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. Eve popped in and out of Genoa City over the years, often trying to scam or kill Victor. (See Eve Howard profile for more information.) https://www.soapcentral.com/young-and-restless/whoswho/eve.php

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.

Prior to her marriage to Cole, Victoria was freaked-out to discover that Cole and Nikki had been intimate in the past. She ran off to New York City, and agreed to pose for a nude centerfold. The publisher had promised Cole that the photos wouldn't run. Nevertheless not long after their marriage, Victoria's shocking centerfold was on newsstands around the country. Angered by the publisher's unethical behavior, Victor bought every existing copy of the magazine and had them destroyed. He then purchased the company that published the magazine and fired the publisher. Rather than attend college, Victoria opted to take a job at Jabot, working with Ryan.

Victoria and Cole lived in the Newman Ranch tack house where Cole had been living while working as the Newman stable hand. Cole helped Victoria get over her sexual inhibitions that she had with her former husband Ryan.

After they had been married about a year, Victoria became jealous of the time that Cole spent with his editor Jeri Paulsen on a writing project. But Jeri became a non-issue when Cole made it clear that he loved Victoria. Jeri, who actually had been making advances to Cole, accepted this and returned to her life in New York. Then it wasn't long before Victoria's marriage to Cole was headed for trouble when she began enjoying secret kisses with Ryan at work. Ironically, Cole was also falling for Ryan's wife, Nina, who was working as his research assistant. When Nina witnessed Ryan kissing Victoria, she ordered him out of their home. Meanwhile, following Victor's orders, Cole asked Victoria to give their marriage another chance and she agreed. Even though Cole made it clear to Nina that he wanted to remain married to Victoria, Nina struggled to fight her attraction for him.

Ashley agreed to let Cole Howard write his new novel based on her and they began spending a lot of time together. Feeling backed into a corner, Victoria left town for awhile to sort out her life. Upset by his wife's extended absence, Cole decided to move out, but changed his mind when Victoria suddenly returned home from Europe and seemed committed to saving their marriage. However, a few months later, Victoria suddenly left town again, this time for business reasons. Meanwhile, Ashley Abbott agreed to let Cole build his new novel around her. During the time spent together researching the book, Ashley and Cole became close and shared several kisses. Cole eventually confided to Ashley that he didn't know how much longer he could accept Victoria's extended absence. Victoria returned home unexpectedly just in time to catch Cole and Ashley kissing as she looked through the window. Victoria separated from Cole and moved back into her old bedroom in the ranch house. Meanwhile, she and Ashley competed for Cole's affections. Eventually Cole proposed to Ashley. Touched by Cole's love for her, Ashley accepted. Victoria then found herself pregnant with Cole's child. She arranged a meeting with Cole to tell him, but they were interrupted by Ashley, so they divorced without Cole knowing. Neil proposed to Victoria saying they could lead people to believe he was the father of her baby. Cole learned of Victoria's pregnancy and had a hard time believing that he wasn't the father. When Cole confronted Victoria with his suspicion, she lied and said she wasn't pregnant. Later, having a sudden change of heart, Victoria admitted she was pregnant and that he was the father. Cole said he intended to be a father to their baby, but added he was following through on his plans to marry Ashley. Neil and Victoria became engaged.

Victoria began suffering from abdominal pains, her appendix ruptured, and she was rushed into surgery. The doctors also delivered Vicki's baby girl by cesarean. After regaining consciousness, Victoria learned that her baby's health was in jeopardy. Neil watched as Cole comforted a nervous Victoria. 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, a tearful Victoria persuaded Cole to carry her there. Soon after, their baby died. Neil left Victoria and Cole alone to grieve. Victoria and Cole held a memorial service for their baby. When Victoria was released from the hospital, Neil wanted her to come home with him. Instead, Victoria chose to recuperate at Nikki's. Victoria felt comfortable with Nikki because she had also suffered the pain of losing a baby. Victoria and Neil broke off their engagement shortly afterward, with Victoria reassuring Neil that her decision didn't have anything to do with her feelings for him.

Then Ashley disappeared to Madrid where she got involved rescuing her step brother Rafael. She sold some stock to buy back forged paintings he had painted and sold. Since Cole was following her around Europe, always a step behind, he assumed she was having an affair with this unknown man, Rafael. Victoria, bent on breaking up their marriage, joined them in Europe and hooked up with Rafael. When all finally returned to Genoa City, Victoria left Rafael with a ticket to follow them. In a last ditch attempt to save her jeopardized marriage, Ash decided to have a baby. Cole instead took a teaching position at Oxford, and divorced Ashley.