This piece appeared in Soap Opera's Greatest Stories in 1981, I believe.

GENERAL HOSPITAL
THE GODFATHER'S SON-IN-LAW?

If Luke Had Married Frank Smith's Daughter Would He Be the Mob Boss Now?

The story of Luke Spencer and Laura Baldwin is legendary. Lovers on the run; their lives in constant peril; finding safety only in each other's arms. Their romance has captivated millions of viewers, all of whom would be distraught at the very idea of Luke and Laura apart. But it was hardly more than a year ago when it looked like the storyline was going to separate them for good. Laura was still trying to salvage the wreckage of her marriage to Scotty, and Luke was all ready to say "I do" to Jennifer Smith. As everyone knows, things didn't work out exactly as Jennifer (or her father, Mr. Smith) might have hoped, but what if it had? Soap Opera's Greatest Stories decided to let Luke take that walk down the aisle, to give you a purely hypothetical look at a storyline that never happened.

Luke Spencer didn't ask much from life In fact, he wanted only three things--wealth, power and Laura Baldwin's love. Now, finally, after months of longing for her, he'd come to realize that she was lost to him forever because he couldn't offer her the one thing she wanted--respectability. Luke was wrapped up in Mr. Smith's mob capers with no hope left of ever escaping. He was betrothed to the king-pin's daughter and marriage to her would assure him a direct, if somewhat shady path, to the success he wanted so badly.

Laura didn't want to go to Luke and Jennifer's wedding. Her feelings for Luke were confusing and painful and she didn't know how she'd be able to stand silently by and allow him to marry a woman who she was certain would ruin Luke's life. But Laura's husband Scotty protested so long and so loudly that Laura finally agreed to go rather than make Scotty more suspicious than he already was of her relationship with Luke.

The wedding was the event of the year--perhaps the decade--in Port Charles. After all, money was no object as far as Frank Smith was concerned; his daughter would be married in style. The bride was radiant, the groom, dignified and the crowd polite (if a bit nervous about being surrounded by Mr. Smith's gun-toting lieutenants), but they threw rice and wished the happy couple a blissful Caribbean honeymoon.

When they returned, Luke and Jennifer moved into a lavish mansion and Luke took his place as Mr. Smith's partner. Smith had promised Luke that anything he handled would be on the up and up--strictly legal business. But it didn't take Luke long to figure out that he would never have the power he craved by keeping his nose clean. Besides, he realized that if the Organization was ever under investigation he'd never be able to convince the authorities that he wasn't involved with the dirty work, anyway.

What Luke didn't know then was that Mr. Smith's "businesses" were already under investigation. Scotty Baldwin had done some legal work down on the waterfront and stumbled into a situation that he thought smelled fishy--and the fish was named Smith. Scotty told Laura that he thought Smith, and maybe even Luke, was involved in criminal activities and that he'd started checking into Mr. Smith's background. Laura's immediate reaction was panic because she knew exactly what kind of business Mr. Smith was involved in. She also knew that he was very dangerous and wouldn't think twice about killing a young attorney who got too close to the truth. Laura also felt too responsible for the situation Luke was in to allow him to go to jail--if she'd admitted her love for Luke he'd never be in the Organization now. She decided, for everyone's sake, she'd have to warn Luke.

She called Luke and he agreed to meet her in his offices after hours, when no one would see them together. Laura told him what Scotty was investigating. "I've come to warn you," she said. "And in return I want you to promise that you won't let Smith kill Scotty." But Luke had his own proposal for Laura. "It's up to you Laura," he said. "If you want to save Scotty's life you have to leave him for me. Of course, we can never marry. I could never get a divorce, but it's totally appropriate for a man in my position to have a mistress. This time you better make the right decision. There's more than a broken heart to worry about now!" Luke said.

This was a very different Luke than Laura remembered--he was a cruel and calculating monster. Laura decided that she would tell Scotty everything about her relationship with Luke and Smith's Organization. If he could still care about her after that confession she'd stand by his side and help uncover the truth about the most deadly man in Port Charles.