The story revolves around a school girl claiming to have been kidnapped, beaten and forced to be a servant to two women in an old mansion 'The Franchise'. She is able to escape their clutches and her family reports the events to the authorities, resulting in a criminal trial of these women, mother and daughter.

When Alex Loding passes Brat Farrar in the street, he's struck by Brat's uncanny resemblance to Simon Ashby. Simon had a older twin brother, Patrick, who disappeared a decade ago, and was presumed drowned. Simon now owns the family farm, Latchetts, a top-notch stable. Alex asks Brat, who loves horses, if he'd care to impersonate Patrick to disinherit Simon. But as Brat grows closer to the Ashby family, he finds the role a dangerous and wearing one; especially as he begins to suspect that Patrick's death wasn't an accident. Written by Kathy Li