In the continuing battle to keep Angela off balance, Pilar placates her about the consortium, while continuing to plot with Richard. Despite the stir created by her return from Italy, Anna Cellini is delighted to be reunited with Ben, but afraid that her father will ruin everything by insisting that his only surviving grandchild and heir be brought to Italy. When Richard tells Maggie he is in New York, he is really in Chicago with Pilar for meetings with financier Malcolm Sinclair. Cookie reveals to Lance that she is pregnant with his child.

Despite pressure from Angela, Lance refuses to marry Cookie, but he offers her full financial support. Angela inadvertently uncovers Richard's duplicity in the Troilus affair. As Anna and Nick rekindle their love, happiness seems assured for the reunited family. However, Anna continues to hide the facts of her fatal illness and Ben receives a card from Frank telling him that the emerald mine is coming through. Pilar makes it very clear to both Sinclair and Richard that she will side with whomever makes it most worth her while. Sinclair's marriage proposal comes three years too late for Pilar, who turns it down. However, she gladly accepts Lance's proposal to become his wife.

Despite Angela's obvious opposition, Lance and Pilar decide to marry. Maggie, appalled at Richard's plans for the valley, leaves him. Hoping to prevent Lance and Pilar's marriage, Angela, who has made a deal with Sinclair, tells Lance that Pilar was well aware of Richard's business dealings; however, Pilar convinces him otherwise, and the wedding is definitely on. After Nick learns the seriousness of Anna's condition, he convinces her to allow him and Ben to care for her, provided that Ben not be told of her illness. After Raoul and his gang run Ben and Gabriel off the road, the gang leaves them unconscious on the roadside.

Maggie's rebuff of Richard's attempts at reconciliation cause unexpected results. Upon hearing news of the car accident, Lance and Pilar immediately return home. With Ben and Gabriel in serious condition, Anna feels guilty over having given Ben the car. While the hospital staff quibbles about accepting Gabriel, he goes into convulsions, requiring immediate surgery. Angela, though not approving of the marriage, invites the newlyweds to make their home at Falcon Crest. In response to Maggie's rebuff, Richard pressures a judge for a court order that transfers custody of the boys to him. Accompanied by the Sheriff, Richard removes the children from Falcon Crest.

As Anna grows increasingly weaker, she desperately tries to convince Frank and Nick to help end her pain. After Maggie dissolves in tears after a phone conversation with Michael, Tommy consoles her, revealing his true feelings for her. On a business trip to Chicago, Richard encounters a glamorous woman who is a dead ringer for Melissa. Pretending that it will help his ill mother, Richard convinces his new conquest, Samantha Ross, to return to San Francisco and impersonate Melissa. After Richard agrees to Samantha's hefty price, the deal is cemented.

As Pilar and Sinclair plot against Richard, Samantha and Richard continue to scheme against Angela, while Nick Agretti investigates the background of a forged document. When Lance discovers one deed too many in Angela's safe and burns the document, he is unaware that he has been observed by Pilar, who has joined forces with Sinclair to undermine Richard in his upcoming investigation by the S.E.C. Richard misunderstands Tommy's presence in Maggie's hotel suite. Samantha helps Angela to escape from one of Richard's ploys.

Having escaped with Samantha's help, Angela finds her family doubting her kidnapping story, but Pilar gains Angela's confidence with her plan to help her regain control of the Glenbraddoch stock. At the court hearing, Richard wins custody of the children. Angela agrees to protect Samantha from Richard's wrath and calls Lance to pick her up in San Francisco. However, Samantha disappears before he arrives. When Richard warns Pilar about opposing him, he plays a tape that has been edited to indict both her and Sinclair and which will exonerate Richard. Richard also obtains a warrant ordering Angela into custody for a psychiatric evaluation to determine her mental competency.