Tessa Porter
Tessa and her sister, Crystal, grew up in Chicago with a father who was an alcoholic and drug dealer, and her mother, who was hooked on drugs and would often disappear. Tessa looked out for her younger sister, but eventually left, and told Crystal she would come back for her. Crystal worked for a guy from the same area of Chicago, Zach Stinnett, but took off after he threatened her and wound up in Genoa City.
Tessa was playing guitar for change outside Crimson Lights, when Sharon Newman, Mariah Copeland, and Nikki Newman took an interest in her. Nikki realized she was homeless and hired her to give her grandson, Reed, guitar lessons. She also hired her on as her personal assistant and invited her to move in. Tessa met Noah Newman while appearing on open mic nights at The Underground, the club owned by his father, Nick Newman. Noah took a romantic interest in Tessa, and Devon Hamilton took a professional interest in the singer. Soon, Noah and Tessa were invited to join Devon and his then girlfriend, Mariah, on a trip to a music festival in San Francisco. During this time, Mariah and Tessa shared a kiss, which both enjoyed.
Back in Genoa City, Tessa moved into Sharon's house when Victor Newman put her out of the ranch. During this time, Tessa had signed a contract with Devon and began recording, but she also started receiving calls for help from her sister, Crystal. Tessa confided in Mariah that her sister was being forced into prostitution, and it came to light that she was the same Crystal that had called Sharon for help on her crisis line. Sharon's boyfriend, Scott Grainger, was investigating the sex ring for an expose, and together they located Crystal, having traced her to a house owned by Alice Johnson, who was the girls' handler. They were able to convince Alice to let Crystal go free by gaslighting her to believe Mariah was her dead twin, Cassie, who was Alice's adopted daughter when she was young. Crystal was put into protective custody, Tessa told Mariah their kiss meant something to her but she was staying with Noah, and Noah began running the Top of the Tower after The Underground burned down. It was there, at a party, that Scott had Crystal publicly identify Zach Stinnett as the leader of the sex ring. Zach took off with his then girlfriend, Abby Newman, in tow, and Scott in pursuit. He caught up to them in a seedy motel room and during the stand-off, Crystal showed up and shot Zach dead. It turned out Tessa had provided her with the gun, which was stolen from Nikki's safe.
Later, Devon informed Tessa that she had to come up with another hit or risk being dropped from his label. In desperation, she stole Mariah's journal and used her words as lyrics for a new song. Mariah realized what she'd done and a dramatic confrontation ensued live on The Hilary Hour. This led to Noah finding out about the kiss the girls had shared in San Francisco, who then kicked Tessa out of his apartment. Devon dropped Tessa from the label, but agreed to keep her on as his assistant, and Mariah soon realized Tessa was living out of the office. She sought Nick's help to set her up in an apartment at Rainbow Gardens, and relations between the two began to thaw as they worked together, what with Devon having brought The Hilary Hour back under the Hamilton-Winters Group umbrella. At a Memorial Day barbecue, Kyle Abbott, had his eye on Tessa, but realized she and Mariah were flirting with one another.
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