While working with the Australian Secret Service on a dangerous mission, teenaged spy Alex Rider uncovers information about his parents.

Told through flashbacks, best friends Jule and Imogen are orphaned outcasts who will do almost anything to attain a happy, wealthy life.

The story takes place on Mother's Day in 1924. Fir Mr. and Mrs. Evan give their housekeeper, Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young), the day off, as the couple are set to go to their neighbor's house to celebrate his engagement. The truth is Jane and the neighbor, Paul, have been having an affair for many years.

Catching the eye of newcomer Paul Herchberger, Amish schoolteacher Lisa Miller, who has grown up being afraid of loving and losing, avoids his advances, especially when secrets are revealed.

"At the court of Chancery, the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case grinds on for years with no end in sight. Entangled in the lawsuit are a growing number of innocent victims: Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a child with mysterious parentage; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. As the case staggers onward, yet more people become embroiled in the furious legal battle,...