HOLLYWOOD─You might hate him as a villain, but at the same time I admire the character of Valentin Cassadine on the ABC soap “General Hospital.” Even when this guy’s back is against the wall, he finds a way to weasel himself out of it. Well, he might have more enemies coming after him than he ever imagined. Valentin is well aware people want to take him down because of Laura’s inability to keep a solid poker face about that portrait of Helena Cassadine. He knows the portrait is crucial and he is in overdrive to get his hands on it.

He’s questioned Ava about it, he’s questioned Laura about it, and now he has Hayden Barnes in his crosshairs. Ava gave Valentin the tip he needed to make a bold move, but Jax and Nikolas are working behind the scenes to try to deliver a blow to Valentin, before one is dealt to them. Hayden knows Valentin is not one to be toyed with and he bribed her with money for information. She didn’t quite give Valentin what he wanted, but he knows he has to find that portrait before anyone else.

I guess the person everyone should be reaching out to is Trina, who disposed of the portrait. Let’s hope anyone gets their hands on that portrait before Valentin does, because I’m dying to see this guy squirm a little bit. With that said, Valentin made a move against Hayden that left her rattled. News has already surfaced that Hayden is slated to leave Port Charles yet again, which means Violet might be leaving with mommy or staying with her daddy, Finn. That will prove complicated now that Anna is back in town, but if anything those two are more than capable of caring for the little girl and protecting her from harm.

After her latest threat, Hayden is indeed ready to skip town, and her former love, Nikolas is willing to do what needs to be done to ensure she is free from Valentin and his threats. However, Valentin should be more concerned with Nina. She is indeed aiming to pull the wool over her lover. She knows he was culpable in Sasha’s scheme, and she wants to break his heart in the worst possible way. Jax warned her to give up on the revenge tactic, but she seemed unbothered by his pleas.

As I noted back during the Nurses Ball, the writers are preparing a possible union between Jax and Nina and I’m all for it; these two have some amazing chemistry. With the news that Nina and Valentin are preparing to tie the knot on New Year’s Eve, it tells me Valentin will not get his comeuppance until 2020, but it will be so worth it.

In other Port Charles news, Sam was sentenced to two years in prison for Shiloh’s murder, devastating Sam and Jason in the process. Jason is an emotional mess, which makes me wonder what he will do once he discovers that Peter August was the culprit behind the chaos. This means Anna’s return to PC will likely be the catalyst for the truth coming out by February sweeps. She is still concerned that Alex might be Peter’s mom, which forces me to think there is way more to this story then just a hunch.

Franco aka ‘Drew’ has decided to have the memory procedure in hopes of restoring Franco’s memories, Kim has left town, Brad still suspects Lucas is keeping a major secret from him and perhaps the heartbreaker of all heartbreaks is the news that Mike’s cognitive state is diminishing more now than ever. It’s gotten so bad that Mike doesn’t remember Sonny and Carly. This is an amazing storyline and seems the writers are reaching the end of this tale for viewers.

So it seems we’ll still be waiting for the truth about Wiley being Jonah is going to have to wait a bit longer. Can the writers drag this story any longer? Oh, in other news, Ned’s daughter Brooke Lynn has arrived in town, the question remains what kind of chaos will she get into this time around?