The perfect opportunity occurred when Phyllis walked into the Valentines party at The Underground on Victor's arm. Jack accused Phyllis of being used by Victor, and she blew up, accusing him of going back to Kelly. Then Phyllis realized that she had been set up and became furious with him. Jack left, ran into Kelly, took her into a storeroom and they had hot sex. Ashley caught Kelly sneaking out afterward, and accused Jack of either being cruel and destructive, or back on drugs. Jack returned and apologized to Phyllis just before the ceiling crashed in on them, trapping them with Victor and Nikki under the rubble.

Victor found Jack injured and had to do CPR to save his life, causing Jack to ask Victor why he had not left him to die. Victor told him that Jack was one of the people he cared about. Phyllis and Jack apologized to each other, and swore their undying love. As more wreckage buried them, Jack, thinking he was going to die, told Victor there was something he needed to know about Adam. But they were interrupted by Dylan and Nick finding them. While they pulled Nikki and Phyllis out to safety, the snow-weighted roof collapsed too. When Nick returned to the spot where Victor and Jack were last seen, they found the dead body of part time bartender, Derek. They finally found Jack alive in bad shape, but no sign of Victor. Kelly eavesdropped outside Jack's hospital room, hearing Phyllis accuse Jack of having sex with Kelly. But Jack denied it, told Phyllis that he loved her and he was done with Kelly, calling her a pathological liar. Kelly entered the room to protest, Jack called her a liar, and kicked her out. But later Jack admitted to Ashley that he did have sex with Kelly.

Meanwhile a disheveled Victor walked in at the ranch, said, "Pour me a drink," drank it and said he was fine, then collapsed. Suffering a concussion, Victor was hospitalized in the same room with Jack, they argued, and Victor reminded him that he had saved his life. Jack agreed when Victor proposed they let each other be, the town was big enough for both of them, and to become friendly enemies. They even agreed to team up to clear Phyllis who had been arrested for the attempted murder of Kelly. But Kelly later confessed that she had set her up, so Phyllis was released. Phyllis accused Kelly of scheming with Victor, and when she turned to leave, Kelly knocked Phyllis unconscious with a bottle of champagne. Jack rescued Phyllis, returned Phyllis' engagement ring, and they made plans to be married in 30 days. But when Chelsea and Billy set the same wedding date, they decided to postpone it, or maybe elope. Later Kelly called Jack, saying she was scared and alone, that she loved him, sounding like she was going to do something rash.

Victor delivered news to Jack and Phyllis that Kelly was on her way to Abu Dhabi, and would be arrested as she got off the plane. Later Victor claimed that Kelly had gotten away from the police but then had committed suicide. Showing them her morgue photo, he told them that she had overdosed and left a note. Jack was wracked with guilt. He broke the news to Ben who became angry at everyone.

Phyllis convinced Jack to concentrate on their upcoming nuptials to get his mind off Kelly. When approached by Joe Clark's new project, the Better Days Foundation, Phyllis and Jack decided to help by asking their wedding guests to donate in lieu of gifts.

When the Jabot computers got hacked, Ashley and Jack immediately blamed Victor, only to find him sitting in Jack's office chair. Victor claimed that Newman's computers had been hacked as well, and offered to work together to resolve it. Jack showed him the door in reply. Jack confided in Ashley that Victor might be conniving to divulge Ashley's paternity to create a scandal in exchange for Jabot. Jack promised to protect her secret.

Jack and Phyllis made plans to go to St. Barts to get married. Meanwhile Jack kept receiving phone calls which were nothing but static. Although a sudden storm interrupted their wedding on the beach, they were married in their hotel room. But afterward, Jack was kidnapped courtesy of Victor, and a man with Jack's face named Marco Annicelli took his place impersonating Jack.

Kelly was holding Jack hostage in a hut on St. Barts, tied to a bed, and being denied food until he fell back in love with her. Kelly was obviously mentally deranged, wearing seductive clothing and drinking champagne, telling Jack that she still loved him, and he would forget Phyllis and come to love her again in time. Jack managed to escape, but was hit over the head with a baseball bat by Kelly. So Jack tried to convince her that he did still love her, but she saw through it. Jack told Kelly how Victor had used Jack's first wife Patty who had ended up in an institution for the criminally insane, how his niece Colleen had died and Victor had walked away with her heart to save his life, and the same would happen to Kelly unless she turned the tables on her manipulator, Victor. But it only confused Kelly, and mumbling how she needed to stay in control, she left and locked the door behind her.

Kelly told Jack that no one would be looking for him because they thought he was dead, showing him a newspaper article saying that a midnight sail on his wedding night had ended up capsized in a storm. Jack had been lost at sea, and Phyllis' body had been found. Jack tearfully told Kelly that she may as well kill him, that he would never love her, that she was playing out a sick twisted fantasy. Kelly told him she would just leave him there to starve then.

Kelly made Jack write her a love note, hugged him after reading it, and Jack stabbed her in the neck with the pen. After reminding him that she was the only one who knew where he was, Kelly passed out. Jack found Kelly's cell phone and called Kyle, but instead the fake Jack answered. Kyle was driving "Jack's" new Ferrari, and crashed it into a tree.

Jack called the island police, but Kelly woke up and was furious. When the police arrived, they pulled guns on Jack who had no ID. So they believed Kelly that she was a doctor to a crazy man who had to be tied to the bed, and helped her get him into a straight jacket. It was later revealed that Victor had paid off the police to help Kelly keep Jack there.

Kelly began brainwashing Jack using drugs to convince him that they were married. John appeared to Jack and tried to get him to ask questions, but Jack was too confused. Kelly showed Jack another fake news story about his death, and the merger of Jabot with Newman after affect.

Jack had become totally submissive and passed Kelly's tests of leaving a knife behind and the door open, and they kissed and spent the night in his bed. But Jack woke up the next morning next to the murdered body of Kelly and found blood on his hands. Victor's paid cop found her body and also reported to Victor that Jack was missing. Victor told him to let everyone believe that Kelly had been dead for months, and to find Jack.

Jack stowed away on a smuggler ship, and was having hallucinations of Kelly, who claimed he had killed her and would never be free of her. Jack found cocaine in the cargo but was caught. Jack told them who he was and offered a payoff to take him back home, but Captain Churchwell knew him as Marco who had stolen his money. The captain told Jack that a lot of people wanted Marco dead, and he could make more money by ransoming him to them, after which he pistol-whipped Jack. Marco's old girlfriend, Marisa Sierras, showed up and began kissing Jack, thinking he was Marco. Marisa managed to get the key to Jack's handcuffs, and he told her about Genoa City, and that all the stolen money was hidden there. But Jack's hopes for freedom were dashed when the captain caught them kissing and put Marisa in chains as well.

Jack was able to convince Marisa that he was not Marco. Marisa seduced Captain Churchwell while Jack started a fire in the hold. When the captain came to investigate, Jack knocked him out, and the ship blew up. Jack and Marisa were the only survivors, winding up on an island where they found an abandoned hut. Jack's leg was hurt badly, his wounds so infected that he passed out with fever. Marisa left him there to go find help. Marisa returned with a phone and some meds. She called Kyle but Marco answered the phone. Marisa lied to Marco that Jack was dead, and begged Marco to wire her money to keep her safe.

Jack realized that Marco had taken over his life. Marisa called Marco a son of a bitch. When no money was wired, they realized that Marco knew she had lied. A big bruiser walked in the door with a gun and orders from Marco. Jack imitated Marco to intimidate him, got his gun away, and made him get them off the island. Jack arrived home, and walking into an empty house, felt grateful to be home. When Phyllis walked in, he hugged her. Jack was about to tell Phyllis about Marco when Summer walked in and chided him for setting up Victor. Getting a text from Marisa, Jack left. Marisa had found out about the Newman-Abbott merger and that Marco and Victor were meeting in the park for some sort of showdown. Jack left to join them, and Marisa called Paul to warn him. Victor and Jack argued, and when Jack reached into his suitcoat, Victor shot him. Gabriel persuaded Victor to give him Newman-Abbott in exchange for covering it up for him. Victor told Nikki that he had met Jack in the park and had agreed to turn over Newman-Abbott to Gabriel, and Victor left. When Marco arrived, both of them were shocked to realize it was Jack on the ground covered in blood, but still alive. Marco left just before the police arrived, and Adam told the police he had found Jack, but had not seen the shooter. Jack was taken to the hospital, had surgery, and ended up in a coma.

Jack came out of his coma. Phyllis asked who had shot him, and Jack pointed at Victor. Phyllis went to get a doctor, and returned to find Victor holding a pillow over Jack. Then Jack lapsed back into the coma. Gabriel walked in, admitting that he had witnessed the shooting. Paul arrested Victor, offering no prosecution of Victoria if he told the truth. Victor admitted he had shot Jack, saying Jack had threatened his family, that Jack had a personality change, and was not the same man. That Jack suddenly decided he wanted the whole company, and set Victor up for embezzlement, they argued, Jack reached for a gun, and Victor shot him.

Jack could hear what was going on while in his coma and began communicating with Phyllis by squeezing her hand, knowing she was the only one he could trust. Jack let her know that Victor did not shoot him in self-defense.

Jack eventually came out of the coma and confronted Victor, tearing into him for replacing him with Marco, stealing Jabot, and most of all for allowing Phyllis to be violated for months. Victor claimed that he had been driven to do it to protect himself from a plot against him called the paragon project, which he was convinced that Jack was behind. They came to an understanding after Victor cautioned Jack not to tell anyone about Marco or people could think Jack had killed Kelly and the 12 men on the cargo ship. Jack tried to keep the secret from Phyllis, but during a second honeymoon, he confessed, and she became furious with Victor. They returned home to find out that Marco was not dead after all, and the police were being misled by Marisa's drawing of the ship's captain as being Marco. Jack and Phyllis came up with a password "TOPKAPI" to make sure she could tell him from Marco, just in time for Marco's return. Jack and Victor drew up an agreement to dissolve the merger of Newman and Jabot.

Marco showed up at Abbott Manor and attempted to fool Phyllis that he was Jack, but she realized he was not. After Marco made another attempt at being a Casanova, she hit him over the head with a vase and knocked him out. She called Jack to let him know, but while her back was turned, Marco escaped. Jack enlisted Marisa's help in luring Marco to the Abbott cabin, and Marco ended up tied to the bed. Jack and Marco exchanged heated threats, as did Phyllis with Marco, but neither could kill him like they wanted to. Marco seethed at them, calling them cowards. Jack was ready to go to the police to get justice against Victor and Marco, but Phyllis talked him out of it. Victor arrived, and talked them into letting him return Marco to prison in Peru, as they all had too much to lose if the truth ever got out. On the way there, Victor had one of his men cut off Marco's ear so he could never be mistaken for Jack again.

All the Abbotts and Newmans gathered to formalize the dissolution of the merger. Abby was put on the spot to choose, and she chose to continue as C.O.O. for Newman. Victor insisted on maintaining control of Chelsea's fashion line, to which Chelsea and the Abbott's objected strenuously. Victor pointed out that the original merger agreement required bids by each party. Chelsea had to choose a blind bid, not knowing if the high or low bid was Jabot. She followed Adam's advice and chose high, but it was Newman's. Jack asked Ashley to be Co-CEO of Jabot, but she declined. Claiming that he was tired of fighting with Victor, he asked her to become CEO, and she accepted. Jack promised to stay on the Jabot board and advise when Ashley said the company wouldn't be the same without him.

Jack proposed that he and Victor work together to find out who was behind the Paragon project. Victor agreed to keep each other in the loop of whatever they found. And Jack hired Gabriel (Adam) to work directly for him to investigate it.

Jack had the Abbott cabin redecorated to obliterate any memory of the two murders that had occurred there, and took Phyllis there for a reconnecting getaway. Things did not go as well as he had planned, and Phyllis went for a walk in the woods, returning with an invigorated spirit. She told Jack about Fred, the man she had met, and invited to dinner. Jack and Adam discussed with Phyllis their suspicious of "Fred". So when he called and asked to meet Phyllis, she inferred that he might be behind the computer virus, and he made excuses and a hasty exit. But Summer had seen them together, and told Phyllis that he was Ian Ward.

The computer virus caused Lancelot Shipping, a Newman subsidiary, to go up for sale cheaply, and Billy snapped it up for Jabot. Jack ordered Ashley to sell it back, but she refused. Jack took it to the board, but Traci's vote overruled Jack to keep the sale. Billy started buying up more Newman subsidiaries. Victor reported the Abbotts to the FBI and they were arrested for introducing a virus into Newman's computers. Phyllis told Victor that Ian Ward was actually behind the virus. But when Victor visited the prison to see for himself, Ian was there. He later escaped and was arrested in Genoa City.

Phyllis, after being told by Ian, exposed to Jack and Victor that Adam was alive and passing as Gabriel Bingham. Phyllis realized that Jack had known all along. Jack attempted to justify it, that Adam was only trying to get back his wife and child, and that Adam would have exposed that Billy had shot him just before they crashed the car. Jack pled with Phyllis, not to let them tear them apart. Phyllis finally relented, saying that Marco couldn't, and neither could they.

The annual Delia Halloween costume party benefit was held at Top of the Tower, with Jack dressed as Dracula and Phyllis as a witch. A fire broke out in the building trapping Jack and Phyllis in the employee break room on a lower floor. They were sure they would perish, but were surprised when Patty Williams found them. Patty found them and they agreed to follow her back out. But when Phyllis called her a wacko, Patty flipped out and attacked her. Jack tried to convince Patty that he still cared, until Phyllis finally just slugged Patty and knocked her out. Then gas line exploded, trapping Patty under the rubble. Jack found no pulse, so they left her for dead, and got out the way she had come in. But after the fire was extinguished, not body was found.

Due to Adam's heroic actions when he could have run away, and some blackmail of the appeals judge by Victor, Adam's sentence was reduced to five years and 1,000 hours of community service, with a stern warning that the smallest infraction would send him back to prison.

When Jack returned from Geneva he was quite upset with Phyllis and Billy for sending him on a wild goose chase so they could do more damage to Newman with Paragon; therefore exposing Jabot to a lawsuit. When Ashley couldn't understand what would make Phyllis hate Victor after he was the one who brought her out of her coma, Jack told Michael how Victor had replaced him with the evil Marco fooling everyone, and especially Phyllis. Jack called a press conference to expose Victor's evil trick at last, but did not so Phyllis would not be humiliated. Instead, Jack agreed to the settlement with Victor, paying Newman five hundred million dollars. Trying to play on both sides, Adam offered to help Jack, consulting, business analysis, whatever he needed, but Jack turned him down so long as he was still working for Newman.

Ashley stepped down as CEO and Phyllis stepped back into Billy's position. Jack had to make a lot of cuts, helping Jabot to survive, including Gwen and other top executives. Phyllis assured Jack that together they could make it. Christmas eve 2015, Phyllis and Jack went to visit the Abbott cabin one last time before it had to be sold. As they were enjoying a romantic evening by the fire in pajamas, they were joined by the Abbott clan led by Traci.

Billy came to Jack and tried to make amends, letting him know that he had stopped drinking and was going to make a fresh start, needing money to finance a big deal with Kevin. But Jack turned him down. Days later, Billy lay unconscious in the hospital after losing a bet and being beaten when he could not pay his bookie. Jack, feeling guilty, went to Kevin and offered to be his backer in Billy's name. But he was met by Victor who had also offered to finance Kevin's deal. Kevin turned them both down.

Billy underwent surgery to stop the swelling in his brain, but it left him in a coma with no brain activity. Jack was shocked that he had been named as Billy's healthcare power of attorney and agonized over the decision to take him off life support after conferring with his deceased father John's presence. Jill sobbed that she would fight him in court. Billy's loved ones all said goodbye. But after everything was shut own, Billy started breathing on his own, and came out of the coma.

Jack decided to rebuild Jabot for the family, convincing Billy to return. Unsuccessful in convincing Ashley and Abby to return to Jabot, he did influence Abby to leave Newman.

Billy found out how Victor had kidnapped Jack and replaced him with Marco for months. Billy was incredulous that Jack had never had Victor arrested, but understood when Jack said that he didn't want to humiliate Phyllis. Billy convinced Phyllis to expose Victor, and they told Jack together. Billy told Victoria what her father had done, giving her the evidence on a disk that would prove it. Phyllis with Billy at her side, reported the crime to Paul and Dylan. Victoria confronted Victor with the evidence. They were interrupted by Paul who arrested Victor after Victoria turned over the evidence.

Jack, accompanied by Michael, consulted D.A. Christine whether charges would be filed that would send Jack to prison for all he had done to escape from Peru. Marisa corroborated Jack's story. It turned out that Victor had paid off the crew to hide out after the explosion, and let Jack assume they had died. And Christine was convinced that if Jack had killed Kelly, it had been self-defense.

After Neil made a fool of himself conducting a news conference while drunk, Jack tried to talk Neil into going back on the program or into rehab, but Neil refused. Jack offered to partner with him in starting a business to help reformed alcoholics stay clean. They formed the AbbottWinters Foundation and held a fund-Raiser to support recovery centers across the country, and to provide worldwide support for disasters. Jack offered Ashley a board seat, but Hilary jealously wanted one too. Ambitious Hilary got Devon to write a check for a million dollars and challenged Ashley to match it.

Jack realized that Phyllis and Billy had been in cahoots, secretly owning Pass Key while Natalie developed it for Newman, then expected it to become a Jabot product after Victor fired Natalie. Victor threatened to sue the Abbotts with corporate espionage. Jack was livid with Phyllis and refused to allow it, but they reconciled and agreed to only market Pass Key after Victor was convicted.

Phyllis sat through Victor's trial, seething and interrupting. Jack testified to the horrific details of his being held by Kelly, and the D.A. decided not to charge Jack with her death. Both Phyllis and Jack were afraid that Victor was going to get off. But after Victor was convicted, Billy and Phyllis announced to the press the launch of Pass Key as Jabot's latest product, touting that the product would make all files, emails, and pictures 100% un-hackable. Victoria slapped Billy, calling him a liar and a thief for stealing Pass Key from Newman. Billy proclaimed they owned it legitimately, saying, "We won you lost." Victoria retorted that she was not a loser, and if the Abbotts wanted a war, it was on! She later came to Billy and offered a settlement to split the profits, but Billy refused. So Victoria hired the about-to-be disbarred Michael as advisor to the Newman lawyers. Jack was upset because he and Victoria had agreed that the feud was over. Newman sued, and Summer was pressured not testify about the conspiracy to double deal Pass Key between Billy and Victor. Summer lied to the police, but later felt guilty and told Victoria the truth, which led to Jack and Victoria agreeing to share profits from Pass Key, so long as Billy would be fired. Phyllis and Jack had a major disagreement over it. Pass Key was a success, and made a lot of money for Jabot, Natalie, and Kevin. Someone began opening credit cards in Jack's name. But later, assuming Pass Key failure, Jack enlisted Natalie to return and fix it.

Jack became suspicious that something was going on between Phyllis and Billy, so Jack asked Phyllis if she was drawn to his brother. Phyllis said yes, but it was just because they came from similar circumstances of always being the screw-up.

Jack was continually being sweet and understanding with Phyllis. Jack and Phyllis went to the Abbott cabin to celebrate his birthday. Jack kept pushing her to make love, but Phyllis got drunk. Jack left for home and Phyllis stayed. Jack and Billy were together when they found out that Ian Ward was holding Phyllis and Nikki hostage at the cabin. After Victor showed up and convinced Ian to let the women go, Phyllis arrived at the Athletic Club and fell into Jack's arms. The police captured Ian as Victor held a gun on him.

Dylan told Nikki that Victor's only hope for release was if the whole family could tell the appeals review board they were overemotional and just looking for payback. Victoria and Abby agreed to forgive Victor and join the plea. They asked Phyllis and Jack to join them. Jack said hell no, he would never forgive Victor for what he did to them. Phyllis told Jack she was not the person he thought she was, she needed some time on her own, and moved into a suite at the athletic club.

Abby Victoria, Nick, and Nikki testified about their forgiveness for Victor. Phyllis arrived and vilified him for how he had ruined her marriage and her life. Jack testified that Phyllis was going thru hell, worse than he had while being starved and tied to a bed. Jack told the court that he would never forgive him, but he refused to let Victor's actions impact his life for one more second. Victor was sentenced to time served, with 2 years of community service with periodic reviews, reminding him that he could be returned to prison at any time during the next 2 years. Jack tried to convince Phyllis to let it go and move on with their lives. Phyllis said he just did not understand her need for revenge and sent him away. But after a pep talk from Ashley, Jack went to see Phyllis. Finding her crying, she fell into his arms, saying she was coming home.

Jack was shocked when Ashley told him that his brother Billy was in love with Phyllis, and they had been having an affair. Jack punched Billy and cut him out of his life. Jack confronted Phyllis, who admitted the affair, but that it was over, and she had chosen Jack. Jack told her that she had ruined anything they had and that they were over. Jack blurted the scandal in front of a reporter, on tape. Phyllis attempted to explain, but Jack told her to get out of his life and company, that he wanted a divorce. Jack resigned from AbbottWinters Foundation, telling Neil he would be a hypocrite no more, the old Jack was back and looking for revenge, that he no longer believed in the cause and redemption. Jack offered Phyllis a large settlement which she declined. Phyllis agreed to divorce but instead of a settlement, she would get to stay at Jabot. Jack refused, so Phyllis threatened to take half of Jabot. Jack agreed and gave her a tiny office and dumped a pile of paperwork on her desk. But they ended up conspiring to bring down Victor. Jack joyfully signed the divorce papers when they arrived, but Phyllis signed reluctantly. Phyllis used all her tricks to try to get Jack to admit that he still loved her. One seduction ended in a passionate kiss, but Jack only offered her a promotion to head a new division in New York City, but she refused.

Tracy and Ashley worked on Jack, trying to get him to forgive Billy, but Jack was adamant. While working the annual Thanksgiving feeding the homeless, Jack spoke with a man whom the AbbottWinters Foundation had helped, causing Jack to rejoin the foundation. Jack told Phyllis he was tired of hating her, that he only wanted her to be happy again, and time he moved on as well. Jack kissed her goodbye and left her crying, knowing it was really over. Phyllis resigned and went to work for Fenmore's.

Jack found out that Fenmore's was in financial trouble and schemed to take it over. Jack offered Lauren a deal which would give him majority interest, but she refused. Gloria offered to help Jack get Fenmore's in exchange for a piece of the company, then she sabotaged two of Lauren's investment deals. Jack and Gloria met by chance at a bar, got drunk and ended up in bed together. Jack refused to believe anything had happened, but Gloria convinced him that it had. As Lauren's last resort, Jack was successful with the takeover gaining 49% of Fenmore's. Jack reneged on his deal with Gloria, so Gloria went to GC Buzz giving an anonymous interview accusing Jack of demanding sex for employment. Lucky for Jack, it was pre-taped, and was cut off by Devon before his name was exposed. To shut her up, Jack gave Gloria a job as his receptionist. Gloria told Michael that it was at least a foot in the door, and Ashley was appalled, considering Gloria had once ruined their father and nearly ruined Jabot.

Surprising to even Jack, Gloria and Jack became lovers and co-conspirators. Jack stole an endorsement deal with professional hockey from Brash & Sassy by exposing Billy's affair with Phyllis and his gambling history. But Victoria got hold of a copy of the Jabot harassment accusation video. Watching it with Billy, they recognized the voice as Gloria, and in the complete version, Jack had been named. Victoria used it to convince Jack to back off from the hockey deal. When Victor suddenly left town, leaving Newman with Abby as Acting CEO, Jack decided it was time to strike. He discovered Abby was having second thoughts about a new business incubator she was creating behind Victor's back, and trying to unload a warehouse she had just bought, he talked her into selling it to him and going partners. Jack told Ashley he had purchased the warehouse to convert into a lab for her. Abby brought Jack their first entrepreneur, Zack, a guy with a dating app. Jack approved and signed him on. Abby confessed to Victor that she had gone behind his back and started the business incubator without his consent. Victor decided it was now a Newman project, and Abby worked it out with Jack.

Phyllis and Billy informed Jack that they had decided to resume their relationship. Jack responded to the news with, "Good. You two deserve each other." Over drinks, Jack encouraged Cane to continue to undermine Billy at Brash & Sassy. Jack told Ashley that he and Gloria were friends with benefits. Ashley was appalled. Jack said that Gloria was just what he needed, and reminded Ashley that thanks to their mother Dina and their abandonment issues, neither of them has had a successful relationship.

Newly formed Hamilton-Winters bought company Mergeron Industries, which brought the Abbott children's mother Dina back to town. Jack still had a soft spot for her, but it dredged up a lot of painful memories like when she left him alone as a child recovering from a tonsillectomy to go play tennis, and when his father John broke the news of her walking out on them when Jack was 15. Ashley's resentment of Dina had never diminished over the years, but thanks to Ravi, Ashley tried letting go of the past, inviting her to Abbott Manor. It turned out well, a family dinner, including Traci, with laughter and reminiscing. When Dina suddenly decided to return to Paris, seemingly under duress from her companion Graham, only Abby was able to convince her to stay. Comments between Graham and Dina alluded it a secret behind why they were there. Ashley and Jack were concerned that Graham was only with her to get her money. Jack invited Dina to move into Abbott Manor, but they stayed at the Genoa City Athletic Club instead. Meanwhile Dina signed her new will which left Graham the bulk of her estate, and told Jack and Ashley. Jack let the gold-digging Gloria know that Graham would be a good catch. When Ashley realized that Dina was languishing without Mergeron, Jack knew his ever-forgiving father would have approved of his making Dina Special Projects Executive at Jabot.

Jack was there for Nikki when needed a friend to discuss her fear of the piano concert Victor had arranged for her and the fact that her MS had flared up again. After the concert Nikki took the opportunity to escape the reception with Jack, who took her away to the Abbott cabin where they spent the night laughing and enjoying each other's company. Nikki returned home determined to make a final break with Victor, moved out, and into the aptly-named Sanctuary hotel. She began spending more time with Jack relaxing and enjoying common things like fishing and cooking together.

Jack and Phyllis began to work together to play tricks to give Jabot an edge over Brash & Sassy, going so far as to ask Lauren to pull their products from the shelves of Fenmore’s and make Jabot exclusive, but Lauren declined. Ravi discovered that someone was using Phyllis’ laptop and Dina’s password to download restricted files. Jack correctly guessed that it was Billy and told Phyllis, which blew up the couple’s relationship.

After being spirited out of the hospital by Graham, and last seen nodding in a wheelchair entering a jet, Jack and Ashley found Dina in a Florida hotel bar drinking martinis with two other ladies. Dina spat at Jack that she despised him and never wanted to see him again. But the next morning Dina was happy to see him and joyful. Jack informed Graham that his power of attorney was not valid in Florida, Graham left, wishing Jack luck in dealing with Dina. Dina was happy to go home, but became upset afterward finding out that Graham was gone. Gloria let Jack know that Dina had raised all Jabot prices and was renegotiating contracts. Jack corrected Dina who yelled back at him viciously how he could never live up to John Abbott. After verbally attacking Nikki, calling her a slut and worse, Jack fired Dina. While attending a Newman party, Dina started going off on Nikki again, stabbed Nikki with a knife, and fled. Dina stowed away in a car in the parking lot and was later found by police and arrested.

Halloween night, Jack received word that Billy was pinned under fallen rubble inside The Underground after rescuing Mattie, Charlie, and Reed from the burning building. Jack emotionally begged the fire chief to be allowed to talk to Billy as they worked to extricate him. Jack realized how much he loved his brother, forgave him, and talked Billy through it until he was freed.

Dina’s strange behavior caused Jack to have her checked out by a doctor, and he was devastated to find out that she had Alzheimer's. Dina admitted that he had known for over a year. Jack took a leave of absence from Jabot to spend more time with Dina, and Ashley took over as interim CEO. When an old photo of Brent Davis was found among the ruins of The Underground, Jack spoke to Dina about it, and she realized that she had started the fire. Sharon quizzed Dina about the car she stowed away in, and got her to remember that it had been Zack’s, and she was able to tell them where the missing Abby had last been seen. Thanks to Dina, the police discovered that Abby and Scott had been locked in a storage building by Zach. Nikki dropped the charges for Dina’s attack once she knew what was wrong with Dina, and the police did not file charges for the arson, and Nick was finally able to collect on the insurance. But Jack and Nikki broke up over it.

Dina continued to be sharp and happy one minute, throwing very savvy zingers at “her enemies” like Gloria, Nikki and Phyllis the next, then being nasty to everyone. She even told Jack that he had always been a disappointment to his father, which cut him to the quick. When it became evident that Jack could not run Jabot and be with Dina, even working from home, Ashley called a board meeting for a no-vote of confidence. Even though Jack stacked the deck by appointing Phyllis a Jabot board member, Kyle phoned in the deciding vote, that Jack should be replaced as CEO. Jack refused to accept it, and he and Ashley exchanged vicious words about Jack’s lifelong screwups, and Ashley’s lack of being a REAL Abbott. Jack broke the news that he had added years ago to the company by-laws that the CEO position could only be held by a blood-Abbott. So Ashley made a change that the CEO must office from Jabot.

Jack heard that Jill was interested in selling Chancellor Industries and made her an offer. Jill countered with a price that was way too high as a bluff, but Jack accepted it. Jill added that Cane must stay as CEO, Jack agreed and offered Cane a possible seat on the Jabot board as well. Jill was excited about the deal until Billy advised her that Jack was no longer CEO, so there was no deal.

Jack refused to accept not being CEO. He and Ashley argued. Meanwhile Dina stepped out and returned with Nick Newman’s toddler Christian, calling him Jackie. Christian was returned to Nick with apologies galore. Jack and Ashley decided it was time to put Dina in a memory facility. But Graham showed up ready to use his power of attorney again, and left with a very willing Dina. When the Abbotts tried to object, Graham exposed the fact the two of them had been married two months prior when he spirited Dina away to Paris. The Abbotts and Michael were sure the marriage could be annulled, considering Dina’s mental state at the time. Graham also tried to put Dina in a facility, she objected strenuously, so they moved into a suite at the Genoa City Athletic Club temporarily.

Traci and Ashley did some sleuthing and came up with a manuscript by Dina which told how she met Graham on a yacht party, but 6 months later she was determined to get rid of Graham who was only out for her money. They read how getting the Alzheimer's diagnosis led her to want to get in touch with her children and make amends.

Graham broke into Ashley’s lab at Jabot, and stole some chemicals, one of them toxic. He dumped all but the toxic one in a trash can in the park which was found by police. Graham got Ashley to come to their room at the club and hand him a syringe, leaving her fingerprints on it. Later Jack and Ashley put together that Graham intended to inject Dina and blame Ashley. Meanwhile Graham was trying to do so, Dina woke up, struggled, and Graham ended up injecting himself. They found Graham on floor, and Dina missing. Dina turned herself in to Paul for the murder of Brent Davis, who had been dead for years. Ashley’s prints were found on the syringe, but Paul believed their story that Graham was behind it all. All were summoned to the hospital, where Graham was not coming out of it. They asked for next of kin to agree to take him off life support. Dina, suddenly very much herself, stepped up, said she was his wife, and to go ahead.

Dina, back living at Abbott Manor, was again living in the past thinking Jack was John, believing Jackie was still a little boy. She was fine with Ashley and Abby, but Traci was crushed that her mother didn’t remember her at all, treating her as “the help”. Everyone was having a hard time doing what the experts told them, to just accept her reality. Abby, relocated to Paris for work, and invited Dina to Paris. Dina excitedly accepted and left on the private jet. Abby reported that Dina, back in her element, was thriving. She remembered everything, her staff who were rehired, their history, and all the Paris sites. Abby also got professional help for Dina.

Ashley hired lawyer Tony Kingsman, and Jack was represented by Michael Baldwin. During arbitration Jack accused Ashley of abandoning their mother while he forgave and took care of Dina. Jack won, and Ashley shocked him by resigning, saying, “You and I are done.” Victor and Nikki tag-teamed Ashley to get her to work at Newman. She was hired as Chief Innovation Officer, given a seat on the board, and put in charge of Brash & Sassy without telling Victoria, even expected them to sharing an office while Ashley’s was being renovated. Traci made Jack see the light, and he apologized asking Ashley to return, saying he would do anything, even repeal the blood Abbott amendment. Ashley told him she appreciated it, but it was too late, she no longer could trust him. Jack hired Helen Wallace, a world renowned chemist, to replace Ashley for big money. Victoria colluded with Jack to set up Ashley to appear to be spying at Newman for Jabot, both of them hoping to get her to return to Jabot. J.T. investigated and found Newman confidential files with Ashley’s watermark in Jack’s desk. Ashley told Victor she had been setup.

Jack received a frantic call from Dina, who had taken a train to Bordeaux, France, with her nurse where they had gotten separated. Dina did not know where she was, then Jack lost the call. After much worrying, a social worker in London called Jack that Dina had been found there. Jack and Abby flew to London, and Jack returned home with both Abby and Dina. Dina turned against Ashley, didn’t know her, distrusting her even to serve her food, accusing Ashley of poisoning her. Abby, after many successes in Paris, decided to return permanently with Victor’s blessing, just in time to witness her mother Ashley being fired from Newman. Incensed, Abby took it upon herself to find evidence that Jack and Victoria had set Ashley up to appear to be spying for Jabot. Against Ashley’s wishes, Abby took it to Victor proving to him he had fired the wrong person.

Jack threatened Victor in a meeting then, drinking at the athletic club with Sharon, he blamed Victor for everything wrong in his life, asking when was Victor going to get what was coming to him. Ashley tried to get him to take a cab, begged him not to go to Victor’s, then left a voicemail for Victor telling him that Jack was drunk and probably coming after him. But when Jack arrived at the ranch, he found Victor unconscious at the bottom the stairs. For old time’s sake, Jack kicked Victor’s hand again, and went upstairs. Seeing evidence of an altercation in the office, Jack took Victor’s backup drive. About to leave, Jack returned and called 911 this time. As Victor was taken away in an ambulance, Paul questioned Jack who said he had found the door open, called 911 immediately, then checked the house, found it empty, but saw signs of a fight in office. On the backup drive, Jack found emails proving that Kyle had been guided by Victor to vote against Jack, and had been planning it for months. After Victor’s backup drive was found at Abbott Manor, Jack was arrested for attempted murder of Victor. Kyle visited Jack in jail, and was obviously resentful for years of perceived mistreatment. Kyle moved into Jack’s office and took over as acting CEO, firing Jack’s key allies and longtime employees, including his loyal assistant, Gloria. Kyle planned to take Jabot public so Victor could buy the majority shares. Lauren was all for the IPO as it would enable her to buy back Fenmore’s. Kyle called a board meeting, and Phyllis was the deciding vote to approve after pressure by Lauren. Just released from jail, Jack arrived, declared the vote null and void, withdrawing the motion, and took over again. Kyle then had the nerve to ask to move into Abbott Manor with his family, but Jack relented and kept him on at Jabot. Kyle’s first assignment was to take Gloria’s place and convince everyone he had fired to return. Gloria returned with a hefty raise and a new title. Billy and Jack forgave each other and Billy agreed to return to Jabot as COO.

Abby began videoing Dina telling stories of her past before they faded away from Alzheimer's. Charlie Ashby edited the video, and when finished, Abby and Ashley prescreened and approved it. A theater was rented, the Abbotts arrived in a limo in formal dress. Victor showed up uninvited, but Dina let him stay. Everyone was enjoying the video titled, “What the mind can’t remember, the heart never forgets.” Suddenly a clip where Dina admitted that Jack was not John’s son appeared. Ashley and Abby were shocked, as they had not included that clip to protect Jack. Jack was devastated. Victor gave condolences then laughed when Jack turned to leave. DNA hair samples from Jack and Traci proved they did not have the same father. Jack in denial, accused Ashley of rigging it, but another testing Jack against Billy came out the same. Jack began drinking heavily and was despondent. Dina began having periods of lucidity when she knew who Jack and Traci were, and on Mother’s Day called Jack “son”. Jack fought the truth for a long time, but finally exited Jabot and Billy was elected CEO, as the only “blood Abbott” aside from Traci, who had declined. Jack left the Abbott cabin drunk, had a wreck hitting a tree, but walked away with only bruises. He called Nikki, his old drug dealer, then Neil for help. Back on his feet, Jack approached Hamilton-Winters, but Neil rejected his business proposal to start another cosmetics company, Ashley also rejected a 50/50 split of a new company, saying she could not trust him anymore.

Jack forgave Dina, who could not remember the man’s name, only that he was a member of the country club, and focused his life on finding his real father, Kyle suddenly loyally at his side. Neil found Dina’s diaries in the Mergeron assets they had acquired, and Jack read about how happy this man had made his mother. But the page disclosing his name had been torn out. Jack found a key among Dina’s belongings which opened a safe deposit box. The only thing inside was a group photo from the 1950s that included Dina with Philip Chancellor. Dina confirmed for Jack that this was the man who was his father. With Philip III and his son Chance unavailable, on a trek through the Himalayans, Jack petitioned to have the body of Philip exhumed to do a DNA test. It was fought by the Chancellor family, and Jack’s lawsuit was dropped when Dina proved to be an unreliable witness. But Kyle took matters into his own hands, dug up the body, and managed to grab a piece of bone before he was arrested. Both Esther and Jill showed up at Abbott Manor to give Jack and Kyle a tongue-lashing. Kyle poured on the charm with Esther, and Jack managed to calm Jill, reminding her how desperate she had once been to find her own biological father - until the DNA results arrived by messenger. They showed that Jack was not Philip’s son. Dina’s photo also included Neil Fenmore, but Lauren confirmed that Neil had been the wrong blood type. Another man in the photo turned out to be Victor’s father, Albert Miller. Victor found out and he and Jack both dreaded that outcome which would have made them brothers. Abby refused to supply a sample of Victor’s DNA. His brother Matt came from Oregon and talked Victor into doing a DNA test to prove that he and Jack were not related. It turned out they were not.

Ever resentful of Victor’s interference in his life, Nick formed a new company, Dark Horse, and began accumulating the companies that Victor was losing due to his ill health. Jack signed on as an executive consultant and board member.

Jack called a board meeting after Kyle discovered that Andrew Lynford had been blackmailing Ashley, and she had been paying him off as Type A Consulting with company funds. Ashley introduced him as Dr. Andrew Lynford a consultant doing anti-aging anti-cancer research. But Phyllis recognized him as a former coworker from twenty-five years ago at DNS Labs in New York City, and knew he was now in charge of the DNA lab at Genoa City Memorial. Jack offered Andrew double for the real reason Ashley was paying him. Ashley gave the answer for free, telling them all that Jack was really John Abbott’s son, how she had coached Dina, edited the clip in movie of Dina’s memoirs, and had paid Lynford to alter the DNA test results. Ashley got her revenge for what Jack had done to her by invoking the blood Abbot clause. She had been going to tell Jack the truth as a Christmas present. Ashley was removed as CEO.

After a bad conversation with Ashley, Dina told Kyle that she had been a good mother to Ashley and there was proof of it at Jabot. Kyle took her to the CEO office that had also once been John’s. Dina located a wall safe that had been covered during remodeling, her birthdate being the combination. Inside was a document that Inside was a document that John had drawn up assigning all patents, inventions, discoveries made by Ashley to her excluding all others in perpetuity. Knowing what this information could do to the company, Kyle tried to destroy it, but Dina pitched a fit, and Jack walked in. Once Jack saw the contract, he shredded it, ushering them out, saying it was best for the company. After Dina later related the tale to Traci, Traci found and reconstructed the shredded document. She called a family meeting and made Jack and Kyle tell Ashley what had happened that day. Ashley was both elated and furious with them. Jack tried to buy back the patents from Ashley, but she stood her ground requesting the CEO position in exchange. When that was rejected, Ashley decided to pack up her patents, move to Paris and start her own cosmetics company.

Jack, Billy and Phyllis all vied for CEO of Jabot, but Phyllis won the election due to the Abbotts splitting their votes, and by hiring Kerry Johnson as lead chemist, who both Abbotts had been trying to lure. Hoping to be named COO, Kyle jumped in, coming up with cost analysis and ideas for Phyllis. But Phyllis named Lauren COO, and asked Billy to resume his former job in marketing.

Jack and Kerry grew close while trimming the Abbott Christmas tree, and they kissed under the mistletoe. Kerry was just what Jack needed, making him smile and flirt again. Jack took Kerry on a vacation to Bora Bora and they became lovers. Kerry developed a new fragrance she called Jack of Hearts. Jack discovered a syringe in Kerry’s purse. She admitted that she was taking hormones prior to freezing her eggs, saying she wanted to focus on work, and put off children. Jack warned her that he wanted no more children.

Jack was shocked when the truth came out and Nikki was arrested along with Sharon, Victoria, and Phyllis as accomplices to Nikki killing J.T. who claimed self-defense as he was attacking Victoria. Phyllis made a deal to get off by turning on the rest of them as the prosecution’s star witness. Nick threw her out, and Jack joined the rest in their mutual distain for Phyllis.

Billy, Jack and Kyle began plotting to overthrow Phyllis as CEO before her exploits would ruin the company. Jack offered Kerry a lucrative contract to rat on Phyllis, who said she would think about it. Viewers saw Kerry send a text “All coming together. I have Jack & Phyllis right where we want them.” An envelope from the U.S. patent office addressed to Dominique Carroll was intercepted by Billy. Kerry claimed it was a new intern she had hired. Kerry texted “Received final paperwork we’re set.” Billy intercepted another one, opened it and discovered that Jack of Hearts had been licensed to Premiere Cosmetics. Then Phyllis received a letter stating that all patent requests by Jabot had been rejected. All Jabot board members received a text that a board meeting had been called. Kerry smugly said she was going too, and added that their relationship had been really spectacular. Ashley arrived and disclosed that was she now owned all the new Jabot products and intended to take over and save Jabot. She introduced Kerry as Dominique whom Phyllis had not even bothered to check out, explaining that the real Kerry worked for Ashley in Paris. Kerry/Dominique told a shocked Jack that romance had not been a part of the plan, and asked Jack to go back to Paris with her and prove how much she cared. Jack scoffed, and Dominique left. Ashley left them a contract good for 24 hours making Jabot a wholly owned subsidiary of her company, and offered to keep them all on. Phyllis wanted to sue Ashley, but admitted that Kerry had no non-compete clause in her contract. Held responsible, Phyllis was voted out as CEO and off board. Jack gave his case to become CEO. Lauren felt that Ashley’s deal was only option. Abby abstained and Billy’s became the deciding vote making Jack CEO. Lauren offered to buy back Jabot’s 49% stake in Fenmores. Jack refused, needing Fenmores as the only arm of company making a profit, but promised they would talk if Lauren could come up with the money. Lauren agreed to let Phyllis partner in Fenmores, but Jack turned down her request for her severance package golden parachute. Ashley declined Jack’s offer that Ashley develop products, and let him run the business. They decided on a challenge where each would run their company and see who turns a profit or goes bankrupt. Jack swore he wouldn’t sell Jabot to her or anyone. Jack, Billy, and Kyle met the next day making plans for the survival of Jabot, including making Jabot a complete package, clothing, shoes, and cosmetics. Summer joined them and she and Kyle were full of ideas about bloggers, social media, and giving them a box of samples, let them go online, and report. They contacted Theo Vanderway, agent for social media influencer Nazanin, and Summer schmoozed them into working with Jabot. Phyllis talked Billy into financing her new accessories company venture.

Ashley came up with the same collective campaign after bugging the Abbott living room. Jack offered her four million dollars to give up her collective idea which she refused. But after the death of Neil Winters, Jack and Ashley reconciled in his honor. Neil left Jack the Abbott-Winters foundation, and Jack announced that it was erecting a building with Neil’s name on it. Before leaving town, Ashley tipped Jack to a foreign copycat site that was launching the same day as Jabot’s. But the launch was wildly successful, and Lauren talked Phyllis out of launching the copycat products. Phyllis crashed the party on the arm of Adam and wished them all to get exactly what they deserved.

After Dina became violet and aggressive with Traci and even more confused than ever, it became apparent that Dina could no longer live with them. The family reluctantly checked her into Bright Tomorrows Home Care Center. But when Dina realized it was time for her to go there, she locked herself in a room and climbed out a window, leaving her GPS bracelet behind. But Jack found her in Chancellor Park listening to Tessa Porter sing. Jack invited Tessa to sing at Bright Tomorrows. Dina was good with that, and left happy. Jack and Traci visited Dina, but she didn’t know them, telling them that they were so nice to visit, unlike her children who had just dumped her there. Traci began reading to Dina from her newly finished book, “Stolen Lockets/Broken Hearts”, which brought a lot of joy to Dina. Jack began dating Mallory Armstrong whose father lived in the room next to Dina, but she left town after her father died. Lauren introduced Claire Smith, Fenmore’s Regional manager in Chicago, to Jack hoping to bring some love back into his life. But he realized he had been set up and thanked her, but no thanks.

Jack went to Paris to visit Ashley, and returned with her, and a deal which merged their two companies. Ashley returned to Paris to continue to run that operation. Victor visited Jack at Jabot, and had an episode in the parking garage. When his doctor didn’t answer, Victor called Jack who rescued him. Jack told Victor he genuinely felt bad to think that he might have lost his favorite rival to a rare blood disease. Jack shared with Victor that he was missing a sense of purpose in his life. Victor told Jack that he had always taken a walkabout when that happened to him. Jack took a leave of absence, made Kyle interim CEO, and viewers saw Jack drive off with a “young John Abbott” in the back seat cheering him on. Then later saw Jack arrive at the Pine Forest Inn and Spa, Neil’s treatment center for performance artists and musicians.

Jack returned to Genoa City with new purpose, making Kyle and Billy Co-CEOs of Jabot. Jack and Traci decided to write the Abbott Family memoirs. While talking with Dina she started rhapsodizing about Stuart Brooks. While researching their connection, Doris Tillington came to them, admitting she had been the class gossip. She told them how Stuart had a crush on Dina in high school, quite obvious to her who saw them acting out Hamlet and Ophelia. But Dina was seriously dating John Abbott. Stuart and Dina snuck off together from a post-homecoming party at the Abbott estate and made love, but swore to each other it was a one time thing. After graduation instead of going to college, Dina spent a year abroad, never contacting her friends. Dina returned to Genoa City and to John. In stored Mergeron files, Jack found a tear-stained letter from Dina to Stuart hidden in a copy of Hamlet. It said, “I must be cruel only to be kind thus bad begins and worse remains behind.” Also a birth certificate for a baby boy. It turned out that Dina had been pregnant, and her baby boy was adopted by Margaret and Ralph Vanderway in Chicago. They named him Eric. Eric grew up to be a union delegate for the teamsters, had a family, but died from a heart attack when his son Theo was 15 years old. Theo landed in Genoa City as an adult. The Abbott family was shocked to find out that Theo was family, especially Kyle who had been buddies with Theo when they lived in New York City. After breaking the news to Theo, and getting a DNA test confirmation, Theo asked to meet Dina. Dina came out of her fugue hearing the name Vanderway, and assumed that Theo was her son Eric. Theo played along and assured her that he had been raised in a loving home which seemed to comfort Dina. Jack did his best to make Theo feel part of the family. Kyle and Traci were less trusting. Ashley was charmed by Theo and offered him a job working for her in Paris. But Jack talked him into working at Jabot in Genoa City instead. Jack returned to Jabot as CEO. Billy decided to resign. Jack made Kyle Co-COO with Lauren Fenmore, Summer became head of Marketing, and Theo head of Social Media. Later Kyle negotiated with Jack to become Co-CEO with him instead. Theo proved successful, coming up with Jobot-jies, a Circe Brands partnering deal, and with a Korean Skin care line.

Although Jack warned Kyle and Theo to let go of their animosity, for the good of Jabot, it never happened. Jack finally gave them a challenge, a week to come up with a plan to rebrand Jabot. After discovering that Theo had hired Jabot secretary Kendra to look for dirt on Kyle, Summer and Kyle plotted to set them up to find the Jabot Back to Basics presentation that Jack had made 15 years ago. When Theo presented it to Jack as his own, Jack fired him. Kyle’s presentation “Welcome to the Future of Jabot” won. Theo went to work for Billy at ChancComm.

Dina was failing fast, not eating, sleeping more and more, she became disoriented, confused, and fearful. Warned that Dina did not have a lot of time left, the Abbotts decided to bring her home to Abbott Manor to live out her final days. In an envelope of things sent home with Dina was a note written in one of her more lucid moments of things she wanted her family to know. In addition to funeral arrangements, how she regretted being a bad mother, yet was so impressed that her children had all turned out so well. Saying she had barely known Traci, she was so young, and that it was unforgivable that she did not go to Colleen’s funeral, a most loving and caring young lady. It ended with, “Theo you are a great catch.” They prepared the room off the living room for her. Although mostly staring off into space and unresponsive, Dina still managed to be dressed up and sipping tea in the living room. Theo’s kindness or his fighting with Kyle in front of her seemed to spark her only reaction, and she called Theo Stewart. This left Traci feeling frustrated and inadequate to help. Billy and Lily convinced Traci to head serialized online fiction department of their newly formed division, Chancellor Communications. Working mostly from home, she could still be there for Dina.

Dina loved listening to music, as Jack, Theo, Abby, Traci, or Summer and Kyle would sit with her. But one song upset her and she uttered the word Bixley. Intrigued, Traci finally figured out that Dina had a Bixby movie camera. Traci began looking for family movies. In Dina’s Paris storage the only movie she had kept was of John narrating Dina bringing Jack home from the hospital after his birth. Typical for John, he said in the film, “Love and family are all that really matters.” Dina was entranced watching. Suddenly lucid, she recognized the necklace she had been wearing. Traci researched the huge emerald necklace which was known as “the teardrop of love”. She traced it back to a Renaissance painting of an Italian princess wearing it. All her jewelry had been stolen and missing for centuries. Then a Chicago millionaire’s GI son gave it to his girlfriend, but it was stolen. John bought it for Dina on the black market when she and John were young marrieds and Dina was pregnant with Jack. Dina wore it often for years but it was stolen about the time Dina abandoned her family for Paris. Years later, it took Victor a year to track it down for Nikki, but he lost the bid to a holding company named BOHDI owned by Neil Fenmore. Lauren found it in a safe deposit box in London.

The family finally realized that Dina needed to be placed in a facility for advanced Alzheimer's patients. But they brought her home for the final months of her life. Just before Dina’s death the emerald was cut up to make jewelry for each of the Abbott siblings, and Lauren kept a major piece of it.

Dina died, and Theo was incensed the Abbotts didn’t even notify him to join them as she passed. Theo attended the memorial, playing Dina’s favorite song encouraging everyone to dance and celebrate Dina. Kyle left, mad that Theo had taken over. Later at the reading of the will, an old will made prior to Dina knowing of her grandson Theo, she left his father a special pen that Stuart had given her, and it passed to Theo because his father was deceased. Theo complained later that the dang thing didn’t even write. The bulk of estate was split between her three children. Kyle was left her extensive art collection, and requested he please don’t sell all of it. Abby received Dina’s Paris apartment. When Theo discovered that Jack had individual jewelry pieces made for family members out of Dina’s large emerald, excluding him, he sued for Dina’s entire estate. It was settled out of court after Summer convinced Theo to accept Jack’s offer of Dina’s thriving boutique company in Paris. Following a touching scene with Jack wishing him well, and telling him not to screw it up, Theo quit Chancecom and left town.

Jack had a brief affair with Sally Spectra. But he called it off when he found out that she and Theo were in cahoots for Sally to get Summer’s job.

Jack welcomed Kyle’s 3-year-old son Harrison and his mother Tara to Abbott Manor when she claimed that she was afraid of her husband Ashland who had just discovered Harrison’s true paternity and her affair. Jack became very close to Harrison, making him regret all the years he had missed of his own children’s lives. Ashland finally showed up, divorced Tara, only to find out that he was dying of cancer. After falling in love with Victoria Newman he decided he wanted to live and allowed Kyle to get to know his son. But after Kyle, Summer and Harrison moved to Milan, Jack was left lonely. Jack and Phyllis had remained friends and confidants. He began to be attracted to Phyllis again, and confessed it to her, just about the time she was breaking up with Nick.

Jack began receiving texts wanting him to meet at an address in Los Angeles. Phyllis tracked the address to a Hao Nguyen which happened to be the name of Keemo's mother's dead father. Asked if it might be Keemo, Jack admitted that Keemo had told him to stay out of his life shortly after he left Genoa City, and Jack had no contact with him since. Jack did an Internet search revealing that Hao Nguyen, born the same year as Keemo had died 3 weeks earlier in Los Angeles – about the time the texts had begun. Finding the obituary, Jack identified the photo as Keemo. He had no survivors and had owned several properties in Los Angeles.

Phyllis talked Jack into going to the address in L.A. They found the house had been left unlocked for them. All that was left was a cardboard box. Inside Jack found a bundle of letters written by Keemo to Jack over the past year, but never mailed. Each was signed Keemo Abbott. Keemo wrote how he had worked out his anger and had forgiven Jack but was unable to tell him in person for fear the anger would return. Jack became very upset and wanted to leave. Phyllis found a photo in the box of Keemo with two women and a young girl in Vietnam dated 2012. Jack identified one of the women as Keemo's half-sister Mai. In a small wooden box they found a wedding photo of Jack & Luan and a necklace which Jack had given to Luan at Christmas. The statement of paternity that Jack had gotten drawn up and given to Keemo was also there, all encouraging Jack that Keemo had still cared about his father.

Jack and Phyllis returned to Keemo's house and found a photo of a young Asian girl which had been added to the box, the name Allie and a phone number written on the back. Jack called the number and convinced her to come to the house. Allie turned out to be Keemo's daughter who was in grad school, her parents had divorced long ago, and her mother had returned to Viet Nam. They had told Allie that Keemo had never known who his father was, just an American soldier in Viet Nam. Jack convinced Allie that he was her grandfather with the letters and photos of them together. Jack knew better than to pressure her, and she left. But she returned again with a small Vietnamese statue that had been Keemo's, she refused Luan's necklace. But they came to an understanding that Allie wasn't ready, and she had his contact information to let him know when she was. Jack and Phyllis returned to Genoa City, and Allie resumed trying to deal with her father's death and to sell the house she had lived in all her life. Meanwhile, the texter told Jack that he shouldn't have left, and they would try to get Allie to come around. Thinking it may have been Keemo's sister Mai, Jack contacted her, she was living in Saigon and knew nothing about the texts. The buyer of the house showed up to meet Allie, introduced herself as Taylor Jensen. Phyllis talked Jack into reaching out to Allie to get together in LA for dinner. Allie needed time to think about it but was encouraged by "Taylor" to reach out to family and she did.

Allie arranged to meet Jack who was accompanied by Phyllis at Keemo’s house. Jack and Phyllis were aghast as Taylor entered the room and recognized her as Diane Jenkins who had been murdered in 2011. Hearing Jack’s accusations, Allie was shocked to realize that Diane was the mother of Jack’s son Kyle, longtime rival to Phyllis, and widely hated in Genoa City. Diane begged to be forgiven for all the "mistakes of the past". Allie exploded at Diane, accusing her of using Allie to get to Jack. Diane said she did it for her and for Jack, a good man who needed to know his granddaughter. Allie ran out. Later Jack explained to Allie that Diane was Kyle’s mother by trickery and how she had plotted her own murder, walking away from her grieving young son, the only person who saw her as someone not evil, how Diane thought she could manipulate herself into forgiveness, but that no one in Genoa City would ever forgive her, how he needed to leave things good with Allie.

Jack decided that he had to be the one to break the news to Kyle that his mother was still alive and had faked her death despite Kyle being just a little boy. Jack vowed not to try to influence him against his mother. Kyle decided to give Diane another chance and they began having lunches, meeting in the park, and letting her meet her grandson Harrison.

Diane and Phyllis continually had confrontations, and Phyllis finally kicked her out of her hotel. Then Phyllis suddenly began enticing Jack into a sexual relationship. Jack was impressed that they had rebuilt their relationship and were falling back in love. But it became clear that Phyllis had reverting to her old jealous insecure self, flaunting it in front of Diane. After Jack overheard Phyllis rage at Diane that Jack was hers, he broke it off with Phyllis. Phyllis left town to spend some time with Daniel and clear her head. She returned apologetic and pleading to get back together, but Jack shut her down again.

Summer joined Kyle in Genoa City and they approached Jack with the idea of buying the financially strapped Marchetti. Jack researched it and agreed. Kyle and Summer moved back to Genoa City and Kyle became CEO of Marchetti. After careful consideration, Allie accepted the internship at the Jabot lab that Jack offered her.