At Sacrifice, Daniels and Kazarian cost Styles his match against Kurt Angle, who nonetheless saved Styles from a post-match beatdown. On May 31, Styles defeated Daniels in the main event of the first live episode of "Impact Wrestling", after which Daniels and Kazarian played audio of a phone conversation to prove an affair between Styles and Carter. At Slammiversary, Styles and Angle defeated Daniels and Kazarian to win their TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of "Impact Wrestling", Styles entered the 2012 Bound for Glory Series, where he was eliminated in the opening gauntlet match by Daniels. On the June 21 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Styles and Carter revealed their secret—they were not having an affair, but were helping an addicted pregnant woman named Claire Lynch overcome her problems. The following week on "Impact Wrestling", Styles and Angle lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship back to Daniels and Kazarian when Kazarian hit Styles with a steel chair, after which Daniels admitted that Styles and Carter had told the truth about Claire, but claimed that they had left out the part about Styles being the father of her unborn baby. Styles defeated Daniels in a Last Man Standing match at Destination X, and again in a Bound for Glory Series match and, per the pre-match stipulations, earned the right to get a paternity test on Claire's baby. The following week on "Impact Wrestling" it was revealed that Claire was not pregnant after all and her attorney revealed Daniels' and Kazarian's plot to blackmail Styles. On the August 30 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Styles was eliminated in the 2012 Bound for Glory Series after losing to Samoa Joe. At No Surrender and Bound for Glory, Styles and Angle unsuccessfully challenged Daniels and Kazarian for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Styles was pinned by James Storm in a three-way number one contender's match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Turning Point, also involving Bobby Roode, preventing him from receiving another title opportunity until Bound for Glory 2013 as per the pre-match stipulation. On December 9 at Final Resolution, Styles was defeated by Christopher Daniels in what was billed as their "final match". On the following episode of "Impact Wrestling", Styles said that he was tired of doing the right thing and that he was going to do his own thing from there on.