In
May of 1989, a French woman was seen making a highly suggestive phone
call from a telephone booth on the highway to Justin Kiriakis. Their
conversation revealed a past connection, and Justin was eager for her
to arrive at the penthouse. When she finally arrived, we were
introduced to Yvette Duprès. Yvette was, of all things, a
high-class Parisian call girl who knew Justin from his college days
in the city of lights. Now, Justin needed her for a plan he had
formulated to get revenge on his uncle Victor (Victor had tried to
undermine his marriage to Adrienne by feeding him pills that made him
impotent.) Their plan remained unclear in the beginning, and the
audience only knew that it involved Yvette seducing Victor. And for
that, Yvette had to take on a new personality. Yvette was no ordinary
prostitute; she spoke 4 different languages, was knowledgeable in a
wide variety of subjects, and irresistible to most men. To catch
Victor's eye, she invented herself as the Baroness Yvette de
Castellain. The Castellains were French nobility who were known in
the racing world as excellent horse breeders. Since one of Victor's
hobbies was horses, it would be the perfect hook.
In the beginning, everything went according to plan. Yvette met Victor in Neil Curtis' stables and began doing business with him all the while flirting heavily with him. In time, Justin's plan was made very clear: Yvette was to make Victor fall in love with him and then publicly humiliate him. And everything was working according to plan, except for one small detail. Anjelica Deveraux, who was staying in Victor's house at the time, wanted to marry Victor. Anjelica's constant interference almost caused Yvette to quit the entire plot, especially after Anjelica almost married Victor, but Justin convinced her to stay. After Anjelica's almost wedding to Victor, Justin brought Anjelica into his penthouse and Yvette's road to Victor was all clear. Soon, their relationship wasn't just business. Dips in the pool and dinners at Wings followed. Before long, Victor began falling for Yvette's charms.
Strangely,
it was during this time that Justin unexpectedly asked Yvette to
leave Salem. Justin had just discovered that Victor had a heart
condition and was afraid of what would happen to him if he and Yvette
continued with the plan. So he gave Yvette a one-way ticket back to
Paris and payment for her services. She was on her way out of Salem
when she ran into Roman Brady. The man intrigued her and caused her
to think about her future. Deciding that she had the opportunity of a
lifetime with Victor, she decided to stay in Salem against Justin's
wishes. That very night, she moved into Victor's home. Justin was
furious when he found out that Yvette hadn't left and threatened to
tell Victor what she really was. However, Yvette warned him that if
he did that, she would tell Victor who had hired her to seduce him in
the first place. Justin kept quiet, but warned Yvette not to hurt his
uncle. Although Yvette genuinely cared Victor, she didn't love him.
She was only trying to secure a wealthy future.
Meanwhile,
Yvette continued to bump into Roman Brady, and a flirtatious
relationship developed between the two. Roman distrusted Yvette in
the beginning because of her connection to Victor, but it was obvious
that there was a mutual attraction between them. When Roman's
daughter Carrie ran away, Yvette offered to find her. Having grown up
on the streets, Yvette had a good idea of where Carrie had gone.
Eventually, she and Roman found Carrie and her boyfriend, Julio, in a
seedy motel outside of Salem. Yvette then befriended Carrie and
became a sort of mother figure that she desperately needed. Yvette's
help with Carrie completely broke down Roman's distrust. One night,
Yvette and Roman let go and kissed. Yet, it was Yvette who broke it
off. She didn't want to betray Victor, in part because she feared
Victor's wrath, but also because she didn't want to lose the security
Victor offered her. This security was almost lost when Victor
suffered a heart attack in late summer. Yvette stayed by his bedside
until he recovered. After this, Victor placed Yvette in his will. Not
much later, he finally proposed to her and she accepted.
Justin
was the first to oppose the engagement. He constantly hovered around
Yvette and threatened to expose her if she hurt Victor. Justin's
harassment worsened after he discovered that there was something
between her and Roman, Victor's worst enemy. Yvette assured Justin
that what she and Roman had was nothing to be concerned with, and
that it was an impossible dream anyhow. Roman, on the other hand, was
a bit more persistent regarding their relationship. Despite Roman's
efforts, Yvette put him off even though she felt "something" when she
was with him. A while later, Roman discovered who she really was and
stopped pursuing her. However, he burned all evidence of Yvette's
seedy past.
At
this time, Anjelica moved back into Victor's mansion after Justin
kicked her out of the penthouse. In no time, she began trying to get
Yvette out of the house so she could marry Victor. It didn't take
long for Anjelica to find out Yvette's real identity and discover her
relationship with Roman. Although Justin prevented Anjelica from
spilling the beans, he warned Yvette that he wasn't going to tolerate
the charade any longer. If she didn't confess, he would tell Victor
everything. With no other choice available, Yvette told Victor the
truth: she was a hooker. She was not a baroness, she was not a horse
breeder, she was not even French! With that, Yvette gave back the
engagement ring and prepared for the worst. After a long silence,
Victor surprised Yvette's expectations when he forgave her. As it
turned out, he had known her real identity since the first time that
they'd met in Neil's stables because he'd had her investigated. And
although he didn't know why she had become involved with him, he was
grateful for the love she had given him...and he still wished to
marry her. Afterwards, Yvette told Justin to get off her case,
because he didn't have anything to threaten her with any longer; she,
on the other hand, could still tell Victor that Justin had hired her
to humiliate him. Meanwhile, Yvette became involved with Roman once
again, who had decided that Yvette's past didn't matter.
In January 1990, however, things
began to go sour. Roman and Yvette's mutual affection grew stronger,
and it dawned on Yvette that perhaps that "something" she felt for
Roman was love. In addition, Roman begged Yvette to spy on Victor
once again. This time, it was to save his sister, Kayla Brady. Roman
suspected that Victor had kidnapped her and asked Yvette if she could
find out where she was being kept. Yvette's efforts paid off and she
discovered that Kayla was being kept prisoner in Victor's mansion in
Miami. Unfortunately, Victor discovered Yvette's betrayal. Furious,
he placed her virtually under house arrest. He kept her in her
bedroom with no access to the phone, and with Nico as guard at her
door. Yvette was unsure of her future, knowing that Victor would
never forgive her. She sought Justin's help but he only refused to
help her. Fortunately, Roman was able to help her escape from the
mansion. He warned her that as long as she remained in Salem, her
life was in danger. Having no other choice, Yvette left Salem and the
one chance she ever had of finding true love.
The character of Yvette Duprès
was played by Lori Hallier from 1989-1990