Torn, Paulina said good-bye to a hurt and confused Grant and planned to marry Jake. Her step-mother, Rachel, and the rest of the Corys were confused by the sudden turn of events. Paulina did her best to convince them that she truly loved Jake and was making the right decision. She and Jake reluctantly married in August of 1991 and moved into the Cory mansion soon after. They slept in twin beds, but did their best to act like a happy couple around the family.

As Paulina counted down the days until their divorce (and getting Grant back), Jake began to see qualities in his new wife that he admired. She constantly stood toe-to-toe with him in arguments and didn't let him push her around anymore. She also gave him a peek at her troubled past when she took Thanksgiving dinner to the children living in her old foster home.

Things reached a boiling point around Christmastime when Jake began to fall for her and tried to stall the divorce and thwart her attempts to be with Grant. Meanwhile, Paulina began to realize that she couldn't start over with Grant with such a huge lie between them. It didn't help matters that Grant was getting tired of the stalling and her waffling (it seemed) between him and Jake. One night, she went to tell Grant the whole, sordid truth, but he didn't want to hear it. He couldn't deal with the drama any more--he had to move on. This led to a huge argument between Jake and Paulina. She was ready to come clean to her whole family, but he wanted her to hang on a little longer--the money was almost theirs. He locked them in the garage and a determined Paulina tried to smash out with the car, but was knocked unconscious. In a moment of greed, Jake left her there as the garage filled up with exhaust fumes, but soon realized how much he cared for her and ran to her rescue.

As Paulina rested up in bed, she let Jake know that she was going to tell Jamie and Rachel the truth--and she did. Jamie was furious. Her lies had hurt his fiancee, Marley, and everyone involved. Rachel was more understanding and told Paulina about her own past--and how she had shot Matt's father, Mitch Blake, many years before. Rachel helped Paulina face up to what she had done and go to the police. But Jake had gotten there first--to get Paulina off the hook. He insisted that it was an accident when they were struggling for the gun. Paulina was shocked that after all they'd been through, he'd not only protected her from the law, but he said he'd give her a divorce.

In the next few months, Paulina was able to reunite with Grant, which led to a jealous Jake and his old friend (and an advisor to Grant) Vicky Hudson teaming up to try and break up the happy couple. They eventually suceeded, and Paulina was alone again. Jake thought this meant they'd finally be together, but Paulina was unable to trust him and said they'd never be a couple. She even began dating Jake's half-brother, Kevin Anderson, but Kevin backed off because he could see that despite her protests, Paulina had fallen for Jake.

Jake continued to pursue Paulina romantically as they worked together at D&M Records with her brother Matt and his partner, Dean Frame. Paulina got involved helping Dean track a drug dealer, which led to Jake whisking her away from what he thought was a dangerous situation. Another huge argument ensued which led to passion. But Jake pulled away when things started to get serious. He told her that when they got together, he wanted it to be forever--not just a one-time thing. Paulina was afraid to trust Jake again, but when he started to walk away, she admitted what she'd known for quite a while--she was in love with him.

Jake and Paulina finally got together and moved in to her townhouse. Things got a little tense when she also invited her former foster sister to live with them, but calmed down again when Hannah moved away to attend college. The first real test of their relationship came when Jake couldn't let go of his long-standing feud with her brother, Jamie. He set Jamie up and discredited him at work. When Paulina found out, she left Jake, but they eventually reconciled. Rachel and Iris even tried to break them up by hiring Paulina away to the local television station, KBAY, but soon Jake was working there as well.

In the Spring of 1993, Paulina met Ian Rain, who was working as the new Cory groundskeeper. She was intrigued by him. He seemed to have a mysterious and adventurous past, but she had to work to get him to open up to her. During this time, Jake was working with Grant's father, Spencer Harrison, which made Paulina suspicious. Spencer hadn't approved of Paulina when she was with Grant, and she didn't trust him. But she didn't even know the half of it--Jake and Spencer were planning to stage a takeover of Cory Enterprises.

With Jake off working, she continued to bond with Ian. He kissed her one night, but she made it clear that she was with Jake. They even got engaged, and Jake began pressuring her to get married as soon as possible (which meant before his part in the takeover was revealed). The Ian mystery also began to unravel and he was accused of being the man who had kidnapped Vicky in Canada. He swore that he was innocent, and before he left town, he kissed Paulina good-bye.

Paulina and Jake made it down the aisle--almost. The night before the wedding, Paulina stumbled onto the truth and was devastated. She still pretended to go through with the wedding, but when it came time for her vows, she let the groom have it. She exposed his and Spencer's plot and left Jake at the altar. Jake tried to make her understand things from his perspective, but she was done with him.

She barely had time to lick her wounds when Ian returned. He was injured and hiding from the law. He explained more about his mission: His father had known hers in San Cristobal and Mac had betrayed his father, he said. Paulina refused to believe that Mac would betray anyone, but once Jake and Spencer learned of this, they used it to oust Rachel from Cory. Jake and Amanda took over and Rachel left town without letting anyone know where she'd gone.

Paulina was determined to clear her father's name and to learn more about her heritage, so she followed Ian on his next quest--returning to the jungle in South America. They got closer while they were there, and Paulina met a woman named Rosa, who told her about her mother, Maria. She was thrilled to learn more about her mother and how in love she and Mac were. She even visited her mother's grave site.

Once she and Ian were alone in the jungle, she resisted her attraction to him because she was still hurting over Jake's betrayal. When she grew ill with a fever, Ian nursed her back to health. Rosa told her how worried Ian was when she was sick, and how much he cared about her. She and Ian grew closer and made love in the jungle. She convinced him to return to Bay City and start a new life with her.

When they got home, Ian had to face the charges that had mounted up against him. He was sentenced to work-release, which strained his new realtionship with Paulina. When Paulina came down with the fever again, Rachel had to pull strings to get Ian released to help find a cure. Ian, Jake and doctors John Hudson and Kelsey Harrison were able to figure out the cure and Paulina made a full recovery. While she and Ian struggled to have a realtionship with him in and out of jail, Jake decided that he wanted Paulina back and made trouble for them every chance he could.

In early 1994, Paulina got a lead that Rachel was in New York City. She went to find her--and Jake tagged along. Rachel was eventually found and returned home to Bay City. She also ousted Jake from Cory and installed a new CEO: Carl Hutchins. Ian was also released from jail, but had to make a deal with cop Ryan Harrison which put yet another strain on his relationship with Paulina. Ryan wanted Ian to work undercover investigating Spencer. Paulina hated that Ian was working with Spencer--and he wasn't allowed to tell her the truth of what he was doing.

Paulina and Ian eventually parted ways in the Spring of 1994, and once again Jake thought they would reunite and Paulina said no. But while in NYC for Rachel and Carl's wedding (and trying to uncover who was threatening Carl), they got in the way and were drugged and dumped in the middle of the wilderness.

Fighting to survive and find a way out, Jake and Paulina learned to trust each other again and reunited. Jake was also trying to start over after being fired from Cory and started his own publishing company. When Paulina offered to lend him start-up cash, he balked. He didn't want money to come between them ever again. So, to ensure that, Paulina donated the income from her inheritance to the Community Center. Now, all they had to live on was her income from KBAY.

Jake proposed again and this time they made it all the way through their wedding. But trouble was already brewing again. Just before the wedding, Jake's old friend Vicky needed a favor. She had been on the run with her newborn son, fearing that Grant would take him away from her. So she devised a switch to give Grant another baby that was left to her, and have Jake and Paulina take hers until it was safe. But they didn't count on Paulina bonding so quickly with Vicky's son.

Paulina was devastated when Jake finally broke down and told her who the baby really was. She insisted that they find the parents of the other baby and he agreed. But he didn't let her in on their dismal financial situation, and while they were in San Francisco, he borrowed $50,000 from a loan shark and skipped town without paying him back.

While Paulina was busy tracking down the baby's parents, Jake was busy trying to get out of his debt--which had grown to $75,000 when a hitwoman sent by the loanshark tracked him down. By the time Paulina found out what was going on, things were completely out of control. The hitwoman, Bunny, kidnapped her and threatened to kill her unless Jake paid. He had gone to Vicky who had lent him the money, but she was pre-occupied with Grant finding out about the baby-switch and didn't get the money to him in time. They were able to overpower Bunny and thought the nightmare was finally over. But on his way back to Bay City, Jake was accosted by Bunny's assistant, Swenson. His car crashed and exploded and Jake was presumed dead (it was really the Swenson who died--Jake was thrown from the car and ended up with amnesia).