In August, Annie and Alan, who were hellbent on destroying the Lewises, found Cassie working (under the name Shady Layne) at a strip club called Teasers. Hoping to get an insider's view into Lewis Oil, Alan arranged for Cassie to get a job there. At first, Cassie went along with the plan, but she came to like the Lewis family and balked at having to turn brothers Billy and Josh against one another. Cassie confessed her mole status to Hart. They grew closer, much to the chagrin of his fiancee, Dinah. Reva recognized a cameo belonging to her late mother, which Cassie's daughter, Tammy, had given to Marah. She realized that she and Cassie were half sisters. Cassie and Hart began to date officially after he ended his relationship with Dinah.

Dinah lured Cassie's abusive ex-husband, Rob, to Springfield. He stalked Cassie and Tammy. Eventually, he left for Alaska, but not before bedding and impregnating Dinah. Someone began threatening Cassie, so Hart investigated. A trap he set for the stalker caught Dinah in the act, but a fall caused her to miscarry. Dinah used that incident to guilt Hart into marriage. Cassie was pregnant, but lied to Hart that he wasn't the father. Cassie and Tammy fled to Chicago, but Hart soon learned that he was the baby's dad and tracked them down.

During a snowstorm, Cassie was involved in a car crash and gave birth to Roger Joshua, a.k.a. R.J. Hart agreed to give his and Cassie's relationship another try. Dinah attempted to shoot Cassie, but hit Hart instead. After lingering in the hospital, Hart died. Cassie reconnected with an old friend, Jim, who helped her keep the Jessup farm in working order. Cassie was among the group of Springfielders who went to San Cristobel to help Josh and Reva. There, Cassie met and became smitten with Prince Richard, an ex-husband of Reva's from her amnesiac years. Cassie returned to the States and to stripping in order to make ends meet. Richard offered her a deal: Marry him and give him an heir, and he would take care of her financially. She agreed, but refused to reveal her true romantic feelings for him.

Shortly after Cassie moved into the San Cristobel palace, she contracted measles. Cassie fretted when doctors said that the disease might have rendered her infertile, but Richard insisted on getting married. In Texas, Richard and Cassie went undercover as Dwayne and Stella to get the dirt on some shady business that was ruining Lewis Construction. Turns out, Richard's brother, Edmund, was the culprit. Richard and Cassie admitted that they had fallen in love, but vowed not to have sex until their wedding night. Meanwhile, Edmund tried everything in his power to discredit Cassie in front of the people of San Cristobel. Nothing worked, so he located Rob and brought him to town. Rob claimed that he never signed the divorce papers. He promised to do so -- for a substantial financial sum. When his plan didn't work, Rob kidnapped Tammy. Cassie and Reva eventually got the best of him. He returned Tammy and freed Cassie. In July, Cassie and Richard married in a royal ceremony. Cassie became pregnant. Edmund bribed the doctor to make it look like Richard wasn't the father. Richard quickly realized that Edmund was pulling the strings.

Richard and Cassie discovered that Richard was not the true heir. Edmund took control of the throne and orchestrated a roadblock to stop Cassie and Reva from fleeing the island. That caused a car wreck that left Reva blind and made Cassie miscarry. Edmund kidnapped Cassie and held her prisoner in a tower. Richard faked his death and Cassie escaped when she was let out for his funeral. With the help of friends, Richard staged a coup and San Cristobel became a democracy, with him as the president. Richard and Cassie adopted the son of a fisherman named Alonzo.

Richard and Cassie moved to Springfield when Alonzo was revealed to be the real heir and San Cristobel reverted to a principality. Cassie became co-owner with Olivia of the old Beacon hotel. Richard was severely injured in a car accident. Reva took him off life support, at his request. Cassie railed against her sister, but eventually helped her avoid a murder wrap by getting Danny to forge a living will.

Cassie and Danny grew closer, but remained just friends. Cassie fell for Edmund, whom she believed had turned over a new leaf. A Richard look-alike, Jeffrey, came to Springfield. He and Cassie began bickering almost instantly. After some suspicious activity on Edmund's part, Cassie worried that Edmund's dark side was resurfacing. She thought he was peddling drugs and called him on it. Turns out that was not the case at all and Edmund pushed Cassie away. Cassie fought back and the two eventually reunited.

Cassie gave birth to a stillborn child before adopting Will with Richard. She would then discover that she was still fertile when Edmund and herself suffered a surprise miscarriage in 2004. In early 2005, Cassie and Edmund decided to try to conceive via IVF but when she found out about Edmund's involvement in the Jessup barnfire that would have taken R.J.'s life had he not been rescued (by Dinah Marler, ironically), she separated from Edmund and found solace in her friendship with Jeffrey O'Neill. Desperate for a child with Cassie, Edmund took up on Dinah's offer to be a surrogate mother for Edmund. When Cassie found out about Edmund's deception, she kicked him out of the house and took in her archrival instead. She would later break up with Edmund officially when she saw him holding a shovel over Dinah's head when the latter faked an abduction (with help from Jonathan Randall).

In June 2005, Dinah revealed to Jonathan that she'd miscarried Edmund and Cassie's child weeks ago when he found an apparatus in her room that she had been using to simulate pregnancy. Cassie had no idea that Dinah was no longer with child, though the latter had revealed this to Edmund, who convinced her to continue the charade. In a stunning plot twist, Edmund hatched a plan to dupe both Cassie and Michelle Bauer by stealing Michelle Bauer's baby, passing it off to Cassie as their baby, and telling Cassie that Dinah, whom he had locked up, had run off after giving birth. Edmund's plan worked up until a second DNA test was done and proved that Hope was in fact Michelle's baby. Cassie was devastated, but gave up Hope. Summary courtesy of SOD Online

Facts about Cassie:

Name: Cassandra Elizabeth Layne
Birthname: Danni Shayne
Occupation: Co-owner: Beacon Hotel
Parents: Sarah O'Neill Shayne, father unknown
Siblings: Reva Shayne (half-sister), Roxanne Shayne (half-sister), Russell Shayne (half-brother)
Children:

• Tammy Winslow - Daughter with Rob Layne, adopted by Richard
• Roger Joshua (RJ) Winslow - Son with Hart Jessup, adopted by Richard
• William Richard Winslow - Adopted son, with Richard