Emily Quartermaine (Natalia Livingston)

Dr. Emily Bowen Quartermaine (born Emily Bowen, formerly Smith and Cassadine) is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The role was originated on January 20, 1995 by Amber Tamblyn, who portrayed the role until July 11, 2001. Natalia Livingston subsequently played Emily from April 1, 2003 until the character's death in November 2007, returning for a guest appearance in May 2008. In 2005, Livingston won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Emily.

Beginnings
Undergoing treatment for cancer at an Arizona clinic, Dr. Monica Quartermaine becomes close friends with fellow patient Paige Bowen. Though Monica's condition improves Paige's does not; Monica invites Paige and her 11-year-old daughter Emily to stay with her at the Quartermaine mansion. Emily is devastated when Paige dies. She is left in the care of Monica and her husband Dr. Alan Quartermaine, and initially resists their attempt to adopt her. Searching for her aunt, Emily runs away with her first crush Lucky Spencer, who hopes the search for him will reunite his estranged parents. They eventually return, and Emily is adopted by the Quartermaines.

In 1997, Emily befriends Matt Reynolds, who introduces her to drugs. Life at the Quartermaine home is particularly stressful at this time, because it is revealed that Monica had been having an affair with a younger doctor, Pierce Dorman, at the hospital, and Dorman is suing Monica for sexual harassment. Emily turns to drugs without the Quartermaines' knowledge, until one day, she hallucinates that she can "fly" off of the Quartermaine roof. Ned Ashton finally discovers the problem. It is also learned that Monica's lover Dorman has been the one who is supplying drugs to Matt, and thus to Emily as well. Matt dies of an overdose, and Dorman also turns up dead, which is unsurprising considering the number of enemies that he has acquired (he is murdered in the General Hospital morgue). Emily, who had been in General Hospital detox at the time, is initially considered a suspect. Emily is soon cleared.

With her ordeal with drugs behind her, Emily sets out to establish a modeling career. Emily is shocked when she receives a nude photo of herself in the mail one day with a blackmail note attached. Someone had put Emily's face on the nude body of another girl and is threatening to put the photo on the internet if Emily doesn't come through with money. Emily turns to Nikolas for help and they in turn asked Lucky and Elizabeth to help them too.

Lucky and Nikolas are unlikely allies, but they both want to help Emily and catch her blackmailer. In the process, the friendship between Elizabeth and Emily deepens and Lucky and Nikolas put aside their differences, for the most part. Using Nikolas' computer, Lucky and Nikolas begin their search to expose the person blackmailing Emily.

As it turns out, a photographer named Tomin is the culprit. When Liz and Emily realize this, Tom holds them at gunpoint and locks them in the darkroom at the photography studio. In the process, Tom also admits that he had been the person who had raped Elizabeth Webber in the park. Tom goes on trial for blackmailing Emily, but can't be prosecuted for Elizabeth's rape because there is no evidence. Emily's modeling career, however, soars due to all the publicity she had received.

Juan Santiago
In June 1999, Emily forms a relationship with Juan Santiago, an immigrant from Puerto Rico. Juan is a runaway who has come to Port Charles with the mistaken belief that Sonny Corinthos is his father. In time, Emily convinces Juan of the truth — that Miguel Morez, not Sonny, is Juan's biological father.

Emily and Juan are determined to see each other no matter what Alan or Monica say and Emily even hides Juan in the Quartermaine mansion when Juan runs away. Eventually, Juan's father gives him permission to stay in Port Charles and Alan and Monica agree that Emily can see Juan, but under certain conditions.

Emily encourages Juan in his pursuit of a music career and helps him get a job at L&B. When Ned tells Emily that L&B can't take Juan on as an artist, she goes behind Sonny's back to get money to jump start Juan's career. At this same time, Ned agrees to perform as Eddie Maine for one night to raise money for L&B. Wanting to lure Ned back to ELQ and ruin L&B in the process, Edward has Ned locked in a closet as he is about to go on stage. At Emily's urging, Juan takes the stage as Ned's opening act and is a huge success. Alexis Davis manages to free Ned, who ends up wowing the crowd as Eddie Maine.

Emily, Juan, Nikolas, Lucky, and Elizabeth attend a rave together. While there, Emily and Juan got into a big fight and Juan went off with Allison and left Emily alone. As she was walking into another room, she caught sight of Allison and Juan kissing. Since she was upset enough already, she accepted a beer that was offered to her, but little did she know, the beer was drugged. She then began talking to a guy named Ted and eventually, he suggested that they leave the rave and go somewhere quieter.

Elizabeth, Nikolas, and Lucky are worried when they can't find Emily at the rave. Meanwhile, Emily wakes up nude next to Ted's corpse in a seedy hotel room with no memory of how she had gotten there. Emily reaches out to her friends, who promise to help her. Not wanting to involve the police for fear of what might happen to Emily, Lucky and Nikolas hide Ted's body in a freezer at Wyndemere. A short time later, Emily receives a mysterious phone call from a girl who says she knows what Emily has done.

Zander Smith
Emily's mysterious then set out to catch the blackmailer and catch a young girl named Gia Campbell near the place the money was supposed to be dropped off. Gia claims her innocence, but Lucky and Nikolas aren't buying it. Lucky then starts following Gia in the hope of learning more about her. Lucky and Nikolas also learn that Ted had been an undercover cop. During this time, Emily pushes Juan away as she can't confide the truth in him and is still hurt over his flirting with another girl.

Lucky, Liz and Nikolas team up to get information about Gia and soon prove that she was Emily's blackmailer. Gia, however, doesn't know about Ted's death and is blackmailing Emily because she thinks Emily had been using drugs at the rave. After much debate, Lucky, Liz, Nikolas, Emily, and Juan decided to enlist Gia's help to catch Ted's killer and Gia agrees — for a price. To that end, the group goes to another rave, where Gia points out Zander Smith. Lucky then comes up with a plan to catch Zander at the next rave.

To that end, Lucky devises a scheme in which he and Nikolas would place Ted's body in the trunk of Zander's car. The plan fails, however, when Emily goes against Lucky's orders and shows up at the rave. At this same time, Taggert and his men also arrive. Zander panicks and takes Emily hostage and forces her to drive off with him. Lucky and Nikolas come clean with Taggert and the search for Emily and Zander begins.

As it turns out, Zander has been working for Joseph Sorel, who wants him dead for the trouble he has caused. While being held by Zander, Emily begins seeing him in a new light and realizes he was just another one of Sorel's victims. Emily has several opportunities to escape from Zander, but doesn't act on them. She believed Zander when he told her that Sorel had killed Ted and agreed to stay with him until he got to safety at the Canadian border.

The bond between Emily and Zander continued to grow while they remain on the run. When they finally arrived at the border, Lucky, Liz, and Emily's brother, Jason Morgan, showed up just moments before the police arrived and are prepared to turn Zander over to the cops. Emily pleaded with Jason to let Zander go and not turn him in, and since Zander hadn't hurt her, Jason agreed. Jason then brings Emily home, much to the delight of the Quartermaines.

Emily thinks she will never see Zander again and is shocked when he appears outside her window. Emily kept Zander's presence a secret from Juan, who is growing suspicious of her actions. Zander wants Emily to run away with him, but she says that is impossible. She did however, convince him to go to the PCPD and turn himself in. He hadn't killed anyone, so she thought his charges wouldn't be too tough. Emily arranges to get some money together to help Zander. Emily finds herself being drawn to Zander more and more and they even share a kiss. Despite the Quartermaines' objections, Emily vows to continue to try and help Zander. Emily continues to stand by Zander, much to the worry of her family. During all of this, Juan began to get jealous. They hadn't really been a couple since before Emily was kidnapped, but Juan wanted her back and had apologized profusely for his mistakes and told her that he loved her. Not only had he kissed Allison, but Emily had also caught him with Allison's friend Sherry. Finally, Emily decided that she would rather be with Zander, and so when Juan forced her to choose, she told him it was over.

Emily arranged for Alexis Davis to be Zander's lawyer, and in exchange for his testimony against Sorel, Sonny Corinthos would give him protection in the event that Sorel tried to kill him. Sonny also agreed to post Zander's bail of $2 million. On the night that Zander was released, Emily, Zander, Alexis, and Sonny were walking down the steps of the PCPD, when two gunmen dressed as police officers opened fire on them. Zander jumped on top of Emily to protect her and he was hit in the arm. At the start of 2001, Emily's family began to fear for her life and when she wouldn't agree to stop seeing Zander, Alan and Monica send her away to boarding school in California. Emily is livid, but has no choice but to pack her bags and leave. A short time later, Zander appears outside Emily's window and they decide to run away together. Emily and Zander spend several days on the road but then decided to return to Port Charles. After spending one last night together and sharing a kiss, Zander prepares to turn himself in. Edward, however, beats Zander to the punch and had him arrested. Alexis later arranges for Zander to be released on bail and he moves back in with her. Emily is furious at her family's actions so she moves out of the mansion and into a room at Kelly's.   Zander finally testifies against Sorel. Sonny is grateful to him and it looks as though Zander's life is turning around. Then, Edward is mugged and Zander is accused of the crime. Edward tells Emily he will drop the charges if Emily breaks up with Zander. Emily agrees to the plan. Zander and Emily break up, and he returns to his former life after believing that she had betrayed his trust. He soon realizes that his love for Emily is stronger than anything else and he asks her to take him back. Emily forgives him and on prom night, the two make love for the first time. Emily was is shock when Skye Chandler arrives at the mansion and reveals herself to be Alan's illegitimate daughter. The threats from Sorel continue to plague them, and they decide to leave town in order to be safe. Jealous of all the attention that Emily is receiving, Skye tell her that she will give Emily and Zander money so that they can leave town. Wanting to be safe from Sorel and free of her family's manipulations, Emily agrees. But the train they boarded was involved in a severe crash and Emily was paralyzed from the waist down.

Zander realized that Emily was so wrapped up in his problems and because of her devotion to him, she wouldn't be able to focus on her recovery. Zander broke up with her, though his love for her remains strong. Emily is then sent to a rehabilitation center away from Port Charles in 2001.

Nikolas and Emily
Emily returns to town in 2003 hiding the secret that she is fighting breast cancer. Choosing to forego the treatment that failed to save her mother, Emily instead proceeds with an alternative herbal protocol, wanting to die with dignity. As people start to learn of Emily's condition, she enlists Nikolas to fake a relationship with her in order to force Zander to move on and spare him from having to watch her die. Nikolas reluctantly agrees.

Nikolas and Emily's "romance" blossomed and their plot escalated to the point of an engagement. Emily felt the only way to force Zander to move on would be to marry Nikolas. Nikolas' recently returned uncle Stefan Cassadine had a few objections to Nikolas' plans - Stefan had already found an heiress for Nikolas to marry. Determined to get Emily out of Nikolas' life, Stefan arranged for Emily to be thrown from a Wyndemere cliff the night of Nikolas and Emily's engagement party. In the fog, Stefan's hit man ended up shoving Summer Halloway off the cliff by mistake, thinking she was Emily. Emily's plan began to work, and Zander started leaning on Gia more and more as he realized there might be no hope for a future with Emily. Gia discovered Emily was fighting breast cancer, but Emily convinced Gia not to tell Zander the truth. It was easy for Gia to agree to protect Zander, since Gia had begun developing feelings for Zander. Tired of Emily's lies and deception, Zander and Emily broke up. Zander and Gia became extremely close but Zander couldn't shake his love for Emily. When Nikolas planned to give Emily an engagement ring that had been in the Cassadine family for centuries, Emily refused to accept it and insisted that they stop lying to everyone. She decided to tell Zander the truth and thanked Nikolas for being such a wonderful friend. Nikolas was devastated because he was already genuinely in love with Emily. With Zander knowing the truth, Emily saw no reason to keep him at a distance anymore, so they reunited and Zander promised to stand by her side. She loves Zander but she couldn't get Nikolas out of her head. And since Nikolas felt no longer needed by Emily, he agreed to go ahead with marrying Lydia to restore the Cassadine empire. One day at Kelly's, Emily overheard Nikolas tell Lydia that Emily will always have his heart. When Nikolas realized Emily had heard him, he followed her. In her bedroom, Nikolas and Emily decided to be honest with each other and admitted their true feelings for each other. However, they both soon realize that they could never be together because of Zander and Lydia.

One night as Zander and Emily were preparing to go out on a date, Monica approached them with the heartbreaking prognosis that the aggressive chemotherapy treatments that Emily was undergoing were breaking down her immune system and that she had to stop the treatments immediately. Emily was devastated and told Zander she had to leave. Emily took off to be alone but ended up calling Nikolas. They met at the docks where she gave him the awful news. Nikolas asked her to just keep fighting day by day, if not for herself, then for him. She told Nikolas that she would, while Zander overheard them. It was then that Zander realized Emily needed Nikolas. In the hospital, Emily's immune system began shutting down and she contracted meningitis. Believing she was going to die, Emily decided that she wanted to give Zander something special, so they got married. That night, Nikolas spent the night in the room next door. As Emily lay unconscious, on the verge of death, she dreamed of marrying Nikolas and they kiss. Waking from the dream, Emily made a strong recovery, and secretly knew that Nikolas' love brought her back from the brink of death. Married to Zander, Emily couldn't act on her growing feelings for Nikolas, and Zander rented Brenda Barrett's old cottage for them to live in as newlyweds. One night while at the cottage, Emily called Nikolas to help with the fuse box, who promptly arrived and waited out the storm alone with Emily. Emily admitted to Nikolas that their kiss in her dream brought her back from the brink of death. Nikolas said he had the same dream and the two started to make love, but when the lights came back on, they realized they couldn't be alone together anymore. Unbeknownst to them, there was someone taking pictures of them together. The pictures fell into Zander's hands which later led him to attack Nikolas at the hospital. The night of the Halloween costume ball, she confessed her love to Nikolas, the two kissed and she ran to the cottage. Nikolas followed Emily and once there, he took his wedding band off and told Emily his divorce was final. As they kissed, Zander came in and confronted Nikolas and Emily. Emily told Zander their marriage was over and she wanted to be with Nikolas. After Zander stormed out, Nikolas and Emily committed adultery when they had sex for the first time on what would have been Zander and Emily's first night in the cottage. This betrayal and act of adultery started Zander down the path that would eventually lead to his death. Zander was heartbroken and angry over losing Emily so he started working for Faith, who held Nikolas' family debt. Zander wanted some way to get back at them.

Nikolas delivered divorce papers to Lydia. And soon, Emily and Nikolas seized their opportunity to be together. And not long after, they had reason to celebrate when she went into remission - she had won her battle with cancer. Once Emily's divorce was final, Nikolas proposed to her and she accepted. The Quartermaines were not happy about the engagement, especially when they found out Nikolas was destitute. The Cassadines were now broke and Alexis had to organize what was left of the Cassadine estate to maintain the family. Alexis had to put Wyndemere up for sale, but Emily stepped in and bought it for Nikolas. Sam McCall was a salvager who Nikolas hired to unearth the wreckage of the Courage, an age-old Quartermaine ship that was lodged under one of Nikolas' freighters. There was a legend that the Courage went down when pirates overran the boat for treasure. The legend appeared to be true when Sam unearthed a bejeweled tiara. This began a rip-off of Pirates of the Caribbean with Nikolas and Emily in the lead roles while they tracked down the treasure. Nikolas and Emily went to the Quartermaines to inform them of the discovered treasure ship, and the Quartermaines wanted their cut too. Tracy Quartermaine proposed a split of the treasure between the Cassadines and the Quartermaines. But Tracy was determined not to share the treasure with anyone, and cut a deal with Sam (who unbeknownst to them was also a Cassadine) to steal the treasure and squirrel it away for themselves. While many were after the treasure, Nikolas and Emily were eventually able to put it up for auction at the Port Charles Hotel, where they hoped the proceeds would help to revitalize the penniless Quartermaine and Cassadine families. Lorenzo Alcazar was the highest bidder for Blackthorn's treasure, but it was stolen once again, right under the noses of the hotel security. The evening went from bad to worse when the hotel's new security system proved too powerful for the building's old wiring to support. A fire broke out and the treasure vanished. Helicopters couldn't land while the strong winds were gusting. By a frightening twist of fate, a chandelier fell on Emily, injuring her leg severely. Monica was able to temporarily stop the bleeding with a tourniquet, but Emily needed more medical attention. Helena, trying once again to separate Emily and Nikolas, untied the tourniquet on a sleeping Emily, leaving her to bleed to death. Fortunately, Emily was saved. With only one helicopter chance left, Nikolas gave up his spot for Emily. Emily didn't want to leave but was given little choice. As they started to lift up off of the roof, she watched as the hotel roof collapsed and Nikolas vanished. Nikolas was presumed dead but Emily never gave up hope. She knew Nikolas was alive and that he would find his way back to her. A few days after the fire, as Emily remembered the good times with Nikolas, a hurt and battered Nikolas walked back into Wyndemere and to Emily. Emily rejoiced, but her happiness was short-lived when a body found in the basement of the hotel was identified as Zander Smith's. Nikolas confessed to leaving the unconscious Zander locked in the basement, and District Attorney Ric Lansing did not consider it murder - until conclusive proof surfaced that Zander was killed by a blow to the head, and was dead before the fire even got to him. Nikolas was arrested for Zander's murder, and it was up to Nikolas and Emily to prove his innocence. Elizabeth was adamant that Nikolas wasn't Zander's killer. She was certain because she believed she killed Zander. Elizabeth had argued with Zander about giving up his right to their son Cameron, and she knocked him out with some sort of metal bar or club. Ric, Emily, Lucky, and Nikolas were shocked at the revelation. As Lucky, Emily, Nikolas, and Ric vowed to cover up Elizabeth's involvement, evidence began to surface that Zander was really alive. While Nikolas safely boarded his plane to Greece, Emily decided to go the cottage where she and Zander used to live to say her final goodbyes to him, still believing he was dead. Just as she turned to go, Zander appears. Happy to see that he's alive and well, Emily rushes to hug him but quickly realizes that there is something very wrong with him. He begs her to leave town with him and when she refuses, he lies to her, telling her that he is holding Nikolas hostage. He then demands that Emily make love to him if she ever wants to see Nikolas again. Emily agrees, but only to save Nikolas. Realizing this, Zander doesn't force her. Emily recognizes Zander is in need of help and tries to convince him to turn himself to the police who have by now surrounded the cottage after being tipped off by Elizabeth, who had spotted the two of them through a window of the cottage. As they step out of the cottage, Zander intentionally pushes Emily away and softly whispers, "I love you" before reaching for his pocket, leading the police to think he has a gun, to force the police to shoot him. Zander then dies in Emily's arms.

Nikolas' "Death"
Emily and Nikolas were free to love each other, but tragedy tore them apart once more. Nikolas is driving in his car and as he reaches to look at the ring he had just bought for Emily, he learns of the hostage situation and he swerves off the road. Later that night, Lucky tells Emily that Nikolas was in a car accident.

The search went on for days with no sign of Nikolas. Finally, the police called off the search and Nikolas was presumed dead. Emily was devastated - she had lost her one true love. Unbeknownst to everyone, Nikolas was very much alive and at Mary Bishop's nearby cottage suffering from amnesia. She convinced Nikolas that he was her late husband, Connor Bishop. Believing her, Nikolas begins living his life as Connor Bishop, an AWOL military officer.

When Emily finds out that Nikolas had a trip to Mexico planned for them, she talks Lucky into going with her. Coincidentally, Mary and "Connor" were there as well to renew their vows and have a second honeymoon. Emily is stunned when one evening she spots Nikolas on the balcony of the room next to hers but before she can say anything, she hears Mary call out "Connor" and he returns to the room. She later sees him on the beach and quickly concludes that he has no idea who she is. She vows to herself that she will find a way to help Nikolas remember her and their love. Emily met with "Connor" and soon learned that Nikolas believed he was Mary's dead husband. Emily raced to her brother Jason Morgan to ask his opinion on how she should handle the situation, since the Quartermaines' attempt at forcing Jason to remember his old life after his accident, is what drove Jason away for good. Emily chose to keep quiet about Nikolas' true identity, but continued to work to remind Nikolas of their past together. Emily convinced "Connor" to seek professional help in remembering his past, and when Nikolas went under hypnosis and remembered the hotel fire, "Connor" thought the repressed memory was from his time in the war in Iraq. Emily confronted Mary over her lies and was certain that Nikolas would remember who he was in no time. Mary continued sleeping with "Connor" in the hopes she'd become pregnant. When Mary believed Emily had told Nikolas everything, the heartbroken Mary decided to call "Connor" by his real name, Nikolas. Nikolas then discovers that several people including Alexis, Lucky and Emily had known the truth for quite some time. Feeling betrayed, he turns his back on them. Emily tries to explain why they kept the truth from him, but Nikolas was furious, and told Emily to leave him alone. Emily continued to try and reach pass Nikolas' anger but to no avail.

During this time, Lucky and Emily grew closer. Not long after, Lucky admitted to Emily that he was in love with her and wanted to start a life with her. Emily was touched but told him that she would always love Nikolas. Heartbroken, Lucky tells her that he would always love her, even if she and Nikolas got back together.

Tragedy
Lila Quartermaine quietly died in her sleep on the evening of Tuesday, July 13, 2004, and Emily was devastated by her loss. Emily knew that Lila was the calm center of the usual hurricane going on at the Quartermaine mansion, and it was up to Emily to be the voice of reason and loving support to the Quartermaines, since Lila would no longer be.

Rape
The Quartermaines were shocked when, at the reading of Lila's will, Justus Ward revealed that Lila left her fortune to whichever Quartermaine could exhibit only virtue, and no vice, for a thirty day period. Ned doubted that any Quartermaine was capable of winning Lila's fortune. Emily didn't want Lila's money, but Tracy Quartermaine thought it was a ruse to appear the most "virtuous" and conspired to prove Emily, and everyone else in the family unworthy of Lila's estate. When the judge of the competition was revealed to be Felicia Jones, the actions of most of the Quartermaines ended up getting them eliminated.

Felicia elected not to award Emily Lila's estate because Emily was trying to make a life outside of the family, and winning Lila's estate would likely draw Emily back into the lion's den. Lila's fortune was awarded to Justus, who vowed to uphold Lila's wishes and use the money and power he inherited to bring the family closer together.

Mary eventually became completely unhinged and terrorized everyone at the Quartermaine mansion on the night of a terrible storm. After claiming the lives of two teenagers (having mistaken one, Sage Alcazar, for Emily), Mary herself was shot in the back by Nikolas, when she threatened not stop until Emily was dead. And then Mary ultimately met her end at General Hospital. Emily and Nikolas were set on marrying, with or without the approval of their families. Helena Cassadine, Nikolas's grandmother refuses to allow the wedding to proceed and she attacked Emily with a knife. But Nikolas arrived just in time to save Emily. After a struggle, Nikolas retrieved the knife from Helena's hands, and although the altercation seemed to be over, he tosses her over the cliffs. Nikolas decided to go to the police where, with the help of Emily's confession that Nikolas was just protecting her, Helena's death was decided to have been in self defense. But Connor knows better, and kidnaps Emily, bringing her back to Mary's cottage. Nikolas figures things out quickly and meets Connor and Emily at the cottage, where Emily has been pretty successful at convincing Connor not to kill anyone. Connor and Nikolas struggle for Connor's gun when it goes off accidentally. Connor is rushed to GH. As he regains consciousness, he finds Elizabeth in his room and asks to speak to a police officer, he wants to tell them what really happened to Helena. Instead, he slips back into unconsciousness, giving the four friends a chance to form a plan. Lucky and Nikolas decide they need to turn Connor in to the military police for going AWOL. Emily overhears their plans, and decides it isn't a very good plan. She takes matters into her own hands and helps Connor escape just before the police arrive. She tries to convince Nikolas that Connor is not a threat, but after several attempts to send him to Canada fail (due to Connor's manipulation), Nikolas decides to end it, and confesses to the police about the real story of Helena's death. With nothing left to blackmail Emily and Nikolas with, and with the military police on their way, Connor becomes desperate, knocking Lucky over the head with a statue and holding Emily hostage. But Emily outwits Connor, and instead of having a chopper sent to Wyndemere for Connor to escape on, she brings the military police right to the door. Connor is arrested, and Emily and Nikolas are left to deal with the court system. After the confession, it's clear that Nikolas is headed to jail. But first, the couple vow they will be married. While Nikolas awaits his sentence, Emily plans their wedding. With Mac Scorpio's help, Nikolas is allowed freedom for one day, so that he and Emily can be married. With Elizabeth's help, Emily gets ready for her wedding, stopping to visit are Sam McCall, Alexis Davis, her parents and other well-wishers throughout the day. After a beautiful ceremony and elegant reception, the newlyweds escape to their hotel room where they spend one amazing night together before Nikolas is taken back to jail. The next day, sentencing begins. Emily is confident that Nikolas will receive a minor sentence after she visits with the judge and explains the situation. But the judge assignment is changed at the last minute and Nikolas is stuck with a very bitter judge who dislikes anyone with money. He determines life in jail, without the possibility of parole, is the best punishment. To free her husband from jail, Emily hatches a plan. She will lure Helena out of hiding by having Connor Bishop pose as Nikolas. She tracks down Connor and convinces him to help her. Part of the plan involved Emily teaching Connor the finer points of being a prince. It was during this time that Connor began to develop an infatuation for Emily. To put the final steps of the plan into motion, Emily and Connor go to a cabin in the woods. Lucky and Elizabeth help set things up, but Emily is left alone with Connor for long periods of time. She becomes uncomfortable with his attention, but brushes it off in order to follow through with her plan. It is a decision she soon lives to regret. Connor, becoming increasingly unstable, tries to express his desire physically. Fearing for her safety, Emily manages to get to the basement of the cabin and hide, but not for long. Connor manages to force his way into the basement and violently rapes Emily. Emily stabbed him with garden shears and when he tried to attack her again, she shot him. Lucky and Elizabeth arrived to find Connor dead. Lucky buried Connor while Elizabeth dealt with a very distraught Emily. Elizabeth suspected Connor raped Emily, but Emily was in complete denial. At the same time, Helena finally surfaces and was able to grab Emily and lock her up in the Cassadine crypt. Emily is cornered and facing the barrel of Helena's gun when Lucky manages to arrive at the last possible moment and take the bullet for Emily. After being rushed to GH and having emergency surgery, he slipped into a deep coma. Emily spent time sitting with Lucky and told him about the rape. She found comfort in talking to a comatose Lucky and told him about all her trouble with Nikolas. Soon, Lucky woke up from his coma and by Emily's request, he moved into Wyndemere with her to recover. He also supported and helped Emily deal with her rape. Emily went to visit Nikolas in prison. When he tried to touch her, she ran away. Nikolas didn't understand what was going on. When Emily returned to prison after a talk with Elizabeth, Emily admitted to Nikolas that Connor raped her. Nikolas believed in their love and knew they could work through this. Following Helena's capture, Nikolas was released from prison. He was surprised when Lucky, instead of Emily, showed up to take him home. Nikolas went to the Quartermaine mansion and pleaded with Emily. He understood this wouldn't be easy but he believed they could work through this trauma together. Emily and Nikolas went to the safe house where Emily was raped and burned it to the ground. This started their path of recovery but they agreed that for now, they needed to live apart.

Divorce
Emily tried to make her marriage work, but she can't. She admits to Sam that she fakes her responses to Nikolas and tries to avoid him whenever possible. Soon, Nikolas, having difficulty dealing with the aftermath of Emily's rape by his lookalike, “Connor", began a friendship with Courtney Jax who is going through her own marital woes. Eventually, Nikolas and Courtney started having romantic feelings for each other.

Later at the hospital, Nikolas overheard Emily telling Jason that she was having a hard time getting past the rape and was still thinking about ending things with Nikolas. Nikolas confronted Emily about what he overheard and offered her a divorce on the spot. Emily refused the offer because she didn't want to give up on what they have.

Nikolas decided he needed to get away for a few days, telling Emily he had to go on a business trip and took off. Meanwhile, Elizabeth confessed to Monica that she saw Courtney and Nikolas kissing at the docks. Emily soon found out where Nikolas really was and immediately took off to find her husband. Emily found her husband in the Bahamas, coming out of Courtney's hotel room, wearing only a robe. Jax arrived in time to find out about Nikolas and Courtney. Courtney explained that there was nothing going on, but that didn't stop Jax from beating up Nikolas. When Courtney tried to stop him, Jax told her they were over. Emily was devastated when she discovered the affair and immediately filed for divorce. She would later admit that she bore just as much responsibility for the breakdown of their marriage as much as Nikolas did.

Sonny Corinthos
Unable to contact her brother Jason, Emily went to Sonny to try and find a way to contact him. Sonny offered an ear to her when he told her that Jason was on vacation with his girlfriend Sam. Sonny quickly learned that Nikolas was having an affair with his own sister, Courtney. Sonny offered her a place to stay that was removed from the pressures in her life and allowed her to heal from her rape and failed marriage. Later, Sonny called Nikolas a bastard for cheating on Emily, when all she needed was a little space and understanding. Soon, Nikolas and Emily promised to try again, which Courtney overheard. Emily showed up at Wyndemere right after Nikolas left a message for Courtney. Right then, Courtney arrived and Emily realized that Nikolas was waiting for Courtney. Nikolas tried to explain, but Emily wouldn't listen, and told him they were over. During the Port Charles train crash, Reese Marshall withheld symptoms, causing Emily to misdiagnose her condition and Reese ended up dying. Emily was overcome with guilt and decided she should end her ambitions of becoming a doctor. Sonny made Emily realize that she had a lot to offer, and encouraged her to continue reaching her goals. Emily took Sonny's advice, but would freeze up when faced with a medical crisis. Soon after, Emily found herself drawn to Sonny. Emily was caught off guard when she began having romantic dreams about Sonny that soon developed into sexual fantasies. One night over dinner, Emily had too many glasses of wine and eventually admitted to Sonny that she was falling in love with him. Sonny gently told Emily that he did not feel the same, when the truth was, he was also falling for Emily, but knew that Jason would never support a relationship between his sister and a mob boss. So, out of respect for his friendship with Jason, Sonny tried to stay away from Emily. After leaving Sonny's house that night, Emily discovered Michael drowning at the pier. Without hesitating, Emily jumped into the freezing water and saved Michael's life by administering CPR. Sonny was extremely grateful and later that evening, they couldn't fight their attraction and shared a kiss, but Sonny ended up pushing Emily away once again. Finally, Emily confronted Sonny about his feelings and dared him to admit he was falling for her. Jason made Sonny realize that he'd only cause Emily pain in the long run, and Sonny once again decided to end their relationship. Carly helped Sonny push Emily away by staging a kiss with him. Once Emily witnessed Sonny and Carly kissing, she was devastated. Before Emily had any time to process their break up, Port Charles was hit with the Encephalitis virus. Both Nikolas and Sonny fell ill, and Emily ended up taking care of both of them. While in the hospital, Sonny admitted to Emily that the kiss with Carly was just a ruse to make her forget about him. Emily forgave Sonny and after he recovered from the virus, the couple reunited. With the aura of devastation after the virus, Emily and Sonny decided to keep their relationship a secret until their friends and family had recovered from their losses. Both lied to Jason about the fact that they were still seeing each other, but Jason remained suspicious. Sonny took Emily away to Spain where he shared his fears about hurting her. Emily reassured Sonny that they'll overcome the obstacles ahead of them, and together they returned to Port Charles. Their secret love affair was soon made public after Jason saved them from a hit man that had broken into their hotel suite. Jason's suspicions had been confirmed, but he was horrified to find his sister and best friend in an intimate moment. Sonny and Emily's relationship was plastered all over the news, and the Quartermaines were equally upset about the developments in Emily's love life. Regardless of what others think, Sonny and Emily were determined to stay together despite the objections of those closest to them.

Soon after Sonny and Emily's relationship was made public, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He would go from enthusiastically happy to deeply depressed and violent. He began having delusions, forcing Jason to take a stand. Give up Emily to keep her safe, or lose the one thing that Sonny coveted most - his empire. Sonny chose Emily. With lines drawn and Jason on the other side, Ric was able to worm his way into his brother's life. Before long, Ric started taking advantage of Sonny's deteriorating condition. Emily was determined to save Sonny, so she began talking to doctors and enlisting Carly's help. Emily stood by Sonny through this difficult time, convincing him to go into therapy and get control of his condition. Sonny decided it would be best to end his relationship with Emily, wanting to spare her a life with someone struggling with his condition. While Sonny told Emily that he couldn't stop loving her, he broke up with her and told Emily to make him sorry that he asked her to leave.

Metro Court Hostage Crisis
After her relationship with Sonny ended, Emily threw herself into her studies. Within time, Emily and Nikolas found their way back to each other. Nikolas had been newly united with his son, whom Jax has claimed as his own following Courtney's death to the viral epidemic that swept Port Charles. Emily stood by Nikolas, helping him raise his son and becoming the baby's godmother. When Helena kidnapped little Spencer, Emily teamed up with Nikolas and helped him rescue his son. Their romance was rekindled and Nikolas finally admitted his mistakes in dealing with the aftermath of Emily's rape. They eventually decided that they wanted to give their relationship another chance.

Emily, Nikolas, and others were gathered at the Metro Court for a fund raiser, when armed gunmen seized the lobby and took those present as hostages. Jerry Jacks, then acting as Mr. Craig, forced her to choose on who was going to be released between her best friend, Elizabeth Webber, who was suffering from premature contractions and her father, Alan Quartermaine, who had suffered a massive heart attack. She struggled with the decision but with Elizabeth's insistence, Emily chose Alan. It was too late for Alan. Shortly after the hostage crisis came to an explosive end, Alan passed away with Monica at his side. Emily helped her family cope with the loss while Nikolas gave Emily strength.

Shortly after Alan was buried, Mr. Craig resurfaced. Mr. Craig, the leader of the hostage takers, injected Nikolas with a poison that required an antidote every 24 hours. He demanded that Nikolas help him establish a new identity and a new life. Nikolas reluctantly agreed, while Robin, Patrick and Emily raced to figure out a cure for the poison Nikolas was being tortured with. Mr. Craig would often wait until Nikolas suffered violent seizures and chest pains before giving him the life saving serum.

Robin and Patrick did find what they believed could be an antidote after they managed to get a small sample of the serum. They gave it to Nikolas as a last ditch effort to save his life when time ran out and Jerry wasn't around to give Nikolas his dose. The antidote worked and Nikolas made a full recovery. Or at least it seemed so.

Black and White Ball Death
Months later, Nikolas began developing periods of rage when he would get upset. During his blackouts, he has beaten Logan Hayes and stabbed Jerry Jacks. He would not remember anything he did during these infrequent episodes, so it took awhile before Emily began to realize that Nikolas was in trouble. Determined not to let anything destroy their happiness, Nikolas agreed to have tests, but decided to give Emily a special night. After Emily talked about how special she always found the Bacchanalia Balls, Nikolas suggested they throw their own gala. The Black and White Ball was the event of the season and was in part to honor and make a grand donation to General Hospital in Alan Quartermaine's name.

With the Black and White Ball around the corner, Emily has reservations about the ball as Nikolas' bouts of rages increased in frequency and intensity but Nikolas insisted on moving ahead with the plans. The gala was set for Halloween Night, October 31.

On the night of the ball, before they joined their guests, Nikolas asked Emily to marry him. She gladly accepted the proposal and they went downstairs to thank everyone for coming to the ball, which is being held in Alan's memory. They announce their engagement and everyone congratulates them, before they share a waltz.

The evening would soon turn into a nightmare. Anthony Zacchara, a rival mob boss who was completely insane, went to Spoon Island in the hopes of finding Lulu Spencer and killing her. Before long, the elegant ball was a nightmare when Alexis finds Ric pinned to the wall with a sword. They soon put the pieces together and believe that Anthony Zacchara is responsible. Throughout the night, Zacchara terrorizes the guests at the ball, holding several of them at gunpoint and asking strange questions. Stuck on Spoon Island in a blackout, the guests were forced to hide in fear for their lives as one by one, guests were murdered.

After one of Nikolas' rages, Jason was forced to tie him to a chair in the ballroom and take Emily to safety. Jason takes Emily to the stables where Elizabeth, Lulu, Spinelli and the others were hiding, but Emily refused to be separated from Nikolas. After having a heart-to-heart talk with Elizabeth, she returned to the ballroom. It would be a fatal decision. Nikolas had been untied earlier and was desperately looking for Emily. When they reunited in the ballroom, Nikolas was quite agitated and asks her why she came back.

Nikolas was then hit from the back and ended up unconscious. When he came to, he found Emily's body with a thick rope still wrapped around her neck. Emily was strangled to death. Nikolas was in denial. He shouted Emily's name from the ballroom, of which Jason heard. Jason quickly ran to the ballroom, only to find his little sister's lifeless body on the floor. Jason was devastated.

Suspects include Nikolas Cassadine, Anthony Zacchara, and Coop Barrett. However, Port Charles residents are horrified to learn that Emily was, in fact, the second victim claimed by Diego Alcazar, as the Text Message Killer. Diego had survived being shot by Sam McCall years earlier, and was targeting the women close to Sonny and Jason, so that they would have a taste of the loss he experienced when they ordered his father, Lorenzo Alcazar, killed.

Emily later comes to Nikolas at Wyndemere. She was a hallucination brought on by a tumor in Nikolas' brain.

Nikolas and Emily's Final Goodbye
On May 1, 2008, Nikolas finally decides to let Emily go. They share their last dance in the ballroom where Emily died. Nikolas can't imagine life without her and doesn't think he can move on and love again, but Emily encourages him to live for her, be a good father to Spencer and allow himself to fall in love again. They say goodbye and Emily walks out of the ballroom, leaving Nikolas wondering what to do next.

May 7, 2008 was the day Nikolas will finally have the surgery that will save his life, and will also end his visions of Emily. Hours before the surgery, Nikolas finds himself sitting on a bench at the park, where Emily appears to him. They reminisce on their happy memories together, and how she had a crush on him when they were still teenagers. She reassures him that when the time comes that he dies, she will be waiting for him.

At the hospital, while Nikolas was being prepared for the surgery, he sees Emily walk through the doors, leans over to him and whispers "I love you". Nikolas then doses off with tears streaming down his face. As Nikolas regains consciousness after the surgery, he finds Emily's engagement ring clutched in his hands. The nurses told him that they had removed it once before, but it continued to end up in his hands.