At last, Dawn has escaped from the shadow of her tortured past in Cutler's Cove. Now in New York City and enrolled in a prestigious music school, Dawn wants to forget her grandmoth- er's coldness ... her mother's selfish- ness ... her sister Clara Sue's bitter jealousy ... and her brother Philip's sexual pursuit. But Dawn cannot forget Jimmy, her strong, supportive boyfriend, and the love and anguished secrets they shared.

Then Dawn meets Michael Sutton, a handsome, cultured music teacher and renowned performer. Despite her devotion to Jimmy, Michael's embrace sets Dawn's heart racing, awakening unfamiliar desires that must be quenched. Dawn's dreams of living happily-ever-after with Michael are shattered when she discovers she's pregnant. Michael promises marriage, then disappears.

Dazed by his cruelty, alone and penniless, Dawn returns to her Cutler family home... unaware that she and her unborn child are part of a mys- terious, diabolical plan engineered by Dawn's evil Grandmother Cutler.