Viki had to overcome Niki Smith in order to be with Joe.

Viki continued to suffer from a split personality; in an altered state of mind, she�d unknowingly don a wig, slap on a ton of makeup and paint the town red as her own flashy alter-ego, Niki Smith. It was during one of her wild nights out that she met Vince Wolek. To Vince, Niki was perfect. The minute he set eyes on her, he was in love! To complicate matters, Vince was also Joe Riley�s best friend. As Viki switched back and forth from her normal self to Niki, Joe and Vince would often gush to one another about how they had each found �the perfect woman,� not knowing that each of their respective girls were the same person. Eventually, Vince�s heart was broken when he learned the truth: that Niki did not truly exist. Selflessly, he told Viki of Niki�s existence, and with the support of her loved ones, she sought treatment from Dr. Marcus Polk�Llanview Hospital�s Chief of Psychiatry. As the �Niki� episodes slowly waned, Viki went ahead with plans to marry Joe. On their wedding day in late June of 1969, however, Niki Smith suddenly returned in the middle of the ceremony and fled the church with an overjoyed Vince at her side!�

While on the run, Vince pressed Niki to marry him immediately, causing Niki to panic. Her only escape was to allow Viki to reemerge. She returned home, reunited with Joe, and took major leaps to overcome her split personality. In a counseling session, Viki finally remembered writing the threatening notes, then recalled the one memory from her distant past that she had blocked out. With Doctor Polk�s guidance, Viki remembered seeing a terrible argument between her parents at the top of the steep spiral staircase at Llanfair. Victor, raging with anger, confronted his wife with his suspicion that their unborn child had been fathered by another man. Eugenia suddenly lost her balance and plummeted to the bottom of the steps. To five-year-old Victoria, it may have appeared that her father pushed her mother to her death. Upon Eugenia Lord giving birth to a tiny baby Meredith, she quietly passed away. Seemingly free at last of her inner turmoil, Viki finally married Joe in late 1969.�

Dr. Jim Craig fell in love with Anna Wolek. After the two married, the newlyweds suddenly found themselves dealing with Jim�s rebellious teenage daughter growing up in a volatile time: the 1960�s! Cathy Craig resented Anna�s sudden intrusion in her and her fathers life, and turned to drugs for an escape. Before long Cathy had fallen into what became a serious addiction.