Stephanie Johnson

Shortly after the family settled back in town and Kayla and Steve remarried, Steve took a job as a police officer. While patrolling the harbor late one night, he spotted a suspicious looking boat. When he investigated he found a card addressed to Bo Brady, from Lawrence Alamain. While he was onboard, the boat exploded! Steve went into a coma, but eventually came around. Because he was a threat, Lawrence had Steve's IV poisoned and he died. Before he was buried, though, his coffin was switched with an empty one. Grief-stricken Kayla eventually moved to Los Angeles with Stephanie. Many years later, Stephanie grew up and became a race car driver. She had a near collision with another car one day on the track and came to blows with the other driver – who happened to be very handsome. Sparks flew, and they challenged each other to another race, but they tied. They discovered they were going to the same wedding and decided to go together.

At the wedding, Kayla discovered Steve – alive, but with memory loss. Stephanie learned the handsome driver was Kayla's adopted brother, Max Brady, but her even bigger shock was that her father was still alive!

Stephanie and Max became friends, but he made it clear he was with Chelsea. However, Chelsea was jealous of their friendship, and tried to get Max's attention by flirting with other guys. It had the opposite effect, and Max quickly dumped Chelsea when he realized she wasn't ready for a relationship. Max and Stephanie grew closer.

Steve and Kayla tried to work out their problems, but Steve's new relationship with Billie complicated matters. Stephanie and Kayla leaned on each other a lot as Kayla tried to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, Stephanie was asked to be a celebrity driver for EJ/Kate/Austin's company. While racing against Max, his car caught fire and hit Stephanie, sending her to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. When she came to, she asked for Steve. When he visited, she encouraged him to work things out with Kayla. Max realized he doesn't have romantic feelings for Stephanie and eventually broke up with her.

While visiting Stephanie in the hospital, Kayla gets paged to an exam room and is locked inside. At Stephanie's request, Steve goes to check on Kayla and they are both gassed with a deadly biotoxin and must be quarantined. Steve finally starts to recover, but Kayla's situation is more serious. Stephanie urged her father to stay by Kayla's side and give her a reason to live. Kayla eventually recovered, with Steve's support.

Confident that her parents would find their way back to each other, Stephanie announced to Steve and Kayla that she'd taken a job with a racing team in Dayton and she soon left town.

Several months later, Stephanie returned to Salem, sporting a reckless, defiant streak due to the influence of her new boyfriend, Jeremy Horton. She clashed with her parents, challenging her father as he tried to recuperate from the DiMeras' brainwashing, and chastising her mother for being so tolerant.

Though her parents were wary of Jeremy, Stephanie and Chelsea took jobs as flight attendants at Touch the Sky, a Vegas air shuttle he started with partner, Jett. The planned summer of Vegas clubbing and relaxing in the hotel hot tub quickly fell apart though. Jeremy began behaving suspiciously, and seemed angry all the time.

Stephanie began to confide in Max, who had invested money in the airline. When a rowdy airline passenger harassed Stephanie, Max defended her, and she recognized the growing attraction between them. Steph and Max later shared a steamy kiss in the hot tub, and were almost caught by Jeremy. Finally, it came out that Touch the Sky was actually a front for a DiMera operation to illegally transport women into the country. Jett was an undercover agent investigating Jeremy, and when the bust went down, a DiMera cohort threw Max and Stephanie off a plane, mid-flight! Thanks to their parachutes, they managed to make a safe landing, but were forced to spend the night in a cave. Things began to get passionate, but they were rescued before it got far.

Back in Salem, Stephanie forgave Jeremy, who claimed he did not know about the illegal operations of the business. She hid him for awhile and tried to put Max out of her mind. Jeremy eventually made the decision to leave town and go into hiding, leaving Stephanie behind. Meanwhile, Max lost his money in the airline and was forced to sell his garage and take a job bartending.

In the fall, Stephanie and Chelsea entered Salem University and pledged a sorority. In an effort to secure their membership, the girls held a "bachelor auction" for charity at the Cheatin' Heart, a campus bar owned by Stephanie's aunt, Adrienne. The girls had trouble getting guys to volunteer, and they turned to bartender Max. Sorority sister, Morgan, bid and won a date with him, and Stephanie was surprised by her jealousy. Handsome frat boy, Ford Decker, also put himself on the auction block, and shy Theta, Cordy, won a date with him. The event was a success and the girls were accepted into the sorority. Stephanie and Chelsea soon moved into the Theta house.

Shortly after, news spread across campus that there had been a rash of sexual assaults reported. The Thetas held a Halloween party, and Stephanie moped while watching Max and Morgan together. When Ford got drunk and began harassing the other party goers, Morgan volunteered to drive him home. Meanwhile, in private, Cordy confessed to Chelsea that Ford had drugged and raped her on their date. Chelsea ran to tell the others at the party, and Max took off and saved Morgan in the nick of time.

The girls filed charges against Ford with the dean's office, but his powerful father was able to get the charges dismissed. Stephanie was upset by the decision, but Chelsea rallied her sorority sisters to take action. The girls posted flyers around campus that declared Ford a rapist. Ford showed up with torn down flyers, threatening them and taunting Cordy.

Meanwhile, Stephanie had repaired her relationship with her parents, and confided in Kayla when she had a pregnancy scare. Steve, concerned about his daughter's recent depression, was convinced it was about her feelings for Max, and he helped get her a job at the Cheatin' Heart so they could spend more time together. One night, as they closed the bar, Steph and Max shared a dance and almost kissed.

Chelsea gathered all the Theta girls and unraveled a plan to get revenge on Ford. Chelsea wanted a Theta, Ashley, to bait Ford into coming to the house and Morgan suggested drugging him. Ashley called him and he took the bait.

Ashley got cold feet so Chelsea took her place. Ford arrived and Chelsea convinced him she wanted to apologize for the fliers. The hidden Thetas spiked Ford's drink with sleeping drugs. He made her take the first sip. Satisfied, he drank from his glass. The drug took effect on Chelsea, she got woozy and Ford started to grope her. Ford realized Chelsea set him up and chased her up the stairs. He lost his balance and fell. The girls discovered he was dead!

Stephanie warned they'd all go to jail for murder so they agreed not to call 911 or to tell anyone about what happened. Chelsea and Stephanie called Max, and he helped them hide the body and cover up the accident.

Stephanie discovered that Cordy was missing, and found her in the bathroom of the Chateau Rouge, nearly suicidal. Stephanie confessed to Cordy that Ford also raped her, and Cordy urged her to get counseling with her. Finally, with Cordy's support, Stephanie told Kayla what happened.

Max broke up with Morgan after realizing his feelings for Stephanie, but every time he tried to tell her how he felt, Steph pushed him away. At long last, she finally told him that she was raped. Max encouraged her to go to a counselor, and supported her as she recovered.

The investigation into Ford's disappearance continued to heat up, and Nick convinced Chelsea that she and the other girls should tell the truth. The police ruled the death an accident, and Chelsea's grandfather convinced Ford's family not to file a civil suit. Max, however, was given community service for hiding the body. Stephanie and Max continued to grow closer, and leaned on each other when John Black's plane disappeared while returning to Salem from Ireland with many of their family members – include Steve and Kayla. Both were devastated by the death of Shawn Sr., Stephanie's grandfather and Max's adoptive father.

Stephanie was boosted by news of Kayla's pregnancy, but Stephanie was suspicious of her father's sudden strange behavior. Steve told her that a dangerous woman from his past had resurfaced, and he didn't want to tell Kayla for fear the stress would endanger the baby.

Stephanie and Max waited anxiously as Chelsea underwent risky surgery to save her father, Bo's, life. Though Steph and Max had finally been honest about their feelings for each other, he had grown increasingly moody. He was putting in long hours at the pub to help his mother, and working at the dock as part of his community service. He even tampered with Nick's research papers.

Still, he was there when Stephanie needed him most – when first her father, then her mother disappeared. Stephanie suspected they had gotten into trouble with Ava, the woman from her father's past, but per her father's warning, she hesitated in calling the police. Finally, her parents were rescued and returned home, but the stressful ordeal caused Kayla to go into premature labor.

Though Stephanie has been through so much turmoil, she has managed to retain her strength and passion. Now as her loved ones face their various troubles, Stephanie will do her best to support them always. She will be at her parents' side, watching over her new baby brother. She will try to stand by Max and help him work through whatever demons he's wrestling – unless he pushes her away in the process.