Broken for You begins as the story of a woman enveloped by the past. Margaret Hauptmann Hughes is a wealthy Seatlle divorcee who lives in a sprawling mansion which overlooks the city. Margaret shuns closeness with people, preferring instead to interact with the objects in her vast collection of figurines and antiques which she inherited from her father, Oscar Hauptmann. Once upon a time, and for many years, Margaret Hauptmann Hughes was happy.