As the new Chief Operations Officer of Jabot, Brad Carton felt that David Chow was ill-suited for the Co-CEO position, and began to hatch a plan to get David to gamble once again. Brad began setting David up with his bookie to lose bets, holding impromptu poker nights at his place, and lending David money. One of the card sharks who played in the games turned out to be Adam Newman's college friend and sometimes-lover, first in their class to Adam's second, Skye Lockhart. Whenever Skye was in town, she would hook up with Adam, then take David Chow for a lot of money.

Adam was also upset because his friend, Skye, had been missing for quite some time. Then a body was found chopped up and buried in the stable where Nikki kept her horse. Alongside the body was Adam's class ring that she had worn around her neck. It was assumed that David Chow had murdered her in retaliation for her winning so much money from him while gambling.

Adam, the black sheep of the Newman family and born of another marriage to Hope Adams, was tired of trying to be accepted by his rich business mogul father Victor and step brother and sister, Nick and Victoria. He staged many plots to get back at them. He setup evidence to convict Victor for murder, stole Nick's baby Faith at birth from her mother Sharon and gave her to Victor's then wife Ashley, faked blindness to get out of prison, and became partially blind as a result.

Then Adam and Sharon became romantically involved and impulsively flew off to Lake Tahoe on the Newman jet, and got married. The jet crashed on the way back, and as they were going down, Adam showed Sharon a note that said that her baby was still alive. They survived the crash, but Sharon suffered a head injury, and didn't appear to recall the note. Nick punched Adam when he found out about their marriage, and accused his brother of taking advantage of Sharon to get back at Nick. Adam moved into the Carlton house with Sharon and got along rather well with Noah. Ashley figured it out and accused Adam of stealing Sharon's baby, but Sharon refused to believe it. She was finally convinced by Skye's diary that Adam was lying, and left him. A DNA test later proved it, and Ashley reluctantly gave Faith to Sharon.

Sharon and Nick rushed in to the annual masquerade ball as Sharon got a call from Adam demanding to meet her in the basement or "people will get hurt." Victor, Nick, Jack, Rafe, Heather, Paul, Ashley, and Patty went to the basement in search of Adam. Then an explosion rocked the building and sent everyone running for the street. It was revealed that a gas line had been cut and a body burned beyond recognition found nearby. The body was later identified as Adam by DNA, and lack of smoke in the lungs proved that he had been murdered before the fire. Nick was eventually arrested for his murder.

In Minneapolis, Phyllis and Sharon came upon a poster for missing person Richard Hightower, and Phyllis recognized him as the man who was costumed identically to Adam at the ball. The manager and waitress at the café identified Adam, and said Hightower was the man with a little boy who had met Adam there. Victor discovered that Adam had never gone back to Hope's grave in Kansas like he said he had when he disappeared for a week shortly before his death, and Paul uncovered the fact that Hightower had leukemia and had gotten a bone marrow transplant from Adam in Minneapolis instead. Nick put it all together -- the resemblance between the missing Richard Hightower and Adam, the bone marrow that was used for the identification would have the same DNA as Adam, and the body burned beyond recognition -- and realized that Adam had probably killed Hightower and faked his own death.

A bearded Adam was shown lounging on a beach with a drink in his hand. Victor, Nick, and Jack dug up Adam's grave, and an expert took dental impressions of the body to be compared to Hightowner's while the three were arrested. Meanwhile, Sharon and Phyllis found a mask in the cornfield where Adam's cab had dropped him the night of the ball. But a crop duster dumped pesticide on them, causing Sharon lung poisoning. Nick arrived and got her to the hospital in time to save her.

The dental records confirmed the body was Hightower, so Pomerantz decided to arrest Nick for Hightower's murder. Victor got the crop duster pilot to admit that Adam had paid him to fly him to Ottawa, and Victor demanded the pilot take him there too. Like Adam before him, Victor parachuted out of the plane, winding up at a bar, where he befriended bartender, Meggie. Victor found the thug who had helped Adam, but he would not tell him that Adam had left on a Portuguese freighter. Then Adam received a phone call in São Paulo, Brazil, telling him that Victor had been knocked over the head after tracking him to the bar.

Adam rolled over in bed to his old girlfriend Skye Lockhart, who supposedly was murdered and dismembered two years prior. Skye assured him that they had covered his tracks well. Adam wanted to leave immediately, but Skye reminded him of the poker score of a lifetime, and that they were bribing Brazilian officials to not extradite them if they were caught. Back in Canada, Victor discovered a photo he recognized as Skye hanging on the wall of the bar with a message on the back apparently left there for Adam. Meanwhile at home, Nick thought to ask the pilot if Adam had borrowed his phone. He had, and when Nick called the number, Skye answered. Because Nick was out on bail and could not leave the country, Jack arrived in Ottawa just in time to rescue Victor from a sinking ship he had been trapped on by a thug.

Together, Jack and Victor hoped to set up Skye and Adam by posing as high rollers who were losing millions. Sharon called the phone number, and Adam, who was grieving losing her, answered. Sharon led him to believe that she still loved him, and later Victor asked her to join them to help set Adam up. Nick's trial began with Michael as his lawyer, hoping to prove that Adam had set Hightower up and faked his own death by killing Hightower and blaming Nick. Meanwhile back in São Paulo, Skye and Victor were the final players a high-stakes poker game - winner take all, including Adam. Victor won, and Skye led him to Adam.

Victor forced Adam to return to Genoa City with him and Sharon, leaving Skye behind with a briefcase full of cash. Victor interrupted Nick's trial, expecting Adam to confess like Victor had coerced him after finding Adam alive, but instead Adam faked a mental breakdown and was taken to the same mental facility as Patty. She was unaware that Adam was there or even still alive. He tormented Patty by entering her room through the air ducts and made her believe that she had killed Hightower. Patty confessed to the staff. In his room down the hall, Adam was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.

Adam asked Billy to get Rafe to be his lawyer, but Rafe told him to "go to hell." As Adam's bail hearing began with him acting as his own lawyer, Skye waltzed in with famous lawyer, Vance Abrams, who got Adam released on bail. Skye paid his bail in exchange for becoming Adam's wife. Pomerantz refused to exonerate Nick, but proceeded with the case against Adam. As Phyllis had promised herself, once it was over, she left Nick due to his inability to let go of Sharon. She kicked Sharon out of her penthouse and moved back in.

When Adam found out that Patty was telling everyone she was sure that she did not murder Hightower, he helped her escape through the air ducts, and sent her in a nun's habit to Canada. Paul was sure that Adam helped her escape, but Skye had arranged an air-tight alibi. Adam discovered that Sharon took Faith to get away to the Abbott cabin. He attempted to get in, scared her, and she shot him in the arm with a gun that Nick had left for her protection. Nick arrived, called an ambulance, and Adam was taken to the hospital where he recovered and exonerated Sharon as having been understandably scared, not knowing it was him. Paul later received a call from a red-headed, black cat-tattooed Patty in a bar in South America. She told him that she was fine but would never return, as she twisted the rosary beads in her hand and necked with a guy and asked him if she could call him Jack.

Skye invested her gambling winnings by creating a hedge fund she called "The Newman Fund", with the intention to become rich and get Adam back his good name. Adam's pre-trial conspiracy hearing was held with him making Vance promise not to question Sharon's credibility. Vance did not, but he brought up Ashley's past mental breakdowns, and the Newman's vendetta against Adam to win, and the evidence against Adam declared insufficient to take to trial. Richard Hightower's young son, Justin, attended, and Victor assured his guardian that he would take care of Justin for the rest of his life. Victor gathered the Abbotts and Newmans together and very un-Victor-like, told them all to let it go, that karma would pay Adam back in the end. They each were served with a summons later for a civil suit for holding Adam against his will – all except Sharon. Michael met with Vance, called it frivolous, but Vance said they would accept nothing less than twenty million dollars in damages.

Skye warned Adam that he was risking the success of their hedge fund by filing the lawsuit, and damaging their relationship by always favoring Sharon, reminding him that Sharon was never going to forgive him for stealing her baby Faith. Victor arranged a settlement meeting with Adam and his lawyer Vance. Victor persuaded them to drop the lawsuit against the Newmans when he presented Skye as his star witness saying that she was ready to testify that Adam planted the ring to fake Skye's death and disclose that she knew all about Adam's dirty dealings with Dr. Taylor, Sharon and Ashley. As they left, Skye warned Adam that she was in control, and not to screw her over again. Unfortunately, the Abbotts had legally separated their lawsuit from the Newman's, so theirs was not settled.

Victor and Jack conspired to invest in the Newman Fund as the N.A. Partnership along with some other friends of Jack's, intending to pool their money and destabilize the fund, then shorting the shares when Skye and Adam would be forced to sell. Jack cavorted with Skye and they were caught in bed together by Adam. Meanwhile D.A. Heather Stevens had Skye investigated. Heather confronted Skye and Adam with the discovery that San Paulo Judge Medeiros; the man whom Skye had bribed and he also headed the San Paulo mafia; had disappeared along with a lot of money. In fact the balance he took when he closed his bank account was nearly same amount that Skye opened her account with on her arrival in Genoa City.

To publicize the Newman Fund, Skye got Billy to do a Restless Style cover story on her. But it backfired when Phyllis added the fact that Skye's marriage to Adam was not as it seemed because Skye was having an affair with Jack. Skye was furious, knowing the damage this could do to the hedge fund, so she denied the accusation, and she and Adam made a pact to appear to be the happy newlyweds in public.

In mid-October 2010, a storm was brewing, so Adam begged a ride home with Sharon and Faith from Crimson Lights. Hearing that a tornado was heading right for them, they got out of the car, got soaked, and took shelter in a barn. Adam made Faith a nest in the hay and covered her with his clothes to keep her warm. The tornado approached, shaking the barn, and causing the doors to fly open. Adam and Sharon struggled to hold the barn doors against the wind as Nick discovered Sharon's car overturned. Once the doors were secured, the barn started breaking apart, and Adam dove to protect Faith as a beam fell from above. Sharon pulled off the debris and found Faith alive and well, thanks to Adam's protection, but he was hurt. Nick showed up at the barn as Adam got to his feet, wincing from the pain in his leg.

Adam recovered, and with new determination to no longer be under Skye's thumb, he packed a bag and withdrew $100,000 from the hedge fund, intending to take a bus and leave town. After Skye discovered Adam had taken the money she contacted Sharon and told her she'd better convince Adam not to leave town or Skye would report the theft to the police and send Adam back to jail. So Sharon convinced Adam not to leave, which made him determined to get Skye out of his life and become a better man. Adam sent the $100,000 to Richard Hightower's young son, Justin, and took a job as a bartender at Gloworm. Although they later returned the money, and Adam quit the job at Gloworm. After taking office, the new D.A. delivered the news to Adam that he would not be pursuing any of former D.A. Pomerantz's cases.

Adam served Skye with divorce papers and gave her a contract which removed him from the Newman Fund and gave her all the money. Although Victor and Jack's plan to ruin Adam was to sell all their shares from the hedge fund after the end of the year, Victor suddenly pulled his share of their investment in November, causing the fund to collapse and costing millions of dollars in losses to Jack and the friends he had brought in as investors. Jack was livid that Victor had blindsided him once again, and warned him that he was in trouble with the FCC over what he had done. But having faith in Skye's ability, Jack ordered his broker to buy up all the remaining shares of the Newman Fund while it was at rock bottom in an attempt to recoup. The police were called to Skye's room at the Athletic Club which had been trashed, and Skye's blood was found, but she was missing. Victor told everyone he was leaving town to visit all his subsidiaries around the world. He stopped at the ranch to pack and ran into Nikki, who had just gotten out of rehab. Nikki tried to reason with him but he refused to listen, telling her that they were through, and to pack her things and be gone before he returned. Victor boarded his jet, and Skye was there waiting to leave with him. Skye recalled how she had gone to Victor in desperation when the hedge fund had failed, and Adam had left her holding the bag facing prison. So Victor had made it appear that Skye was dead to set up Adam for her murder. Victor gave Skye a new identity and promised to take care of her financially for the rest of her life so long as she did not play high stakes poker or divulge who she was. With a veiled threat that he had bested her two times, and if she screwed him over the third time, she would be "out", Victor delivered Sky to the middle of a Hawaiian jungle where a car and a makeover awaited her.

Back in Genoa City the next day, Adam was questioned by Ronan Malloy, and Sharon was questioned as well, for a possible conspiracy to get rid of Skye so they could be together. Sharon believed in Adam's innocence, so she hired Vance's associate, Leslie Michaelson, to represent Adam. Noah, Michael, and Ashley couldn't believe Sharon would do such a thing after what Adam had done to Sharon in the past, and Nick decided to sue for custody of Faith rather than his daughter being anywhere near Adam. And Nikki suggested Sharon protect her children by leaving town with Adam and never coming back. When they returned to the athletic club, Adam and Sharon were thrown out, so they rented a sleazy hotel room.

Phyllis published a cover story titled ‘Sharon Newman the Heroine Addict', which exposed her penchant for always doing crazy things to mess up her life then needing to be rescued, the latest being her love for Adam who had deceived her, kidnapped her baby Faith, and told her that Faith was dead. Even Sharon's son Noah had to agree that the story was pretty spot-on. Adam and Sharon uncovered a freight elevator security camera photo from the night Skye supposedly was killed which showed two people under an umbrella, and Adam recognized Skye's purse and shoes. They dared Phyllis to help them prove Adam's innocence for an exclusive. Phyllis and Jack instead discovered a sack behind a dumpster that contained Skye's same purse and shoes, which only further incriminated Adam and led to his arrest for suspicion of murder.

In their quest to prove that Skye was still alive, Adam and Sharon located the only supplier of Skye's favorite Galibier perfume in Monaco, who had just shipped an order to a post office box in Hawaii. Sharon flew to Hawaii, but the proprietor of the general store where the box was located claimed no knowledge of Skye, even though he had just spoken to her. Knowing Skye's craving for adventure, Sharon took a guided moonlight hike on an active volcano. Skye was there alone looking very plain with no makeup and braids, and they met when Sharon was separated from her group. After Skye refused to return home with Sharon, Sharon took a photo as proof that Skye was alive. But Skye reached for Sharon's camera, lost her footing and fell into the volcano. Sharon held on to Skye and promised she would not let her go, but Skye lost her footing and fell to her death with her final words, "I would not bet on that." Victor watched unseen in the dark, doing nothing to help. Sharon was unable to convince the authorities that Skye had ever been there, and Victor made sure when he found Sharon's camera and tossed it into the volcano. Meanwhile, Victor set Skye's shack on fire. Later, back in Genoa City, Adam and his attorney, Leslie, believed Sharon, but the police assumed she had made up the story as an attempt to free Adam.

Posing as a surfer, Jack went to Hawaii hoping to find evidence to prove that Victor was involved in Skye's death. No one would admit to seeing Skye, but Jack found Skye's burned shack, and in it the remains of a bottle of Galibier perfume. Later Jack saw someone turn in a set of keys found on the volcano with the mailbox key the perfume was delivered to, and the same key ring Skye had had been photographed holding in a Newman elevator security tape. The evidence got Adam released from jail and cleared of all charges in Skye's death. But after Adam moved in with Sharon at her house on the Newman ranch, and Sharon was still awarded shared custody of Faith, Victor made sure that Sharon was arrested for Skye's murder in Hawaii. Then he later inexplicably posted her half-million dollar bail anonymously.

Sharon realized she was in serious trouble after being confronted with a video taken by tourist at the volcano that night which included only the part of their conversation when she yelled at Sky and told her she would pay for setting up Adam for Skye's supposed murder. Phyllis had second thoughts after she posted the video on the website, knowing that Sharon wouldn't have killed Skye, and she and Jack offered to help her prove that she was innocent. Sharon was eventually cleared when Phyllis found a camera memory card containing the audio of Sharon attempting to save Skye.

Because Adam knew Skye's habits and the passwords she always used, he was able to locate her offshore bank accounts, and being her next of kin by marriage he had acquired all the money Victor had paid Skye to play dead. Adam approached Jack with a deal to resurrect the Newman Fund again. Jack had bought up most of the shares when they became worthless, so he knew that he stood to make a lot of money. Jack called Adam a lowlife bastard, and Adam called Jack a sanctimonious jackass, then they agreed to become partners. Jack discovered that a man named David Pelson had been getting monthly checks from the Newman Fund. Adam filled in the blank that Pelson went to Harvard with Skye and Adam, and must have been giving her inside information.