The show-runners had a lot of options. Whether they wanted to explore them or not is another story. The cynic in me says the show-runners dreamed up the pairing of Paige and Greg early on. For such a pairing to happen, they had to get Laura out of the way.
But if they had not been in charge.....
Laura would figure out that Phil had something to do with Karen's disappearance. She'd go to Mack with her suspicions and after Karen is rescued, Phil tries to kidnap Laura from Lotus Point out of revenge. She escapes his grip and pushes him away, where he lands atop a receipt spindle and dies. Greg has the crime scene swept clean and assures Laura everything will be okay. Jason is recast with a seventeen/eighteen-year-old actor to finally address the fact that he should be the same age as Olivia Cunningham, not Brian.
Later in S8 Laura and Greg butt heads about his company's plans to buy the Knollwood Country Club (adjacent to Seaview Circle) to tear down and redevelop as a high-rise condo complex. Abby wants in on the project and uses the strife between the Sumners to try to split them up and to seize more control of the project. Laura and Greg's problems wash away when she discovers she's pregnant. Laura asks him to give her the Knollwood Country Club property as a "push present". Abby loses a huge amount of money and the Sumners gain a daughter. In the season-ending cliffhanger Abby vows to destroy Laura Avery over her losses at the country club property. Laura tells her to bring it on. But while their mothers fight, we see Olivia and Jason in the throes of young, star-crossed love.
In S9, Laura is working to refurbish the country club. As Lotus Point becomes a less-important center of action, Knollwood will take that role as the place where everyone meets up to talk, date, etc. Richard Avery resurfaces, asking Laura to hire him to run the CC's restaurant. Turns out Abby is behind his return. She hopes that Richard can drive a wedge between Laura and Greg, but nothing ever goes to plan when you depend on Richard's help. Greg gets jealous---not of Laura's past with Richard but of Richard's bond with the boys. Greg shares with Laura that he wants to be more of a father to all their kids, not just Meg. At season's end Greg makes one of his famous "shocking announcements": he's going to make Jason his protege at the Sumner Group...and eventually, his heir. Jason, not to be outdone, announces he and Olivia eloped because they are having a baby.
**********
I'm sure I could continue into the next seasons, but you get the gist. There were plenty of connections, call-backs, and new opportunities for the character of Laura Avery. Being Mrs. Greg Sumner could be an important part of the mix, but it need not be the only part.
