Finding it medically impossible to conceive children, Jancy and her husband take a shortcut to adoption.

They find a penniless young woman, pregnant and unwed, and with the help of a pliable midwife, birth the baby in their home. After payment the woman disappears, never to bother them again. Despite guilty fears, all is well for some time.

Then Jancy's husband becomes ill. His business fails, their bank accounts are drained, they lose their home to foreclosure. After his death Jancy is on her own with no relatives to help, bill collectors to dodge, and a young son to care for and protect. She needs to find work, shelter, child care.

And then...

Then an investigator hired by the boy's biological father locates her, hinting at exposure unless she offers him a bribe — not necessarily one of money. Yet will one bribe be the end of it?

But has she any other choice?