Belle is the daughter of Alamain Industries tycoon, Basic Black CEO, John Black (Drake Hogestyn) and psychiatrist Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), making her the half-sister of Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney), Eric Brady (Jensen Ackles), and Brady Black (Kyle Lowder) (the only sibling with whom she was raised). Originally, the residents of Salem believe that Belle is the daughter of Marlena and Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop). Belle however is conceived on John's private jet on the night of Marlena's wedding anniversary to Roman. John and Marlena's airplane encounter also marks the beginning of a torrid affair which Sami witnesses when she sees the couple making love several weeks later on the Titan Industries board room table.[3] Aware of the affair, Sami, keeps the knowledge secret for several months. When Marlena discovers that she is pregnant, John asks for a blood test that will determine if he is the father of the unborn child. By then, Sami is working as a volunteer at Salem Hospital. She accesses the results of the paternity test that confirms John as the father and changes the results. Later, the distraught teen kidnaps Belle and tries to have her legally adopted. Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) eventually forces Marlena to confess to Roman and all of Salem the truth of her affair with John. Later still, Stefano reveals the truth of Belle's paternity to the Brady family after reading Sami's diary.As a teen at Salem High School, Belle begins an ill-fated relationship with bad boy Philip Kiriakis (Brandon Tyler) but soon falls in love with Shawn-Douglas Brady (Jason Cook). Best friends with Mimi Lockhart (Farah Fath), Belle's peers are shocked to see her burgeoning friendship with Ghoul Girl Chloe Lane (Nadia Bjorlin). In 2001, Belle goes on a class trip to Puerto Rico. Belle, Shawn and Philip embark on their own on a missing-jewel hunt in search of a ruby that belongs to Alice Horton. After a near-drowning, the teens are successful and Shawn is able to return the ruby to his great-grandmother.[3] Once back in Salem, a troubled classmate, Jan Spears (Heather Lauren Olsen), confides to Shawn that she had been raped by the father of recent arrivals to Salem, siblings Nicole (Arianne Zucker) and Brandon Walker (Matt Cede Show less «