Book excerpt: Millions of dollars will belong to the person who can prove he or she is a descendant of the mystery woman called Poppy Mallory. Millions of lies have been told along California's Gold Coast, in Paris's demimonde, and Italy's dangerous underworld, to hide the identity of her daughter . . . or son. Millions of hopes grip the hearts of five desperate people, each of whom claim to be Poppy's heir and are willing to commit shocking acts of passion--or even murder--to prove it. Millions of dreams buried in the past with Poppy's secrets are now about to be exposed if one determines investigative reporter can uncover the scandalous sin behind it all . . .