Vera Carter lived as a mistreated farm drudge, ridiculed for her injured leg by a cruel stepmother. When she discovered a poisoned, wounded nobleman in the barn, she gave her own blood and body to nurse him through the night. The stranger vanished before sunrise, leaving only a rare sapphire cuff. When her pregnancy became obvious, her stepmother beat her and cast her out to deliver her infant in the pouring rain.
Unbeknownst to Vera, the stranger she preserved was Ashford's richest industrial billionaire, who has spent months turning the city upside down to find his savior. Scouring every clinic for the matching sapphire, the billionaire's motorcade finally discovers Vera selling produce on a muddy curb. Scooping Vera and their newborn into his arms, he delivers legendary retribution upon her abusers.
