October 21, 2005 [guest appearance]

Zende grew up in Africa and lived in an orphanage after losing his parents and brother to AIDS. Zende swiped a camera belonging to honeymooners Kristen Forrester and Tony Dominguez, then thought better of it and returned it to the couple. Zende brought Kristen and Tony to the orphanage and explained that he paid his way by caring for its younger children. Zende couldn't believe it when Kristen and Tony, who didn't want to risk having a child because Tony was HIV-positive, adopted him and took him to Los Angeles, where he became Zende Forrester Dominguez.

At school, Zende met a teacher, Erica Lovejoy, and got her invited to a Forrester party, setting in motion a chain of events that left psychiatrist Taylor Hayes presumed dead from a gunshot inflicted by Erica's mother, the nefarious Sheila Carter. Eventually, Zende, Kristen, and Tony moved to Miami, where Zende completed his education, though Zende was in town in 2005 for his adoptive father's AIDS benefit, where Zende met his half-cousins, Steffy and Phoebe Forrester.

In 2015, an adult Zende returned to L.A. and wanted to start at the bottom at his family's design house, Forrester Creations, despite his connections. Zende met fellow intern Nicole Avant but didn't act on his attraction to her until she kissed his half-cousin, Thomas Forrester. Just as Zende and Nicole began exploring a relationship, Nicole decided to become a surrogate for her transgender sister, Maya Avant; Zende worried that Nicole's pregnancy would come between them. His doubts reinforced by Nicole's intolerant father, Julius Avant, Zende broke up with a pregnant Nicole and succumbed to the persistent advances of Nicole's childhood friend Sasha Thompson, a budding model Zende was tasked with photographing.

But Zende couldn't return Sasha's feelings and snuck into Nicole's hospital room dressed as an orderly to witness the birth of the baby. Moved, Zende planned to reunite with Nicole until Sasha announced she herself was pregnant. Dubious about the timing, Zende reconciled with Nicole before admitting he might be Sasha's babydaddy. When it came out that Sasha faked her pregnancy test, Zende forgave Sasha, then got an assignment to snap Sasha modeling lingerie, which upset Nicole. But Zende and Nicole soon moved past it and made love for the first time. Later, Zende attended baby Lizzie's christening and seemed concerned when Sasha started getting cozy with Thomas. Zende stood with his family in boycotting grandfather Eric Forrester's wedding to Quinn Fuller, a woman with a criminal past, but felt guilty afterwards, especially when an enraged Eric collapsed from a brain hemorrhage.

When it seemed that Nicole had agreed to become a surrogate for Rick and Maya a second time, Zende got drunk at a party and whisked Sasha away to Hawaii. On the way home, believing he and Nicole were over, Zende kissed Sasha, then made love to her on the Forrester jet, where Nicole caught them together. Informed that Nicole had changed her mind about the surrogacy at the last minute, Zende apologized profusely and repeatedly proposed marriage to Nicole, crushed when Nicole wanted nothing more to do with him. Zende had no answers for Sasha when she asked what that meant for them. Zende continued trying to win Nicole over, and finally did with an extravagant horse-and-carriage proposal; after Nicole said yes, Zende married her in a lavish ceremony at the Forrester mansion.

Zende became suspicious of new intern Coco Spectra, whose great-aunt, Sally Spectra, had been famous for stealing Forrester designs for their own fashion house, Spectra Fashions; despite assurances from his teen cousin, R.J. Forrester, Zende decided to keep an eye on Coco, knowing R.J. couldn't be objective because of his crush on her. Zende felt he was right when Coco inadvertently helped her sister, namesake designer Sally Spectra, poach Forrester designs by unknowingly wearing jewelry rigged with cameras, but Zende changed his tune about Coco after she was willing to testify against Sally regarding the theft.

Zende decided he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his adoptive parents and taught himself design, hoping to help Forrester replace its stolen collection. But Zende felt snubbed when Steffy and her father, Ridge Forrester, admitted they didn't have time to train him. Zende got his chance when Ridge fired his son, Thomas, for coming to the aid of his girlfriend, Sally, and investing $100,000 in Spectra to save it from the wrecking ball; novice Zende replaced the experienced Thomas.

Zende wanted a family with Nicole and got a taste when they were asked to sit for baby Lizzy while Rick and Maya were out of town. But Zende refused to believe it when Nicole announced she had been told by doctors that uterine scarring caused by giving birth to Lizzy may have rendered her unable to have any more children. Zende was thunderstruck when there was a glitch in Lizzy's adoption papers and Nicole considered raising Lizzy herself; Zende went up against Julius, who was encouraging Nicole to claim Lizzy, then helped talk Nicole into signing the corrected papers.

Zende designed swimwear for an upcoming Forrester fashion duel with Spectra Fashions in Monte Carlo, even taking a turn on the runway. Disappointed when Nicole begged off celebrating his success with a night out, Zende hit a club with Maya and ended up having to defend her from a bigot who was harassing her. Zende honored Maya's decision not to tell Rick or Nicole about the incident. Zende got a surprise when a designing opportunity opened up at Forrester International in Paris; Zende and Nicole moved overseas, but never knew Maya had arranged the position to get Nicole out of town because Lizzy had started calling Nicole "mama."

Three years later, Zende returned to L.A. saying he and Nicole had split up, though not revealing why. Zende was happy to hear that his friend, Carter Walton, was dating Forrester model Zoe Buckingham, but soon discovered he and Zoe had a chemistry of their own. Despite not wanting to hurt Carter, Zende tried to pursue Zoe on the advice of Julius, of all people, but his date-interrupting text to Zoe went undelivered. Ultimately, when Carter proposed to Zoe, Zende told her that Carter would make a great husband and that she should go for it. Meanwhile, Zende couldn't help noticing that Zoe's new-in-town sister, Paris Buckingham, had developed an interest in him.

Zende was surprised when Zoe became more flirtatious because she had finally received his much-belated text. Despite fending off Zoe's advances, Zende still faced Carter's wrath when Zende and Zoe got caught and Carter called off his engagement to Zoe. Zende tried to assure Paris she was the one he wanted to get to know. He arranged romantic dates for Paris and was more amused than annoyed when Paris experienced loud gastrointestinal distress in front of him. Zende was surprised when Zoe approached him and Paris and gave their burgeoning relationship her blessing. Months later, Zende wanted to slow things down with Paris so they could focus on their careers, but he soon asked Paris to move in with him.

When Paris instead bunked with Steffy and her new husband, John "Finn" Finnegan, Zende became amused by the obvious crush Paris had on Finn. But after Paris decided to share an apartment with Thomas, whose house sale had fallen through, Zende was far less amused. Zende had an engagement ring made for Paris, but was rejected before he could even propose when Paris announced she wanted to transition to a non-exclusive relationship. Honoring Paris' wishes, Zende accepted a date with a Forrester model, which confused Paris' arriving mother, Grace Buckingham. Zende was surprised when Grace pushed him to propose to Paris; later, despite having dated other women besides Paris, Zende confided to Carter that it was Paris that he was in love with, and admitted that he wanted to again try to ask Paris to marry him.

However, Zende received a shock when Paris announced she had feelings for Carter and wanted to break things off with Zende completely. Zende let Paris go and grudgingly gave Carter "permission" to explore things with his ex, though Grace continued to pressure Zende to win Paris for himself. Zende attended Paris' sudden wedding to Carter, only to witness Carter's former lover, Quinn Fuller, stopping the ceremony with the declaration that Quinn had split up from her husband, Eric Forrester, meaning Carter could now be with Quinn. Zende comforted Paris after Carter left her at the altar, but no relationship seemed to develop.

When R.J. started designing with Eric, Zende became jealous because he felt that, having gained more experience, he should be the one to be mentored by their grandfather. Zende had egg on his face when he learned that Eric was dying, but after Eric recovered via an experimental treatment, Zende continued to covet R.J.'s position, and R.J.'s girlfriend, Luna Nozawa. Zende tricked Luna into a dinner date by pretending to be R.J., but found himself rejected by Luna. Later, Zende found Luna in his bed and made love to her, only to find out that Luna had been high and thought she was sleeping with R.J. Zende felt awful, and asked Luna to leave R.J. for him.