After watching her mother die gradually from a broken heart, Roberta, an illegitimate child, decides to seek vengeance from her father Bradley, who ran away before she was born. Bradley is wealthy now, and so Roberta secures a job as his secretary and schemes to ruin his financial empire. Meanwhile, she becomes friends with the hunchback Orloaf. Because of his physical deformity, however, Orloaf feels that he cannot tell her he loves her, and because she was born out of wedlock, Roberta believes that she is not good enough for him. Then, carrying out her plan, Roberta burns down Bradley's riverfront warehouses. Full of remorse afterward, she writes Orloaf a note that expresses her love and then tries to kill herself. When he finishes reading the note, however, Orloaf rushes to Roberta and revives her, and then the couple begins making plans for their life together.