General Hospital Explainer: Willow And Nina's Feud
Nina Reeves came out of a 20-year coma in 2014, on "General Hospital," and soon had a psychotic break. Michelle Stafford brought the character to life but she left the role in 2019, with Cynthia Watros taking over. After recovering from her mental health issues, Nina struck up a romance with Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart), who was once feared as the most dangerous of the Cassadines. But having his daughter, Charlotte Cassadine (then Scarlett Fernandez), softened him, and Nina was drawn to the bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold charisma that he exuded.
In fact, Nina and Valentin eventually married, and Charlotte was thrilled to have her as a stepmother. However, turmoil in their marriage caused Charlotte to act out in school, and her cousin/classmate Aiden Spencer (then Jason David) became the focus of her bullying. Their teacher, Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen), witnessed the verbal assaults, but Nina didn't believe her, blaming Willow for misinterpreting the situation. Later, Willow told Nina and Valentin that she caught Charlotte cheating on a test because she had the exact same answers as another student.
Charlotte's biological mother, Lulu Falconeri (Emme Rylan), felt that Nina and Valentin had fostered a privileged environment that made Charlotte think she was better than the other pupils. While Valentin hesitantly agreed, Nina argued that Charlotte was simply an empowered young girl. Nina also relentlessly badgered Willow for being what she perceived as a sub-standard teacher.
Nina was unaware that she had biological daughters
On the day Willow gave her notice for her teaching job, Valentin and Nina arrived to discuss putting Charlotte into an advanced placement program. Things turned ugly because Nina felt Willow was leaving her students high and dry. Willow told Nina she was a bad role model for Charlotte, and as the arguing escalated, Valentin convinced Nina to leave the classroom. Nina was happy that Willow would no longer be Charlotte's teacher.
Meanwhile, Nina's mother, Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills), had told her that she lost her baby while in a coma. For years, Nina agonized over the fact that she would never get to know her child. What she didn't know was that she actually gave birth to twins, and Madeline gave both up for adoption separately. One became the vindictive Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier), and the other was Willow. Her adoptive mother, Harmony Miller (Inga Cadranel), kept her maternity secret until she was on her death bed when she finally told Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) the truth but made her swear to keep it secret.
Nina and Valentin eventually split up, and Nina at first was on good terms with Willow and Carly — at least, after they got past Nina being an overbearing stepmom to Charlotte. Not knowing that Nelle or Willow were hers, Nina testified against Nelle in court so that Willow and Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell) could obtain full custody of Wiley Corinthos.
Nina and Willow may never figure things out
Nina comforted Willow when Julian Jerome (William deVry) kidnapped Wiley so he could give the child to Nelle. She also dated Carly's ex-husband, Jasper "Jax" Jacks (Ingo Rademacher). Everything was fine until Carly and Jax covered up that Nina was Nelle's real mother, causing Carly and Nina to start a lengthy feud of their own. Michael and Willow then prevented Nina from seeing Wiley, especially after she lost a fight for grandparents' visitation rights in court.
When Nina kept secret the fact that a presumed dead Sonny was alive and well, and living with amnesia in the town of Nixon Falls, Willow felt that Nina's actions made her a toxic presence in Wiley's life. Of course, it didn't help when Nina told the boy that Nelle was his real mother. Michael pressed charges against Nina for keeping Sonny's existence a secret, and during the trial, it came out that Willow overheard Nina and Sonny discussing the fact that they fell in love.
This caused Sonny and Carly to divorce, and Willow's antipathy toward Nina increased significantly. Since Willow is now dying from leukemia, she and Michael had a deathbed wedding and didn't invite Nina. She then anonymously informed the SEC that Carly and Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) had been involved in insider trading as revenge. If Nina's involvement in this situation comes to light, her chances of having a relationship with Willow may be over.