Following a violent assault by Autumn Marsh's despicable stepfather the day of her mother's funeral, she moves in with her grandma in the garage apartment belonging to Dawson Rutherford, her grandma's employer. Her reprehensible stepfather charms Dawson's wife, Laurette, into a secret affair. Then on the day of his birthday party, Dawson is mercilessly strangled to death in his bathroom. Colby, the eldest son, whom Autumn has fallen in love with, is accused and arrested for his murder. Did Colby kill his father, or did a shadowy figure steal into Dawson's room to rid himself of the competition standing between him and Laurette Rutherford? With the police firmly set on Colby's guilt, his fate rests in Autumn's desperate search for the real killer.