Phillip, however, was less than impressed. He deeply resented the fact that Lujack had blood ties to the Spauldings when he himself did not. Slowly, the false values and condescending affectations of the missing Alan began to visit themselves on his adoptive son. He pursued Beth with all his might, damning Lujack as scum. Beth wouldn't budge. When Phillip discovered that Lujack and Floyd were turning the Galahads' garage into a nightclub (with Lujack's trust fund money), he hatched a scheme. Phillip hired a crooked tradesman named Andy Ferris to sabotage the construction of the club. But Andy went too far and blew up the building, injuring and blinding Beth! Beth believed Phillip's lie that Lujack caused the explosion by cutting corners in the construction, endangering her life needlessly. Beth became estranged from Lujack as she struggled adjusting to life without sight. A guilty Phillip could not bring himself to admit his wrongdoing, so he enrolled Beth in a school for the blind, where she befriended Andy's sight- impaired sister Nancy. Suspicious of Andy, desperate to prove to Beth he was set up, Lujack went undercover as a blind man named Lenny to find out the true story. Meanwhile, Phillip became entangled with Alex's stepdaughter, the Baroness India Von Halkein, who was actually broke and after Phillip's money. India discovered Phillip's collusion with Andy, and she used an incriminating tape of them to blackmail Phillip into marriage.

1985

At the Horizon School for the Blind, Beth regained her sight and was thrilled to discover that her new friend Lenny was really Lujack. Andy did not share Beth's joy, however, when he spotted Lujack during a visit with his blind sister Nancy. Andy went gunning for Lujack and was arrested, but Alex bailed him out in exchange for his silence about his involvement in Phillip's scheme. Noticing that Phillip and Beth were renewing their old friendship, India told Beth about Phillip's sabotage plot, which had resulted in her blindness. Beth angrily rejected Phillip but didn't tell him she knew the truth to prevent further bad blood between him and Lujack. Lujack was suspicious, though, and convinced Andy to crash Alex's Valentine Day soiree with the intent to reveal Phillip's duplicity. But once he was at the party, Andy began having second thoughts. A fuming Lujack warned "If you back out on me now, Ferris, I'll kill you!" Suddenly the ballroom was plunged into darkness. A shot rang out. A few moments later, the lights came on -- and Lujack, gun in hand, was standing over Andy's dead body.

Lujack stood trial and was convicted of Andy's murder despite Ross' brilliant defense. In prison, he found an unlikely ally in a fellow inmate -- Bradley Raines! Lillian had written a letter to Bradley asking him to look after Lujack. Bradley was grateful for the opportunity to right some of the wrongs he had committed. Meanwhile, Beth convinced Phillip to come clean about his collusion with Andy, and they became friends once again. Ironically, the authorities didn't even believe Phillip's story. By now, Phillip shared Alex and Warren's suspicion that India was Andy's murderer. The real culprit, however, was holding India hostage in a cabin, where he forced her to sign a false confession. He was none other than Floyd Parker! Once a jovial, uncomplicated guy, Floyd's romantic and financial roller- coaster ride left him lost and confused as to who or what he was. The pitiful young man revealed to India that he had killed Andy out of his secret love for Beth. Beth and Lujack tracked down Floyd and India, and a tearful Floyd was taken to jail. Strengthened by this turn of events, Phillip and India realized they had a great deal in common and finally consummated their marriage.

Tony left Company in Kurt's capable hands to travel around the country with Annabelle. Among the new arrivals in Springfield were Lillian's sister Calla Matthews and her beautiful teenage daughter, Jessie. Also new in town were David Preston, Kyle Sampson's ambitious right-hand man, and David's live-in lover Suzette Saxon. Suzette frequented the Blue Orchid, Warren Andrews' new nightclub, and was quick to notice its unlikely new singing sensation -- Lujack! Alex feared that Lujack's growing fascination with show business would threaten his marriage plans with Beth. To bring Lujack back down to earth, Alex introduced him to her former lover, Locke Walls, a musician who had become a substance abuser. Lujack ended up idolizing the man and grieved when Locke later died of a terminal ailment.

Satisfied to see Lujack committed to his singing career, Suzette offered him a record contract. She brought in a suave rock  promoter named Jackson Freemont to work with Lujack. Jackson soon became friendly with Beth, who had always been a talented artist, and Jackson himself had an artistic bent. He encouraged her to be more free and sensual in her brush strokes. Suzette was pleased by this, for she made no secret of it that a girlfriend did not fit into the plans she had for her new star, Lujack. Suzette was so preoccupied with Lujack's career that she was unaware David was fending off a threat that had been made on her life. Bea Reardon's latest boarder, Daryl, was in fact a vicious criminal named Largo who aimed to take over Sampson Industries. Largo forced David to help him in his scheme by threatening to kill both him and Suzette. Noticing the enmity between Billy and Kyle, Largo and David engaged Billy in a poker game and hypnotized Billy with Largo's unusual ring. Their mission was to control Billy's mind and manipulate him into killing Kyle. Billy indeed had subliminal thoughts of murdering his half-brother, but strangely, the programming was ruined whenever Billy saw the ringed symbol of Largo's organization, known as Infinity. Coincidentally, Beth and Jackson had designed the same logo for Lujack's music video.

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