Boris Brickenbach is full of love but unable to share it. Since getting out of jail, he understands people, knows how they are tormented by the feeling that their lives are unbearable. He also considers himself to be a tool, providing people with redemption in order to love them. For him, this is the only way to overcome his isolation from other people.

He lives modestly, working in a lemonade factory and helping out at a charitable institution. When Mariet enters his life, an editor who is desperately searching for her daughter, his reservation comes to an abrupt end. She forces him to take a stand on what life means; she compels him to give up his stance as an outsider and face up to life – to love her. However, Mariet does not yet know that she must give up her life so that he can love her – for ever.