Samantha Markham, the twin sister of Royce Keller, was given up for adoption at birth. Adopted by the Morris family, Samantha found a mentor in a man named Eliot Markham. Eliot was a master con man and art forger and Samantha quickly learned the art of the con. Then one day, Samantha was approached by Lucinda Walsh who had a startling revelation---they were sisters. A very wealthy woman, Lucinda informed Samantha that they shared the same mother, Gloria. Gloria and her husband apparently did not want two babies and so they kept their son. Regretful of what their mother did, Lucinda approached Sam in friendship and opened up her home to her. Samantha accepted Lucinda's offer to stay at her mansion. Though Sam acted the part of the dutiful sister, it was all a ruse to scam money out of Lucinda. Working with Eliot, Sam planned on stealing Lucinda's prize Pissarro and replace it with a copy. Unfortunately, Lucinda and Craig Montgomery caught on to her plan and Lucinda vehemently denounced Sam for betraying her. Though Lucinda planned on pressing charges, due to lack of evidence, Samantha was freed

Later, Sam formed an interesting friendship with Lucinda's employee Kirk Anderson. As ambitious as she was, Kirk devised a scheme with Samantha to marry and bilk Lucinda out of her money and business. Oblivious to what they were planning, Lucinda threw the couple a huge wedding on her lawn, not knowing the minister was a fake. However, while setting up the con, something happened--Kirk and Sam fell in love. Soon after deciding to forgo conning Lucinda, on their "honeymoon" cruise, Kirk was presumed dead after going overboard into the ocean. Upset, Samantha renewed her friendship with her former fiancé, Scott Eldridge. After being beat up by thugs, Scott admitted to Samantha that he was deep in debt. His solution was for Sam to run away with him but Samantha refused. Meanwhile, the Oakdale police suspected that Sam pushed Kirk overboard to collect the insurance money. Finally, after being gone for months, Kirk returned to Oakdale and he and Samantha married for real on Christmas Eve.

Not long afterward, Kirk was involved in a business deal with a man named Umberto Malzone. Unfortunately, Malzone turned out to be as unscrupulous as Kirk and ended up double-crossing him. Angry that he'd been used, Kirk uncharacteristically resorted to murdering Malzone a.k.a Diego Santana. Not only that, but he let Lucinda's daughter, Lily, take the blame and be convicted for his crime! Kirk's deception was uncovered by Samantha herself. Desperate to stay out of jail, Kirk held Sam hostage. However, he was quickly subdued after being shot by James Stenbeck. While Kirk was in jail, Sam got conned herself by a master--James, who used her to get her stock of Walsh Enterprises. Wanting James taken care of, Sam went to Kirk and told him she'd help get him out of jail if he helped her. Despite Kirk's earlier actions, there obviously was still a bond between them, and he agreed to help her in order to prove his love for her. Touched, but guarded, Sam refused to make any promises but said that she wouldn't testify against him. After helping to get rid of James, Kirk was released from prison and resorted to more power plays in an attempt, again, to oust Lucinda from Worldwide. With help from D.A. David Allen, he was successful and took great pleasure in ordering Lucinda around. However, the tables were turned on him again and he ended up working for Lucinda. Meanwhile, he and Sam reconciled and decided to put the past behind them and renewed their vows. At the same time, Sam was shocked to come face to face the teenage daughter she walked out on years earlier. Raised by her father's mother, Georgia resented Sam for walking out. Sadly, Samantha never had a chance to repair her relationship with Georgia since, thanks to James Stenbeck, she and Kirk wound up disappearing without a trace.

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