Penniless and without a future, an English teacher agrees to tutor a pampered woman, only to become enmeshed in a strange reality and a downward spiral of desire and illusion, guilt and self-contempt. Will the ugly truth set him free?

Lena Konstantinidi, a wealthy young woman who is paralyzed, falls in love with a poor student, Alexis, who sells newspapers to earn money for his studies. The evil stepmother Elsa, who envies her husband's daughter, is opposed to this marriage and does everything she can to thwart it, even going so far as to accuse Alexis of stealing a valuable statuette. However, her plans are completely ruined, thanks to Alex's kindness and the help of a young street vendor whom Alex had taken into his home after the death of his mother.