Charleston attorney Hanna Walsh finds her life in emotional and financial ruin when her husband's ties to a ruthless stranger unleashes a spiraling cascade of betrayal and murder in this twisting story of treachery and shattered dreams. Escaping to her last refuge on Pawleys Island, she discovers a letter and journal in the attic of her family's old beach house. She learns of a distant great-grandmother who owned the same house as a young widow during the Civil War who suffered a similar path of devastating loss and betrayal. Charleston police detective Alex Frank comes into Hanna's life and joins an FBI team to help her through the chaos and danger coming at her from all directions.