Victor was very protective of Julia, his young, beautiful wife, and kept her secluded at the ranch with their houseman, Charlie. Victor was so consumed by his work, he was barely there himself. Julia met and became friends with Brock Reynolds. Victor got jealous and had a one-night stand with his secretary, Eve Howard, in retaliation. In 1980, while Victor was out of town, Eve suddenly surfaced. Eve let Victor's wife, Julia, know that she was there to get Victor back. Feeling vulnerable and confused by Eve's presence, Julia had a one-night-stand of her own. Eve got a job with the Genoa City Chronicle as secretary to publisher Stuart Brooks, and also tried to help his new wife, Liz, feel more comfortable in his world by attempting to glamorize her. Eve and her son, Charles, moved in with single mother Jill Foster, Liz's daughter, and later, when Jill was depressed over her breakup with John Abbott, Eve acted as a mother to Jill's son, Philip. Still in love with Victor, Eve made several plays to get him back. Eventually, Victor agreed to accept her claim that Charles was his son, as long as Eve left town to work for one of his other companies.

Two years later, Eve ran into the now divorced Julia Newman in Paris and heard about Laurie Brooks abandoning Victor at the altar. She told Julia that she was involved with a wealthy Count, Max Siebalt. Eve went to Genoa City to be sure that Victor was going to continue to provide for Charles, and learned that Victor had put him in his will. Max and Eve began to scheme to get Victor's fortune, because Max was broke. Eve convinced Victor to hire her back as his personal assistant, and for a while, everything seemed fine. When Victor's manservant, Charlie, left his employ, Eve offered to cook Victor's meals for him, lacing them with a slow-acting poison that, in small doses, could not be traced. Victor began to lose weight and appeared ill, and after Victor's dog ate some of his poisoned food and died, Victor became suspicious. Julia overheard part of their plan on the phone and warned Victor that he was in danger, but it was too late. An antidote was found and Victor survived.

Julia proved that Eve was involved by having the poison analyzed. Victor realized that Eve had tried to poison him so that her son, Charles, could inherit half his wealth. With the help of Julia and his friend, Douglas Austin, Victor began a scheme to trap Eve into confessing, and even proposed to her, which the greedy Eve quickly accepted. The day of Victor and Eve's wedding, she arrived at the Newman estate to learn that Victor had died. Eve arranged to have Victor's coffin placed in the Newman living room, and took over as the grieving fiancée. Max, sensing that she was losing her grip on reality, quickly married her, since it appeared that Victor had left his estate to Eve. When Julia confided to Eve that she thought Victor was murdered, and that she wanted to exhume his body for an autopsy, Eve sent Max to the graveyard to dig up the corpse. At the cemetery, Max was so shocked to see Victor alive that he fell against a pitchfork and died. Eve tried to stab Victor and was committed to a sanitarium.

A year later, Eve read in the paper that Victor was planning to marry Nikki Reed in a lavish ceremony. Since Eve's roommate in the institution was about to be released but wanted to stay there, Eve switched places with her and left for Genoa City. Outside Gina's Restaurant, Eve knocked out a caterer and changed clothes with her to get into the hotel where Victor and Nikki were being married. After the wedding, Eve went to Nikki's room and prepared to stab her, but was interrupted by Nikki's sister, Casey. So, Eve climbed into Victor's huge trunk, which was about to be placed on the plane for his honeymoon. At the last moment, the newlyweds changed their minds and decided to stay home. Victor learned that Eve had escaped, found her, and she was returned to the sanitarium.

A couple months later, while Victor and Nikki were vacationing, Eve and Nikki's former lover, Rick Daros, escaped from the sanitarium and returned to Genoa City. Rick had amnesia, forgetting he had tried to kill Nikki earlier in the year, and became Eve's lover. After breaking into the ranch, Eve stole money from Victor's safe. and the two escaped to Europe.

Ten years went by without a mention of Eve or her son, then Eve showed up in 1993, looking glamorous as ever. Her past crimes totally overlooked, Victor simply seemed to fondly recall her working for him years before. When Eve brought up her son who she claimed was Victor's and went by his middle name, Cole, Victor wanted nothing to do him. Eve left in a huff, slipping Cole's picture into Victor's book. Some time afterward, a lonely Victor contacted Eve and asked her to bring Cole to Genoa City.

Eve arrived in Genoa City with her son, Cole, now a young aspiring novelist. By then Victor was presumed dead, but was really in Kansas with Hope Adams. His grieving "widow," Nikki, hired Cole as a stable hand, and Cole took up residence in the tack house. It wasn't long before Nikki accepted consolation from Cole. To show her appreciation to Cole, Nikki introduced him to Traci Abbott's New York publisher, Steve Connelly, who agreed to publish Cole's first novel. Victoria told Cole she was interested in him. Instead, Cole pursued an affair with Nikki. When Victoria learned of their involvement, she told Cole she was in love with him. Soon after, Cole wrote to his mother, Eve, saying he had fallen for Victor Newman's daughter. Eve, while on a cruise, read the letter and was horrified by the thought of her son getting involved with his half-sister. She arranged to leave the ship and flew to Genoa City. While on the plane, she became ill from being bitten by a mosquito. On arrival in Genoa City, she was rushed to the hospital, and Cole was notified. Eve lingered for weeks, in and out of a coma, and while somewhat lucid, tried to tell Cole that Victor was his father. Not long after Eve's funeral, Cole and Victoria eloped to Las Vegas.

Victor returned to Genoa City from Kansas. When the newlyweds returned, Victor revealed that Cole was his son, which forced an annulment. While going through Eve's belongings, Victor discovered a letter from another man to her, which cast doubt on Victor being Cole's father. Victor immediately arranged to have blood tests run on Cole, himself, and Eve's corpse. When Nikki tried to resume her romance with Cole, a devastated Victoria left town before she had learned that Cole wasn't interested in her mom. Receiving confirmation that he wasn't Cole's father, Victor and Cole immediately tracked down Victoria. Cole shared the good news with her, and they returned to Genoa City, where they arranged to remarry.

Four years later, just after Victoria and Cole had decided to divorce so Cole could marry Ashley, Victoria began having abdominal pains and was hospitalized. After Victoria's appendix ruptured, she was rushed into surgery. The doctors also delivered her baby girl by cesarean. After regaining consciousness, Victoria learned that her baby's health was in jeopardy. Later, Victoria confessed to Cole that she had deliberately gotten pregnant. While their baby struggled for her life, Victoria told Cole she wanted to name her Eve, after his mother. When the doctors refused to let Victoria see the baby in the nursery, she tearfully persuaded Cole to carry her there. Soon after, Victoria learned from Cole that their baby had died.