Russia, 1937. Nicolai Bukharin and his wife Anna Mikhailovna Larina are living through a tragedy in their apartment. The husband fears that he will be arrested for political reasons and asks his wife to memorize a denunciation document so that he can destroy it. The characters, who really existed, were rehabilitated in 1988 under Mikhail Gorbachev.

Veronica is brilliant, gifted and beautiful, but the handsome aristocrat she loves, Marco Venier, cannot marry her because she is penniless and of questionable family. So Veronica's mother, Paola, teaches her to become a courtesan, one of the exotic companions favored by the richest and most powerful Venetian men. Veronica courageously uses her charms to change destiny -- and to give herself a chance at true love.