What kind of person steals someone else's baby, makes the mother think that the child was stillborn, then runs the poor woman out of town so that she can steal the lady's husband - all for the sake of a chunk of change that makes the iceberg that sunk Titanic seem puny by comparison?

Meet Annie Douglas, money-hungry mistress of manipulation. To fulfill the stipulations of her Daddy Dearest's will, the red-hot redhead has swiped Ovlivia Richards' son, given the tyke to Olivia's daughter, Caitlin (that's another story altogether!), and begun making bedroom eyes at Livvy's better half, Gregory. But despite appearances that Annie is the she-devil incarnate, she's really not bad, insists her portrayer, Sarah Buxton; she's just - all together now - drawn that way. "She does all of these really bad things to people because of her own past. Her father, Del, treated her so awfully. She just feels cheated in life."

But how did she get from Point A (being an incorrigible, not spoiled-quite-enough little rich girl) to Point B (being an unstoppable, too-smart-for-her-own-good gold-digger par excellence)? Here, in this special section, the actress who brings the vixen to vivid, vicious life recounts the highlights - and lowlights- of the youth that she gleefully is misspending.

It's My Funeral, I'll Cry If I Want To

Shortly after SUN's debut, Annie was thrown in the pokey for the murder of her dear, departed dad. But prison bars (and her innocence) soon proved to be the least of her worries. "Annie always pined away for Ben, who wasn't interested in her," recalls Buxton. "But when he came to her rescue in jail, she used this to her advantage. She played on his sympathies."

Unfortunately, Annie didn't have Ben's undivided attention. He was preoccupied with his new gal pal, Meg. "Annie hated Meg from the moment she laid eyes on her," Buxton states. "She sensed that Meg and Ben were growing closer, and she was totally jealous of their relationship."

After Annie staged a jailbreak and escaped in a coffin (which almost landed her in a crematorium), her feelings for Ben grew even stronger. "It was really a turning poingt for her when she snuck into her funeral and heard from Ben's own lips how much she meant to him," says Buxton, adding that afterward, even though Meg helped him try to prove Annie's innocence, "Annie wasn't grateful. She caused her a lot of trouble instead. She didn't like Meg or want her poking in her personal business, so she tried really hard to break up her and Ben."

All Annie could see was that, once again, she was being denied the one thing in life that she wanted. First, it was her father's love that she couldn't have; this time, it was Ben's affection. Or so it seemed....

Love And Let Live

Determined to win away Ben from Meg, as soon as the homicide charges against Annie were dropped (Elaine did the dirty deed), the ex-con came up with an elaborate scheme to feed the Midwestern innocent a line of bull so rank that any city slicker would smell it a mile away. "Annie knew how gullible Meg was," notes Buxton, "so she faked Maria's journals so that [it would appear that Ben killed his first wife and] Meg would be frightened of him."

The nasty plan worked at first, then backfired. "Annie manipulated Meg into a cave," syas Buxton. "But when Ben followed and got caught [with Meg in an explosion], it was horrible.

"Not only did Annie endanger their lives, she witnessed them making love. Annie's worst nightmare had come true. She definitely got a taste of her own medicine."

Yet Annie still believed that she and Ben had a future together. "Give her an inch, and Annie will take a mile every time," says Buxton. "She found out that Ben couldn't remember the cave incident and convinced him to go see a hypnotherapist. Then she snuck into the session and planted a post-hypnotic suggestion for him to call Meg by Maria's name."

When Ben got a clue, he gave Annie the boot once and for all. "At that point Annie realized there was nothing she could do," says Buxton. "She decided to let them play out their romance."

And once again, the one thing that Annie wanted flew out of reach.

Here Comes The Bride - Or Else!

Annie was down, but far from out. Opportunity knocked, and like a spider to a fly, she said, "Wont you come in?" Explains Buxton: "It was a major day for Annie when Charles showed up with a codicil to Del's will. It gave Annie a new thing to focus on, a new reason to scheme."

And thus, to live. Now, Annie is plotting like there's no tomorrow (which, for her, there isn't). She's got to marry Gregory by June if she is to inherit Del's fortune, and by God, she's determined to meet her deadline. "Annie wants to be in charge of her own life," says Buxton. "The codicil gave her that chance, so she will do whatever it takes to get her money."

So far in her quest, Annie has made pawns of Gregory's children and even used her beloved Aunt Bette to het her dirty deeds done cheap. "Annie started out using everybody but she definitely feels bad about using Caitlin, because she actually likes her," admits Buxton. "And at first, she despised Gregory. But now I think she is starting to feel something genuine for him.

"That's just like her, though," the actress sums up. "She jumps into something impulsively to get to the next level, then ends up having feelings about the situation - although she has a great ability to cut off her feelings, too."

So, as June approaches, will Annie be donning white and making Olivia see red? "I think she will," hints Buxton. "She's probably shopping for a gown right now."

"But," she concludes, "'that doesn't mean that the scheming will stop. Annie Douglas will be scheming until she's 101 years old."