Ah, Josette's mystical earrings - aka the plot that goes nowhere. I still wonder what the writers had in mind with this potential storyline, but I guess we'll never know.
I've never actually thought there was more intended to it other than as a device to get Maggie together with Willie and for her to realize he never meant to harm her and to smooth everything over so that Maggie no longer lives in constant fear of a character who was going to stick around on the canvas for some time to come. And as that, it succeeds quite well.
Are they paying Willie for his services? If not, he really is nothing more than a slave and their use of psychological manipulation is nothing more than mental abuse.
Indeed! (It's a situation many fans have lamented through the years.)
Barnabas is certainly guilty of mentally abusing Willie on numerous occasions. But then, Barnabas (and, yes, even the human Barnabas) is guilty of mentally abusing so many characters whenever the mood strikes him - even the ones who are supposedly his closest friends and allies...