Driven by shame and the fear of losing her prospective husband, Marlia conceals her past. She entrusts her daughter, Jamila—whose father remains unknown—to the care of Mak Zaenab, a woman with whom her connection is also unclear. Johan, a man twice widowed due to his childlessness, eventually marries Marlia under pressure from his mother. After seven childless years, Johan marries again at his mother's insistence. Although not divorced, Marlia feels like a failure and is devastated; she returns to check on her daughter, only to find Mak Zaenab on her deathbed and Jamila—who has gone missing—nearly blind following a sand-play accident.
