In 1955 a couple of prominent Greek Istanbulites adopt an orphan Greek girl from the "sacred" town of their origin. They offer her a powerful family name and ensure her devotion. Twelve-year-old Polyxeni is separated from her younger brother and embarks on a new life and a future that looks bright; she receives an education, she becomes of age and falls in love. She has a lust for life, all the while unsuspicious of the devious plan of annihilation that others are weaving behind her back, targeting her large inheritance.