Driven from the Dumas mansion back to her beloved bayou, Ruby's only hope is that fate will let her begin anew. Living again in a humble shack, Ruby is determined to make a secure and happy home for her precious daughter, Pearl. At her side once more is Paul Tate, her first love, now a man of dazzling wealth. Whisked away to his grand house, it seems Ruby can forget the shocking reason she and Paul must wed in secret and remain husband and wife in name alone. But the grand walls of Cypress Woods cannot shut out the cold eyes of Paul's mother, Gladys. Then her venomous twin sister, Gisselle, arrives to taunt her with news of Beau Andreas, the true father Pearl has never met, and the only man Ruby will ever long for with her body and soul.