Soaps In Depth - May 4, 1999 (no author
listed)
 |
THE
LOVE OF A LIFETIME |
|
A
look back at the romance of Luke and Laura
Laura entered the picture as just another troubled teenager. Luke
was a mere con artist from the wrong side of the tracks. Who knew
that together they would set the measure for all future soap opera supercouples?
The love story of Luke and Laura forever would change the face of daytime
drama... and fill up the hearts of romantics everywhere.
Determined to break
up Laura and Scotty, Bobbie enlisted brother Luke to bust up their relationship.
Shortly, Laura had become attracted to Luke; he had become obsessed with
her. Caught between an order for him to kill or be killed himself,
a drunken Luke confessed his love to Laura and then raped her. She
didn't implicate him, though; instead they came to an understanding of
what happened that night. With no way out of the Mob, Luke became
engaged to Frank Smith's daughter, Jennifer. Scotty discovered that
Luke was Laura's rapist, showed up on the yacht where Luke and Jennifer
were to be married, and beat up Luke. Falling overboard, Luke was
presumed dead. As if.
Resurfacing, Luke
pleaded with Laura for help in freeing himself from Smith's grip.
They stole Smith's black book, which listed all of his criminal dealings,
and fled Port Charles. When Smith discovered that hit man Hutch
had befriended targets Luke and Laura, he hired Sally, a hit man in drag,
to eliminate all three of them. In a shoot-out, the black book was recovered
by the police. Afterward, Smith's organization was broken up, and
Luke and Laura returned to Port Charles. Luke was devastated when
Laura blurted out that she was still Mrs. Scotty Baldwin.
Later, Alexandria Quartermaine
hired Luke to find the Ice Princess, the world's largest uncut gem containing
a formula for synthesizing diamonds. On the Cassadines' private island,
Luke and Laura discovered that with the Ice Princess formula, the Cassadines
had the ability to change world climate. With the help of WSB operative
Robert Scorpio and starlet Tiffany Hill, they once again saved the world.
Afterward, they married
at the governor's mansion - and even the appearances of Helena Cassadine
and Scotty couldn't mar the day. But the Spencers' happy ending screeched
to a halt when Laura disappeared from the docks. Years later, she
reappeared at Luke's inauguration for mayor, saying she had been kidnapped
by the Cassadines and forced to wed Stavros.
Later, Luke and
Laura were living a peaceful life in Canada with their young son, Lucky,
when Smiths' henchman tracked them down, ready for revenge. Instead
of running from Port Charles, this time they ran to it. Luke gained
leverage against Smith by digging up dirt on Jennifer. Laura gave
birth to Lesley Lu, and Luke ran off to Puerto Rico and killed Smith.
After his blues club
was fire-bombed, Luke was fearful that Mob violence was back in his family's
lives. For their protection, Luke sent Laura and LuLu away.
When they believed all was safe, they returned, only for their home to
be machine-gunned. After killing a hit man in the Spencer house,
Laura told Luke to move out. Lucky went on the run with pal Emily
Quartermaine, hoping that Luke and Laura would reunite in the search for
their son. It worked.
When little Lulu was
diagnosed with aplastic anemia and needed a bone-marrow transplant, it
was revealed that during Laura's captivity, she had given birth to a Cassadine,
the now-teenage Nikolas. Though wary of his mother, he provided a match
for LuLu's transplant. Later, Nikolas' protective uncle, Stefan,
gave his lost crush, Laura, an ultimatum: Leave town or he would
tell Luke that he may be Nikolas' father. With no other choice, she
left town.
A confrontation had
Nikolas informing Lucky that before he was born, Laura had been raped by
Luke. Meanwhile, Helena had mementos from Laura's past with Stefan
shipped to Wyndemere, which reactivated his love for Laura. A ball
to announce Stefan's engagement to Katherine turned to tragedy when, after
realizing that Nikolas was Stefan's son, the bride-to-be fell into the
trap Luke had set for Helena and died... or so everyone believed.
Soon after, Lucky confronted Laura about marrying the man who raped her.
Laura explained to Luke why she had forgiven him and asked him to rid himself
of his guilt
When Laura testified
at Stefan's trial for Katherine's "murder," Luke concluded that Stefan
was Nikolas' father. Though Laura professed her love for Luke, Stefan
vowed to make a family with her and Nikolas. Now, Laura is planning
a life without Luke, intending to make her renewed relationship with Stefan
public. But even that might not be enough to put behind her the passion
that she knew with Luke.
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