The fourth part of the "Clifton Chronicles" begins with a phone call, at dawn: Harry and Emma's son has been involved in a fatal car accident...

But is Sebastian really dead? As Harry and his wife rush anxiously to the hospital, they do not know that this is only the first of the unexpected twists of fate they will soon face...

When Ross Buchanan resigns from Barrington Shipping, Emma decides to claim the presidency herself. But Don Pedro Martinez promotes his puppet, Major Alex Fisher, to destroy the company, just as the construction of the luxurious ocean liner Buckingham begins...

Meanwhile, Harry and Emma's daughter wins a scholarship to Slade School of Fine Arts. There, she falls in love with a fellow student, Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are thrilled, until Jessica's future mother-in-law receives a visit from an old friend: Lady Virginia Fenwick, who is determined to sabotage the wedding preparations with her poison...

And then, suddenly, Cedric Hardcastle, a man from nowhere, appears in the boardroom of Barrington. The support of Hardcastle will determine whether Emma or Fisher will win the presidency. And this development will forever change the lives of the Cliftons and the Barringtons in ways they never imagined...