She grew up in a series of foster homes, one of which consisted of a father who was "A mean old cuss" as she described him when he drank which resulted in her developing an aversion to alcohol. After marrying her boyfriend Rob Layne, they had a daughter named Tammy but when Rob split, Cassie wasn't in any position to take care of her child financially so like herself, she put her daughter in foster care. In order to survive financially, she took a job working at a club in Chicago named "TEAZERS" where she quickly became known as "Shady Lane" the main attraction. It was on that night that she met Alan Spaulding and Annie Dutton who pretended to rescue her from a bunch of thugs who had very cruel ulterior motives in mind. She managed with their help land a job at Lewis Oil where she met Billy Lewis and although he really liked her alot, she only thought of him as her boss and friend.

When the Lewis Clan invited her to a celebration to welcome Vanessa Reardon back "from the dead", she met other Springfield Residents such as Bill Lewis as well as Hart Jessup but when the two first laid eyes on each other, there was an attraction that didn't sit to well with his girlfriend Dinah who was painfully insecure about herself who didn't resist taking any potshots to Cassie's face. When Hart found out that Cassie was trying to win her daughter back from the courts, he decided to help her but when Dinah found out, she foiled the plan much to Cassie's anger. Yet nothing could have prepared Cassie for when she realized that Reva, the top shareholder at Lewis Oil was in fact her half-sister and welcomed her into the family with open arms. To add to the embarassment was the fact that Reva introduced Cassie to her brother Rusty hoping to make a "Love Connection" but fortunately, that didn't happen.

However, as time went on Hart realized that he was falling hopelessly in love with Cassie, and on Xmas Eve Night, he broke Dinah's heart by saying that it was over between them. However, Dinah wasn't one to give up what was rightfully hers. She kept hanging around and pestering Hart and one night she manipulated him into believing that she was pregnant with his child when in reality it was Rob Layne's child. (The only person who knows the truth is Marcus Williams, who for some strange reason decided to keep his mouth shut.) It was also during that time that Cassie found out that she too was pregnant but instead of doing the right thing, she chose to remain quiet because she didn't want Hart to come back to her because of a child. Still, he loved her now more than ever. Dinah knew that and that made her jealous like hell. She shot Hart and left town shortly after. Hart died, leaving Cassie all alone and without any money.

Cassie struggled along for a while. She even set her own problems aside to help Reva who was in San Cristobel dealing with her own past with Prince Richard Winslow. When Reva was suffering from amnesia and had been presumed dead by her family and friends in Springfield, she was actually living as a woman named Katherine in San Cristobel. She became involved with and married the country's young prince and gave birth to a son, Jonathan. When Richard's jealous brother, Edmund, plotted to kill Jonathan so as to maintain his rank as heir to the throne, Reva sent Jonathan away and let Richard believe that he was dead. Now, all these years later, Reva had remembered everything and confessed all to Richard. Thinking that Reva was being held against her will in San Cristobel, Cassie went along with Josh and a group of their friends to rescue her. When they got there, they realized that Reva was there because she wanted to be...she wanted to settle things with Richard before returning home. She made the decision to let Jon stay with the family that had raised and, again, didn't consult Richard. Once again, he was left dealing with the loss of his son. This time, Cassie was there to pick up the pieces. While comforting him, Cassie and Richard became close friends... although Cassie was beginning to want more.

When she returned to Springfield, Cassie was faced with the fact that she was broke and in danger of losing the farm. Desperate to make money and not wanting to go to her friends and family for help, she decided to go back to stripping. In the meantime, Reva and Richard e xplored their feelings for one another and came to the conclusion that she belonged with Josh. This left Richard with the task of finding a new wife to produce an heir. Not wanting to risk the pain of falling in love again, he offered Cassie a deal. He would marry her and solve her money problems and she would give him an heir. Cassie agreed to the marriage without admitting her true feeling for the Prince. When Reva found out about her sister's wedding plans, she became jealous and enraged. She claimed that she was just worried about Cassie, but everyone saw threw her...she was still hung up on Richard. Fed up with his wife's behavior, Josh left Reva. Reva went to Richard and said she wanted to give their relationship another chance. Cassie assumed her dreams of marrying Richard and making him fall in love with her were shattered, but she was wrong.

What Cassie didn't realize was that Richard was actually beginning to have real feelings for his fiance. He sent Reva away and refused to call off the wedding. Cassie moved into the Palace in San Cristobel and began to plan her wedding. Things were looking up until Cassie contracted the measles and was told she may not be able to get pregnant. Although she offered to back out of their deal, Richard told Cassie that he still wanted to marry her. She had become important to the county and her family had become his. When a construction accident in San Cristobel caused problems for the monarchy, Cassie was determined to get to the bottom of the scandal and find out who was responsible. She persuaded Richard to go with her to Galveston, Texas where the crew was now staying. They posed as a married couple, Dwayne and Stella, and got jobs at a local bar. While forced to live together in very small quarters, the tension grew almost unbearable as the two continued to fight their feelings. Eventually, the mystery was solved and the couple returned to San Cristobel to continue planning their wedding.

At the urging of his friend, Noah, Richard decided it was time to tell Cassie how he really felt. He offered to court her and she gladly accepted. The two spent a short time casually dating until Richard finally spit out the words "I love you". An ecstatic Cassie told him she loved him too. The couple joked at how stupid they had been and how many times the misunderstood each others intentions. Although their first instinct was to hop into bed, Cassie told Richard she wanted her wedding to be old fashioned, right down to the tradition of not making love until their wedding night. Richard agreed...anything Cassie wanted was fine with him. Now the couple is enjoying their new romance and things look like they are going to go along without a hitch...except for one problem. Cassie's friend's Danny and Michelle Santos are currently on the run from the police. Michelle has been falsely convicted of a murder she didn't commit. The couple ended up in San Cristobel and phoned Cassie for help. Wanting to return the favor after they helped her find Reva over the summer, Cassie agreed to hide them in the palace. Now, Cassie needs to make sure Richard doesn't find out or else he new life could be compromised for good!

Fearing that hiding the fugitives would compromise Richard's position in San Cristobel, Cassie tried to keep it a secret. However soon Richard learned the truth. Though he was ready to turn the two in to the police, Cassie persuaded him to help the pair and he gave them two weeks to clear themselves. Just when Cassie's life seemed perfect, the inevitable happened: Edmund found pictures of Cassie's stripping days and displayed them for the public to see. Determined that Richard would not suffer because of her, she offered to leave San Cristobel so he could find a more suitable wife. Cassie's love for Richard was too great however for her to just give up, so she decided to tell the people of San Cristobel her story and let them decide if she should be princess. To her surprise, the people supported her.

Soon after, however, Cassie received another shock: she was still married to Rob Layne. Apparently, Rob never signed the divorce papers. When he learned that Cassie was marrying a prince, he decided to cash in and offered to divorce her for a price. Cassie tried to bribe Rob into signing the papers, but he only got more greedy and demanded more money. Just when Cassie thought she convinced him to sign the papers (for a price of $ 1 million dollars), he gave her another demand: he wanted to spend the day with his daughter. Against her better judgment, Cassie went along with it, only to have Tammy kidnapped. Desperate, Cassie and Richard turned to her sister for help, and they came up with a plan. Reva met with Rob and pretended to be on his side. When Rob "caught on" that Reva was setting him up, he got in an argument with Reva and Marah (who was in on the plan) which resulted in Reva being knocked unconscious (which she of course wasn't). Afraid that he'd be arrested for knocking Reva out, Rob signed the divorce papers and granted custody of Tammy to Richard, then hurried out of town before the (imaginary) ambulance arrived. With Cassie now officially divorced, she and Richard were finally free to plan their wedding.

Last updated 03/16/01. E-mail me with any comments or suggestions at addip@isholf.is.