Brady is raised during the first years of his life by his widowed father, John Black. After the death of Brady's mother, John embarks on a tempestuous affair with his former wife, Marlena Evans, which results in the birth of Brady's sister, Belle named after his mother, Isabella Toscano. Roman Brady divorces Marlena after discovering her affair with John. Though John by then is involved in a troubled relationship with the duplicitous Kristen Blake, John and Marlena opt to raise Brady and Belle together. Kristen's lies are eventually exposed, and John and Marlena happily remarry. Despite a happy childhood, Brady becomes bitterly resentful toward Marlena, the only mother he has ever known.