Angel Lange's life changed forever when she met Caleb Snyder in Chicago. Caleb, an employee of Angel's father, Henry, was quickly taken with the soft-spoken Angel and they began a relationship. Then Angel became pregnant and, with Caleb's help, had an abortion. Not only did the abortion leave Angel sterile, it also enraged the Lange family and Caleb was forced to leave town because of threats against him. However, Caleb's absence didn't subdue the wrath of Angel's father and brothers who continued searching for him. When Angel learned that her family knew that Caleb was in Oakdale, she went there to warn him. Knowing that the Langes would never leave him alone, Caleb sent Angel back to Chicago and met with Henry and apologized. At about this time, Caleb's brother, Holden, returned to Oakdale. Disgusted by Caleb's cavalier treatment of Angel, Holden comforted her. Touched by his sensitivity, Angel started dating Holden and after a short courtship the pair left for Europe and got married.

Soon it became obvious that Holden was still in love Lily Walsh and he asked for a divorce. However, Holden's rejection brought out the worst in Angel and she refused. Desperate to hold on Holden, Angel adopted a little girl named Noelle, who was later returned to her biological parents. However, that wasn't enough and finally Angel decided that she had to get rid of Lily. Unfortunately, Angel's harassment of Lily—which included tampering with her car---only brought Holden closer to Lily. Finally, a despondent Angel told her therapist that if Holden left her, she'd kill herself.

Not long after, the reasons for Angel's behavior became apparent. Struggling to be financially independent of her father, Angel and her brother Barclay arranged to embezzle money from him. When Henry learned about her deception, he angrily confronted Angel and raped her! Distraught, Angel tried to kill herself by overdosing on pills but was found by Holden. It was then that she tearfully confessed the awful truth: her father had been sexually abusing her for years. She then had a revelation for Caleb: the baby she aborted wasn't his, but her fathers! Disgusted, Caleb angrily confronted Henry who ended up killing himself. Unfortunately, Angel's brothers believed that Caleb killed Henry and had him arrested. Though she initially wanted to keep quiet about what happened, Angel eventually came forward and revealed the Henry did abuse her and he did commit suicide. After some counseling, Angel discovered that the reason she was so desperate to hold onto Holden was because he made her feel safe. Now ready to confront her past, Angel granted Holden his divorce.

With nowhere to go, Angel was invited to stay at the Snyder farm. It was at the farm that Angel met, and fell in love with, Caleb and Holden's sensible older brother, Seth. After a short courtship, the pair married at the Snyder farm and then moved to New York. In June 1994, Angel briefly returned to town to attend Caleb's wedding to Julie Wendell.