Ava Jerome

Maura West as Ava Jerome

## Relationships

### Romances

Franco (lovers; 1990s) (pseudo romance; 2013) (pseudo romance, 2015; as Denise) (kissed; 2020)
Silas Clay (affair, 1991 revised to 1992; kissed, 2013)
Morgan Corinthos (lovers; 2013-14) (affair, 2015; as Denise)
Sonny Corinthos (ONS; 2014)
Paul Hornsby (lovers; 2015)
Nikolas Cassadine (kissed, 2016; ONS, 2020)
Valentin Cassadine (kissed; 2016)
Griffin Munro (lovers; 2017-18)
Ryan Chamberlain (lovers, 2018-19; engaged, 2019; as "Kevin")
Kevin Collins (pseudo romance; 2019)
Austin Gatlin-Holt (flirtation)

### Friendships

Carlos Rivera
Franco

**Ava Jerome** is a fictional character and former antagonist on the ABC daytime soap opera *General Hospital*. She is the daughter of the late mob boss, Victor Jerome and his ex-mistress, *Ryan's Hope* alum character Delia Ryan Coleridge.

She had been portrayed by actress Maura West since the character's debut on May 8, 2013.

On January 17, 2018, Ava had her own episode devoted to her.

## Casting/Creation

In early April, Jamey Giddens and Jillian Bowe of *Daytime Confidential* reported a rumor that the Daytime Emmy Award winner Maura West, best known for her role as Carly Snyder on *As the World Turns*, was set to join the cast in a top secret role.

On April 24, nearly two weeks after Confidential's original report, *Soap Opera Digest* and other soap opera media confirmed the news and revealed that West had joined the cast in the newly created role of Ava Jerome, and was slated to appear sometime in May.

*ABC Soaps In Depth* editor Richard M. Simms immediately speculated that the character shared a connection to the infamous '80s crime family, the Jerome family.

In an interview with *Soap Opera Digest*, West revealed that her agent, Mamie Sparer was contacted by *General Hospital* casting director, Mark Teschner who had her come in to meet with executive producer, Frank Valentini and that the meeting prompted her to sign on to appear as Ava.

Of her role, West admitted the part was only scheduled as a five-day stint, however, she was offered a contract before she even began work on the soap. In an interview with TV Guide's Michael Logan, West was asked what made her take on the role of Ava. She admitted,"Next to nothing. You have to put your faith in people, which was hard because I'd never met [executive producer] Frank Valentini and [head writer] Ron Carlivati, but they are so fun, so infectious! But, then, Ava was not intended to hang around all that long."

West made her debut on May 8, 2013.

When asked about the casting of West in the role, Valentini and Carlivati admitted they both felt West was perfect for the role. "When Ron and I had talked about this character, there were several actresses we had in mind initially, and a couple of things didn't work out. Then I thought about Maura, and when I said it to Ron, we both said, 'Absolutely!' So we both kind of stumbled upon it at the same time, because we are both not physically in the same city, we are often on the phone," Valentini revealed in an interview in December 2013. Valentini also admitted that he knew there might be some on West's part when it came to accepting the role.

He explained, "I understood she wasn't necessarily into the idea of doing another soap, because she had not the best experience on another show. But, I thought let's do it and let's see what happens." Carlivati also mentioned being a fan of West's from her time on *World Turns*, stating, "I was a fan of hers from *As the World Turns*. And when you first see Maura, she is so classically beautiful. I was not that familiar with *As the World Turns*, but when you would turn it on, you would see this beautiful woman who just seems to be appropriate as a soap actress."

In 2015, West won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress for her role as Ava Jerome.

## Characterization

According to West, Ava has a lot going on; "She's mysterious and strong and just has all of the characteristics of a great character." West explained that Ava is very reminiscent of her earlier portrayal of Carly on *As the World Turns*. However, she argued that Ava is a bit more "sophisticated." The characters are not the same, "but there are certain colors that are similar" West continued.

In an interview with *Boston Herald*, West said of Ava, "There's a ton of mystery to Ava. [...] She's full of strength and has undertones of vulnerability." She also said she didn't originally know that Ava was part of the infamous Jerome crime family, but in fact played her as if she possibly could be. She remarked, "am certainly playing her and making an early assumption that she is. This woman isn't all poise and ladylike. There's grit under there."

If Ava's connection to the notorious Jerome crime family panned out, not only would West's arrival cause trouble for Port Charles's local kingpin, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), but there was also great storyline potential for Ian Buchanan and Finola Hughes's Duke Lavery and Anna Devane who shared a quite volatile history with the Jerome family. Critics began speculating that the character would be the long lost daughter of Tonja Walker's Olivia Jerome (born Jerome) despite the relatively small age difference between the actresses; however Matt Webb Motivich of *TV Line* also suggested that Ava could be a previously unknown child of Olivia's crime lord father, Victor Jerome (Jack Axelrod). The character is immediately thrown into a major storyline as it is revealed that she is helping hide Morgan and that she Lauren's mother.

According to series head writer, Ron Carlivati, "This is [a] woman who conceived a child with Franco, so you have to worry about that right there." Though Ava initially comes off as a "devoted mother," there is much more behind to her. At the Winter 2014 Television Critics Association press tour, West opened up about portraying Ava and how it compared to portraying Carly on *World Turns*. She described, "I have to be honest, I work very hard. [...] I wanted to create a character that was different. I loved Carly, but I can't play her again. Then when this part came up, I thought, how am I going to play this role? She's different. She has similarities as women do.‘How does she carry herself?' Ava never touches her hair.

Ava never moves. Ava's a snake. She only moves when she is going to strike. And these are things I think about. This is how I wanted to create this person." When asked how she keeps Ava sympathetic and vulnerable, West described, "You never judge your own self. You do what you do — we all do this every day. Ava doesn't judge herself, she does what she does because she thinks she is right. [...] She is not retrospectively looking at her actions. She is just living in it. As an actor, you can't judge your character ever. Let others judge it."

West, on playing a female gangster (2013):

"It's awesome! And it makes Ava even cooler. She's like, 'So what if I'm not a guy? I'm an heir!' She didn't marry into the mob. She is the mob. When you grow up watching your father come home and wash blood off his hands, you don't give it much mind. There are no rules when you've been raised in a world like that — and that's very freeing as an actor. I loooove Ava! I love that she is so poised — almost hyper-poised — as she struts around town yet she's also gritty, angry, really abrasive. I love that she's hiding things."

Ava is known as the resident scheming villainess who will lie, manipulate, seduce, and sometimes murder people to get what she wants. While she maintains an elegant and classy demeanor, Ava is a cold and ruthless woman who won't hesitate to take down anyone that gets in her way.

She has shown a soft spot from time to time, mainly with her brother Julian and daughters, Kiki and Avery. Although she is a free-spirited, laid-back mom, Ava deeply cares bout her daughters and can be very protective if necessary. Despite being the town's pariah, she is trying to be a better person.

Ava has made enemies in town, including several members of the Corinthos family and Quartermaine family. However, her tumultuous relationship with mob kingpin, Sonny Corinthos and his wife Carly can sometimes see periods of cordiality due to their shared daughter, Avery. Her few friends in town include Scott Baldwin and Franco.

## Introduction

Ava answers the door and Luke Spencer introduces himself. Ava reveals that she is the mother of Lauren Frank and tells Luke the story of she and Franco met and he had a charming side. After they knew that she was pregnant, she realized that Franco had a darker side and wanted to keep Lauren away from it. Luke lets Ava know that Franco is biologically a Quartermaine, and Lauren is entitled to shares of the family company, ELQ.

He gives her a proxy statement to hand over to Lauren, signing in favor of Tracy Quartermaine. Luke leaves and Morgan Corinthos walks down the staircase. Morgan ran to Ava's house when the people who he owed money threatened to come after him. It's later revealed that Morgan is dating her daughter, Kiki (later revealed to be short for Lauren Katherine Jerome).

## Storylines

Ava and Kiki talk about the situation with Morgan. Ava convinces Kiki to go to Port Charles to be with Morgan, and she soon comes too. She tracks down Tracy, and tells her she will get her daughter to sign over her shares in exchange for a large sum of money. Tracy agrees, wanting control of ELQ. Ava tells Kiki that her father is the serial killer Franco and that he is the twin brother of Jason Morgan and also the grandson of late Edward Quartermaine, which entitles Kiki to a piece of the shares of the company ELQ. Ava tries to get Kiki to sign over her shares, but Kiki angrily disagrees to sign when Ava reveals she was bribed into getting Kiki's signature. Ava also meets Duke Lavery, when Ava goes to ELQ to talk to A.J. Quartermaine, and they have a conversation about her surname of Jerome.  Duke has a past with the Jerome mob family.

Franco is revealed to be alive, and Ava tries to keep him away from Kiki. However, Kiki eventually comes to the Quartermaine house, where Franco is, and ends up moving in, along with Morgan. Ava tries to blackmail Franco into leaving Kiki alone by revealing that she knows Franco was the one who poisoned the ELQ relish. It's revealed that Ava was the one who shot Olivia Falconeri in a botched attempt to kill Franco. Ava agrees to let Franco have a relationship with Kiki, while Franco agrees to help Ava take over ELQ using his shares. The two move into the Quartermaine mansion, pretending to be a couple.

Ava spots Dr. Silas Clay when she goes to find Kiki and Ava gets Silas to agree to go get some coffee.  The coffee conversation doesn't end well, with Silas leaving Kelly's and Ava storming out soon after. It is revealed that Ava and Silas had a romantic relationship and Silas is the true father of her daughter, Kiki.  Ava tries to keep Silas from finding out that Kiki is his daughter, but Silas is still suspicious about Kiki's paternity. Morgan, meanwhile, catches Ava lying to Silas, and Ava admits to him that Silas is actually Kiki's biological father. However, she convinces him to keep it a secret from Kiki because if she finds out, she might leave Morgan for his brother, Michael, whom she's attracted to, but who she thinks is her cousin. Morgan, desperate to hold onto Kiki, agrees to keep the secret.

Franco is beaten up and admitted to the hospital, where the doctors later diagnose him with a potentially fatal brain tumor. Franco agrees to undergo surgery for it, but before he does, he signs over his shares of ELQ to Ava, giving her voting rights. Ava stages a coup with Tracy, planning to take the company once Tracy has control of it, by voting Franco's shares in favor of Tracy. However, Kiki sides with A.J., and the Quartermaines' housekeeper, Alice, switches sides, meaning A.J. keeps his position as CEO. Ava is disappointed, and tries to figure out another plan. Meanwhile, she gets a visit from Duke, who is still suspicious Ava is tied to the Jerome mob family, especially because he's found out that Ava has a mysterious financial backer funding her activities. Ava writes him off and leaves.

Ava shows up at the office of *Crimson* magazine, where it's revealed she knows the publisher, Derek Wells. She addresses Derek as Julian, and it's revealed that he's actually Julian Jerome, head of the Jerome mob and Ava's brother. The two of them plan to take control of Port Charles again, as their family once had in the 1980's. They are targeting Sonny Corinthos, who currently controls the mob business in Port Charles. Julian is disappointed because of Ava's failed scheme to take over ELQ. However, Ava tells Julian that Kiki is engaged to Sonny's son, and that will provide her leverage. It's also revealed that Ava & Julian are behind the gambling scam that put Morgan in debt, and she is playing him so Morgan will be in her debt.

Silas lets it slip to Ava that he had a DNA test run on Kiki. When he refuses to back down on Ava's insistence, Ava reports him to the chief of staff, Dr. Monica Quartermaine. Ava then takes the results from Monica to ensure no one knows the truth. Silas refuses to back down and plans to tell Kiki, but Ava threatens him to not go anywhere near her daughter. However, Connie Falconeri has already acquired Kiki's birth certificate and published the story in the newspaper by the time Ava stops Silas. Ava finds out and tries to locate Kiki, but runs into Silas, and finally admits that Kiki's his daughter. He storms out, angry, and Ava goes and confronts Julian for publishing the story. Julian, though, thinks it's an advantage since Tracy now has control and tells Ava to secure her position in ELQ, which Ava does by threatening Tracy with switching Franco's vote to support A.J..

Ava goes looking for her daughter at General Hospital, when Kiki goes to tell Franco that they're not father and daughter. The two of them are angry at Ava, who tries to explain herself. However, Kiki tells Ava she's now married to Morgan. Ava's shocked, and realizes Morgan married Kiki so she couldn't leave him. Franco lets Ava know she's not off the hook with him, and Kiki also tells her to stay away from her and Morgan, even though Ava wishes them well. Ava later comes by and blackmails Morgan, saying that she could expose his lies and reconcile with her daughter. Morgan, though, is desperate to hold onto Kiki, and tells Ava he is willing to do anything to make sure Kiki never finds out. Ava agrees to hold onto the favor, and leaves. Ava is thrown out of the Quartermaine house, as is Franco, who admits to Tracy that he poisoned the relish. They both end up staying at the Metro Court.

Ava goes to visit Sonny, wanting his help to arrange a wedding reception for Morgan and Kiki. Sonny, though, doesn't want to because he is mourning the death of his girlfriend, Connie. Ava realizes that Sonny is supposed to be taking medication that he's not, and is behaving erratically, as a result. She goes and tells Kiki about the party, but Kiki doesn't want it. Morgan, though, convinces her to have it, and Kiki agrees on the condition that Silas is invited, as well. Later, Ava meets Julian at the pier, where they meet their associate, Vince, who was kidnapped by Sonny's men, Shawn Butler & Max Giambetti. He admits that he told them his boss' name, but doesn't think they'll buy it since everyone believes Julian is dead. Julian, however, kills Vince, and Ava throws his body into the water.

At the party, Ava sees Silas and gets him to agree to a dance with her. She tries to convince him to give their relationship another chance, but Silas refuses. Ava kisses him to change his mind, but he pushes her away, and runs after Sam Morgan. Meanwhile, Sonny reveals to the guests that Morgan knew about Kiki's paternity before they married, and has been lying ever since. Ava goes to find Silas, and overhears him telling Sam that he wants nothing to do with Ava, and he's interested in Sam. Ava tries to scare Sam off by claiming that Silas has dark secrets. Sam dares her to reveal them, and Ava backs off. Silas and Sam leave, and Ava breaks a vase in her meltdown.

Ava goes back to her room, where Morgan shows up. He reveals that Kiki has left him after finding out the truth about him lying to her. After overhearing Silas commenting that he doesn't want anything to do with Ava and Morgan losing his wife, the two heartbroken people talk and console each other.  Morgan kisses Ava and she initially doesn't want it, but succumbs to it and has sex with her son-in-law. The next day, the two of them are discovered first by Carly, who wants to kick Ava out, then by Michael & Kiki. Morgan refuses to be sorry for what they did, but Ava is mortified about being discovered by her daughter. Kiki writes Ava off, and leaves with Michael. Ava moves out of the Metro Court before Carly can kick her out, and into a penthouse Julian had arranged for her. Morgan also moves in, claiming he has nowhere to go. When Morgan overhears Ava calling Julian her brother he figures out that he is not Derek Wells. Ava tries to save Morgan when Julian orders a hit on him. Eventually Morgan agrees to help Julian take down Sonny and moves in with Ava.

Meanwhile, Sam finds out that Ava is the daughter of Victor Jerome and Delia Ryan. Ava hosts a gallery for Franco that ends in disaster; Sonny arrives and reveals that he knows Derek is really Julian, and that Ava is his partner. He confronts Morgan about working with the Jeromes, who tells off Sonny and stays loyal to the Jeromes. Sam confronts Julian about knowing he's her biological father, and Julian reveals that Sonny has a hitman waiting to kill him outside. Sam tells Sonny not to, because Julian was going to give bone marrow to store for her son, Danny, in case he suffers a relapse in his cancer. Ava uses this as leverage, and guilt-trips Sonny into calling off the hit. Sonny lets Sam know, though, that Julian will not donate his bone marrow, because he's going to use it as leverage to stay alive.

After Sonny leaves, Sam confronts Julian and Ava, who in a roundabout fashion, confirm that Julian will not donate his bone marrow to store because Sonny will kill him. Sam is furious at both of them for using her son as leverage and storms out. Ava tries to get Silas to convince Sam, but Silas coldly tells Ava to leave him & Sam alone. Ava later goes to the docks, where she finds Morgan beaten up after getting into a fight with Michael. Ava finds Julian's enforcer and her good friend, Carlos Rivera, at the pier one night. He tells her about how he still loves his ex-girlfriend, Sabrina Santiago, but she's now marrying Patrick Drake. Carlos found out that Patrick's wife, Robin, thought to have died a year earlier, is actually alive, but Sabrina doesn't believe him. Ava tells him to go to Patrick with this, but Carlos is convinced Patrick would believe him even less. After he leaves, Ava is shown to have stolen Metro Court security footage in her possession, which she burns afterwards.

Ava goes to Patrick's house on the day of his wedding, and tells him about what Carlos saw. She tries to plant a seed of doubt by revealing that Carlos told Sabrina, but she never told Patrick. Patrick, though, feels skeptical and tells Ava to leave. Ava goes on the witness stand at court when A.J. is charged with killing Connie. She testifies that she saw A.J. drunk at the bar the night Connie was killed, complaining about how Connie had ruined his life. However, her testimony is discredited because she doesn't have any physical proof A.J. actually committed the crime. Kiki confronts her afterwards about her testimony, and makes it clear to her mom she still wants nothing to do with her. Ava gets a call from Silas when he gets a mysterious call from an NYPD detective digging into him. He tells Ava that someone is trying to find out the truth about their past, and the secret they're hiding.
Morgan breaks up with Ava, when he returns home to his father. Ava comes to Sonny's office to see Morgan. Morgan tells her they can't be together, but she doesn't accept it. Morgan suggest that she leaves Julian to come work for Sonny. Ava agrees and Sonny comes to talk to her, he says she has to prove it. Since it was valentines day, Ava sent Morgan a text message telling him to meet her in a hotel room. Morgan texts back that he can't, but shows up anyway. He tried to leave insisting that he didn't know why he even came but they end up sleeping together. Ava then, to prove to Sonny she was serious and trustworthy, downloads all of Julian's important files onto a flash drive she gives to Sonny.

She goes to New York as an alibi for A.J.'s murder and tells Morgan before she goes. This leaves him extremely worried when he shows up at her apartment building tot be told by the police someone was shot in her apartment. Ava later texts him that she is still in New York even though Morgan had discovered it was A.J. that was shot in her apartment. When Ava does return from New York Morgan goes to her apartment happy to see her. Morgan asks Ava if she was the one who shot A.J., and she tells him no, which was what he thought.

When Ava see's the paper, she gets nervous and is on her way to warn Silas but runs into Morgan outside the gallery who wants to know why she was in a hurry. She tells tries to lie, but Morgan can see right through it, and is worried. When Morgan and Ava go inside the gallery he tells her that he is going to get her a glass of water, and then they can talk. on his way to get her water he see's the paper on the floor. She lies and says the reason she is in a rush is not because of the article he wants to know the real reason. She tells him that if he loves her she will let him go without asking. Morgan unhappily agrees and tells her if there is ever another time she needs to leave without telling him where there will be no relationship between them.

After talking to Silas, she is about to leave when Morgan shows up. He told her that he followed her and that he saw the way she was with Silas and asked her if she still loved him. She replied that a part of her will always love Silas but that she still loves him. When he starts to get upset about the news she asks him if he still had feeling for Kiki. The next morning they are at the Metro Court together since it was a safe place to meet. Morgan brings up the conversation they had had the night before, him thinking the relationship was over. She tells him the same thing she told him before, this time taking a lot less upset. He is about to kiss her but Ava stops him saying that she needed an answer to her question. He tells her that it's like she said, a part of him will always love Kiki but that doesn't mean he doesn't love her. He informs her that Kiki is his past and she is his future. This time Ava doesn't stop him when he goes to kiss her neck. while there kissing Morgan's phone rings and he answers it while she is still kissing his neck. Kiki was on the phone wanting to see Morgan right away, some agrees to go see her. As he is getting dressed, Ava asked who it was and where he was going. He told her that Kiki had called and that she sounded upset. He promised to tell her if it was anything serious and left, telling her he loved her.

In March 2014, Ava is confronted by A.J for her role in Connie's murder and she pulls a gun on him. A struggle ensues and A.J ends up strangling Ava just as Sonny walks in, remembering how he caught A.J strangling Connie before her death Sonny snaps and shots A.J with Ava egging him on. Ava and Sonny begin a cover up of the murder because Sonny had promised Michael he would not harm A.J and Ava does not want her part both murders revealed. Ava gets Carlos Rivera to confess to the murder and threatens his pregnant ex-fiancé Sabrina Santiago. Sonny and Ava being to bond over the connection of their secret because they have no one else to confide in. On April 25, After A.J's funeral Sonny and Ava slept together in the Quatermaine crypt after an emotional conversation. Morgan walks in right after and immediately ends things with Ava then goes to Julian and tells him about Ava's betrayal.

After, Julian tries to kill her, Sonny has her hide out on his island until things die down. When Ava is ready to go home Sonny comes to island and reveals that he knows she shot Olivia and shot and killed Connie. Just as Sonny is about to kill Ava she reveals that she is pregnant with either his child or his grandchild. On June 4, a blood test confirms that Ava is indeed pregnant. After Ava's pregnancy is confirmed, Sonny forces her to move into his house. Ava brings her mother Delia to town and Delia agrees to help Ava gets her hands on the flash drive with incriminating evidence of Sonny killing A.J. However, their plans fails after Sonny catches them and Delia is escorted back to New York by Shawn. While at the hospital for a doctor's appointment with Sonny, Ava gets a hold of a phone when Sonny is out of the room and calls Julian. She begs for his help and in exchange promises to give him information on Sonny. Julian comes to the hospital and Ava tells him that Sonny killed AJ. In exchange, Julian got her out of the hospital, effectively saving her from imprisonment at Sonny's house and they went back to her penthouse. On August 19, Ava celebrates her birthday with Kiki and feels her baby kick for the first time.

On September 11, Ava is hospitalized with severe cramps resulting from preterm labor and Nurse Santiago is harsh with her after believing she caused the accident that killed Sabrina's son. After Ava is cleared to go home, Sabrina shows up at her house apologizing for being so harsh with her at the hospital giving her a prescription that would cause her to miscarry that she switched with her real medication. Ava was also almost kidnapped by Sonny's men but Ava got away with Jordan's help. While on the road, she accidentally run over Jason Morgan and then calls Jordan, who takes the blame. Ava then ends up at the Brownstone. While at the Brownstone, Ava starts cramping again. Morgan goes to Jordan to get her pills and Ava starts taking them. Her cramps continue to get worse and that's when Ava finds out that she got the wrong meds and that she might be labor. Ava can't go to the hospital for fear that Sonny's men will kidnap her. Kiki suggests that she go get Silas and she does. Silas check Ava out and gives her a shot of which stops her labor. Silas says that it looks like Ava will be able to carry to term.

At the end of October, Nina shows up and tells Ava that she is here for her baby. Nina injects Ava with a paralytic and then with a medicine that induces labor. On November 4, (Halloween on the show), Ava give birth to a baby girl with Nina's help. After the baby is born, Nina and her mother attempt to steal the baby but give Ava a chance to plead her case. Ava tells Nina that Madeline hired her to seduce Silas. When that doesn't work, she appeals to Madeline as a mother not to let Nina take her baby, but Madeline refuses. Ava is taken to the hospital where Kiki confront her about killing Connie. Ava tries to deny it, but is eventually forced to come clean. She asks Kiki to ask about her baby, and then slips away from the hospital. Ava goes to Silas and begs him to hide her from Sonny. Silas learns from Kiki what Ava has done, but agrees to help Ava find her baby. In New York, Silas and Ava run into Kiki and Morgan at the diner where Delia works, and they agree to work together to find the baby. As soon as the baby is safe, Dante arrests Ava for Connie's murder.

Ava is denied bail and she is remanded to Pentonville Penitentiary until her trial. Before leaving, Ava names her newborn daughter Avery. Kiki becomes the legal guardian because both of her parents are in prison. Ava has a nightmare about Kiki taking Avery from her and wakes up to find Madeline taunting her. Madeline gloats to Ava about how she will get out of prison. after the guard sends Ava and Madeline back to their cells, the guard pulls out a pocket knife, and prepares to kill Ava, but he is called away.

Ava sneaks into the men's side of Pentonville and asks Julian for help. She thinks Sonny sent the guy, but Julian thinks "Fluke" did. Ava tells Julian her plans to sneak on to the transport vehicle that will take Madeline to court. Julian tells her he is coming with her. Before they can talk further, Ava is caught by a guard and ushered back to the women's side. Ava thinks this guard is going to try and kill her as well, but the guard tells her she has a visitor. Ava goes into the visitor's room to see Silas holding Avery. Ava tells Silas that someone is trying to kill her. Silas suggests she reports it to the guards, but Ava says that the guards will protect each other, and says she plans to sneak aboard when Madeline goes to court. Silas tells her to do whatever she needs to do to stay alive. Before leaving, Ava tells her daughter how much she loves her.

Ava tells Madeline that she will be going with her to the courthouse and testify on Madeline's behalf. As the guard escorts Ava to the van, she sees the guard that threatened her. Ava pleads with the guard not to let the other guard hurt her. The other guard tells the guard to take Madeline into the van and he will take care of Ava. Ava finds her self cornered as the guard advances on her with his blade drawn. Suddenly, Sonny appears and knocks the guard out. Ava, Sonny, Franco, and Julian all get into the van and leave Pentonville together. They end up getting into a car accident caused by Johnny and Carlos. Later on, Ava is held at gunpoint by Carlos while she begs for her life. Carlos isn't having any of it so he shoots Ava then she accidentally falls off a bridge. Sonny goes looking for Ava on Julian's request and finds her hanging onto the bridge for dear life. She begs him to help her and when he finally agrees, he says he's only doing it because Connie would want him too. He tries to pull her up but she looses her grip and falls, yelling "Sonny".

On February 26, she is revealed to be alive, and being hidden away and cared for by Silas. On March 3, Ava eavesdrops on her own memorial, and is touched by the kind words her family says about her. On March 4, Ava reveals herself to Delia, and is reunited with her daughter. She planned to run away with Avery, but decided she couldn't. When she got back to where she was hiding, Silas revealed to her, that she is dying. On March 9, it is revealed that Ava has terminal leukemia. Silas tells Ava that he has not found a bone marrow donor from anyone in her family that had been tested.

On June 3, it came out that Avery saved Ava. Ava then came to town as Denise but was eventually exposed. but was able to avoid prison when the recording of her killing Connie disappeared that then gets revealed that Paul Hornsby took the recording and then he blackmails her into working for him. On September 24, Ava comes to claim Avery and just as she's about to take her home. Carly reads a paper saying Ava can claim Avery in 24 hours which she does on October 1. She then won the Custody battle by provoking Sonny in the court room.
In 2016, Ava's daughter Kiki is shot and Ava allows Avery to stay with Sonny while Kiki recovers. After Kiki recovered Ava wanted to bring Avery home but was blackmailed by Carly and Paul Hornsby. She then goes and please with Sonny and he agrees to give her limited visitation with Avery. A few months later during one of her visits with Avery Ava goes upstairs and switches Morgan's lithium with placebo's. That lead Morgan getting killed due to him stealing Julian's car and the car blew up from a bomb planted by Olivia Jerome.

Throughout the rest of the year, Ava guilty conscience kept getting to her. At the nurse's ball 2017 Sonny and Carly found out what Ava did and they cornered Ava and she throws something causing a fire which then backfired when she is trapped in the fire suffering third degree burns. While she in the hospital Sonny takes away all her rights to her daughter Avery. Ava eventually forms a friendship with Griffin Munro which leads to romance. Valentin makes a deal that Ava won't testify against him, after witnessing him kill Nikolas, if he tells her where to get her face repaired. Ava eventually agrees and is sent to a Russian clinic where Dr. Klein does the initial repairs to her face. She escapes with Patient 6 and still needs a second surgery to complete her face. Before Dr. Klein leaves town, he gives Ava a flash drive with his work on repairing facial scars. She gives it to sketchy Dr. Zajac who almost goes through with the procedure before Griffin stops him. Griffin agrees to use the drive and completes Ava's facial reparation himself. During their romance, Ava tries to be a better person. But some of her true colors come out when Mike, Avery's grandfather who suffering from dementia, took off with Avery. Ava demands joint custody of Avery or she will press charges on Mike. Sonny relents and Griffin disgusted by it. Griffin tension with escalates at the 2018 Nurse's ball which lead to Ava dumping Griffin. Griffin then sleeps with Kiki. Ava begs for forgiveness the next day which he does but doesn't tell her he had sex with Kiki.

Ava finds out in court on Kiki's trial after Franco accidentally texted the info to her. She pulled Scott to the side and demands he makes Griffin admit he had sex with Kiki. When he does Ava slaps Griffin twice vowing to make him pay which leads to her getting him suspended from the hospital and getting him barred from returning to preaching. She also disowns Kiki calling her a liar, traitor and a whore!! Later Kiki slapped Ava after finding out about Ava getting Griffin barred from priesthood. After some convincing from Julian, Ava went over to Kiki's house to apologize but finds Griffin there and goes off on both of them. She then once again disowns Kiki and now currently considering her an enemy who needs to pay the price!!!!!!

In October, Ava began a romantic relationship with Ryan Chamberlain thinking he is Kevin Collins.
After Ryan stabs Franco and he gets away, he and Ava go to Niagara falls so they can elope. Ava still doesn't know the truth when this happens. When Ava forgets her shoes in Ryan's car, she goes to the trunk to find Carly tied up and bruised. Ava confronts Ryan about this and he tells her it is a wedding gift. Ava is distraught by this and tells him that she doesn't want her. Ryan gets in his car and drops Carly off in a ravine near the falls, and comes back and tells Ava. Ryan and Ava leave the motel they were staying at and are next seen on a foot bridge. Ava tells Ryan he needs to call the cops to rescue Carly.

Jason and Laura show up and Laura tell her that Kevin is actually Ryan. She doesn't believe this and says hes having a breakdown because he has had one before. Jason shoots Ryan in the shoulder. Jason wants to know where Carly is, and Ava tells him where she is. The police show up and Ryan tell her that they wont get there happily ever after, but they will get their happy ending. Ryan throws both of them off of the bridge and into the river below. Ava was able to grab a hold of the bridge and Jason saves her. Laura is there to comfort Ava as she breaks down and slowly realize that she had a relationship with the man who murdered her daughter.

Ava is still heartbroken and lost due to Ryan. She starts binging, and becomes very self destructive. She witnesses Kevin get arrested because a cop thinks he is Chamberlain. Days later, Ava has a strong desire to kill Ryan because he killed her daughter. She gets better security in her home after Jordan tells her that they found Ryan's hand. She later calls Franco and Scott, asking them both separately, if they will pose as her boyfriend to lure Ryan out of hiding, because she does not believe that he is dead. They both turn her down right away. Then she asks Kevin, and he says no because he can't ruin his relationship with Laura that he just got back.

Ava later receives a call from Kevin saying that he changed his mind and that they should go through with the plan. Laura was the one to convince Kevin to go along with the plan. The next day, Ava, Laura, Felecia, and Mac meet to plot there risky plan. Mac makes it very clear that if Ava is going to this, then they all need to agree that they are going to bring Ryan straight to the authorities. They bury Ryan's hand that he cut off and Lulu videos it and you can see Kevin and Laura being affectionate to each other. Lulu also does an interview with them that she publishes to The Invader to get Ryan's attention. Ava kisses Kevin when there is no camera present and he tells her that he loves his wife and that this is not real. She agrees not to do kiss him anymore and Julian shows up and punches Kevin. A police officer shows up and Ava has Julian arrested because she was worried that he could ruin the plan.

Ava and Kevin go to The Nurses Ball together for the exposure to their "relationship." She also performs a musical number. Before she sings, Kevin goes backstage because he had gotten Ava roses. Ryan is there and he knocks him out. As Ava is singing you can see Ryan looking at her. After The Nurses Ball ends, Lucy begins to strike the stage and she needs to get the rigging down. As the curtains open, you can see Kevin hanging from the rigging in a straight jacket. Thankfully he is okay, and he tells the police that it was Ryan. Chase tells Ava that she needs to stay alert and if she has somewhere safe to go. She goes to one of her properties and tells no one because he is setting a trap for Ryan to find her. She loses contact with the everyone.

Ryan does indeed follow her and she is ready with her gun loaded to finish him off once and for all. Ryan comes into the cabin with a knife and Ava is able to convince him to get him to put it down by claiming that she missed him and that Kevin could never compare to him. She pulls the gun on him. She shoots around him a few times to scare him.Curtis shows up right before she pulls the trigger to stop her because he needs Ryan's kidney for Jordan, who is in desperate need of a transplant. He convinces Ava to put the gun down. As he is being arrested, Ryan laughs and says "You couldn't pull the trigger, you love me." This causes Ava to pick up the knife Ryan brought and she stabs him in the back.

Ava is recruited to be the new cover of Crimson Magazine by Maxie and Nina. Ava doesn't want to do it at first because she knows that they wont tell her story the way that she wants them to. After Nina convinces her that the story will only he her words and that there will be an honest interview, Ava agrees to do it. When Jax finds out about this he isn't happy because Ava shot Connie years ago and indirectly killed Morgan too. When the issue is finally published, Ava is not happy because it made her look bad. Nina shows her the mixed reviews and that some were really good. Ava accuses Jax that his plan was to make her look bad. Carly said she loved the issue because it was honest.

On October 8, Ava visited Ryan again and asked him to stop writing to her but Ryan said she was falling apart without him.

On October 18, Ava began feeling like someone was watching her and unbeknownst to anyone else, someone really was. On October 31, after the Halloween party at the Metro Court Ava went back to her gallery and a masked man wearing a hood followed her. Ava pulled out her gun and aimed it at the mystery man and ordered him to reveal himself, but was shocked when the masked man revealed himself to be Nikolas Cassadine alive and well after his "death" in 2016. Ava passed out after seeing him but when she woke up, Nikolas was gone. Laura showed up and Ava was trying to convince her that Nikolas is alive, but Laura didn't believe her even though she wanted to. Laura convinced Ava that she needed to get some help, so Ava checked herself into Shadybrook while Laura and Julian were there to support her.