In 1900, the Lambert farming family falls into financial hardship. Twenty-year-old Johanna loses her job as a maid and is forced to leave her home for the city in search of new work. Her childhood sweetheart, Richard Pape, wants to prevent this. He suspects there is oil beneath the Lambert forest and intends to extract it. But a bitter feud hangs over the families, and Richard's father, Wilhelm Pape, harbors dark secrets. When Johanna's father dies under mysterious circumstances and Wilhelm seizes his forest, a dangerous suspicion grows within Johanna – and she risks being crushed in a web of love, greed, and betrayal.

The Papes' oil field is expanding rapidly. The workers are starving, and the farmers lack clean water. Richard wants to help and points Johanna to the auction of a lakefront property that could secure their fresh water supply. Johanna mobilizes the farmers and finds a close ally among the workers in Jakub. But a serious accident at work shakes Johanna and the village. Richard confesses to Johanna that he is responsible for her father's death.