Lily Walsh first arrived in Oakdale with her mother, Lucinda, in 1984. The first person she met in town was a boy her own age, Dusty Donovan. Though Dusty initially saw Lily as a spoiled brat, he became impressed with her knowledge of horses and they became fast friends. However, Lily's high society mother, Lucinda, did not approve, and when she found out that Dusty took "her Lily" to a rock and roll club, she forbade Lily to see him again. Lucinda wanted Lily to be with someone more socially acceptable and forced Lily to attend a party with a preppy named Harrison Blake.

Jealous, Dusty crashed the party and started a fight with Harrison when he overheard Harrison brag about how much of an easy score Lily was. When Lucinda confronted a confused Lily, who had no idea what was going on, Lily denied that Harrison had been bothering her, and Dusty was thrown out. Weeks later, a jealous Harrison decided to get back at Dusty by planting marijuana in Lily's backpack, correctly figuring that Dusty would be blamed. Finally fed up with her unreasonable mother, Lily made plans to run away and got only as far as the stables when she decided to call Dusty to tell him where she was. She settled in for a nap and was almost raped by a drunken Hank McPherson, the stable master's son. Fortunately, Dusty rescued her in time.

Not long after, Lily met the Walsh's new stable boy, the smoldering Holden Snyder. Although they initially clashed over Holden's assertion that Lily couldn't handle her mother's new horse, Big Max, he was impressed when she went off with the horse and managed him just fine. As time wore on, Lily and Holden's attraction to one another grew, especially when Dusty went off to England for back surgery. After a period of months, Lily started spending more and more time with Holden and his family at the Snyder Farm. After spotting Holden at the Snyder pond with a pretty girl, Lily became jealous and rudely snubbed her competition. However, that girl turned out to be Holden's younger sister, Meg, who didn't like being treated so rudely by Lily.

Meg decided to get even with Lily and set her sights on Dusty, who had recently returned to Oakdale. Meg planned to pretend to be Lily's friend and then steal Dusty away. In addition to kissing Dusty when they first met at the farm, Meg also manipulated John into thinking that Lily was distracting Dusty, thus endangering his chances of getting into Harvard. Feeling enormous pressure from John about getting into Harvard, Dusty skipped his high school graduation banquet and ran off to New Mexico, with Meg following. After the pair made love, they returned to Oakdale. However, Meg was anxious to get Dusty for herself and decided to trap him into marriage by claiming to be pregnant. Trying to be noble, Dusty agreed to marry her and then told Lily the story. Lily discovered that Meg was lying about the pregnancy and threatened to tell Meg's mother, Emma, about it unless Meg backed off. Not wanting to hurt her mother, Meg complied.

Despite Meg's schemes, Lily found herself very comfortable with the Snyder family, whose down-home values were a welcome change from Lucinda's controlling nature. In addition to forming a very close friendship with Emma, Lily also became close with Holden's older sister, Iva, who was very protective of Lily. The reason for Iva's attitude toward Lily became apparent when Lily started befriending the older Rod Landry. Lily and Rod's relationship made Iva very uncomfortable and when she saw the pair innocently horsing around in the pond, a panicked Iva warned him to stay away from Lily because she was his daughter! It was then that Iva was forced to admit her deep, dark secret--at the age of 13, she had been brutally raped by her cousin, Josh Snyder, who was Rod Landry, and had run off. She had become pregnant and had given birth to a little girl who she gave up for adoption--that girl was Lily.

Shocked beyond belief, Lily told Iva she hated her and then ran away. Not knowing what to do once she got out of Oakdale, she called her newfound sister, Sierra, but when Lucinda got on the phone to talk, Lily said Lucinda wasn't her mother and hung up. Meanwhile, Holden and Dusty both went off to look for Lily, and Dusty managed to find her first. After he called John to report that Lily was fine, he and Lily made plans to run off together, but Holden found them.

When Lily learned that Dusty had phoned John, she shunned Dusty and sought comfort with Holden and returned home. Though there were concerns that Lily and Holden were related, Emma put everyone's mind at ease by explaining that both Iva and Josh had been adopted into the Snyder family, thus Holden and Lily were not biologically related. Free to be together, the pair made plans to marry, however Lucinda disapproved of Holden more than Dusty and decided to put a stop to the relationship by telling Lily that Holden had known the truth of her parentage all along. Angry and hurt, Lily broke up with Holden and turned to Dusty, with whom she lost her virginity. Soon after, Dusty convinced her to return to Oakdale and then left for college himself.

Lily and Holden went their separate ways and pursued different relationships. After his divorce from Emily Stewart, Holden tried to get back together with Lily, but a series of events led him to believe that she was in love with his brother, Caleb. Holden and Caleb had always had a strong sibling rivalry, and Holden was disgusted to learn how Caleb had callously dumped a pregnant Angel Lange, who had gotten a botched abortion. Outraged by Caleb's treatment of Angel, whom Caleb had tried to hide from the family, Holden befriended her. However, Angel misread Holden's intentions and instigated a kiss, which Lily saw; it caused her to believe she had lost Holden. Lily grew closer to Caleb, but Holden continued to believe that Caleb was just using Lily for her money. Fed up with the situation, Holden quickly left town to sort out his life.

Eventually Lily married Derek Mason. Unbeknownst to everyone, he and his father, Niles, were conspiring to kill Lily to get her money. Their plan almost worked when Derek married Lily; he convinced her to change her will and leave him as the sole beneficiary. Despite his plan, Derek started to actually fall in love with Lily and told his father the deal was off. Unfortunately, Derek's father went ahead with the plan to kill Lily, and Derek died while saving Lily's life from a bomb explosion. Badly burned from the explosion, Lily briefly left town.

When Lily returned to town, she was very cold and cynical. Shutting herself off emotionally, she decided to concentrate on business and became involved in loveless affairs. However, eventually she softened, and Lily and Holden finally married in 1991. Lily was ecstatic when she became pregnant. Sadly she miscarried and went into a deep depression. Holden then suffered a severe head injury while in New York on business and lost his memory. Even though Lily tried very hard to help Holden regain his memory, he could not remember her or their many years together. So he asked her for a divorce. Lily, devastated, left Oakdale to live in Europe.

While in Europe, Lily met and married the very sexy Italian Damian Grimaldi. They decided to move back to Oakdale together to be close to her family. By that time, Holden had started having memory flashbacks of Lily and wanted to renew his friendship with her. Lily found herself still attracted to Holden, but was conflicted about whom to be with. In November 1994, their reunion had to wait because a man named Hans kidnapped Lily. Luckily, Holden, Damian, and Damian's cousin, Eduardo rescued lily. After that ordeal, Lily decided to give her marriage to Damian another try, despite her strong attraction to Holden.

Lily then started having problems with Damian's mother, Orlena. Although initially kind to Lily, Orlena was an evil woman who did not think that Lily was worthy of her son and did everything that she could to tear the couple apart. At the same time, Damian was very jealous of Holden. Lily became very frightened of Damian's temper and ended up turning to Holden for comfort. However, she and Damian reconciled and, months later, Lily was shocked to discover that she was pregnant. Lily could not be sure if Holden or Damain was the father of her unborn child.

Soon after, in early 1995, Lily and Holden took separate sides in the case Lisa brought against John Dixon. Lisa believed John was guilty of malpractice in the death of Eduardo. Holden rightly suspected Orlena as the true culprit. Holden found a discrepancy in Orlena's whereabouts the night of Eduardo's death, and Holden also found the IV that Orlena had messed with. Lisa and Lily's past with John convinced Lily that John was guilty of malpractice in Eduardo's death. The case even caused problems between Lily and Lucinda, since Lucinda believed John was innocent. Months later, Holden arrived at the Snyder farm to find Lily alone and in labor and delivered her son, Luciano, also known as Luke. When it was learned that Damian was, in fact, Luke's father, Holden moved with his son Aaron to Maryland, where Holden decided to go on with his life by entering a special memory recovery program.

In the meantime, Orlena drugged and gas-lighted Lily. Luckily, she was ultimately rescued and she and Damian became closer. Lily was truly devastated when she thought that Damian had died in a plane crash. Later, Lily found evidence that suggested that the crash that had killed Damian might not have been an accident. Lily learned that Damian was investigating one of his associates, Umberto Malzone, for conducting illegal business activities, and Lily was convinced that Umberto had killed Damian. Lily decided to get information on Umberto and, to do that, she became close to an employee of Umberto's, Diego Santana.

Desperate to learn more about the man who had killed her husband, Lily developed a close relationship with Diego and even agreed to marry him. Then one day, she overheard an argument between Diego and Pilar Domingo and found out that Diego was Umberto. Sickened, Lily got a gun and made plans to make him pay at their wedding. After the ceremony, the lights went out, and a gunshot went off. When the lights came back on, Diego was dead, and Lily was holding the gun. Although Lily was found guilty of the crime and was convicted, the conviction was later overturned when it was learned that the real killer was Kirk Anderson.

Not long after Lily's trial, Holden returned to Oakdale with his memory completely restored. Lily and Holden bonded again and made plans to marry. Making matters complicated was Holden's old lover, Molly Conlan, who Lily had met when she was in prison. Molly had a child with Holden when they were teens and confessed to Holden that she had given the girl up for adoption. In the course of finding their daughter, Abigail, Molly attempted to destroy Holden and Lily's relationship so she and Holden could reunite. However, her plans failed and all she succeeded in doing was alienating herself from both Holden and Lily.

Meanwhile, Lily learned that Damian had not died, yet she chose to remain with Holden, her true love, and they married. While pregnant with Holden's baby, Lily was kidnapped by David Stenbeck, a.k.a David Allen, the man who prosecuted her when she was convicted of Diego's murder. She gave birth to a girl while being held captive. She and the baby were rescued, but Lily would discover six months later, that the child she'd been raising, whom she named Hope, was not hers. David had switched the babies and kept Lily's baby for himself, while giving Andy Dixon and Denise Maynard's baby to Lily. Lily and Holden searched for their real baby and tried to work things out with Denise so that they could keep baby Hope and raise her as their own. The Snyders finally found their daughter, who David was raising and had named Melinda. Holden and Lily renamed the girl Faith and took her home to Oakdale. Understanding how hard it was to be without one's child, Lily returned Hope to her birth mother.

After years of hardship, Lily was finally at peace and had the family she'd always wanted. Then one night, she met a man named Simon. Lily believed Simon was a good man and asked him to renovate her house after learning he was an architect. Lily soon found her trust in Simon was misplaced, when she found an old photo of a woman who looked exactly like her. Realizing that Simon had lied to her all along, she decided to investigate the woman in the picture and learned that the woman was probably her great-great-grandmother. Her search for more information led her to a woman in Atlantic City named Rose. Though Rose claimed to know nothing of her family history, Lily knew they were connected for one reason: they looked almost exactly alike. Unfortunately, Simon hampered Lily's trip. She didn't trust but was sure he wouldn't hurt her. Then Lily learned why Simon was so interested in her; he wanted the diamond that his great-grandfather had given his beloved before she was shipped off.

Putting the pieces together, Lily finally realized that Simon was motivated by greed, and the diamond must have been passed on to Rose's side of the family. Though Rose insisted that the diamond she'd got from her dead mother was just fake, Lily wasn't convinced and had it appraised. Lily was right. Deciding that the diamond belonged to Rose and not Simon, and believing that it held the key to how Lily and Rose were connected, Lily decided to keep Simon off the trail by switching places with Rose. The plan almost worked. However when Simon confronted both women shots, suddenly rang out. Knowing they were in danger, Lily told Rose to escape to Oakdale; she'd meet her there. Then Lily was knocked unconscious and by the time she awoke, she was on a train with Simon.

Delirious and weak, Lily refused to tell Simon where the diamond was, then finally miles from Atlantic City, she told him where she'd hidden it, hoping that he'd let her go home. However, Simon was adamant that she'd stay with him until he found his diamond. But they couldn't go back to Atlantic City because the train had by that time derailed, and they were in the middle of nowhere. By the time they reached the nearest town, Lily admitted to Simon that she'd lied to him; she had no idea where the diamond was. Soon the mysterious shooter kidnapped Lily. The shooter turned out to be Simon's demented sister, Celia. Though Simon found Lily and tried to rescue her, he was too late, and they were both held hostage. When Celia learned that Lily knew nothing about the diamond, she deemed Lily expendable and decided to murder both Lily and Simon by forcing them to jump out of a plane.

After spending months on the island where they'd landed, Lily and Simon started to grow closer. Just when all hope for a rescue seemed lost, the castaways learned that they weren't alone on the island. Unfortunately, one inhabitant was a criminal who only wanted to make love to Lily, and the other was Simon's sister, who'd stranded them in the first place. After evading an assassination attempt by Celia, Simon and Lily were able to imprison her. It was during the imprisonment that Lily learned that no one knew she was missing, since Rose was back in Oakdale, masquerading as Lily. Eventually Celia escaped and tried to leave the island on the raft that Simon was building. Tragically a large current came and capsized the raft, sending Celia and the beloved diamond, which Lily had unknowingly had in her pocket all along, to a watery grave.

Wanting to comfort Simon at the loss of his sister and uncertain about whether she would ever see home again, Lily kissed Simon. It was at that moment that Holden arrived to rescue them. Though Holden was upset about seeing the castaways kiss, Lily was more upset that Holden had never realized that Rose was an impostor. Though she was happy to be back in Oakdale, Lily started to feel like her life belonged to Rose, who, as it turned out, was really Lily's twin sister. Angry at everyone, Lily looked to Simon for support. But soon she realized that Holden was her true love, and she went back to her family. Though her relationship with Rose was strained, Lily found it in her heart to forgive Rose, and the two formed a close sisterly relationship.

Tragedy struck again when Damian returned asking that Luke go to Malta with him. Suspicious, Holden and Lily refused, only to learn that Damian planned to kidnap Luke. Trying to stop it from happening, Holden went to the docks to stop the kidnapping, but was caught in an explosion. Though both Holden and Luke were presumed dead, Lily refused to give up on them and had the explosion investigated. After receiving a message in a bottle stating that they were alive, Lily followed the lead to Malta, where, with Simon's help, she eventually found Holden and Luke being held prisoner by Damian's greedy half-brother, Dante. Luckily Lucinda and Damian arrived for the rescue, and the Snyder family got out of Dante's clutches and returned to Oakdale. Months later, at Christmas, Lily and Holden celebrated the birth of their daughter, Natalie.

After a few years of quiet family life, Lily found herself in danger again, stemming from the return of Dusty Donovan. Though Rose instantly distrusted Dusty, Lily tried to convince her that he was a great guy. However, soon the sisters switched sides. When Lily learned that a down-on-his-luck Dusty had accepted money from Barbara Ryan in exchange for breaking up Rose's engagement to Paul Ryan, she felt betrayed. Learning of Dusty's involvement with criminal associates in Chicago convinced Lily that her old friend had changed for the worse, and she warned Rose to write him off. However by that time, Rose had grown attached to Dusty and was certain that deep down he was a good person.

The sisters found themselves in danger when Lily, mistaken for Rose, was kidnapped by Spangler, the man Dusty owed money to, and trapped in a well. Soon after, Rose was taken and trapped also. Luckily, Lily was found, but Rose, who'd managed to escape, could not be located. Fortunately, Rose was rescued that day unharmed. Reunited with her family, Lily implored Rose to cut her ties to Dusty. Much to Lily's chagrin, Rose wouldn't listen and, when given an ultimatum by Lily--her family or Dusty, Lily was shocked when Rose picked Dusty. Then there was a very confusing and ultimately tragic turn of events. Paul initially seemed indifferent to Rose, but he soon made a complete turnaround by declaring his love for her. Though Rose was confused, she couldn't be sure of Dusty's fidelity and eventually left him for Paul.

Dusty continually tried to warn both Rose and Lily that Paul only wanted revenge on Rose and would end up hurting her, but neither one believed him and both thought he was just jealous. Encouraged by Lily, who believed that that Rose and Paul loved each other, Rose accepted Paul's marriage proposal and agreed to move to Paris with him. Dusty, however, still didn't trust Paul, and showed Lily proof that Paul had no intentions of taking Rose to Paris--there was no apartment in Paris. However when Lily confronted Paul, he maintained that Dusty was lying and produced a lease.

Choosing to believe Paul over Dusty, Lily encouraged Rose to marry Paul, even after he confessed to harassing Rose. Though not condoning his actions, Lily accepted the explanation that Paul gave Rose--he was simply insecure and wanted to test her. Tragically, Lily's faith in Paul would be Rose's undoing. The day of their wedding, Paul maliciously lit into Rose for how she'd hurt him and humiliated her. That day, Rose collapsed; a victim of poison. Rose died that day, and though Paul denied it, a grief-stricken Lily was convinced Paul was the culprit.

Totally destroyed by Rose's death, Lily shut herself off from her family and secluded herself in Rose's health. Not knowing how she could live without Rose, Lily started to lose herself and talk and dress like Rose, to the dismay of all around her. Unable to deal with her grief, and unwilling to confide in anyone, Lily ran off to Atlantic City, impersonating Rose. Although Holden was able to find her, it was obvious that Lily wasn't doing well and after Dusty blasted her for trivializing Rose's memory by acting like her, a distraught Lily ran off and attempted suicide by jumping into the freezing Snyder pond.

Luckily, Dusty rescued her and Lily tried to go on with her life. However, she was unclear on how to do that and joined Dusty in his quest to ensure that Paul was arrested for Rose's murder. Even after Barbara Ryan confessed to the crime, Dusty still believed Paul was guilty and kept digging into the matter until he found evidence that fingered Paul as the murderer. Files on Paul's computer showed him visiting websites devoted to selling the drug that had killed Rose, methanol. Lily believed that Paul was guilty, but was shocked to learn that the killer was actually Paul's thirteen-year old brother, Will, who had only wanted to make Rose sick, not kill her.

Having found no peace in the arrest of a young boy, Lily continued to wallow in her grief and continually shut out Holden and the kids, choosing to spend most of her time at Rose's. Worried about her, Holden talked a reluctant Dusty into helping Lily with their shared loss, and Dusty came up with the idea of opening a foundation for Rose, to honor her memory. Although she remained distant at first, in time, Lily accepted Rose's death, and she and Holden bridged the gap between them. Meanwhile, Dusty's past came back to haunt him when mobsters suddenly arrived demanding money that he owed. Seeing no way out, Dusty laundered money out of the foundation. Although he tried to keep his activities a secret, Molly discovered what was happening and told Holden and Lily.

Things finally seemed to settle down between Holden and Lily, but they continued to drift apart. The couple finally reached an impasse when Lily's niece, Lucy, was kidnapped. Lily did not approve of how her family was treating Lucy's father, the duplicitous Craig Montgomery. Lily decided to give him a chance and welcomed him into her home, despite disapproval from Holden and Lucinda. At the same time, Holden seemed to be renewing his friendship with Molly. While Holden was dealing with Molly's kidnapping at the hands of a mobster, and rescuing her, Lily was dealing with Craig's revelation that he believed Sierra's new husband, Alan Drake, was behind Lucy's kidnapping. In end, Lucy was found, and Craig became a hero when he rescued Lily from the kidnapper.

Meanwhile, Holden was grieving over the apparent death of his cousin, Jack, and attempted to comfort Molly, who was guilt-ridden over her part in it. Later, Lily was shocked when Holden confessed that he had kissed Molly, but stated that it was stopped before it went too far. Very soon after, Molly left, but the division between Holden and Lily was still there. Wanting to focus on their marriage, Holden told Lily to get Craig out of the guesthouse and sever ties with him. Although she reluctantly complied, it became obvious that Lily was going to continue her friendship with Craig and let herself be insinuated into his problems.

Things finally came to a head when Aaron was critically injured following a boxing accident. With Lily trying to help Craig with his problems, Holden found himself drawn to a woman named Julia Larrabee. The gulf between Holden and Lily widened, and he leaned on Julia for support and friendship. The final straw for the Snyder marriage was when Lily stood Holden up on New Year's Eve in order to help rescue a kidnapped Craig. Waiting alone, Holden encountered a lonely Julia, and the two continued to bond.

Days later, Holden decided to leave Lily. Lily couldn't bear it, though, and connived with Carly to get Julia out of Oakdale. However, their scheming only served to drive Holden further away and eventually into Julia's arms. Although Lily tried to plead with him to work on their marriage, Holden felt that he'd tried enough and refused. At the same time, Lily's actions toward Julia caused Holden to take out a restraining order against Lily on Julia's behalf.

That action would have serious consequences. When Luke found out what Holden had done, he went to Julia's apartment and, in a fit of anger, trashed her apartment. When he confessed to Lily about what he'd done, Lily went to the apartment to cover Luke's tracks. Unfortunately, Julia caught her in the act and the two argued. Their confrontation ended with Lily shoving Julia and Julia striking her head against a mantelpiece. Lily then left, leaving Julia unconscious, but alive. However, that night when Lily returned, Julia was dead.

Scared, Lily called Carly and they cleaned up the apartment to erase any evidence of Lily being there. The police suspected foul play and the investigation soon focused on Lily. In an attempt to protect Luke, Lily confessed to the argument after it was discovered that Luke had burned the evidence showing she was there. With Lily in danger of going to jail for manslaughter, Luke made a startling admission to her--he'd gone to Julia's that night after Lily and had killed Julia. In order to keep the police from looking into Luke as a suspect, Lily confessed to intentionally murdering Julia. Soon, new evidence emerged that implicated Julia's ex-husband, Les. Lily finally admitted that she'd been lying to protect Luke. Meanwhile, Lily was growing closer and closer to Julia's brother, Keith Morrisey.

While Les appeared to be the guilty party, Lucinda started suspecting that it was Julia's brother, Keith, who was the murderer. At one point, Lily saw Keith talking to a shady character and also thought Keith might be involved in Julia's murder, but when Keith admitted to Lily that he was in serious debt, she decided Lucinda was wrong. Lily wanted to help Keith out and gave him a place to stay. Holden started sharing Lucinda's concerns about Keith, as well. Lucinda finally informed Lily that Keith's debt was to the mob, and Keith confirmed the story and opted to get out of Lily's life. However, by that point, Lily's feelings for him had grown and she told him to stay in town.

Later, Lily paid off Keith's debts, despite his reluctance. That same night, the pair made love. Anxious to prove that Lucinda was wrong about Keith, Lily did some investigating and discovered some evidence that suggested Keith could have killed Julia so he'd inherit money. Confronting Keith over his planting evidence in Les's car, Keith confessed that he'd only done it to make sure the man who'd murdered his sister was punished. In the end, Les turned out to be guilty, and Lily bonded even further with Keith when he saved her life in a fire Les set. Several weeks later, the relationship ended when Lily learned that Keith had transported Lucinda, who was suffering from cancer, to Mexico for alternative treatment.

Distressed by her mother's decision to end her chemotherapy, Lily was livid that Keith had gone against Lily's wishes and had helped her mother. Things got worse when Luke secretly boarded Keith's plane and was lost in Mexico. Keith, Lily, and Holden traveled to Mexico to find him. Meanwhile Lucinda told Keith's secret to Lily--he was illegally transporting human organs. While in Mexico searching for Luke, Lily and Holden wound up making love. Luckily, they were able to find Luke. After returning home, Lily and Holden decided to work on their relationship just as Keith returned to town. Disgusted by what Keith did for a living, Lily ordered him out of her house and her life.

Later, Lily and Holden received devastating news--Luke's time in Mexico had damaged his kidney. He needed a transplant, but no one was a match. That was when Keith stepped in and offered to find a suitable kidney--for a price: Lily's hand in marriage. Desperate, Lily agreed to the terms. Although she tried to keep the reason for her change of heart a secret, Holden figured out that the kidney was from Keith and that was why Lily was marrying him. Despite her marriage to Keith, Lily and Holden began an affair. A few weeks later, Lily decided that she couldn't continue in her sham marriage and pleaded with Keith to release her from her promise. To her relief, he did, and Lily and Holden renewed their wedding vows. Lily and Holden were happy when they discovered they were expecting another child.

At the same time, a young woman named Jade Taylor entered the Snyders' lives claiming to be the daughter Rose gave up for adoption. Although the Snyders could verify that Rose had given birth to a daughter when she was a teenager, there was no proof that Jade was that daughter. Lily decided to take the girl at her word, despite the objections of her mother and Holden. Later, Jade was caught in a few lies, which aroused Lily's suspicions. Lily did some investigating and discovered that Rose's daughter was named Theresa; Jade Taylor was someone else. Lily felt she had been conned and was all set to throw Jade out, when she and Holden found her in bed with Luke. Luke then shocked his parents by saying that he was in love with Jade.

Despite the fact that Jade had betrayed her, Lily let the girl stay out of fear that Luke would run away with Jade. As the weeks went by, Jade's presence put a certain amount of strain on Lily, causing her to have an attack and be hospitalized for the night. Not long after, Luke approached his parents and confessed to them that he was gay. Though Lily tried to tell Luke that he was simply confused, Holden admitted that he'd suspected it for some time and felt Luke was telling the truth. Luke's revelation prompted Lily to question how she'd raised him.

Although both Holden and Lucinda tried to make her realize that all that mattered was that Luke was healthy and happy, Lily was still unnerved. Later, Lily talked to Holden about sending Luke to a therapist. Holden objected to that idea. Days later, Lily got an unexpected visit from Damian. Damian informed her that his situation had been fixed and no one was out to get him or his family any longer. When Lily told him she didn't think it'd be a good idea for him to see Luke, Damian gave her a Grimaldi heirloom to give to Luke to pass on to his son. Believing her son would never have a family of his own, Lily burst into tears.

At that point, Luke arrived at home and saw Damian. He asked Lily if she had called in the big guns to "fix" him. Lily denied it, and Luke announced that he wanted no relationship with his father. When Damian asked why Luke seemed so sad, Lily admitted that their son thought he was gay. As Damian wondered if maybe Lily and Holden's parenting had driven Luke to question his sexuality, he offered to help Lily with her problem. Damian suggested that Luke go to a special camp where therapists could decide whether Luke was actually gay or just confused. Although Lily agreed, something didn't seem right, and when she checked out the camp, she was horrified to learn that it "reprogrammed" young gay men to be straight.

Meanwhile, Luke had met with the head of the camp, Dr. Kreeger, who informed him that he would be going to a camp for young men. Luke realized what kind of camp it was and rushed home to confront his mother. Luke believed the camp was his mother's idea and angrily lashed out at Lily and rushed upstairs. Lily tried to convince Luke that she was ready to accept him, but he didn't believe her and shoved her away from him. Unfortunately, Luke pushed too hard, and Lily stumbled down the stairs and lapsed into a coma.

Later, the baby moved into the breech position and Holden was told that unless the baby was delivered, it could die. However, there was a chance that Lily could die from the caesarian. Holden realized that Lily would never forgive him if he chose her life over their child's and told the doctors to go ahead with the caesarian. Luckily, both Lily and their new baby boy, whom Holden named Ethan, came through just fine, but Lily continued to linger in a coma for months. When she finally emerged from her coma, she had no memory of being pregnant, though her memory did gradually return.

In the meantime, Lily became preoccupied with the weight she had gained while pregnant. Terribly insecure about her appearance, Lily started taking diet pills. At the same time, Craig manipulated an already insecure Lily in order to get an "in" at Worldwide. Drawing on their long friendship, Craig offered to help Lily with a business deal she was negotiating with a baby food company. He not only helped to seal the deal, but also helped settle a potentially nasty court battle when the baby food was contaminated. Since Lily was out to prove her worth to her mother, which Craig capitalized on, all this was done in secret, and Craig got Lily to sign over control of WorldWide to him. Since he had rushed Lily, she had no idea what she'd signed until it was too late.

Throughout all of this, Lily had developed a dangerous addiction to the diet pills. Soon Lily realized that her preoccupation with her weight was having a detrimental effect on Faith--who had developed an eating disorder. Lily sought help for her addiction. Months later, the already tenuous Snyder marriage came close to a breaking point when Lily got caught up in Dusty Donovan's problems. Soon after, Dusty saved Lily from conducting business with a woman named Cheri Love. Cheri, a madam, was murdered. When Dusty was arrested for the murder, Lily not only paid his bail but also hid his gun. When she admitted to Holden what she'd done, he demanded that she give the police the gun or their marriage was over. Despite Holden's demands that she stay out of Dusty's problems, Lily took it upon herself to help Dusty prove his innocence.

Believing that the madam had numerous enemies, Lily, without Holden's knowledge, went undercover as a hooker to get information. Finally, Dusty and Lily found that the guilty party could very well be Colonel Winston Mayer--Cheri's ex-husband and the father of the man Luke had feelings for. In the end, Mayer, who had murdered Cheri, tried to kill both Dusty and Lily. The homophobic colonel also attacked Luke, but Holden stopped him. In the end, Mayer was arrested, and Luke ended up paralyzed from the attack. Angry over Lily's secrecy, not only about helping Dusty but also that Col. Mayer might be dangerous, Holden suggested they separate.

Dusty freely lent his support to a lonely Lily and wanted to cheer up his old friend. One night, he took Lily to their old hangout--Mabel's Red Hots. The place was long abandoned but the jukebox was still working, and the pair shared a dance. Soon things turned passionate, and at that point, the old friends became lovers. Though her family disapproved of her running around with Dusty, Lily defied them, since Holden was the one who wanted the divorce in the first place. Though she obviously wanted to reunite with Holden, he made it clear that things between them couldn't be fixed.

Lily and Dusty continued their affair for weeks and made plans to meet at Metro for New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, Dusty never showed. To make matters worse, she saw Holden on a date with his lawyer, Bonnie. The next day, Dusty found Lily, who was upset that he'd stood her up. She was even angrier when he confessed that he had missed their date because he and Emily had made love. Suddenly, Lily lashed out at his betrayal. Dusty was shocked, since he'd never promised her anything and felt she would eventually reunite with Holden anyway. At that point, Lily went into a downward spiral that would have serious repercussions.

Dangerously depressed over the state of her marriage and the loss of Dusty, Lily felt she had nothing left and accepted a pill from a total stranger at a bar. The pills knocked her out and when she forgot to pick up Faith, Holden went looking for her and found her unconscious in her room. Luckily, he was able to wake her up and gently spoke about how worried he was when she didn't wake up at first. Seeing that Lily was distraught, Holden offered to take her to the farm to care for her. Holden backed off when Lily misinterpreted his kindness as a sign that their family would be back together.

Afterwards, Lily got a prescription for more pills and started acting erratically. After making a scene at the farm over seeing Bonnie with Holden, Lily had a few drinks at the Lakeview lounge and confronted Emily. Lily angrily admonished Emily for sleeping with Dusty. Later, she happened to meet a woman who worked with Emily, but not at the Intruder. The woman worked for Cheri and told Lily that Emily had once been one of Cheri's girls. That meant Emily had been a hooker. An agitated Lily went to Dusty with the information and learned that he already knew. Dusty believed that Lily was either drunk or high and warned Lily to keep quiet about Emily's past. Lily was so incoherent that Dusty took her to her room at the Lakeview and put her to bed.

Unfortunately, Lily didn't stay. Instead, she went to Emily's suite and left an anonymous note for Emily's boyfriend, Chris Hughes, and told him what Emily had done for a living. Lily then went to the hospital where Evan Walsh IV's project was being unveiled---a project that Dusty was fighting against being approved. When Emily accused Dusty of telling Chris her secret, Dusty realized who had and confronted Lily. Lily caused a scene and, in the course of their argument, Dusty stated that their friendship was over.

Meanwhile, Lily was popping pills like candy and finally passed out alone in the corridor. Luckily, Holden found her, and her stomach was quickly pumped. Hours later, Lily woke briefly and informed Holden that Dusty was dead. That startled Holden because Dusty had been found murdered. It was learned later that someone had injected Dusty with a drug that stopped his heart. Lily was soon released from the hospital under Holden's supervision, but had no memory of what had happened the night of her overdose and Dusty's murder.

In the meantime, Holden was being extremely protective of Lily and even tried to keep her from attending Dusty's funeral. After the service, Lily had another run-in with Emily and said that she was the one who had told Chris Emily's secret. Days later, Lily was shocked when Holden was arrested for Dusty's murder. Lily assured Holden that she would hire the best attorneys, but he refused. In fact, he would not offer any kind of defense at all. Lily went to Bonnie and asked her to help Holden and later posted his bail.

In the meantime, Holden insisted that Lily had to take care of herself for the sake of her family. Soon, Lily remembered finding a syringe the night of her overdose and realized that Holden thought she'd killed Dusty. He was covering for her. Lily asked why, and Holden explained that the night Dusty had died, they had argued, and Dusty had called Holden on pushing Lily away. A regretful Holden admitted that he had been too harsh on Lily and had driven her into Dusty's arms. He went on to explain that the night of the murder, he had found Lily with a syringe and believed she might have killed Dusty. Lily understood and said she had not killed Dusty.

Lily began to have flashbacks to the night of the murder and remembered seeing Dusty's dead body close to the syringe. She also remembered seeing Emily rush out of the room where Lily had found Dusty. Not long after, Lily got a call from a man claiming to have been working for Dusty. The man told Lily he had information that Dusty wanted. Fearing for his life, the man demanded that Lily go and meet him alone. Despite her objections, Holden followed Lily, and the two were shocked to find the man dead. Later, Lily got a strange phone call from Lucinda. While pretending that she was speaking to her chauffeur, Lucinda used coded phrases to alert Lily to the fact that she needed money and was being held hostage.

Unfortunately, Lily didn't understand the message and met Lucinda at Memorial. There, Lily walked right into a trap, and Evan Walsh held both ladies hostage. During the crisis, Lily learned that Lucinda had arranged for Evan to be in town to help Lucinda get her company from Craig. Unfortunately, all that Evan cared about was his research project, and he was willing to kill to see that it went through. It became clear that Evan had drugged Bob Hughes and murdered Dusty when Dusty was on the verge of finding out. Evan dragged the ladies to the roof but luckily, Lily got the upper hand and stabbed Evan with his own syringe, and Evan was killed instantly. Afterwards, Lily blamed Lucinda for Dusty's death, but decided to keep her mother's part in Evan's presence in town a secret. Meanwhile, Holden and Lily decided to try to put their marriage back together.

However, this time, they agreed there could be no more secrets. When Lily admitted that she had one but it wasn't hers to tell, Holden surprised Lily by stating that he'd have to trust her enough to not ask for details. Unfortunately, harmony wouldn't last for very long. Mere weeks later, Lily received a box full of Dusty's belongings. Insecure, Holden asked Lily to get rid of the box. Lily complied but hid a few items away as mementos. When Holden found the missing items, he lashed out at Lily for keeping secrets, since that was the entire root of their marital problems. Distressed at her inability to be entirely honest with Holden, Lily decided to go to Iva's for a visit to clear her head.

After two weeks Lily returned and, though she and Holden seemed to get closer, he was still reluctant to commit to a total reconciliation. Frustrated, Lily arranged a night alone with Holden in the hopes that they would reconnect. Though the plan worked, with them making love, Holden was livid when he learned that their "spontaneous" night without the kids was really a grand deception. Finally, on Carly's advice, Lily decided that her family had been uprooted long enough and moved back with her children to their own home. Soon after, Holden unexpectedly moved back home as well. Weeks later, Lily was floored when Holden confessed that he and Carly had slept together. Making matters worse was his uncertainly as to his real feelings for Carly, which began when Lily was out of town.

Because Holden had spent years preaching honesty, Lily was incensed at his betrayal and lashed out at Holden. When Holden told Carly what he'd done, she went to speak to Lily. Unfortunately, at that moment, Lily was returning home, and the sight of Carly filled her with such rage that she almost ran her down. Luckily for Carly, Lily swerved away at the last minute. The next day, Lily told everyone, including Jack, what she'd done and why she'd done it. She then sought a divorce from Holden, despite Emma's pleas that they work things out. Later, still vulnerable, Lily had a one-night stand with Mike and wasted no time telling Holden. Over the next few months, Lily and Holden appeared to work through their problems and reconciled.

However, one point of contention was Damian, who had returned to town. Though Lily was convinced that Damian was a changed man, Holden was extremely skeptical. When Damian began dating Meg, Lily couldn't help but be jealous. Meanwhile, while on a trip to Kentucky, Holden was presumed dead when his truck was found in a ravine. Though the body was charred beyond recognition, his clothes, watch, and wedding ring were found on the body. Convinced that Holden was dead, a devastated Lily sought comfort from Damian. Finally, after several weeks of leaning on Damian for support, Lily accepted his marriage proposal.

On the day of the wedding, a very much alive Holden returned. Disgusted that Lily had jumped into marriage so soon after his presumed death, Holden moved into the Lakeview. Since Holden had been legally declared dead, it was up to Lily to decide whether her marriage to Damian should be considered valid. When Lily seemed unwilling to keep Damian out of her life, Holden made the decision for her and opted out of their marriage.

Meanwhile, Holden and Molly began investigating Meg's story that Damian had covered up the fact that the body found was not Holden's--meaning that he knew all along that Holden could have been alive. Molly ultimately found the proof and told Holden. Meanwhile, Meg crashed Damian and Lily's vacation, and as Meg and Damian fought over a syringe, Damian inadvertently choked Meg with her scarf. Thinking Meg was dead, Damian dumped her body in a trunk. Lily found her and when Holden showed up, Lily told him everything. A revived Meg popped out of the trunk, and Damian fled. Luke informed Holden that Damian went on the run, and Holden confronted Damian at the docks. After a brawl with Holden, Damian disappeared and was presumed dead when a body matching his description washed up on the shore.

Though Holden was booked for murder, unbeknownst to everyone, Damian was alive. When, thanks to Molly, the Maltese government backed down on seeking extradition for Holden, Damian returned to Oakdale in secret and manipulated Faith to destroy the Snyder family. Faith tried to trick Lily into unwittingly meeting Damian, but under Lily's interrogation, Faith revealed that Damian was alive. Molly informed Holden that Damian had checked Faith out of her school. Holden escaped police custody, and Molly and he arrived at Damian's rendezvous spot to find Damian tying up Faith. Damian knocked Holden out and absconded to a warehouse with Lily. Though Damian tried to convince Lily that they belonged together, she was appalled at what he'd done and said that she was an obsession with him. Undeterred, Damian warned her that she'd change her mind after being alone with him at sea. At that point, Molly trailed them, and Holden arrived after Damian had locked Molly in a closet. Following an intense confrontation, police hauled Damian off to jail.

Meanwhile, her parents' issues were taking their toll on Faith who began using drugs. When Faith began confiding in Molly, Lily got jealous and demanded that Molly stay away from her children. However, Lily relented and allowed Molly to befriend her daughter. Soon, Lily and Holden decided that Faith should live at the farm for a while. When Faith got caught with pills at school, Lily lied for Faith, and then Lily and Holden took Faith to the cabin for an intervention. Faith got drunk at the cabin, and after Faith threw a tantrum, Lily finally got through to her daughter. Holden and Lily bonded through parenting and Lily eventually professed her love for him. However, Holden told her that it was over between them, and she needed to let him go. Unable to deal with Holden's impending marriage to Molly, Lily suddenly decided to go to France. The day before the wedding, Lucinda convinced Holden to follow Lily to France and get her to come home. Holden convinced Lily to fly home from France, but bad weather grounded them in Montreal. He finally made it home, but Molly had already canceled the wedding.

At the same time, Lily had befriended Craig again when she learned that the son he never knew he had—Gabriel Carras--was living in Oakdale. Gabriel was the product of an affair Craig had with a maid while he was married to Sierra. The boy's mother asked that Craig not be told, and Sierra kept the secret telling no one but Lucinda and Lily. Now, almost twenty years later, Lily was convinced that Craig deserved to know the truth and, against Lucinda's advice, told Craig who Gabriel was.

Soon after, Craig talked Lily into going into the perfume business with Carly, who could never know that Craig was financing the venture. Lily tried to cancel the perfume factory deal when she learned that bribery might be required to get the building up to code. However, Craig talked her into going through with it and later asked his investor, Blackthorn, for more money. Unfortunately, Blackthorn was hired by Lucinda to sell Craig a nonexistent factory in the hopes that Craig would be financially ruined. Luckily, Craig caught on and informed Lily of her mother's scam. Craig offered to prove himself to Lily by helping her rebound from the Carlisle scam; however, he said she'd have to put up her own money that time. Upset that Lucinda used her in a scheme against Craig, Lily stood up to her mother and declared that she wanted her out of her life. However, Lily had a change of heart and told Lucinda that their estrangement would not be permanent. Afterwards, Lucinda left it up to Lily to decide if she wanted to run Worldwide and rebuild her relationship with her mother. Lily's stance with her mother impressed Holden and he began to remember why he fell in love with her.