Ariadne Silver was born in a family that resented her. She grew up in miserable conditions – with a drug-addict mother and an absent father – but climbed out of the gutter to become one of the most successful spa owners in the States. Ariadne didn’t expect life to change, but suddenly it did. Her French grandmother, a woman she didn’t even know existed, dies and names Ariadne as her sole heir. Ariadne packs her bags and meets Lucien Valier, her grandma’s solicitor, upon her arrival in France. She spends weeks in France in company of her attorney. When she meets his little invalid daughter Ariadne is at a loss for words. Falling in love is totally new to her. And meeting such a talented little girl is really too much for Ariadne. Will Ariadne finally break the spell of bitterness and acknowledge Cupid’s arrow?

Alicia (nee Eugenia) is married to Damien Garvin for a couple of years when Damien is quickly sinking into alcoholism, and the ransom money is all but gone. Alicia is forced to take a night job in a restaurant to make ends meet until she discovers that she’s pregnant. She can’t bring up a child in these conditions. The restaurant owner proposes to pay for an abortion provided Alicia agrees to work for him as a “hostess”. Alicia will have none of it. She goes to a women’s shelter where Erin the manager cares for her. Alicia gives birth to a little girl named Aria and is about to call her parents with the intention of going home when Damien bursts into the premises brandishing a revolver. He is delirious when he calls Lucien Valier with another ransom demand. Will the police arrive in time before Damien makes his threats a reality and kills both his wife and child?