Brooke Hamilton came to town with David Banning in 1975. David was returning home so he could get enough money to marry Brooke in style. Brooke soon became jealous of the renewed closeness between David and his mother, Julie, so lied that Julie had been unfaithful to her husband, Bob Anderson. Not only that, but when it turned out Julie was pregnant, Brooke insinuated that the child actually belonged to Doug Williams, Julie's former stepfather and the father of David's half-aunt, Hope Williams. This caused a rift between David and Julie, and led to a distraught David driving his car into a river after an argument with his mother, and being presumed dead. At this news, Brooke (who truly loved David) attempted to kill herself by overdosing on sleeping pills, but made it through.

Brooke was both ecstatic and furious a short-time later when it turned out that David wasn't dead, but had in fact been living with the Grant family in a poorer section of Salem. David returned to his family and to her, but continued to see Valerie as well. Brooke told David that she was pregnant, but refused to marry him because he still loved Valerie. That didn't stop David from wanting a future with her and their child. Eventually, David learned that Brooke was not really pregnant and broke up with her once and for all, returning to Valerie.

Around this time, Brooke's mother Adele became really ill, and was close to death. She stole some checks from Bob Anderson's company, and used them to finance a trip for her mother. Bob learned of this and was furious, but before he could pursue legal action, Adele dropped a bombshell on him...Brooke was his daughter, conceived by them years earlier. Rather than press charges, Bob made Brooke a deal. If she would come to work at Anderson, he would allow her to slowly work off her debt to him. Brooke accepted.

While her romantic life was on hold, Brooke managed to make friends with Trish Clayton (who later ended up having a child with David Banning), who moved in with her after killing her abusive stepfather in self-defense. Shortly after that, Brooke was discovered to be spying at Anderson Manufacturing, and after being exposed, made plans to leave town. She was on her way out of town when she was involved in a car accident, and a woman's remains were brought into the hospital, Brooke's locket around her neck. Very few people in Salem grieved for Brooke.

The next year, a young woman named Stephanie Woodruff came to town, and soon got a job at Anderson Manufacturing. She battled Mary Anderson for the attentions of Chris Kositchek, but numerous problems between Mary and Chris couldn't tear them apart, and Stephanie soon turned her eye on David Banning. They seemed to be getting along well, but David's wife Trish eventually came back into town, and Stephanie and David were over.

Working at Anderson Manufacturing, Bob was giving Stephanie more and more control, and even gave her power of attorney, allowing her to live on the estate. Stephanie soon found something new to concentrate on...Alex Marshall had recognized her as a woman in New York who had plastic surgery, and realized she wasn't who she said she was. He blackmailed her into stealing some plans from the plant for a brand new solar power device, which resulted in Linda being cut out of Bob's will.

Even though Bob eventually realized that Stephanie was the one he couldn't be trusted, he was willing to give her a second chance. He made certain that she had very little authority though, putting Mary in a greater position of authority. Stephanie finally confessed to Bob that she was really his presumed-deceased daughter Brooke, and that the body in the car hadn't been hers. Despite their problems, he was glad she wasn't dead, and put her back in his will, but Stephanie was in a car accident later that year, and died as a result of a brain hemorrhage.