Each generation of Ashers produced a person who combined a shrewd mind, vigorous energy and a love of risk. He led the family business to new victories, and now this ancient family is so rich and famous that one would like to call it a dream come true. But what to do with the terrible secrets and menacing legends, with those unkind rumors that are tightly woven into the history of the Eschers? Now another patriarch is dying, he is being devoured alive by the Disease, the age-old curse of the family. Applicants for inheritance have gathered in a luxurious estate. Among them is one who is ashamed of his belonging to the Eschers. A voluntary exile, he lived for a long time away from his family nest, but his attempt to build his own destiny ended tragically. And how could it have been different? Is there even the slightest chance of avoiding the fate of the Ashers?