Kate is determined to make something of herself and pays for her course at a design school by waitressing at night. But she meets Peter, falls in love and has a daughter, Samantha, which puts her career on hold for a while.

When Samantha is a teenager, Kate returns to her ambitions - and is a great success (Martha Stewart-like), ending up by owning a huge corporation concentrating mainly on magazines. She now has everything she has ever wanted - but then Peter leaves her. Devastated, she has to get over a two-year deep depression which almost ruins her business. She manages, with Sam's help, to put the business and her life together again but tragedy strikes again - Sam is caught in a fire and badly hurt...Peter returns to give his support and then has to rescue Kate's company as a hostile bidder turns up.