As 2005 begins, Serena finds her parents at odds after Liljana has an affair with Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and briefly leaves the family. Liljana later breaks up with Paul and returns. After this Serena takes a job working for Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) in his bikini shop Bounce, which she later buys into and becomes attracted to Connor (Patrick Harvey). Things are messy as Connor is much older and has a daughter, but the couple begin dating until it emerges that Connor has been stealing from the shop to pay back a $50,000 loan to his ex-girlfriend Carmella Cammenitti (Natalie Blair) which was used to pay for an operation for Connor's daughter, Madeleine Lee.