Kaoru sees her vacation at a hot-spring inn as a chance to get over her heartbreak after her fiance breaks off their engagement. But she soon finds herself caught in a position between her birth mother, the proprietor of the inn, and Kaoru's sister-in-law, whose position as the "next-in-line" at the inn was practically guaranteed. The loyalties of the employees are also tested, as the proprietor manipulates the younger women to her ends