Natalie has lousy luck with men. This is the second time in her young life that her husband has died. Faced with this loss, she has to find the strength to move on, while saying goodbye to Jared and the dreams that they shared, which would never come to pass like having a family.
The evil Mitch Laurence came back to reclaim his "wife" Natalie and daughter Jessica, who happen to be sisters. As part of his evil plot, he used Natalie's husband Jared as a pawn. Jared had been in prison due to being duped by Jessica, who was suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder and had interacted with him as her Tess persona in Atlantic City. Jared initially came to Llanview to plot revenge against Jessica and her family, but fell in love with Natalie. He wanted to hurt the people, who allowed him to lose two years of his life, due to his incarceration.
His revenge turned into love, as feelings ignited between Jared and Natalie or as he liked to call her “Sparky”, which seemingly was for both her red hair and her personality. Jared continued his ploy of being the missing Buchanan heir, as he made everyone believe he was Natalie’s Uncle. They had romantic scenes at the Buchanan Ranch in Texas, which came to be there place. He took a job at Buchanan Enterprises and moved into the Buchanan Mansion. Before Natalie and Jared consummated their relationship, Jared told Natalie how he was conning the family. Natalie kept Jared’s secret about his identity, which created a chain reaction that resulted in the death of Nash, Jessica’s husband, the temporary loss of Buchanan Enterprises to Dorian Lord, a short term break up of Viki (Natalie’s mother) and Charlie (Jared’s father), and Charlie falling off the wagon due to Dorian drugging him from telling everyone about Jared being his son and not a Buchanan relative.
Jared and Natalie paid a price for the secrets and lies. Natalie and Jared were shunned by Natalie’s family especially her father Clint. Jessica, who was so distraught over Nash’s death, lost her grip on reality and Tess reemerged vowing to hurt Natalie. She tried to kill them with a poisoned risotto and fiddling with the brakes of Natalie’s car (though Viki did “die” for a short time as she took the tampered automobile.) As her death plots weren’t working, Tess decided to torture her in a secret room in Viki’s mansion Llanfair. Natalie saw what was going on upstairs and in Llanview, but couldn’t escape. Jared found Natalie and then got stuck in the basement room, while trying to rescue her. A bomb was set, and the duo along with Charlie and Viki were able to clear the house before anyone was hurt. Tess’s actions while pregnant caused the death of Jessica and Nash’s child Chloe, who died of RH disease and a baby switch with Cole and Starr’s living baby Hope.
Jared and Natalie came back to Buchanan Enterprises once the company was returned to the family. Over the holidays in 2008, they became engaged as Jared acted like his only present to her was socks. Jared’s father Charlie and Natalie’s mother Viki became engaged during the 2008 holiday season also. Charlie had planned to propose to Viki, but hadn’t gotten around to it. To keep Natalie from guessing what Jared was up to Charlie asked Viki too.
Months passed, Jared and Natalie discovered the heartbreaking truth about the children. While Jessica was getting treatment the couple looked after the baby along with Jessica and Nash’s older daughter Bree. Eventually Chloe was returned to Starr and Cole, and renamed Hope.
The duo eventually wed, right before the baby situation was revealed in one of the most lackluster weddings ever on a soap opera during a short montage. The family was upset with them for lying, but understood why they would protect Jessica. She had fell apart due to the death of her husband, and now the child she was pregnant with when he died was lost as well.
Natalie and Jared got a bit of happiness together, but Jared’s past came back to haunt them. A man named Wayne Landers that he knew from prison was blackmailing him. Off camera, Jared had told Wayne that during his childhood his Charlie had accidentally murdered his stepfather. Charlie had no memory of this as he was in a drunken stupor. To protect his father from the truth, Jared was paying off Landers. At the same time Jessica was being stalked, and being led to believe that Nash had not died. Jared found Wayne Landers murdered in the garden at Llanfair. He had touched the murder weapon and had been communicating with Wayne. This made him ran, but then Pamela Stuart who helped him lie to the Buchanan’s about his paternity was discovered dead at the Buchanan lodge. Natalie believed that her husband wasn’t a killer, but Jared was scared to tell Natalie everything. They had no idea Mitch was involved until he appeared to them and Jessica in Napa.
Mitch Laurence had found out about Charlie’s past, and was using this as a wedge. Before he died, Jared admitted the horrible truth to Charlie, and this destroyed his father. Charlie has returned to his alcohol drinking days, and Mitch was exonerated in Jared’s death, and interrupted the funeral by hoping out of Jared’s casket. As Jared’s body was put into the ground, a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye was read by those assembled.
Natalie’s heart has been shattered again, by the loss of the love of her life. The man, she was willing to give up her family for that had been ultimately accepted by them. Natalie will never be the same again; Jared will not be forgotten.
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