Many years ago, Ada Williams did something that has tormented her ever since. Now, wealthier and wiser, she knows the time has come to pay the piper. Then her lazy, greedy son Peter, who cares nothing for her, overhears a private conversation and plans a terrible deed. In nearby Blackburn town, happily married Sylvia Bolton lives with her family. No one, least of all Sylvia, can foresee the shocking events about to unfold, events that began when Ada Williams was young and foolish.