Serena Reed, three months pregnant, has married into her husband's family, where she does all the household chores day and night but receives no respect. Her father-in-law George often picks on her for no reason, and her husband has always subjected her to cold violence. She accidentally discovers that her in-laws are deeply patriarchal, and have secretly planned to arrange for the son from her husband's mistress to go through the Ancestral Recognition Rite before kicking her out. Serena calmly devises a plan, exposes the truth publicly at the recognition banquet, successfully escapes the toxic household, and embarks on a brand new life of her own.
