Carly happened to see Sonny engaged in illegal activities with a rival mob boss. He was arrested for the crime, and advised by his lawyer to marry Carly. As his wife, she would not have to testify against him. She agreed, and because she and Michael were so happy living with Sonny, she agreed to stay married even after the charges were dropped. Neither spouse would admit to loving the other. It wasn’t until Sonny was shot outside the PCPD protecting Alexis and Zander that they proclaimed their love. Upon his recovery, Carly and Sonny planned a “real” wedding.

Though he claimed to love his wife, Sonny had a one-night stand with his lawyer, Alexis Davis. Carly walked in on them in bed. She left the penthouse in tears and ran her car off a cliff. She was presumed dead and surprised everyone by walking through the doors at her own funeral.

Carly and Sonny did reconcile, and made an effort with their marriage. One morning, Carly woke up in bed next to Ric Lansing. She had no memory of what had happened between the two of them, and Ric was more than happy to let her believe they had slept together (they had not). When Carly learned she was pregnant, she was terrified the baby could be Ric’s. How could she possibly tell this news to Sonny?

Ric’s wife, Elizabeth, was also pregnant at this time. After a fall down the stairs, caused by Faith Roscoe, she miscarried their child. Ric was crazy with grief. He believed that Sonny, his half-brother, had caused the fall. Out to get revenge, he kidnapped a pregnant Carly and left her chained to a wall in the panic room of his home. He planned to steal the child and raise the baby with Liz. Lorenzo Alcazar learned that Ric had Carly. He still wanted revenge on Sonny for the death of his brother, Luis. He then kidnapped Carly from Ric, and kept her on his yacht.

Despite being held against her will, Carly found friendship with Lorenzo. He treated her well, and soon found himself falling in love with her. To show that he meant Carly no harm, Lorenzo set her free, allowing her to return to Sonny.

The friendship the two began didn’t end after Carly’s release. During a horrible storm while Carly was nearing the end of her pregnancy, there were power outages and closed roads all over Port Charles. Lorenzo stopped at Carly’s house to check on her. To his surprise, he found that she had gone into labor. Knowing he would not be able to get her to the hospital in time, Lorenzo helped to deliver Carly’s son. Unfortunately, Sonny walked into the house as Carly was screaming fro a contraction. Believing that Lorenzo was harming his wife, Sonny shot his rival. The bullet when through Lorenzo and lodged in Carly’s head. Nevertheless, she delivered a healthy baby boy, Morgan.

Carly spent the first weeks of Morgan’s life in a coma, where she dreamed of a life outside the mob with Lorenzo. When she woke, she remembered Sonny, but not their love. When her memories of that love finally returned, she couldn’t shake the feelings she had for Lorenzo. When she learned of Sonny’s plan to kill him, she ran to Lorenzo to warn him. Sonny, believing she had slept with his rival, immediately took Sam McCall to bed. Carly walked in on them, then ran back to Lorenzo and his bed.

Eventually, the love they shared caused Carly and Sonny to reconcile. Their love was tested by Sam’s pregnancy and Carly’s knowledge that the child Alexis claimed was Ned’s had really been fathered by Sonny. Though she forgave Sonny for allowing her to believe that Jason was the father of Sam’s child, he was unable to forgive her for keeping the secret of Kristina’s paternity from him, and the two divorced.