Billy Lewis, oldest son of the Lewis family, was born and raised in Tulsa, went to college and played one year of pro football with his best friend Hampton Speakes. After the death of his first wife (who bore him a daughter, Melinda "Mindy" Sue), Billy married Reva Shayne, who was the childhood sweetheart of his kid brother, Josh. Billy and Reva stayed married for eight years before getting divorced. Billy was first mentioned in 1982 when he dealt with Alan Spaulding, who wanted to temporarily merge Spaulding with Lewis Oil. Billy agreed to the deal, earning Josh's wrath. Angry at being left out of the loop, Josh created a rival company, LTA with Amanda Spaulding and Ross Marler.

In May 1983, Billy moved to Springfield permanently with his teenage daughter Mindy. A good businessman, Billy bought Amanda's shares of LTA when she left town. About this time, Billy met sophisticated businesswoman Vanessa Chamberlain at the engagement party for Nola Reardon and Quint Chamberlain. Vanessa was at first repelled by the cowboy wanna-be, but soon found herself succumbing to Billy's charms. Meanwhile, psycho Eli Simms wanted to kill all the men who befriended his late wife over twenty years ago on a business/fishing trip. Since H.B. was on that fateful fishing trip, Eli planted a bomb in Billy's car and Billy was presumed dead. But after a few days Billy returned alive and well since he was merely out of town. When Billy returned, Vanessa realized that she truly loved Billy. In the end, that November, Eli was killed by H.B. in self-defense while Billy and Vanessa confessed their love for each other and made plans to marry. Unfortunately, Billy had competition in the form of Alan who tried to break up the couple by bringing Billy's ex-wife, Reva, to town. Billy tried to keep Reva's appearance from Vanessa and he attempted to get rid of Reva by bribing her but was unsuccessful. Thereafter, Reva claimed that they were not legally divorced and demanded $ 5 million for a divorce, whereupon Billy agreed in order to prevent problems with Vanessa. However, in early 1984, Vanessa learned about Reva anyway and was furious with Billy. By this time, Vanessa was also getting tired of waiting for Billy. Though she hired a surfer named Lance as her secretary only to make Billy jealous, Billy was still too busy to devote time to Vanessa, and she found herself falling prey to Alan's charms, a fact that hurt Billy. In the meantime, Billy found the divorce decree and, with Reva's help, persuaded Josh to merge LTA with Lewis Oil in order to provide better competition to Alan. On Valentine's Day, Vanessa organized a masked ball as a welcome party for Alexandra Spaulding at the Country Club. Determined to marry the woman he loved, Billy threw Vanessa over his shoulder in front of everyone and stated that no one would leave until she was his wife! Billy then arranged, through Mindy and Trish, for a priest to arrive and he and Vanessa were married on the spot.

Not long after, Mindy became pregnant and, when she claimed it was Rick Bauer's child, Billy argued with Rick's dad, Ed and Ed told Billy that he had proof that Phillip Spaulding was actually the baby's father. As a result, Billy crashed Mindy and Rick's wedding and confronted Mindy about Phillip's parentage. Although Phillip then married Mindy for the sake of the child, Mindy lost the child and the marriage was over. Meanwhile, to Billy's shock, Reva suddenly married H.B. Later, when H.B. was out of town, Billy caught Reva and Josh in bed and, furious, he threw Reva out of the house. However, later he would start to accept their relationship and when Reva became pregnant with H.B.'s child, Billy urged Josh to convince Reva to have an abortion. Unfortunately, it was too late because H.B. had overheard their conversation and Josh left town, while Billy decided to no longer intervene. Meanwhile, Vanessa had given birth to little Bill but she became obsessed with Bill. She was placed on tranquilizers but she soon became addicted to them. One day in February 1985, a dazed Vanessa ran over a pregnant Reva and she lost her baby while Billy's new client and owner of Sampson Industries, Kyle Sampson, rescued her. Because Reva didn't recognize the driver, Billy kept quiet to protect Vanessa who now realized that she has a problem and recovered. To Billy's shock a scheming Kyle then took over Lewis Oil after arranging a bad business deal. Meanwhile, he not only claimed to be H.B.'s son but made public the fact that Vanessa was the one who struck Reva. Billy hated Kyle for his actions and when Kyle and Reva went to Alaska to search for an amnesiac Roxie and disappeared, Billy went looking for the couple. He found them at a farm out West and, thinking that Kyle kidnapped Reva, an angry Billy began beating him up. Kyle responded by hitting him with a shovel. Billy remained in a coma for a few days after Kyle and Reva brought him back home.

When he recovered, Billy's hatred of Kyle was stronger than ever and he developed a serious drinking and gambling problem, losing lots of money at poker to Warren Andrews at the Blue Orchid. When Warren demanded his money, Billy had no choice but to dip into Mindy's trust fund. Blaming Kyle for his problems, he even planned to shoot and kill him at a party in the Blue Orchid. Fortunately, Kyle's mother, Sally Gleason, talked him out of it. Concerned about the animosity between Kyle and Billy, Sally and H.B. claimed that Kyle was H.B.'s son but Billy continued to hate Kyle anyway. About this time, the nefarious Largo organization wanted to take over Sampson Industries and kill Kyle. So Largo and his henchman David Preston, who was also Kyle's assistant, decided to use Billy's hatred to their advantage. Hypnotizing him with Largo's ring symbol during poker games, David programmed Billy to kill Kyle when he would see the logo of the organization (two rings which merge into one another), which was ironically the same logo as Beth Raines and Jackson Freemont had created for Lujack's music video. The killing was to happen during Mindy's wedding to Kurt Corday.. There during the screening of Lujack's music video, a programmed Billy pulled a gun and aimed it at Kyle, but when H.B. called out Billy's name in the ensuing melee, David was shot instead! Police Lt. Jeff Saunders arrested Billy for David Preston's murder. Billy was tried for David's murder and the attempted murder of Kyle. Afterwards, Kurt and Lujack destroyed Largo's and Beth and Jackson, who'd been kidnapped by Largo and knew of his schemes, testified on Billy's behalf. Billy was finally exonerated when Suzette Saxon confessed to shooting and killing David. After the trial, Kyle merged Sampson Industries with Lewis Oil into Sampson-Lewis Oil. In 1986, Billy would learn a shocking secret: while H.B. wasn't Kyle's father; Sally was Billy's mother! Although angry and confused, Billy accepted the situation and he and Kyle put aside their differences and resolved to act like brothers while Billy won back the money he lost from Warren. Then Billy found out that Vanessa and Ross had a daughter together that Vanessa gave up at birth. Jealous over Vanessa and Ross's new bond, Billy divorced Vanessa and left for Venezuela in January 1987.

In June 1989, Billy returned to Springfield shortly before Josh and Reva's wedding and helped Josh to get rid of Josh's enemy Will Jeffries, who ironically was not only a criminal but also Mindy's husband! Later, Billy tried to help the rebellious Dylan. At the same time, Billy opened his own nightclub "Heartbreakers" with Hamp. In the meantime, Vanessa had returned as well and, although she and Billy became closer again, Vanessa realized that Billy was still in love with Reva. Not long after, Billy was shocked to learn from Josh that Reva had been raped at the age of 16 and since Josh believed the rapist could only be someone from Tulsa, he suddenly remembered a man who once had made a pass at Reva when she was only 13. As a result, Billy and Josh rushed to Tulsa and brought the suspect man to Springfield. But the man turned out to be innocent. Later, Billy was shocked to learn from Reva that he was father of her first-born child due to a one-night-stand they had years ago and. Apparently Reva lied about the rape to protect Billy. After this revelation, Billy confessed his love for Reva but he didn't want to pursue her out of respect for Josh, whereupon he left town for a few days to clear his head. Meanwhile, Dylan was falsely accused of kidnapping Susan Lemay and ran away to Cross Creek along with his new love, Samantha Marler. Although Reva was able to find him, she accidentally hit him with her car. Reva, Sam and Billy, who ended up in Cross Creek as well, helped Dylan and Reva recognized him as her son due to a birthmark on his knee. She confessed to Dylan that she was his mother but she and Billy agreed not to tell him or Josh that Billy's his father. Meanwhile, Billy unsuccessfully tried to pursue Vanessa, while at the same time trying to get a business deal away of Roger Thorpe and the Spauldings so he tried to prevent a meeting between Roger and sheik Al Radi from Saudi Arabia but was unsuccessful.

At this time, Billy and Josh made up and Dylan learned that Billy was his father and he was proud of being a Lewis. On New Year's Eve, Billy and Josh went to Saudi Arabia to get the business deal between the sheik and Roger for themselves but after Josh left Billy alone in January 1990, Vanessa seduced Billy and she even accepted Billy's marriage proposal. Unfortunately, as a result of the lovemaking, Billy missed his business meeting with the sheik and Roger got the final deal. Although Vanessa didn't do that intentionally, an angry and hurt Billy broke up with her. Meanwhile, Blakewood Towers (later Waterview Towers) was being constructed by Spaulding Enterprises, namely Roger Thorpe, and a huge fire swept through 5th Street by Roger's fault, with most of the occupants losing everything. Feeling sympathy for an older black woman named Ruth Price, Billy gave her a job as his housekeeper. During this time it was revealed that the Spauldings leased the land that the Towers stood on for a one hundred year period. That period of time was up and the rightful owner was Ruth! But Ruth had a heart problem and she knew she would die so she wanted to leave Billy the Towers in her will. She also threatened Roger with it, and during a visit from Roger, Ruth suffered a heart attack. Roger then stole the document that declared Billy as the new Towers owner. Later Roger kidnapped Ruth from Cedars Hospital to his apartment under the care of a bribed doctor. Ruth died and Roger secretly brought Ruth's body back to Cedars. Meanwhile, Reva suffered from post-partum depression and she picked Roger up one night and Roger took nude photos of her with the intention of blackmailing Billy. Unfortunately, Reva got the lease Roger had stolen from Ruth. Finally, the night the Towers was about to open to the public, Billy, Hampton, Henry and Vanessa got Roger distracted and he wound up burning the Reva photos instead of the lease. Billy then produced the lease and became the legal owner of Towers. After the Towers affair, Vanessa and Billy grew closer again and planned to remarry. Even little Bill accepted his father again and Billy had his family back.

Unfortunately, Reva then was presumed dead in Florida and when Billy learned of Reva's "death", he began drinking again and began an affair with Nadine Cooper who fell in love with him. When Vanessa learned that Billy was in Cross Creek with Nadine while she was standing at the altar, she broke the engagement. Unfortunately, Billy's drinking affected his work performance as well and he was fired from Lewis Oil. Suddenly, Billy and Sarah apparently saw Reva on television in Italy and, in January 1991, Josh finally moved to Italy to search for Reva. Although Billy thought he would replace Josh at Lewis Oil, Josh named Vanessa instead. Betrayed, Billy went to Las Vegas with Nadine and married her. Later, he stopped drinking and with Vanessa's help, he again got control of Lewis Oil. He also had an affair with Vanessa but after Nadine trapped him in bed at Cross Creek, Billy reunited with Nadine and remarried her in a church ceremony.

Thanks to Alex, Billy then learnt of Mindy's affair with Roger. Shocked and outraged, Billy beat Roger up and it was only Hamp who stopped Billy from killing him. Though Billy disowned Mindy, he finally forgave her with H.B.'s intervention. In 1992, Billy helped Vanessa press charges against Jack Kiley, a businessman who attempted to rape her. Though Vanessa didn't want her name in the newspapers, Nadine spitefully leaked the information to the press. The trial against Kiley finally ended up in a hung jury. After the trial, Kiley celebrated his victory in the Blue Moon, he got drunk and Billy assaulted him and threatened to kill him if he wouldn't confess the truth. So Kiley broke down and confessed his attempt to rape. Hamp and Dylan witnessed Billy's move and Hamp got Kiley's confession on videotape. Days later, Billy arranged for Vanessa's friends and Jack and Mrs. Kiley and Rebecca to meet at the Blue Moon and he publicly showed the video tape, so Kiley was exposed and Mrs. Kiley told him it's over between them. Vanessa was vindicated. Vanessa thanked Billy for his help and Billy confessed his love to her, while he wanted to find the one who leaked Vanessa's name to the press. Before Nadine was able to confess being the culprit herself, reporter Jerry, who had been fired, arrived and told Billy the truth. Furious with Nadine, Billy left to think about his life and met a bum, who offered him a bottle of alcohol. Billy offered the bum a ride and ended up in an accident. The bottle of alcohol was found and Det. Eugene Levy thought that Billy was drunk while driving. However, a blood test proved Billy's innocence and he moved in with Mindy to the Lighthouse.

Meanwhile, Nadine tried to win Billy back by faking a robbery in their house and by flirting with Ross but Billy was unimpressed. At this time, the Blue Moon had to close and Billy became Hamp's partner at the Towers Club. He then signed his divorce papers and wanted to reunite with Vanessa. Bill also wanted his parents to reunite but Vanessa was involved with Fletcher and, to Fletcher's dismay, she and Billy hesitated to tell Bill about the relationship. However, Bill was no fool and after realizing the truth, he ran away. Finally, Bill was seen in Cross Creek and Billy found him before he was able to run away again. Billy still wanted to marry Vanessa and, although she turned him down because of Fletcher, they kissed anyway until a call from Fletcher interrupted them. Suddenly Billy learned from Bridget Reardon that Nadine was pregnant and since he knew that he had been sleeping with her at that time, Billy realized that he was the baby's father. Ironically, at this time, Vanessa broke up with Fletcher and Billy was torn between his love for her and the baby. Billy wanted to have the baby since he felt it's his last chance to be a father again and to see the baby growing up, a fact that he had missed with Dylan. H.B. agreed with his reasoning, so Billy offered to move back in with Nadine but she refused and let Bridget move in with her instead. In January 1993, Billy was glad to learn from Dylan that Mindy was in New York, so he rushed there and asked her to return home. However, after Mindy's return, Billy was shocked to learn that none other than Roger had helped her to disappear. At the same time, Billy was shocked to learn of the death of Vanessa's best friend, Maureen in a car accident and he consoled a grieving Vanessa.

Though he loved Vanessa, Billy forced Nadine to let him back home. Nadine complied but Billy had to stay in one of the guest rooms until the baby's birth. Though Billy tried to get rid of Bridget, Nadine convinced him to let her stay and help her. At this time, Billy was dismayed to see Mindy platonically bonding with Roger again and he attacked Roger with a knife at the Country Club but was stopped by Dylan and Hamp. In February, Billy was happy when Nadine gave birth to a baby boy whom Billy named him Peter. At this time, Roger and Jenna Bradshaw took over Spaulding, so Billy stopped all business relationships with Spaulding and hired Vanessa at Lewis Oil to Nadine's dismay. However, to ease Nadine, Billy also hired her cousin Rex Mancini and, with Rex's help, Billy and Vanessa were able to get an important client of Roger for themselves. After Billy hired Roger's son, Hart Jessup, spiteful Roger got revenge by making public the news that H.B., who was about to get a Governor's Award, had been in prison as a young man. When H.B. was about to get the award, Roger forced Gilly Grant to expose H.B. and, to Billy's disappointment, H.B. apologetically gave the award back. Furious, Billy hired Frank and Harley Cooper to find the one who helped Roger to get the information. Frank and Harley exposed Rex as the culprit but that wasn't the whole truth. Not long after, Billy accidentally overheard on a second phone how Rex forced Nadine to give him more money. Due to this conversation, Billy learned that Rex was actually Nadine's presumed dead ex-husband, Buzz Cooper!. Suddenly Nadine wanted to run off with Billy but after a confrontation with Vanessa, Nadine had to confess to Billy that Peter wasn't his son: she had faked her pregnancy to hold on Billy. The whole truth finally out, Billy wanted to remarry Vanessa and he forced Nadine to sign the divorce papers or else he would to turn her to the police. In addition, Billy decided to raise Peter as his own son with Vanessa. He promised Bridget that Peter would be safe with them and offered her help whenever she would need it. So Bridget gave them Peter and, Billy and Vanessa finally free, they remarried and legally became Peter's parents.

Later that year, Billy gave Bridget money so that she could help the fugitive David Grant, who was wanted for murder. This led to tension with Hampton who wanted to protect Kat from David. Meanwhile, Billy objected to Mindy's reunion with Nick because Nick hadn't wanted to give Mindy a second chance after her return and because he had been involved with Eve Guthrie. However, Nick was able to convince Billy otherwise and Billy agreed to help Alex to get Spaulding back from Roger. Meanwhile, Bridget considered raising Peter on her own and she was able to get him back, thanks to a clause in the custody agreement. Billy then made things worse when he offered Bridget money and she thought he was trying to. Finally, Bridget decided that it was best to let Peter stay with the Lewis'. Meanwhile, Roger sabotaged Dylan with one of his business clients. . Though the investors weren't able to press charges against Lewis Oil, Roger bought the other company and demanded $ 45 million from the Lewis'. Instead of paying, Dylan decided to declare bankruptcy. Furious at Roger, Billy vowed to get revenge on him, especially, after a drunken Roger made a public scene at a party. On Mindy and Nick's engagement party at the Country Club, Roger again made a public scene and disappeared on the same night, while some of his blood was found at the green house. Later at home, Billy accidentally overheard Vanessa and Dylan talking about Peter being Roger's grandson and, shocked, Billy started drinking again and tried to hide his drinking from the family. In January 1994, Nick caught Billy drinking and confronted him, whereupon Billy told Nick about Roger's relationship to Peter at the beach. Unbeknownst to them, Roger, overheard every word.. Later, Roger visited Billy at the garage and threatened to tell the police that Billy had shot him if he wouldn't give Peter to him. Billy refused and Roger knocked him out and escaped, whereupon Billy lied that an unknown man attacked him. Vanessa saw through his lie and after arguing with him about it, Billy confronted her with the truth about Peter's parentage. Finally, Roger was arrested for his schemes against the Spauldings and he immediately named Billy as the shooter.

Det. Patrick Cutter arrested Billy and he attacked Roger at the police department until the cops stopped and brought him to his cell. As for Nick, he found Billy's gun in Mindy's golf bag and only told Mindy about it.. When Mindy told the family about Billy's gun, Nick and Vanessa gave it to Cutter because they were convinced that Roger had framed Billy. However, the tests showed that the gun was indeed the murder weapon. Later, while he was out on bail, Vanessa caught Billy drinking and confronted him. Billy denied having an alcohol problem and lied that it was his first drink. Disappointed, Vanessa decided that she had enough of Billy's lies and left with Peter. Despite the fact that he was jumping bail, Billy followed her to Cross Creek. Though Billy asked Vanessa for a second chance, she refused since she could no longer trust him. Meanwhile, Roger, who was cornered by Nick about his schemes with the two shots, dropped his charges against Billy after Nick got Alex to drop her charges against Roger. However, Billy decided it was time to come clean with everything and confessed to Cutter that he was the one who shot Roger. At the same time, Josh's girlfriend, Tangie, confessed that she had witnessed the shooting but kept quiet to for the sake of the Lewis family. After the trial, Billy was sentenced to prison for nine years and he had the chance to get free on bail after four years. Before Billy left to prison out of Springfield, the family shared a tearful good-bye with him and Billy asked Josh to take care of the whole family. Meanwhile, Vanessa decided to fight for custody of Peter and, at the advice of her lawyer she decided to divorce Billy. Although she claimed that she only wanted to divorce him to have better chances to get Peter, Billy didn't believe her. However, he did sign the divorce papers and later gave Dylan a note to read at the custody hearing stating that Peter belonged to both Bridget and Vanessa. Billy's wish came true when Vanessa and Bridget agreed to share custody. Soon after, Vanessa, found a new love in form of Matt Reardon and when Billy learned about it from Bill in 1995, he encouraged Bill to accept the relationship.

In September 1996, Vanessa presumably died in a car accident and Billy got a free pass from prison one day to attend her funeral. He had to wear a bracelet and informed everyone that he would soon get free on probation. During the funeral, Billy met Matt for the first time. Now grieving for Vanessa, Billy made a speech in the chapel, speaking about his love for her. He then read a letter that she had written to him weeks ago and Josh and Bill brought him back to prison. In December of that year, Billy was prematurely released from prison and went to a half-away-house to finish out his sentence. He surprised his family by throwing a party and, in 1997, tried to reunite Josh and Reva despite the fact that Josh was married to Annie Dutton. Meanwhile, Buzz made a deal with the half-away-house so that Billy could serve out his probation while working at Buzz's diner. At about the same time, Josh let him back into the family business. Not long after, Billy, influenced by Reva, hired Cassie Layne as his assistant. Meanwhile, much to the family's sorrow H.B. died, Meanwhile, Billy started to fall for Cassie after they had a few dates. Unfortunately, this led to tension between him, Josh and Reva since they were suspicious of Cassie. Billy defended Cassie even when Reva discovered that Cassie was actually hired by Alan and Annie to spy for them at Lewis Oil so that Alan would take over the company, Billy wouldn't change his opinion until Hart Jessup told him that at this moment, Cassie was trying to seduce a drugged Josh. An outraged Billy was about to punch Hart but Reva stopped him and went home to stop Cassie. When the women argued, they realized that they were sisters and this led to the end of Alan and Annie's plans. Although Billy still loved Cassie, he realized that she was in love with Hart and they just remained friends. In 1998, thanks to a talk with Cassie, Billy was concerned about Josh and Reva's strained relationship. But what Billy didn't know was, that Josh, thanks to Annie, mistakenly thought that Reva was dead after a plane crash and that had allowed Dr. Michael Burke to produce a clone of Reva. The clone was creating havoc but before the truth was revealed with the result of the clone committing suicide and Reva returning alive. Later, Billy left Springfield for an extended business-trip.

In February 1999, Billy returned to Springfield from being out in the field and was outraged to learn that Josh allowed Alan to takeover Lewis Oil. Soon after, Billy was dismayed when Vanessa was arrested for keeping her fugitive daughter's whereabouts a secret, and got Vanessa released when he promised the police that he could get her to tell him Dinah's whereabouts (which he wasn't). Not long after, Billy met Selena Davis, and the two connect instantly and decided to go to a concert together, something that disconcerted Buzz since he was in love with Selena. Soon Selena admitted to him that she loved Buzz. Later that year, Josh told Billy and Cassie about Reva's situation—that there was a chunk of her life that she has no memory of. Trying to get answers about what happened to her when she was presumed dead, Reva headed for the island of San Cristobel , where she discovered that she married a prince. Believing her to be in danger, Billy and Josh tried to work out a plan to rescue Reva, though Billy objected when Josh revealed that he called mobster Danny Santos for help. But Reva was there on her own and she confessed to Billy that she still had feelings for Richard. Billy urged her to save her marriage with Josh. In other family developments, Billy was shocked one day when Bill was arrested for computer hacking. Vowing that Ben Warren (who set Bill up) will pay for what he did to Bill. Billy went to Cedars to talk to Ben about clearing Bill's name. When Ben maintained that the "mistake" was Bill's fault, and refused to help the innocent kid. Billy grabbed Ben. Luckily, a doctor broke up the scuffle. Meanwhile, when Phillip announced to the Lewis Oil group that they were going to be working with Richard on building the new Spaulding plant in San Cristobel , Josh, Billy, Jim and Matt quit their jobs. Josh and Billy soon created another company, Lewis Construction. At this time, Josh and Reva separated and Billy tried to help Reva to get rid of Olivia Spencer, whom Josh was now dating. Unfortunately, Billy wasn't successful and Josh and Reva divorced.

In 2000, Billy cooperated with Matt to prevent Vanessa, who had recently awakened from her coma, from directly testifying in the murder case of Ben Warren to keep Michelle Bauer from going to prison. However, Billy soon changed his mind and he and Holly convinced Matt that Vanessa had to confess. At the same time, Billy found himself attracted to Holly Lindsey Reade. They went out platonically but when Billy tried to convince Holly to go on a real date, Holly rejected him and stated that she just wanted to be friends for now. Soon Billy and Holly grew closer and when Holly stated that she didn't believe in romance, Billy successfully feigned disinterest in their relationship in order to prove her wrong. Soon after, Billy and Holly grew closer again at a fishing trip. Afterwards, a construction site collapsed. Billy and Bill survived the collapse, but Josh was badly injured. Billy was so shocked that he considered drinking again, but luckily Holly calmed and comforted him. Meanwhile, Billy agreed to be Josh's best men at his wedding with Olivia. Unfortunately, Billy missed the wedding when he was arrested in Florida for assaulting an EPA official. When Billy returned in March 2001, he learned he had a rival for Holly's affections: Buzz. Both men creatively fought for Holly's affection, including challenging each other to a hot-pepper eating contest. Later, when he overheard Holly and Buzz discussing the details of their trip to Moon Lake, Billy convinced Buzz to go with her to Las Vegas instead. Then Billy lied to Holly about Buzz's old gambling problems to separate the couple. Holly and Buzz realized Billy's plans and stayed together anyway while Buzz exacted his revenge on Billy by ordering a basket of manure to be delivered to him. Meanwhile, Josh suspected that Olivia had done some illegal transactions and Billy wanted to help him to uncover the truth. They soon discovered that Alan and Olivia were cooperating. Josh and Reva finally stopped Alan's plans to destroy the Lewis family and, to Billy's delight, Alan was forced to return Lewis Oil to the Lewis'.

In 2002, Billy helped Josh with business as well as his personal life. He was also shocked when Bill started dating the older Beth, and happy when the couple broke up in early 2003 and Bill started seeing Michelle Bauer, whom Billy felt was perfect for his son. Though that relationship ended rather quickly, Billy supported his son. He also lent his support to the family during Reva's stalking crisis. Late that summer, he finally met Bill's new girlfriend, Eden August, a woman who'd been in the news because of a series of murders connected to her escort service. Not one to mince words, Billy told Eden that he suspected that she was only after the Lewis money. When confronted by Bill, Billy tactlessly called Eden a tramp, which got Bill angry enough to hit his father!. After hearing Bill defend Eden's honor, Billy apologized to Eden and warned her to keep her promise to clean up her life because Bill was better than both of them.

Meanwhile, on October 17th, Josh and Billy paid their annual visit to the grave of Maryanne Caruthers, a woman who died 26 years earlier. Unfortunately the secret of Maryanne Caruthers was about to be discovered when out of the blue Marah asked Josh about the woman. Though he denied any knowledge of her, it was clear to Marah that Josh was lying. After weeks of stonewalling questions from Marah, Michelle Bauer, and Marina Cooper, Josh and Billy met with Buzz, Ed, and Alan to discussed what happened on that fateful night. In the 1970's, Billy had made several trips to Springfield, in order to scope the area out as a potential site for Lewis Oil. Billy talked Josh, a college student at the time, into accompanying him on one visit that would lead to disaster. For on the fateful night of October 17th, 1977, Billy and Josh would visit the Springfield Fair with their new acquaintances, Ed, Buzz and Alan. At the Fair, drinking beer and carousing, Alan would point out the lovely, very conceited Maryanne Caruthers and form a plan. Wanting to see the cold Maryanne make a fool of herself, Alan showed the other young men a vial of powder that contained a drug that he wanted to use on Maryanne to loosen her up. Although the other men weren't fond of the idea, they knew that Alan would do what he wanted. Though Billy warned Alan to not drug his brother's drink, Alan decided to drug the entire pitcher of beer, thus affecting all of them. Not long after, the group, plus Maryanne went joy riding, but an ill Maryanne asked to be driven home. It was then that Alan, who was driving the car, sped across Cutter's Bridge and suddenly unexpectedly went off the road! Though Alan told the men any attempt to go into the water to look for Maryanne was pointless since the water was too rough, Billy and Buzz dove in anyway, but failed to find any trace of Maryanne, Knowing they helped cause Maryanne's death, Alan, Wanting to preserve their lives, Alan persuaded the others to move on with their lives and forget that they ever knew a woman named Maryanne Caruthers.

Now, almost 30 years later, it appeared as if their secret was in danger of being discovered. Knowing they all had too much to lose, Alan convinced them to maintain their silence and they sealed their agreement by placing their hands on top of one another's as if to say "all for one, and one for all." The same day, Billy and Josh were shocked when Marah suddenly confronted them with the entire story of their connection to Maryanne and handed them a pick envelope! Reading the letter that Marah had delivered, the brothers learned that Alan was right--an anonymous witness knew the truth about what had happened and told them they'd pay the price. Under extreme stress, Josh secluded himself and Billy almost turned back to drink. Finally, Josh decided that the secret had stayed buried long enough and told Billy that he was going to confess everything to the police, only he'd tell them that he acted alone. Josh was set to confess all to the police, that is until he learned that someone may have tried to kill Michelle Bauer! Realizing that Marah could be in danger, Josh put off confessing and decided to instead investigate who was trying to destroy him and the others. Finally the mystery was solved on Valentine's Day when a mysterious older woman approached all 5 men separately and made veiled references to an event that happened almost thirty years ago. Instinctively knowing that she was the mystery person, their suspicions were confirmed when the woman, who was Maryanne's Aunt Carrie, met with them and demanded that they meet her at the old Fairgrounds, where it would all end. Days later, the men met at the Fairgrounds and were confronted by a horrific scenario. Led into a hall of mirrors, Carrie announced her plan--one of the girls would be killed in place of Maryanne; the men would have to choose. Then came a startling chain of events. Carrie suddenly appeared brandishing a gun, poised to shoot. However, because of the mirrors no one could tell what was the real Carrie. Although Buzz got out his gun (that he brought at Alan's insistence, so that they could take care of the threat), he was caught unaware by Carrie who shot him in the arm! Then Carrie pointed her gun at Josh and was set to fire when a shot rang out, apparently killing Carrie!,

Josh went to the police and confessed to murdering Carrie, who he painted as a deranged woman angry about not getting a job, in self-defense. Josh also decided that for the story to make sense, Alan could not have been there since he and Alan were never friends. Unfortunately, things would end up getting very complicated very quickly. Although the men thought they concocted an airtight story, in reality, it was flawed. Not only were the police suspicious of the statements of Buzz, Billy, and Ed (since there stories were too similar; almost rehearsed), but Alan found himself caught in a lie when he claimed not to be at the Fairgrounds and then was reported to have been spotted there. While the police had doubts about Josh's story, so did Reva who told Josh that she knew he was lying and asked him to tell her the truth. Tired of keeping the truth from her, Josh finally told Reva the secret of Maryanne. Meanwhile, not long after, Marah suddenly remembered the events of that night and confessed to the police! While Marah took responsibility for Carrie's death, Alan stepped up and took responsibility for Maryanne's by accepting a deal with the D.A.-immunity for her death in exchange for Spaulding's files.. Desperate to help Marah, Reva had herself hypnotized so she could finally speak with Maryanne. The plan worked and Maryanne showed Reva what happened that night in October 1977. Although the events happened as Carrie told the girls they had there was more to the story. It was then that Maryanne showed that she felt trapped by her controlling Aunt Carrie. Not only that, but Maryanne had survived that crash! Washed ashore on the other side of the river, she had been f0und and murdered by Carrie herself! Although the hypnosis almost cost Reva her life, she recovered and Carrie herself was apprehended when she attempted to murder Reva.

With the secret finally out, Billy settled into a normal life again. Unfortunately the same wouldn't be said for Bill. Several weeks after the Maryanne debacle was resolved, Billy learned that Eden (who was by now Bill's fiancée) had been killed in an explosion and was forced to break the news to his son. Angry and in despair, Bill started drinking heavily and acting erectly. Although Josh and Billy tried to get him to take leave from the company, Bill assured them that he was able to work. However, both men had their doubts, and when Olivia told Josh about Bill's destructive behavior (namely the fact that he held a gun on Tony Santos and trashed his own apartment). In lieu of what Olivia mentioned, as well as their own observations on Bill's drinking, Billy and Josh confronted Bill and asked him to step down as President of Lewis Construction in the interim. However, Bill was quickly able to appease Josh and get back into the business. However, not long after, Bill severed ties with Lewis when Josh questioned his business practices, notably his working with Tony. Although Bill's partnership with Tony ended rather quickly, he soon found himself in business with Olivia. When Billy learned about this latest development, he tried to warn Olivia to stay away from Bill, but Bill defied his father and defended their partnership. Determined to get Olivia out of his son's life, Billy called INS and arranged for Olivia to get deported. Unfortunately for Billy, the plan backfired in a big way--by Bill marrying Olivia to keep her in the country! Although both Bill and Olivia suspected that Phillip was behind the attempted deportation, Phillip knew the truth and threatened Billy that he would use that knowledge to blackmail Billy. Instead of blackmailing him, though, Phillip revealed the truth instead. Though Billy tried to explain his motivation to Bill, Bill refused to accept his father's apologies since his stunt could have caused Olivia to lose custody of her baby girl.

Not long after, Phillip ended up dead of a gunshot wound. The suspects were numerous, and included Olivia herself. In the midst of this, Bill had forgiven his father. Not long after, Billy had a tense conversation with Harley when she accused him of murdering Phillip. (since a witness had seen Billy's car at Company that night) Although he convinced her that he had nothing to do with it, immediately after he made a cryptic call. Apparently, the night that Phillip was murdered, Billy hired a man named Harris to threaten Phillip. Fearing that Harris had gone too far, Billy called him and demanded that he disappear. However, instead of disappearing, Harris, who never told Billy what exactly happened that night, demanded to be paid for his silence. Billy gave him his hush money but was plagued by guilt, when he learned that Buzz was arrested for Phillip's murder. Not wanting Buzz to pay for the crime, Billy went to the police station to tell Buzz what he'd done. However, while he was there, word came that Phillip's assistant, Ruth Karloff, had confessed to the crime. In the clear, Billy decided to keep quiet.

In early 2005, Billy received an emergency call for help from Bill, who was trapped inside Ravenwood with Olivia. Billy recruited Sandy to help and then disguised himself as a magician and created a disappearing act so Bill and Olivia could escape. At the end of the month, Billy and Josh tried to talk Bill into returning to Lewis Construction, but to no avail. In the meantime, Billy's disapproval of Olivia continued to drive a wedge between father and son. Billy confronted Olivia and vowed to do his part to open Bill's eyes to the truth about his wife. As Billy finally decided to back off Olivia, she told Billy that she knew his secret--that he hired Harris to scare Phillip the night he was killed. Olivia tried to blackmail Billy into giving her part ownership of Lewis Construction. Unfortunately, Bill overheard everything on the intercom and denounced both his wife and his father. Meanwhile weeks later, Harris suddenly started hounding Billy for more money. When Jonathan offered to take care of the problem for Billy eventually Billy entrusted Jonathan to do the job which he did. Meanwhile, Reva encouraged Billy to get back into the big business game by heading up Lewis Oil's new Venezuelan enterprise. While trying to woo the clients at Outskirts, Billy accidentally reached for a vodka drink, thinking it was water. He then innocently took a drink, and then another....before long he was roaring drunk after over a decade of sobriety. When Josh saw him, he confronted him and took him off the project. As Billy was about to call his sponsor, but changed his mind and decided one more drink won't hurt. Finally, Reva arrived and convinced Billy to let her take him home. Later, Billy was visited by a worried Bill. Now in charge of the Venezuelan project, Bill was reluctant to leave town after what had happened. Billy assured his son that he would going to be attending meetings and would get his drinking back under control. However, later, he told Reva that was just a lie to get Bill to accept the job--he had no intention of going to meetings, especially now that Bill was leaving him. Reva suspected that Olivia had set up Billy to get drunk so Bill would be in charge of the project and esolved to be there for him. A few days later, Josh caught Billy with a bottle of liquor and lashed out at him for not being strong enough to stop drinking. He washed his hands of Billy for the night and left. In a panic about what to do, and really wanting to drink, Billy called Reva who helped him through the night. By Christmas, Billy still had failed to get his drinking under control.

In 2006, Billy continued to struggle to regain his sobriety, though it wasn't so easy this time around. In the meantime, Billy finally confronted Olivia about her role in his falling off the wagon. Later, as Josh seemed to grow closer to Olivia, Billy threatened to reveal the truth. Fed up with being afraid, Olivia dared him to do it and get it over with.Meanwhile, Billy's feelings for Reva were becoming less platonic and more romantic and he tried to point out to Reva that there was more to her life than just being half of "Josh and Reva," Meanwhile, Billy slipped again and again called Reva. The pair ended up sharing a kiss but when Reva asked Billy if he was trying to resurrect their past, he simply laughed it off. However, he also told her that it would be a mistake to reunite with Josh. Weeks later, Reva was invited to Tulsa to deliver a speech at her old high school. That night on the ride back, Reva informed Billy that she decided that Josh was her destiny after all. At that point, Billy tried again to confess his true feelings when suddenly they were involved in a head-long collision! At the same time, Josh, heard about the trip from Jonathan and came to see Reva speak, came across the crashed car. He managed to get Reva out and administered mouth-to-mouth. While the ambulance arrived and worked on Reva, Josh tried to rescue Billy - only to come upon a half-empty bottle of bourbon. Though Josh covered for Billy, Billy decided to nobly take responsibility for his actions and confessed to the police that he was DUI. As Billy was sitting in jail, Reva had been released from the hospital. When Reva learned about Billy's arrest, she begged a reluctant Josh to save his brother. Josh finally agreed and pointed out to Frank that there was no physical evidence pointing to Billy being drunk that night.

As the weeks went on, Billy and Josh continued to argue about Reva. Later, Billy ran into Josh's lawyer and learned that Josh had divorce papers drawn up but hadn't asked for them. Seeing an opportunity, Billy suggested the lawyer finish the draft right away - and Billy would deliver them. Later, a guilty Billy considered telling Reva he set them up, but chickened out, and kissed his ex-wife instead. Ultimately, although the Josh and Reva had intended to go ahead with the divorce, they had a change of heart and reunited. When Josh informed Billy, he angrily blurted out that he was the one who had the papers sent in the first place. Billy then warned that this umpteenth reunion would just lead to more pain for everyone. Afterwards, Billy put his feelings aside when Josh asked him to help him develop HB's final dream – a state of the art veteran's hospital in Tulsa.. In order for Josh to build his veteran's hospital the way he wanted to, they'd have to pave over Cross Creek. Josh suggested they simply pick up the cabin and move it instead. So, Josh moved the cabin to Springfield as a surprise for Reva. With the lights out, Josh planted a passionate kiss on the woman who walked in the door--Cassie. Though Josh was able to shake off the mistake, Cassie was obviously affected. Seeing a way to win Reva, Billy tried working on Cassie's feelings for Josh but she denied she had any. In the meantime, Reva was acting very secretive--often cancelling out with Josh. Billy tried using this to his advantage as well by planting seeds of doubt in Josh's mind. What exactly was Reva up to?

Later, Billy learned from Jonathan what was going on with Reva--she had cancer and had been admitted to the hospital. Billy went to Reva and sincerely offered his help. He tried to convince her that Josh needed to know the truth, but Reva refused to get in the way of Josh's dream of building the veteran's hospital. Billy didn't agree with her, but Reva warned him if he told Josh, she'd never forgive him. Later, Billy took Reva to the doctor who informed her that the cancer was spreading--he wanted to try an experimental treatment in Minnesota. When Reva told Josh that she couldn't go on a business trip with him because she was leaving town, Josh got extremely angry and branded her as selfish. It got worse when Josh found out Billy knew all about Reva's trip. Again, Billy tried to get Reva to tell Josh, telling her that if she didn't make it, Josh wouldn't forgive himself for working on a project during the final moments of her life. But Reva wouldn't listen. Meanwhile, as Billy was trying to persuade an upset Josh not to leave for Oklahoma, he During their conversation, Billy slipped and told Josh that Reva was just visiting a friend in Minnesota. That slip got Josh thinking--the stories didn't match. Reva told everyone she was covering a news story. As the time went by, Billy continued to be there for Reva. Soon after, Colin informed Billy and Reva that her test results weren't good—she had to return to the clinic to have a bone marrow transplant. The poor prognosis shook Billy up and when he broke out in tears, Reva comforted him by saying she was going to fight this. Before the procedure, Colin asked Billy to put together a list of family members and their phone number for bone marrow donors in case the procedure didn't work. The stress of the situation became too much for Billy and he went to a bar and ordered a drink but decided against drinking it. Afterwards, Colin insisted that Reva needed a bone marrow transplant ASAP. Billy then told Colin that he had himself tested in Springfield—HE was a match for Reva.

Although he was all set to save her, it wasn't meant to be; Billy's marrow was too damaged from his years of drinking. Another donor was needed but Reva was adamantly against her family being notified. Left with few options, Billy contacted the one other person who knew about Reva—Jonathan. Luckily, Jonathan was a match and he donated the necessary marrow. In the meantime, it was becoming apparent that Josh was seeing another woman. Though Billy tried to convince Josh that he was making the biggest mistake of his life, the more Billy tried to convince Josh to wait for Reva, the angrier Josh got. Later, Billy arrived at the hotel where Reva was staying to find her in tears. Reva confessed to Billy that she'd just gotten bad news from Colin--the procedure didn't work; she was terminal. Billy tried to comfort her by telling her that she had to start living the remainder of her life and offered to help her fulfill all her dreams. Suddenly, Billy broke down and it was Reva's turn to comfort him. Afterwards, Reva went to New York to visit her family. When it seemed as if a tired Reva was near death, Billy called Jonathan and warned him to stay near the phone. However, the next day Reva felt Billy and Billy called Jonathan to inform him that the scare was over. An upset Jonathan then told him that Josh and Cassie had been parading around town--which Billy and Reva already knew. When Jonathan threatened to tell Josh and Cassie about the cancer, Billy forced him to promise to continue to keep Reva's secret. Later, Reva collapsed while talking to Josh and was taken to Cedars. When he arrived, Billy lied to Rick that Reva was simply hung-over. Meanwhile, Reva made plans to divorce Josh so he and Cassie could have each other when she was gone.

Later, Reva asked Billy's help in helping her to plan her death so Billy got Reva a red brand new convertible so she could go on with her plan of driving off and ending her life in a blaze of glory by driving off a bridge. Although Billy tried to convince her not to go through with it for Jonathan, Reva was determined to end her life on her own terms. Afterwards, Billy surprised Reva by taking her to the Cross Creek cabin which he'd already decorated for Christmas. There the pair exchanged gifts and kissed under the mistletoe. Later, Reva had one more request—she wanted Billy to help her plan the biggest, flashiest good-bye party Springfield's ever seen - for everyone she'd ever known. After Reva's party, while Reva was going to plunge to her death, a heartbroken Billy found solace in the bottle again. When Josh and Cassie discovered Billy drinking, Josh called Reva to help Billy. Although she was all set to take the plunge, Reva scrapped her plans for Billy's sake. Suddenly, just as she was ready to drive him home, Reva collapsed on the floor. Billy got her to Cedars, where Rick demanded to know what was wrong with Reva. While Billy struggled with his secret, Lillian found the cancer medication on Reva. Billy then finally revealed that Reva had cancer. Billy then called Josh and told him to come. When Josh arrived, Billy finally told him the entire truth about Reva's condition. Shocked beyond belief that Reva would keep this from him, Barging into the room, Josh was shocked to see Reva lying there near death. That same day, Billy went to AA to try to quit drinking, for Reva's sake. eva said all her goodbyes, and flatlined. Then as Billy and Cassie were leading an emotional Josh out of the room, Josh heard a breath. By a miracle, Reva came back! Soon after, the family was elated to learn from Rick that Reva was cancer free. Apparently the bone marrow transplant had worked, it just took a while.

Afterwards, Billy took Reva home and offered to take care of her. However, Reva declined his offer. After admitting to Reva that he wanted her to love him as much as he loved her, Billy left. Meanwhile things were still tense between Josh and Billy with Josh refusing to let Billy come to work at Lewis. When Billy pointed out that HB's will promised Billy a place at the company, an angry Josh promised to fight him all the way, even if they had to go see HB's lawyer in Tulsa to sort it out. Unfortunately, getting to Tulsa was a nightmare and the pair ended up in jail after getting carjacked and robbed. Throughout the day the brothers constantly argued about Reva. Finally, after a sleepless night, Josh thanked Billy for watching over her and Billy confessed it was hard and he wished he had someone to help him through it--someone like his brother. The pair finally resolved their differences and returned to town as brothers. Soon after, Billy began dating a beautiful young woman named Sheila. However, both Reva and Josh were convinced that Sheila was only after Billy's money. Josh and Reva's suspicions irked Billy who told them both to stay away from him. However, in 2007, he found the pair outside his room spying on Sheila. Then he learned that Sheila wrote herself a $ 50,000 check. Though Sheila defended herself by reminding him that they discussed a business deal and she was just helping fill the check out for him, Billy immediately saw through the lie and called her a thief. After declaring that this would not hold him in court, and declaring that nobody would want a 'broken down alchy' for anything but his money, Sheila stormed out.

Not long after, Alan was shot and Josh confessed in order to protect Cassie who was the most likely suspect. Luckily, Josh was freed when young Ashlee Wolfe finally found the courage to confess to shooting Alan. At the same time, Dylan, now living in Springfield, was concerned about Gus's influence over Daisy. After being told that Gus took pain pills when he was with Daisy (which he hadn't), Dylan was convinced that Gus was still using drugs. Especially when he found Daisy's videoblog in which she talked about her deep love for Gus. Enraged, Dylan showed the blog to Billy and told him his belief that something unseemly was going on. Billy though was convinced that it was simply a young girl's crush and was certain that Gus was not on pills. It turned out that Billy was correct. Meanwhile, Josh, feeling as if his time in prison had changed him, told Billy that he was keeping him in charge of the company and later shocked everyone by announcing that he planned on becoming a minister. On other fronts, Billy started to notice a closeness between Dylan and Harley and tried to ask how they were getting along. Though, Dylan had no real answer then he later admitted that he wanted another chance with Harley.

In the meantime, Billy had gone back to drinking ever since Josh was sent to jail earlier that year. This time, Billy was able to keep his drinking a secret. That is until Lizzie bought the bar Billy frequented and found him drinking. Not one to judge, Lizzie told Billy he could drink as long as he didn't cause trouble. That day, it looked like Lizzie was bound for trouble herself when she flirted and went home with a disreputable-looking character. Worried she'd get hurt, Billy warned her not to go but Lizzie wouldn't listen. In the meantime, Josh had asked Billy to be his best man for his wedding to Cassie. Though Billy declined, stating that he was too busy, Cassie talked him into it. Afterwards, Billy interrupted Lizzie's party with Jake and kicked him out after finding Jake pocketing money. A furious Lizzie ran off and Billy tracked her down to Main Street. Lizzie confided in Billy that Alan rejected her request to work at Spaulding. After Billy told Lizzie that he knew she was lonely and confided that he was just as lonely as she was, Lizzie intercepted Josh before he was able to see Billy; thus saving Billy from having Josh realize he'd gone back to drinking. Afterwards, Billy agreed to Lizzie's suggestion that she work for him. From that point, Lizzie made it her mission to cover for Billy so one would suspect that he had been drinking. She also helped Billy steal a client from Alan by using inside information. Weeks later, Lizzie discovered that Billy had been subcontracting work to a sub par contractor named Marlin and cutting back on material costs. Billy admitted that he'd been cutting a lot of corners lately and sometimes 'adequate' was more than good enough. Unfortunately, the building Marlin had worked on collapsed. Luckily, no one was killed the police ruled that the collapse was due to negligence. Alone, Josh confronted Billy and informed him that he realized he had gone back to drinking.

Though Billy tried to make excuses for what happened, Josh wouldn't accept them and stated that it was a mistake to put him in charge of the company. Soon after, Cassie talked Billy into letting her take the blame for hiring Marlin in an effort to save the company's reputation. Billy agreed and then faced a furious Josh who objected to letting Cassie take the blame. After some harsh words from Josh, Billy went on a binge and ended up beating Marlin up. Seeing that Billy's drinking was damaging his reputation, which would damage her new career, Lizzie finally poured his liquor down the drain. The next day, Weeks later, Lizzie encouraged Billy to ask Vanessa (who was going through a divorce) to go with him to a charity ball. To his delight, Vanessa agreed. Lizzie asked Billy not to drink on the date, which he agreed not to. However, between Vanessa telling Billy how much he had changed and Matt's angry tirade toward him, Billy broke down and had a drink. Weeks later, Vanessa suggested that they pay Bill a visit in Venezuela. Olivia and Dinah overheard and wanted to come as well. When Billy called Bill he was surprised to learn that his phone had been disconnected. Even stranger was a phone call from a woman telling them that they should wait until next month to visit Bill. Afterwards, Lizzie learned that Bill was the one who recommended the subpar contractor. Billy tried again to call his son and got no answer. Instead he learned that Bill had been making a lot of mistakes in Venezuela and blowing off responsibilities. Billy tried to call his son again with no luck and finally just told the woman who answered to give Bill a message---he was fired. Later, Lizzie urged Billy to call Bill, worried that something was wrong. Billy did and got a response—via text message which suited him fine but Lizzie thought was odd.

Weeks later, Billy was pleasantly surprised when Bill returned to town. That same day, Billy was Main Street with a man named Nelson ready to unveil Lewis's new project—the renovation of Main Street. This was the project that Lizzie took from Alan and Billy saw it as hers. Unfortunately, things took an unexpected turn when Lizzie failed to show up on time. Bill suddenly showed up himself with the plans, stole the spotlight from Billy and made the presentation to the press with Nelson. By the time Lizzie got downtown, the meeting was over and Nelson informed Billy that he wanted Bill in charge of the project from now on. Soon after, Billy came across a sobbing Lizzie who revealed what happened: Bill seduced her using information he'd read in her diary. Billy angrily confronted Bill saying that if he had a problem with him, take it to him; not Lizzie. At that point, Bill bitterly told his father about how he used every trick in the book to keep Lewis afloat only to be fired. Unfortunately, that left him unable to pay certain creditors who responded by roughing him up on the roof of a tall building. With that, Bill bitterly told his father to go and get drunk and walked off. The next day, Bill learned from Vanessa that Billy had started drinking again and arranged for the press to find out about it. With Billy's problems now public, he was ousted from Lewis and Bill quickly took his place. It was obvious to Billy that Bill was not the man he was and Billy blamed himself for the change. Though Billy and Bill seemed to bond on Thanksgiving, when Billy told Billy to fire Lizzie, Billy threw him out. Later, Billy finally recognized that he needed help for his drinking and planned on going to rehab after Josh was ordained as a minister. Unfortunately, Billy decided to have one last hurrah and got drunk in his room.

Though Lizzie tried to sober him up, Billy must have drunk some more since he got involved in an accident. Lizzie immediately called Bill who rushed to Cedars to see his father but after another argument with Bill, Billy chose Lizzie (whom he repeatedly said reminded him of Mindy) over his son when asked to bring a family member with him to see the doctor. Though Lizzie tried to get Bill to go with Billy, but he didn't. Instead, he reported Billy's drunk driving to a cop. The next day when Billy was released from the hospital, Bill snuck his father out the back door to avoid reporters. The pair started to bond until Lizzie burst in and informed Billy that Bill was the one who ratted him out to the police. Meanwhile, Billy was forced to enter a rehab program due to the accident but before leaving asked everyone to take care of his boy. Billy wasn't even in rehab for a day when he got a visit from Buzz. Unfortunately, this was not a mere social call: Buzz informed Billy that Bill was threatening his family in exchange for him backing the Main Street project. Lizzie was determined to stop Bill's demolition of Company and decided the best thing was for Billy to give Dylan his power of attorney, thus putting Dylan in charge of Lewis Construction. However, when Bill found out, he threatened to challenge this and made plans to work on the Main Street project on his own.

In 2008, Bill was caught in a building fire. Still at the rehab center, Billy was anxious to visit his son and got Dinah to help him sneak out by distracting a doctor. Billy then rushed to Bill's side to discover that Bill's injuries had blinded him. Soon after, a policeman arrived to take Billy back to rehab. Billy begged the cop to let him stay to no avail. Upon his return, Billy got a visit from Buzz who suggested that the fire might not have been an accident. When Buzz reminded Billy of Bill's blackmail attempt, Billy became upset since he felt Buzz was insinuating that Bill deserved what he got. In turn, Billy wondered if Buzz had something to do with the fire. Though Billy was determined to find out who was responsible for the fire, until Vanessa talked him out of waging a vendetta by telling Billy that she needed him to be the strong one. Touched that she needed him, Billy gently kissed Vanessa and tried to talk Bill out of finding out who started the fire. Bill refused to listen and soon discovered that the culprit was Buzz's son Coop, who threw caused the fire in a drunken rage. Bill planned to get his revenge until Lizzie gave him a reason to stop the vendetta and grow up---she was pregnant. By this point, Billy had been released from rehab and was ecstatic at the news. Though Bill was unsure at the prospect, Billy convinced his son that fatherhood might be the best thing for him. Later, Billy would be disappointed to learn that Lizzie was not pregnant yet thrilled when Bill got his eyesight back.

Not long after, Lizzie and the Lewis family were shocked to learn that Jonathan and Sarah were alive. Jonathan faked their deaths in order to protect Sarah from Alan. When he saw Jonathan, Billy warmly embraced him and encouraged him to stay and town so the whole family could help him fight Alan. Meanwhile, Bill asked Billy if he could take over at Lewis. When Billy evaded the question, they continued to argue and Bill stated that he wouldn't help fight Alan, because ultimately he wanted to do business with him. In the meanwhile, it was becoming obvious to Billy that Bill had feelings for Lizzie and he called Bill on it. However, things between Bill and Lizzie were not going smoothly and she decided to marry Jonathan so they could fight Alan together. When Billy was able to win a client away from Bill, he good naturedly pointed out that Bill was distracted because of Lizzie. Bill insisted that he was not interested in Lizzie anymore, but Billy knew better. It turned out Billy was right. Unable to deal with Lizzie marrying Jon, Bill barged into the church and tried to talk Lizzie out of marrying Jon. Bill argued that Jonathan was the wrong man for her and that she should marry for love. Soon everyone began arguing and Billy pulled a screaming Bill out of the church and brought him to the Cross Creek cabin. Later, both were pleasantly surprised when Lizzie arrived and stated that she couldn't go through with the marriage. Lizzie's decision didn't sit well with Jonathan who didn't trust Bill. Billy warned Jonathan not to mess with his son or Lizzie or else he would make an enemy of Billy. Days later, Jonathan went to Billy asking for a job at Lewis. Armed with a barely legible resume, Jonathan told Billy that he finally decided to stay in town and fight Alan. Unfortunately, Jonathan's resolve barely lasted a day. When he learned that Lizzie took off with Sarah, Jonathan walked off the job and later left town. Afterwards, Billy learned from Alexandra that Lizzie would no longer be working for him. That she agreed to stay with Alan in exchange for him staying away from Sarah and Jonathan.

Though Lizzie was determined to stay away from Bill for Sarah's sake, Billy convinced his son to win her heart. Determined to spring Lizzie, Bill took a bulldozer. Though Billy tried to stop him, Bill talked his father into helping him break Lizzie out. However, before they made it to the mansion, Lizzie called Bill and told him not to get her since it was too dangerous. Afterwards, Billy took Bill to Towers where they saw Lizzie on a date (arranged by Alan). Billy set it up so both Bill and Lizzie head to the bathroom where Bill pulled Lizzie into a kiss. When Alan showed up, Billy yelled at him so Bill and Lizzie could hear. Though Alan threatened Lizzie to stay away from Bill, Beth later was able to free Lizzie from her deal with Alan. Soon after, the Lewis family was thrown for a loop when Ava Peralta announced that she was pregnant with Bill's baby. Later, Billy assured Lizzie that although he supported Ava's pregnancy, he wanted Bill to be with Lizzie. However, Billy could not support Bill's recent takeover of Spaulding Enterprises and didn't attend Bill's press conference announcing the news. Later, when Bill pouted that Billy hadn't expressed pride in Bill's achievements at Spaulding Enterprises. Billy told him that he and his mother didn't approve of the Spaulding takeover. Billy thought Bill would have nothing to show after his power grab. Bill said he had Ava and the baby, and he said Ava was the only person who was happy with him. Upon leaving, Bill vowed not to make the same mistakes that Billy had. That same day, Billy asked Lizzie if she still loved Bill. When Lizzie stated that she couldn't love someone who had tried to destroy her family, Billy pleaded with Lizzie to give Bill another chance, but Lizzie said if Billy wanted to bond with his son, then he needed to get closer to Ava.

Soon after, Bill was touched to learn that Bill was having a son. Billy suggested carrying on the tradition and naming the child Harlan Billy IV but Bill declined by saying that the name held too much baggage. Later, after reading about Bill's engagement to Ava in the papers, Billy tried to reconcile with Bill, telling his son how proud he was of him but Bill stayed cold. Later, Lizzie tried to hire Billy to help build her family's new home which just happened to overlook the former Spaulding mansion. However, Billy he turned her down since he didn't want to be in the middle of a battle between her and Bill. He also warned her not to become as bitter as his son. Ultimately, both Billy and Vanessa attended Bill's marriage to Ava. Later, Billy was touched when Bill confided that he planned on naming his son Max Harlan Lewis. Sadly, mere days after his premature birth, Max died. Though she had decided to leave Springfield forever, Lizzie returned at Dinah's request and was there to support him when he learned the news about Max. That summer also saw the end of Josh and Cassie's marriage and Josh told Billy his decision to win Reva back. Billy was behind Josh 100% and came up with an idea to kidnap Reva from her wedding to Jeffrey. Though he initially scoffed at the plan, Josh decided to go for it and went to the cabin to retrieve Reva. Ultimately, Josh decided not to go through with it and Reva ultimately decided to go forward with her marriage to Jeffrey. That same day, Josh gave Billy some bad news from Reva—her cancer may have returned. Days later, Billy was stunned when Reva told him that her cancer hadn't returned--she was pregnant. Realizing that a pregnancy could cause her cancer to come back, Billy suggested that Reva not go through with the pregnancy and warned her that if she died, Jeffrey would be forced to raise the child alone. Despite his words, Reva went ahead with the pregnancy.

In addition to worrying about Reva, Billy continued to worry about Bill who stubbornly denied his feelings for Lizzie. Vanessa felt the same way. While bonding over their son, Billy confessed to Vanessa that she would always be the light of his life. That same day, Bill invited the pair to live with him at the Spaulding mansion since he wanted family along. Having learned that both Lizzie was at the mansion also, with Alan, they agreed. The day they moved in, Billy again lightheartedly told Vanessa of his feelings for her and kissed her but she gently dismissed him. Afterwards, Billy was happily pleased when Bill told him that he was going to finally profess his love to Lizzie. Unfortunately, that day, Lizzie disappeared, leaving Bill to give a presentation on his own. Bill initially believed that Lizzie bailed on him until he received a ransom note. After several weeks, Bill gave up hope. Wallowing in self-pity, he began drinking. Though Billy tried to console him, Bill wouldn't listen. Luckily, that day Bill successfully found and rescued Lizzie. Unfortunately, while leaving the scene, Bill accidentally crashed. Though Lizzie was unharmed, Bill was left in a coma. While Bill languished in a coma for weeks, evidence began surfacing that suggested that Bill was the kidnapper. After being questioned by Frank, both Billy and Vanessa had to concede that based on Bill's actions that year, it was possible that he wanted Lizzie out of the way so he could steal the professional glory for himself. Later, Billy reminded Vanessa that they loved Bill more than they doubted him. Billy assured her that he would not let their son go to jail. When Bill finally woke up, the police felt that they had a strong case against him and immediately questioned him. Determined to prove that Bill was innocent, Lizzie lashed out at Billy for doubting his son. Billy pointed out to Lizzie that she was trying entirely too hard to clear Bill and accused her of having doubts herself. At year's end, it became a moot point when all of the evidence against Bill was destroyed in a mysterious fire.

In 2009, Bill confessed to Billy that, while he had been cleared, he couldn't remember anything about the kidnapping. This time, Billy supported Bill and urged him to go after Lizzie when he learned that Lizzie pushed Bill away. As the days went by, Bill confided in Billy about his concerns for Lizzie who had shut herself off emotionally. Convinced that Lizzie needed her father, Bill set out to find Phillip despite Billy's warnings that it was a bad idea. Later, Billy found Bill unconscious from food poisoning and called Rick for help. Afterwards, Bill s memory finally returned and he realized that he did not kidnap Lizzie. Since he remembered hearing dog tags the day that he found Lizzie, Bill decided that Cyrus Foley (who wore dog tags) must have been in on it. Unable to prove it, and got Billy's help in making him look like a drunk so that Cyrus's guard would be down. Eventually, Lizzie's own memory returned as well and she and Bill reunited. In addition to helping his son, Billy kept Reva company while she was in the hospital undergoing radiation treatments for her cancer. He was also a sounding board for Josh who worried constantly that Reva was in danger from Edmund. In the meantime, Billy was ecstatic when Bill and Lizzie became engaged. Afterwards, Bill and Lizzie announced that they were stepping down from Spaulding-Lewis. After the announcement, Billy offered Bill a job at Lewis Construction. That same day, Billy was honored when Bill asked him to be best man at his wedding.

Weeks after Bill and Lizzie married, Billy decided that he wanted to remarry Vanessa. When Billy made his intention known to Vanessa, she asked if he planned on asking her. However, Billy couldn't find the right way to propose and decided to surprise Vanessa with a wedding. Unfortunately, Vanessa objected to the idea. Making it clear that she wasn't rejecting him, Vanessa told Billy that she wanted to be wooed first. Billy accepted her challenge and told Josh that he intended to propose to Vanessa after dating her for one year. However, thanks to Josh and Olivia, Vanessa found the engagement ring that Billy had been holding for her and accepted his proposal. Not wanting to waste anymore time, the pair decided to get married as soon as possible. With Reva serving as matron of honor, Billy and Vanessa married in a beautiful ceremony by the lake.