Lissa Powell has always wondered who she really was. Discovered by her foster parents when she was about four during the Chicago fire of 1871, the story begins when she is sixteen years old and forced to go out on her own when her foster mother dies. She stays at a boarding house where she meets Effie Cunningham who helps her to find a job at Harrison Colby's, a large department store. There she meets Greg Colby, the handsome son and heir of the store owner. When Lissa finds out who she really is will her feelings change for this or any other young man in her life?