Sheila Carter had a long-running feud with the Forrester family, so much so that she shot Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) and knocked out Amber Moore before fleeing the scene. For several years, Sheila lived a fugitive life with her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Warwick, whom she renamed Erica Lovejoy. Erica admired Amber and the Forrester Creations fashion house, so she absconded from Sheila and moved to Los Angeles to be close to the Forrester family.

Sheila managed to locate Erica and warned her to keep away from the Forrester family. Still, her mind changed when Erica revealed she had become a nanny for Rick Forrester, Forrester Creations Vice-President. In classic Sheila style, she sought to use this situation to her advantage, especially when Erica revealed that Rick's wife Amber had been unfaithful and developed a drug problem. What Sheila did next was a testament to her evil genius.