Credit: Images: CBS screenshot, Howard Wise/JPI (4)
Rey
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Sharon’s boyfriend has done everything that he could to support her through her cancer battle — and still has worried that it wasn’t enough. Were she to lose her fight with the disease, he’d second-guess everything that he did — and maybe third-guess it, too — beating himself up every step of the way. In his grief, there’s no telling to what — or whom! — he might turn to ease his pain.
Adam
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Although everyone in Sharon’s life — and we do mean everyone, from Nick to Noah — beseeched her baby-swapping ex to find another therapist, he insisted that she was the only one who could possibly help him stare down his demons. So if she succumbed to cancer, he’d have to feel incredibly guilty — perhaps even enough so to turn his life around and become the man she always hoped he could be?
Chelsea
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Adam had already been pulling away from his babymama in order to safeguard her from the bad guy that he believed himself to be. If Sharon died — and he even remotely suspected that the stress of treating him had been a contributing factor — that would be the last straw. He’d turn his back on Chelsea in a misguided attempt to protect her from the collateral damage he always seems to leave in his wake.
Nick
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Since the day that he and Sharon met, they’ve been connected. They’ve loved and left each other, and raised a family together. And, whether at any given moment they were friends or lovers, they’ve been in it for life. If she suddenly was no longer a part of his, he’d be beyond bereft, he’d be lost. Regretting the stress that his antagonism toward Adam caused his former wife, he might even be moved to extend an olive branch to his sibling rival.
Victor
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Over the years, the Newman family’s patriarch has loved Sharon like a daughter — and then some — and loathed her almost as mightily as he has Jack Abbott. Yet Victor pushed for her to counsel Adam, even going so far as to lend her his jet to fly to Kansas. So if she passed away, he’d feel honor-bound to finish what she started and see that his son receives the help he needs. He might also be forced to question why he wasn’t able to show her compassion during her mental-health struggle.
Nikki
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Despite her and Sharon’s long-running love/hate relationship, when the chips are down, Nikki reluctantly cares about her on-again/off-again daughter-in-law. (Disposing of the occasional body really bonds people!) So, however begrudgingly, she would find a part of her heart breaking, should Sharon die. Moreover, Nikki would find herself without her most formidable sparring partner — and possibly starting more fights with Jill, if only to pick up the slack.
Mariah
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Having missed out on the chance to grow up with a relationship with her mom, Mariah would, obviously, be gutted to lose her. But on the plus side, the young woman might realize how fleeting and tenuous life is, and decide to seize the day right then and there by eloping with Tessa. If nothing else, Sharon’s death would teach Mariah that she doesn’t want to waste a moment of whatever time she has on this earth.
Faith
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Were Sharon’s daughter to lose her, at this tender age in particular, she might react by acting out in ways that are eerily similar to the growing pains that Nick saw in Cassie before her tragic death. Then the question would become, can he rein in the new wild child before she winds up meeting the same fate as Mariah’s twin?
Noah
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The death of his mother might prompt Noah to come home to Genoa City for good, if only to support his dad and sisters. And once he was settled back in, perhaps he’d find his head turned by a new redhead in town. (You’ll recall that Courtney Hope, formerly Sally on The Bold and the Beautiful, has been cast on The Young and the Restless.)
Phyllis
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She was actually sympathetic toward her longtime nemesis when she learned that Sharon was battling cancer. And death can have a strange effect on those left behind. Were Sharon to go from the here and now to the hereafter, Phyllis might begin to look through new eyes — ones that would allow her to see clear to burying the hatchet with Abby and making a real, permanent commitment to Nick.