Ethan/Theresa/Gwen:
The lower-middle-class Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald fell in love with rich Ethan Crane when she was just a little girl. The problem? She and Ethan had never met.
The daughter of the Crane housekeeper, Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald, Theresa had only heard about him from her mother, and read about him in magazines. Still, she believed that she
was meant to be with Ethan. He, however, was with Gwen Hotchkiss, a rich heiress.

As the show began, Ethan had just returned to Harmony after being in law school for many years. Gwen encouraged him to meet some locals. In the meantime,
Theresa's brother, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, told her to get a summer job and stop fantasizing about marrying Ethan Crane, who she would never meet.

But Ethan and Theresa did meet. At the carnival, Theresa accidentally knocked paint onto Ethan. Later, while at her new job at the Burger Barn, Theresa
dumped milkshakes and then BBQ sauce on Ethan, before burning down the place. Later, at her new job at the cannery, by coincidence she dumped fishguts on
Ethan. Ethan was sure that she was a stalker--only he didn't know her name. Theresa now started to believe that perhaps fate wouldn't bring her and Ethan
together after all.

Later, her mother Pilar casually mentioned that Ivy Crane (Ethan’s mother) had suggested Theresa be her new personal assistant. Againat her mother's orders, Theresa went off,
met Ivy, and took the job. The problem: if Ethan saw her at the mansion, he would reveal her as his "stalker". Her solution: she dressed up in a disguise, with
an ugly wig and glasses. Ethan didn't recognize her, but he hired a P.I. to find his stalker.

Eventually, the P.I. realized that Theresa was Ethan's stalker. Ethan covered for Theresa, then privately asked her about the problem. Ethan realized it had all
been a misunderstanding, and he and Theresa became friends. Theresa was excited, as Ethan seemed to enjoy being with her.

With Gwen unable to join Ethan at the ballet, Theresa took Gwen's place. Theresa believed that her Cinderella story was finally coming true. At the ballet
("Cinderella" of course!) Theresa confided in Ethan that there was a guy she was interested in....a rich guy...but she never named names and Ethan had no idea
that she was talking about him. Gwen became suspicious of Ethan and Theresa as she would walk in on them in any number of compromising situations.

Ethan and Gwen decided to go to the Crane cabin for some fun. Julian (Ethan’s father) sent Theresa up to the cabin, where Ethan was waiting, naked, to surprise Gwen when
she arrived. Instead, he pulled Theresa into his arms and kissed her. Afterwards, Gwen found Ethan and Theresa at the cabin, but Ethan insisted that he felt
nothing for Theresa. He also added that Theresa already had a boyfriend.
Theresa, however, had no boyfriend. This became a problem when Gwen wanted to meet him, as proof that she wasn't after Ethan. Theresa's best friend,
Whitney Russell, saved the day, using one of her tennis students, Chuck, to pose as Theresa's boyfriend.

Ethan decided to propose to Gwen. Theresa helped him choose the ring, but it became stuck on her finger. Eventually it came off, and Ethan and Gwen became
engaged. Theresa vowed to give up Ethan, and decided to burn her wedding file. Since childhood, she had created papers detailing everything she wanted in her
wedding. Gwen and Ethan saw the file before Theresa could destroy it, and believed Theresa had made it for their wedding! Theresa agreed to become Gwen's
wedding planner, and even became Gwen's maid of honor.

Gwen left town on business, and in the meantime, Ethan and Theresa became closer. He started to fantasize about Theresa. Ethan's new friend, Chad, believed
he was developing feelings for Theresa, but Ethan insisted that he was in love with Gwen.

When the prom boat was sinking, and Theresa believed she was going to die, she told Ethan she loved him. Afterwards, she insisted they should be together,
but Ethan argued that she meant nothing to him. Gwen's mother, Rebecca, believed that there was something going on between Ethan and Theresa, but Gwen
refused to see anything.

After Ethan again gave Theresa the cold shoulder, she drove off on her brother Miguel's motorcycle...which Evil Charity (see the Miguel/Charity/Kay story)
had tampered with. Theresa crashed, and her situation was not good. A nurse told Ethan that only love could bring Theresa back to life. Realizing how much
Theresa meant to him, Ethan told Theresa he loved her, and she came back to life.

But now Gwen had to be told. Ethan hemmed and hawed, not wishing to do it just yet. Rebecca learned what was going on and tried to sabotage Ethan and
Theresa's romance before Gwen had to be told.

In the meantime, Theresa came across papers proving that Ethan was Sam Bennett's son. Several times, she almost told Ethan what she had learned. She
scanned the papers into her computer.

Ethan finally told Gwen the truth about him and Theresa, and Gwen was livid! She went after Theresa with a baseball bat. After calming down somewhat,
Gwen suggested that Theresa be Ethan's mistress after Ethan married Gwen. But Ethan knew he had to make a decision between the women. Gwen's solution:
Ethan would date both the women! Ethan did just that. On Christmas Eve, he let Gwen down, then told Theresa that they belonged together. Ethan proposed to
Theresa, and she accepted, believing that fate was on her side.

The information concerning Ethan's paternity remained on Theresa's computer, however. Rebecca discovered the information, and realized that Theresa knew
about it. She came up with her big scheme: they would reveal the paternity bomb. Then, they would reveal that Theresa had known about the information. Ethan
would dump Theresa, and reunite with Gwen. Rebecca, who was scheming to become Julian's new wife, would then convince Julian to adopt Ethan, making
him a Crane. Ethan and Gwen would marry, and Gwen would still be rich. Gwen didn't like the idea at first, but went along with it.

Rebecca emailed the damning info to all the tabloids--using Theresa's computer. At Ethan and Theresa's engagement party, the news hit, and Ethan learned he
was Sam's son. (This was especially damaging for Ethan and Sam, as they had been arguing for many months over various things.) Ethan left the Crane
mansion, taking his mother's maiden name, Winthrop, as his own. He vowed to find the person who had sent the information to the tabloids, as he blamed this
person for ruining his life.

Gwen wanted Ethan to know about Theresa now, but Rebecca had a better idea. They would destroy Theresa's life on her wedding day. Theresa worried that
Ethan would find out that she knew about the paternity, and several times came close to telling him, but never did. As the wedding neared, Gwen called the
tabloid and told them that Theresa had sent the email. The tabloid confirmed this story. The issue with the cover story concerning Theresa's involvement was
printed out...set to be released on Ethan and Theresa's wedding day.

Ethan and Theresa made love just after midnight on their wedding day. Later, they started the wedding ceremony, despite the fact that Ivy wasn’t present. They never suspected that Ivy had received a copy of the tabloid, and planned to kill Theresa. Ivy crashed her car through the church to stop the wedding, and then told Ethan about the tabloid story. He, however, believed in Theresa’s innocence.

Blaming herself for the problems, Theresa decided that everything could be fixed if Ethan was made Julian’s son again. To this end, she flew to Bermuda (where Julian was arranging his divorce from Ivy). Julian saw this as an opportunity to bed Theresa, and coaxed her into having one too many drinks. Later, Theresa woke up in bed with Julian, and learned from him that they had slept together the night before. Worse yet, Julian and Theresa realized they had married each other the night before too!