Edmund is surprised when Reva Shayne (whom he knows as Catherine) arrives in San Cristobel. As Richard helps Reva recall her memory of their marriage, Edmund plots to get rid of her. Slowly, Reva's memory returns, and she realizes that she asked Olivia Spencer to protect their son, Jonathan, from Edmund, who was trying to steal power from Richard. All comes to a head when Edmund kidnaps Reva, and he and Richard fight to the death, with Edmund falling over the edge of a cliff yet somehow he survives.

Edmund hides up in the mountains in a guerrilla-like camp. He stumbles upon a stranded Jim Lemay searching for help after the plane he, Beth Raines and Phillip Spaulding was in crashes, and agrees to help if Jim makes him out to be the hero. While at the site, Edmund discovers a videotape of Beth and her ex-husband Phillip making love. He blackmails Phillip with it while at the same time befriending Beth.

Edmund and mafia boss Carmen Santos help each other out with their separate schemes but he eventually betrays her by refusing to come to her aid.

Edmund causes trouble for Richard and his fiancée, Cassie Layne, by having her past as a stripper - and her ex-husband -- come back to haunt her but he fails to stop their engagement. Richard condemns him but finds a letter from their father that Edmund has carried with him for years, describing what a disgrace and disappointment Edmund has been. Richard realizes the psychological trauma Edmund has faced and grants him a reprieve.

Edmund takes an interest in Beth Lemay and is truly saddened when he learns about her daughter, Lizzie's, leukemia. By befriending Beth, Lizzie and Beth's step-daughter, Susan Lemay, he finds himself a frequent guest in the Lemay household.

Edmund offers Beth and her children a chance to get away to San Cristobel after her husband, Jim Lemay, is killed in a fire. Beth takes Edmund up on his offer, despite Phillip's objections. Edmund slowly woos Beth. When Edmund learns that he is the true heir to the throne, Beth resolutely stands by his side and becomes alienated from her friends and family. The two marry. Beth turns a blind eye to all that Edmund is accused of as he fights Richard for the right to rule their country but when she comes face-to-face with his betrayal in the form of a kidnapped Cassie, a panicked Edmund locks Beth away in a tower. Edmund is shattered when a desperate Beth severely injures herself trying to escape. On the political front, Edmund is dethroned.

Edmund refuses to let Beth divorce him and follows her to Mexico, where she is swept away in a flash flood as Edmund watches helplessly. Bereft, he returns to the States, forced to earn a living as "Eddie Ivories," a piano player in a Chicago hotel lounge. While there, he spots a Beth look-alike, whom he enlists to run a scam on the Spauldings to claim Beth's inheritance.