Set in late 19th-century Warsaw, Stanisław Wokulski (Tomasz Schuchardt), a self-made, wealthy merchant from a modest background, becomes dangerously obsessed with Izabela Łęcka (Sandra Drzymalska), an aristocratic woman whose family faces financial ruin. Driven by his obsessive love, Wokulski uses his fortune to bail out her father, Tomasz Łęcki (Jacek Braciak), and secure passage into Warsaw high society. Despite his devotion, Izabela views him with social disdain, viewing him as a low-born merchant while engaging in flirtation and dynamic pursuits with aristocratic men, particularly her cousin, the serial womanizer Kazimierz Starski (Piotr Pacek).