desperate living 1977

Elena Landon hailed from a family of immense wealth and privilege. Her father was the world's richest man, and her three brothers had achieved extraordinary success in their respective fields. From a young age, Elena had been in love with her childhood sweetheart, Regan Judd. She had once been severely injured while saving him but had recovered fully thanks to her father's extensive resources. To test Regan's loyalty, she had feigned paralysis. But on the eve of their wedding, she caught him with her best friend, Kelly Lucas, who treated her with great disdain. Heartbroken, Elena decided to turn the wedding into a dismissal feast. In her moment of despair, Ian Burke came to her aid, retrieving her stolen bag. Upon learning of her betrayal, he offered to marry her. At the wedding, facing Regan's mockery, Elena publicly dismissed him as her husband and announced that the groom was someone else entirely. In a desperate bid to save face, Regan proposed to Kelly on the spot, and thus began a dramatic showdown at the wedding.

Joanie Sadler and Laurent Goff met and grew up together as children in an orphanage. After leaving the orphanage, Laurent set out to build a career and promised to one day give Joanie a home. Joanie was later adopted by Peggy Boswell and Benjamin Francis, a couple who had lost their own daughter. Peggy sees Joanie as a replacement for her lost child, and when Joanie's birth parents later come to claim her, the Francis couple forges false paternity test results to keep Joanie. Years later, the Francises' real daughter Joanna is found, causing the couple to immediately turn against Joanie and send her back to her birth parents. Joanna also resents Joanie for living the life that should have been hers. At this time, Laurent, through a paternity test from years ago, locates Joanie and arrives at the Francis household, bringing a billion-dollar investment project. However, due to a series of misunderstandings, Laurent mistakenly believes Joanna is his childhood friend Joanie.

Eight years after a one-night stand, Sophie Archer raises son Jack alone until he's diagnosed with leukemia requiring a rare blood-type donor. Doctors suggest a million-dollar imported medicine to buy time. While struggling financially, Sophie becomes Caleb Johnson's secretary, unaware he's Jack's father. Meanwhile, Caleb and his grandmother Kate meet Jack by chance and confirm paternity through DNA testing. As Sophie and Caleb develop feelings and she becomes pregnant again after another encounter, Sophie saves enough for Jack's treatment, only for rival Chloe Bradford to destroy the medicine. Kate intervenes, recognizes Sophie and Jack as family, and tells Caleb to marry Jack's mother, not realizing he's already falling for Sophie. When Caleb discovers Sophie is Jack's mother, they commit to each other. At their wedding, Sophie reveals she has no blood relation to the Archers, and learns she's actually the biological daughter of the Bradfords couple, whom she refuses to forgive. The story ends with Sophie giving birth to twins and living happily with Caleb, Jack, Kate and their growing family.