had had a stillbirth to spare Eric the pain of knowing his daughter was so severely disabled. Stephanie had hired a doctor to give Angela round-the-clock care in a secret house, never guessing that Angela would live until adulthood. It turns out the doctor, Todd Powell, had accidentally killed the real Angela years before. The daughter Eric meets is a perfectly functional imposter. Other urgent matters—including the secret, withheld even from the partly amnesiac Thorne himself, that Thorne shot Ridge in the back of the head—keep Eric home for a while. And Stephanie's machinations, which bring Beth's estranged husband back in town, keep him out of that bed. But then his son, Ridge, and the publishing heiress, Caroline Spencer Forrester, discover the lies Brooke told to keep them apart and Caroline leaves Thorne for Ridge, Ridge ends his relationship with Brooke and Eric is drawn to Brooke. Eric offered comfort to a distraught and emotionally disturbed Brooke who watched Ridge, the man she loved, leave her for Caroline after she lost the baby she was carrying that was Ridge's. Eric began to pursue and support Brooke, and she eventually becomes pregnant with Eric's child. They keep their affair quiet for quite some time. Eric was in the middle of a divorce and was fearful of what Stephanie might do. Stephanie initially learns of the relationship through Thorne, stunning Stephanie who had no idea her husband and Brooke were even involved since she had worked along with Caroline to make sure Ridge would marry Caroline. Unfortunately, her plan backfired and Eric, the man she was separated from at the time, married Brooke. Eric marries Brooke and they welcome their first child, Eric Forrester Jr (Rick Forrester). Caroline dies of leukemia. Ridge and Brooke become close again and Brooke decides to divorce Eric to be with Ridge. She gets pregnant with what she believes is Ridge's child, Bridget Forrester, but it is revealed years later that Eric is the father. Eric remains very affectionate and protective of Brooke. In 2001, the shipping magnate, Massimo Marone, comes to town and woos Ridge's mother, Stephanie. Ridge opposes his efforts, and during a heated argument with him, cuts his hand deeply. This leads to a hospital visit and a doctor's discovery, divulged to Stephanie, that the blood types of Eric and Ridge make it impossible for them to be father and son. Stephanie reveals to