I think of Adam Chandler on All My Children -- he would to something completely heinous that the audience was on pins and needs to see finally be exposed ... then it was finally exposed Adam would be spurned by all but after some time he would end up back in the center of things... Also, if you look at the HORRIBLE things Ava has done -- yet now she's a sympathetic character. At some point there will probably be a storyline where her claws come out again.
Valentin has been around for a long time, much of it as a villain. Then he became a more sympathetic character -- first with his love for Charlotte and coming to an agreement/cease fire with Lulu. Then there was his romance with Nina. Followed by his romance and alliance with Anna His romance and alliance with Anna turned him into a romantic lead.
Soaps need long-term villains, and Valentin is the perfect leading man villain -- with added bonus by being a Cassadine.
Of course Valentin would leave the show -- but I believe the odds are that when this storyline plays out, he will be shunned and pay the price for his sins, and then start his rise. Maybe paring with Nina -- two strong characters who have screwed up and hold grudges.
Karen L.
