In late 1961, internationally known artist and entrepreneur Alex Bowden came to Los Angeles to keep an eye on the art galleries he owned there. Alex took an instant disliking to two of his employees, artists Joe Turino and Marie Wallace Grant. A dapper, 40-year-old womanizer, he chanced to meet the still 18-year-old Robin Lang on a bridge in a park. Robin was depressed because her young husband, Mike Bauer was wrestling with his guilt over the death of Karl Jannings. In actuality, they had been too young to marry, and married life was not what Robin had expected it to be. Alex rudely chided her for being a self-indulgent, spoiled brat -- and a curious attraction was born. While Mike was out of town, Robin posed for Alex and he milked her loneliness ostensibly to draw "that lonely, lost expression."

Meanwhile, ell-bent on pushing Robin out of the Bauer family fold, Bert Bauer was secretly glad to learn of Robin and Alex's mutual attraction, and she encouraged Alex to woo Robin away from Mike. By the time Bert fully realized what an operator Alex was, she had second thoughts, but it was too late. Robin had fallen under Alex's spell. In Alex Bowden, Robin saw someone whom she thought would always protect her, and he showered her with affection and attention such as she had never known before. Convinced that they were no longer in love, Mike agreed to an annulment, and Robin entered, once again, into an ill-considered marriage that was doomed from the start.

Unfortunately, Robin and Alex's Hawaiian honeymoon was a disaster. Alex was a virtual Svengali, planning Robin's every move and becoming jealous if she cast even a glance at another man. Within days, Alex worked himself into a gastric ulcer, and the harried honeymooners returned home, where Alex continued to feel insecure and threatened by Robin's ties to the Bannings and the Bauers. Unable to understand his wife's irrational expectations or evaluate her irresponsible behavior, and tired of his father-figure role, Alex demanded that Robin behave like a wife instead of a child bride.

In 1962, a complex and tragic woman was now to enter the lives of the Bowdens, the Bauers and the Fletchers. One of Alex's ex-wives, the alcoholic Doris Crandall arrived from San Francisco, with her and Alex's son Carter, in hopes of winning Alex back. Alex asked his cynical lawyer pal, George Hayes, to pay her off to get rid of her, but Doris wouldn't accept the money. Alex also hired Joe Turino to woo Doris and George did so too. Soon Joe and Doris became lovers. Doris was very appreciative of Joe's art work while Joe encouraged Doris to deject Alex from her life. Meanwhile, Doris consulted Dr. Paul Fletcher and the two formed an instant rapport. Paul hired Doris to be his receptionist, much to the consternation of his wife, Anne, who considered Doris a deadbeat drunk. Anne was further horrified when Paul resigned his chief of staff post at Cedars Hospital to open a clinic in an impoverished, often violent neighborhood, near Selby Flats. Even worse, Paul insisted, they move into a house next door to the clinic!

Meanwhile, Mike Bauer returned to town and began working as a law clerk at George's office. .Although Mike was pursuing sweet secretary Julie Conrad, he hadn't given up on Robin, and he was quick to notice Alex's jealous reaction to his return. Mike was confident that the Bowden's marriage would collapse under its own flimsy weight. Robin didn't help the situation when she played hot and cold with Mike and agreed to a few secret, albeit sexless, meetings with him. Recognizing that his loveless marriage to Robin was on the rocks, Alex began to look once again in the direction of his ex, Doris. Doris (with Joe's confidence in her), was showing signs of becoming a strong and independent woman. Meanwhile, Alex finally offered Robin her freedom, Robin's only response was to become neurotically jealous of Alex's renewed bond with his ex-wife. Alex's close friend, George Hayes warned him to steer clear of Doris because he himself had feelings for her and had even proposed. In the meantime, Joe Turino decided to give Doris, Anne Fletcher's gun wrapped in a handkerchief -- telling Doris to keep it for her and Carter's protection, but secretly wishing that Doris would use it to kill Joe's rivals, Alex and George.

The stage was now set for a jarring chain of events that had a ripple effect on the Bauers, the Fletchers and everyone else in their circle. In her determination to save Paul's clinic, Doris convinced Alex to invest in the facility. Anne was livid at this development and served Paul with an ultimatum: the clinic or their marriage. She prevailed upon Robin to change Alex's mind about the loan, insidiously implying that the business deal was evidence of a renewed bond between Alex and Doris. Anne and Robin lashed into Doris so brutally that Doris went on a prolonged alcoholic bender. When she finally resurfaced back at the clinic, she had Anne's gun and threatened suicide. In an effort to retrieve the gun, Paul grappled with Doris. The gun went off and the bullet hit Anne. She died on the operating table. Full of self-recrimination, Paul impulsively confessed to killing his wife. His chances of acquittal looked dismal because Doris had blocked out the tragic event, and Henry Benedict was snidely feeding the prosecution's case against his son-in-law. Luckily, George mounted a brilliant criminal defense with Mike's eager assistance. Feeling guilty over their indirect roles in Anne's death, Alex and Robin agreed to a divorce and dedicated themselves to clearing Paul's name. Robin went to work at the clinic while Alex scoured the neighborhood bars until he found a bartender who remembered Doris's alcoholic bender on the night of the tragedy (although the bartender did not admit that Joe Turino was with Doris.) Doris' memory finally returned, and she testified that Anne's shooting was accidental. Soon after, Doris left town (with Carter) and returned to San Francisco.

In 1963, because of his continuing guilt over his role in Anne's death, Alex gave a generous loan to Paul Fletcher's clinic. In 1964, Alex Bowden was at loose ends romantically and was surprised to find himself attracted to Julie Conrad Bauer, a new mother who was bored in her marriage to Mike Bauer. Soon Alex and Julie became confidants and he showered her with expensive gifts, but Alex had grown too fond of Mike to steal another woman from him. One day, Alex asked Julie what she wanted out of life, and without hesitation she replied, "A man who understands me as you do." Alex didn't take the bait. Later, Julie left Mike and their baby, Hope, and moved into an apartment, only to discover that she was pregnant once again by Mike! Julie and Alex talked marriage for a while until Alex came to see how twisted she'd become. She tried to pass her unborn child off as Alex's, when in truth they'd never been sexually involved. Once she considered getting an abortion and a quickie divorce, Alex knew he'd had enough and threatened to tell Mike about the baby unless she told him herself. Trapped, Julie became so distraught that she had a miscarriage and tried to jump off the ledge outside her hospital room. When Alex revealed to Mike the truth about the baby, Mike blamed himself for Julie's problems.

In 1966, Alex Bowden left to open new galleries across the country, buoyed by the hope of at long last finding a healthy relationship with a woman. In 1979, Alex's son, Carter came to the Midwestern town of Springfield and help to keep open the Bowden Art Gallery there. Carter would tell people that Alex had suffered a fatal heart attack after finally settling in New York.