时间来到1980年，克里斯托弗与妹妹凯茜在遥远的小城与儿子乔里和巴特过着平静的新生活，但是这平静却即将被打破。因为身材矮小常被欺凌的巴特性格孤僻，偶然间他和哥哥闯入了隔壁的房子，认识了新搬来的陌生黑衣蒙面女人。而种种迹象却表明，这个人与他的家庭和他的出身有着千丝万缕的联系，在巴特不断的追问之下，掩盖已久的谜团在一点点被这个女人揭开……

It"s the 1980s. Brother and sister Christopher Jr. and Cathy Dollanganger, a surgeon and ballet teacher respectively, are the product of an incestuous but loving relationship between their married parents, who were half-uncle to niece. Chris and Cathy are now married to each other, and live under the last name Sheffield, the surname of who ended up being their adoptive father. They managed to escape from their mother, born Corrine Foxworth, who once tried to kill them so that she could inherit her estranged father"s vast estate. Corrine, who ultimately did inherit all the money, was eventually institutionalized following a mental breakdown. Cathy has two children, teenager Jory, whose biological father is now deceased ballet dancer Julian Marquet, and preteen Bart, whose biological father is now deceased Bart Winslow, Corrine"s second husband. While Jory knows about Julian, Bart knows nothing about Bart Sr.; neither knows about Chris and Cathy"s sibling relationship. Chris treats both boys as his own, and visa versa. These secrets abound in the Sheffield home, despite Chris having a policy of no secrets. Despite the possibility of being found out, Chris and Cathy decide to adopt an adolescent girl, Cindy, one of Cathy"s ballet students whose mother has just died following an illness.