[1][2][3] Thirteen years after If There Be Thorns, Cathy and Chris arrive at Foxworth Hall, which has been re-built by Bart, for his 25th birthday party.

The next day, Cindy arrives and Bart welcomes her with contempt, not even wanting to acknowledge her as his sister due to her merely being adopted.

As months pass with Jory hospitalized and Melodie becoming more depressed, Bart takes advantage of her vulnerable state and seduces her.

When Jory comes home, Corrine's will is read and Bart is enraged to learn that he will inherit the Foxworth estate only on his 35th birthday, leaving Chris as the guardian of his money until then.

On Christmas Day, Bart deliberately confesses his affair with Melodie to Jory, and the shock causes her to go into premature labour.

Cindy is interested in having a relationship with Bart and admits that she has genuine feelings for him, even revealing she knows about Cathy and Chris' secret, but he rejects her, having sated his lust.

As he returns home after finding them a new house, Chris pulls over to help a stranded motorist and is struck by a passing truck, which kills him instantly.

In the end, Cathy reveals that Jory finished his recovery, became a dance teacher, has married Toni, and they are raising the twins and expecting a child together.

One day, she goes up to the attic, sits by a window and, as she envisions yellow paper flowers, there is an implication that she had died of a broken heart.