The letter
Kristen convinced the Woman in White to return to Salem together and live with her. John decided he wanted to work on his relationship with Kristen, although he also loved Marlena. Kristen wanted John to move in with her, but John wanted to protect Marlena from Stefano. Kristen then suggested both John and Marlena would move into the DiMera Mansion and both of them agreed. Marlena was heartbroken when she watched John and Kristen making love. Stefano tried to kidnap Marlena from the mansion. When Kristen stumbled upon her father she hesitated and let him take Marlena. But when the Woman in White saw what was happening, Kristen stopped Stefano just in time. Marlena thanked Kristen for saving her life. John and Kristen got engaged after he accepted Kristen's proposal. But then Kristen found a letter from John to Marlena. John had written it when he was on death row. While reading the letter, Kristen was confronted with John's feelings for Marlena. This was the beginning of Kristen turning into a true DiMera and Kristen's rivalry with Marlena. Kristen decided to hide the letter, but lost track of it and Marlena found it after all. Marlena was about to tell John, but Kristen convinced her not to when she told her she was pregnant. To keep Kristen from any stress, Marlena agreed to wait till the baby was born to tell John. Being under the influence of a drug, John told everyone he knew who the Woman in White was. It turned out she was Rachel Blake, Kristen's and Peter's biological mother. When everyone else left the room, Laura asked John about his feelings for Marlena. Then when Kristen was alone with John, who was still under the influence of a drug, she asked him who he loved the most. John replied it was Marlena, but Kristen didn't want to hear that.
Marlena was planning to fly to San Francisco with Rachel, as Rachel would get plastic surgery there. Meanwhile, Kristen got a sneaky visit from Stefao. He played on her insecurities and wanted her to tell him which plane Marlena would be on. Kristen refused at first, but eventually gave in. John had Rachel's and Marlena's plane return to Salem to stop Stefano's plans. Stefano even got caught by the police. Marlena realised Kristen gave Stefano the plane number. With Stefano in jail, it looked like everything was safe for Rachel and Marlena to travel to San Francisco. However, Stefano wasn't really in jail. It was a man wearing a latex mask that made him look like Stefano. The real Stefano had Rachel bound and gagged at the DiMera Mansion. Then, disguised as Rachel, Stefano snuck on board with Marlena. He faked a plane crash to make everyone believe he and Marlena were dead. John refused to believe that and kept searching for Marlena. With Celeste's help, John found a game called 'Queen of the nigth' and a set of strange goggles. Watching through these goggles, John saw Marlena being held hostage in a cage. Stefano had actually gone to Paris and held Marlena hostage in a cage there, in the underground tunnels. Stefano discovered John was using the goggles and almost had him killed by a bomb. Since Kristen was with John her life was in danger too. But John and Kristen survived. Stefano found out, but convinced Marlena Kristen was dead anyways. After some time, John finally discovered Marlena and Stefano were in Paris.
John, Abe, Lexie, Kristen and Rachel all went to Paris. John set up a ball masquerade to lure Stefano out. Stefano took Marlena to the ball, but arranged for many women to dress up like her. At the ball, Kristen and Marlena came face to face. Marlena gave Kristen a piece of her mind and ran off. John then found Marlena, but Stefano used a needle to drug him. Now Stefano held John hostage too. Stefano had John appearing in front of a jury to explain the 'crimes' he committed. Of course Stefano's jury sentenced John to death. John was about to be executed by a guillotine, but Marlena stopped the execution. Stefano then tried to strangle John, but was hit on the head with something by Vivian, who showed up with Ivan. Marlena and John ran through the tunnels in an attempt to escape. So did Kristen, Rachel, Abe and Lexie. When Stefano caught up on him, John held him at gun-point. Rachel took over the gun from John, who had to carry Marlena because she was hurt. Rachel forced Stefano to walk a bit further and saw a gas tank. Knowing the consequences, Rachel shot at the gas tank. There was a big explosion and Stefano and Rachel were presumed dead.